Great staff, Not-So-Great Leadership - Anonymous employee Magnopus Employee Review

I’m sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience at the company, and I’d like to bring clarity to some of your observations. Easy ones first; you mentioned that you "witnessed a half dozen programmers and artists being let go at the drop of a hat.” That’s never happened, and it hasn’t even come close. In the entire history of the company over more than 4 years, that’s about how many people we’ve let go, and in each of those cases there were very valid reasons and those events were given weeks of corrective due process. With more than 80 current employees, it's to be expected that sometimes people will choose to leave to pursue other ambitions, or that we might have a mismatch that is best resolved by parting ways. In much rarer cases, we've had to let employees go for violations of trust or company conduct. But never in the history of the company has something occurred as you describe. We make every effort to ensure that when we have a mismatch between employees needs and the company needs, we communicate clearly on a mutual path to alignment and offer ample opportunities course-correct. It’s not always possible though, and if in the end we do need to part ways, we do so with respect and gratitude. We do NOT take it lightly, it is a multi-stage process that takes time and has several checkpoints through co-workers, supervisors, and management. I personally review each of these recommendations to make sure there isn’t an alternative, and that the employee has taken the opportunity to address each matter. In several cases this has prevented an employee from leaving the company and has transferred them to another team or department where their skills were more appropriate, or we’ve enrolled that employee in training that has brought their skill in better alignment with the job for which they were hired. Regarding squandering the talent of artists, I’m very disappointed to hear that as well. From your description, you were on a project that involved a large IP that we partnered with to make a VR experience. In those cases, the assets of the original film are where we start, and the opportunities to create completely new things for a well known franchise are probably limited. Magnopus does have more than a few original properties in active development, but it sounds like you weren’t on one of them. Magnopus is not a vendor company. We frequently work with large brands because they’re properties that we have a future partnership with, and though we treat these brands like clients to be respected, as we should, we don’t have a single person in sales or marketing, and we turn down nearly every request we get to work as a vendor on a project. We do occasionally do “vendor work” on projects that we think are good causes, and we charge time and materials for them. We haven’t taken any jobs “for the money.” From time to time, we discover that a person we've hired for a certain position, lacks sufficient skills in that job though on paper and in the interview process they appeared to. In those cases, we consult with their leads, their supervisors, coordinators, and project managers to determine if any other role might be more commensurate to their talents, and although this sometimes results in an employee doing a few different things on a few different projects, it frequently results in an employee finding their place in the company and being happier with their job, rather than leaving the company. When every employee is hired, I send them a personal email that includes my cell phone number. I make sure to communicate that we're trying to build a great company for our employees and I consider them an important part of making it that way. If anything at this company concerns them, or is not to their satisfaction, everyone should feel not just the confidence, but the responsibility to call or text me immediately. In every company meeting, I reiterate that I'm available to all employees for any concern, no matter how small, no matter what hour. Nearly every employee at the company has gone on several lunches with their supervisors and with HR representatives, just to be sure that they’re feeling good about their role at the company, and to solicit feedback on ways we, and you, might improve our relationship. Many employees take advantage of this direct line of communication, and see prompt positive changes in the office as a result. But certainly encountering a post such as this implies that not everyone feels comfortable using the channels of communication that are available to them. Thanks for your time in detailing your concerns, Ben