Not a good place to work. - Software Development Team Lead Sage Employee Review

1.0
Sep 14, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are some but they are over shadowed by the cons

Cons

Disgusting performance review system. As a development team leader I have recently been forced to put one member of my team on the bottom of the bell-curve review system and subsequently onto the performance review program. Yes he was the weakest in the team but is absolutely NOT under performing and meets expectations for this role. I feel physically sick having been forced to do this. Despite the reviews on here condemning this practice, the person who reply’s to these reviews repeatable states “Sage is now a high performing culture” so it looks like Sage are not going to change this practice anytime soon. In the 15+ years of being an employee of Sage I have NEVER seen moral so low. As I write this there are several senior managers off sick with stress related illness, very experienced colleagues working out their notice periods and NO investment in the department. If you’re considering applying for a role at Sage, please read all the reviews from the past year or so (don’t bother with the obviously state-sponsored reviews, they stick out a mile) and you’ll see the truth.

avatar
Sage Response
8y
Thanks for your review. During 2015/16 there was a widely recognized lack of effective performance management at Sage. Some colleagues were under performing and were getting away with it, to the detriment of Sage and their fellow colleagues. Year end 2016 we applied a ranked distribution to push managers into a position where they had to manage under performers. In order for Sage to succeed in the future, we had to address under performance because we knew if it continued, Sage wouldn’t! Since applying the distribution, we have invested in the development of our managers through a program called Leading@Sage and we have begun to see a shift in managers being able and more willing to address under performance, as well as recognize and appreciate great performance. For this year-end review process, we are not applying a forced distribution - this is recognition that our management community are now more able to effectively manage and lead our colleague population.

Explore other reviews about Sage

5.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They will work with you and teach you everything you need to know and help you as long as you help yourself and meet kpi but they help you meet it

Cons

No cons to add at this time

2.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

was hired as remote and get to have that honored, but have been openly told no career progression because of remote status. decent pay

Cons

Leadership instability: Seven manager changes during my relatively short tenure. Unrealistic targets: A sales quota set at 1,100% growth (not a typo). Slow product development: Getting anything actioned on the product side takes far too long. Product management turnover: Three product manager changes, resulting in no meaningful deliverables in over three years. Misaligned hiring priorities: Greater emphasis on DEI optics than on hiring people positioned to drive growth. Internal vs. customer focus: More energy spent on internal events than on product enhancements. Lack of accountability (the biggest issue): No one takes ownership. Responsibility gets passed around constantly — for example, client cancellations going unprocessed because they impact someone's numbers. Managers have openly encouraged pushing the work onto someone else rather than handling it.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All