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Cornerstone OnDemand

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Bait and Switched — Not a sales friendly Organization - Anonymous employee Cornerstone OnDemand Employee Review

2.0
Aug 1, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great Coworkers, and once upon a time the products were decent and competitive in the marketplace.

Cons

- It’s a real janky operation — runs like a startup even though they are a relatively sizable publicly traded company. No real processes or investment in infrastructure. - Poor leadership from CEO down, but specifically in presales.. the person who heads it has never run a presales team anywhere else .. This person and his cronies run org like an old school union shop; favoritism is rampant. - Low base pay not in line with market and poor compensation plans — In fact I was never actually given any sort of target for my incentive pay or official “OTE” — furthermore, comp plans were heavily weighted with “residual payments” over several years which is a cheap and predatory approach to incentive compensation. (Interestingly, they probably pay out the wazoo to house their HQ in the expensive Santa Monica “Water Garden” so they can look cool for the millennials. - Arrogant CEO who dislikes sales and presales people. - Laughable Equity Compensation for a supposed “Tech Company” - They will screw you out of comp earned for deals closed if you leave the org.

Explore other reviews about Cornerstone OnDemand

5.0
Apr 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great leadership. Clear vision for growth and success.

Cons

Acquisitions created competing products and culture.

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Cornerstone OnDemand Response
1mo
Thanks for sharing this; it's great to hear your positive outlook on our leadership and vision as that’s something we really care about. There can be challenges that come along with acquisitions, especially when it comes to aligning products and culture. While these decisions are made to support growth and long-term success, they don’t always feel seamless in the moment. Again, I appreciate you sharing your perspective and wish you all the best. -Carina Cortez, Chief People Officer
2.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Originally, this company was very supportive. There were many layers of resources meant to make employees successful. After the purchase of the company by PE they have cut software, resources and staffing to increase profits. I would not say there are many advantages over other employers in the field today. The ability to work from home is a pro. Complexity of the software is a pro because the work isn't boring. There's always something to learn.

Cons

- no real path to advancement, Cornerstone used to promote from within, over the past several years the majority of hired have been external - management cares a lot about stats but doesn't care to educate employees on how to meet those expectations. Ex. If a employee gets a negative survey it isn't reviewed and strategies aren't shared for improvement. If an issue goes on longer than expected and it puts employees out of compliance with the resolution time standard, employees are told to fix it with no strategies for doing so. There is no analysis of issues. One caveat: my team has a new manager so there is a possibility that things will improve; however the directives come from the top down, so upper management still has a problematic philosophy.

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