Ascentium Reviews in Seattle, WA Area

Former Employee – worked at Ascentium

Pros – great people, some passionate about their work. deep technology roots. somewhat nimble agile PM approach

Cons – numerous course corrections eroded confidence by rank and file. not that senior management seemed to care about the rank and file outside of a superstar here and there. potential for greatness just didn't become reality

Advice to Senior Management – less talk and more active leadership

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Ascentium

Pros – The people are very nice, and several are unbelievably brilliant. The facilities team cooks breakfast for everyone who wants it every Thursday morning, and the company pays for bagels for everyone every Tuesday morning. Free sodas, free gourmet coffee, and location to amenities in Bellevue Place (Bell Square Mall, Lincoln Square, etc) is excellent.

The company pays for all parking, and employees are eligible to get employee discounts at select stores/restaurants within Bellevue Place.

The leadership is very open with the financial state of the company, including revenues, expenses, and even details about the banking relationships. The only thing that is held under lock-and-key is payroll.

Cons – The company praises itself for being a flat organization with a lot of autonomy to allow one to do his/her job, however, the vagueness in reporting structure and immediate responsibilites opens up lots of room for political maneuvering within the ranks.

A lot of emphasis is placed on revenue generation at the individual level, yet on projects involving dozens of people there is often multiple claims of revenue attribution. For example, if business is won that came from an employee's network connections, there may be a conflict in determining if the revenue generated should be attributed to the people doing the work, or if some/all should go to the employee who introduced the client to the agency. This is probably not too uncommon, but the issue is there is no set policy and it is handled differently on a case-by-case basis.

Also, in cases where the agency has multiple people available to do work, a project manager may play favorites and give certain work to certain people because s/he wants to, and not just because of availability.

The turnover is also quite high. Agencies typically have a high turnover rate--roughly 25% per year--but Ascentium's is higher around 30%.

Finally, it appears to be part of the corporate culture to often over-promise and under deliver. This is not true across the board, as there are many times when people put in long and hard hours to get something delivered that is above and beyond on time (but rarely on budget), however, as a rule of thumb it appears that most people selling the work focus on getting ink on a contract more-so than how the agency can live up to the expectations. I believe this is in large part due to the revenue attribution issues I listed above, as bizdev is focused on bringing in the client instead of considering if the agency is capable in terms of staffing, resource availability, and if the work fits the mission objectives of Ascentium to become an Experience Agency.

Advice to Senior Management – Don't worry as much about the openness of information, as most people probably don't care how the company is performing on a weekly basis, so long as their paychecks keep getting deposited every other Friday.

Former Employee – worked at Ascentium

Pros – If you interested in cutting edge digital marketing and have the tolerance for an unstructured, changing organization, than it is worth considering.

Cons – Lack of structure. Seems to be a handful of oligarchy fiefdoms.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat contractors and job candidates better so they walk away with a positive experience.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Ascentium

Pros – Good Clients and really smart people
The employees are your family, they really do care about each other
Casual work environment
Smart Creative
Strong Account Management

Cons – No raises
No recognition after selling nearly $7Million in revenue
Broken Promises
Unpaid Vendors = embarassment in the market on a professional and personal front
Disrespect of the person and the work (double whammy)
Nagging every day about collecting outstanding monies, revenue estimates off and just about anything else you can think of in terms of "I can't seem to run my business, so let's blame everyone else"

Advice to Senior Management – Get a grip - figure it out and fast or just be done with it and put everyone out of their misery! Please?

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Ascentium

Pros – Filled with very smart people that deliver to a high standard. This is reflected in the company's high marks in client satisfaction.

Cons – Poor leadership. Not clear where the company is headed. Corporate communication is lacking as is follow through on the evolving company vision.

Advice to Senior Management – More transparency, less overhead, more follow through on change initiatives.

Would like to see much more accountability for both low level and high level employees.

Former Employee – worked at Ascentium

Pros – If you want a challenging and demanding work environment and want to work with some super-smart people, this is the place to go. You will get paid well if you demand it.

Cons – Very long hours, certain groups do a majority of the work. Not much work/life balance and very distinct office environment that isn't for everyone.

Advice to Senior Management – To review within the work structure and the org sturture who is really making the money within the company and evaluating hires. Pay the money to get quality and cut your loses when quality is not there.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Ascentium

Pros – Good opportunities to expand what you can do and add to your experience.

Cons – Some groups are better structured to support and train employees internally than others.

Advice to Senior Management – Being a good consultant doesn't make you a good manager. Get the right people in the senior management positions and stop holding on to people for sentimental that aren't providing value or are actually undermining the groups they are supposed to be leading.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Ascentium

Pros – Developing a great set of top shelf customers
Reinventing itself is kinda fun
Exciting and vibrant
Doing less Microsoft and work with other customers

Cons – Strategy changes w/the wind
Cashflow is an issue
Charge premium rates, yet deliver average "product", and pay poorly
Very shortsided in decisions
Alot of top down direction

Advice to Senior Management – Communicate, communicate, communicate

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Ascentium

Pros – You don't actually have to do any real work to keep your job

Cons – Cash flow issues that translate to unpaid bonuses, unpaid expenses, decreased benefits, no raises...but lots of parties. Management has no understanding of the business. Childish behavior, poor communication, rumors. Inability to recognize talent. Promote people who complain, instead of promoting those who work. Irresponsible management and leadership. No accountability.

Advice to Senior Management – Document processes and stick to them. Hold people accountable for their work.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Ascentium

Pros – Ascentium was a great place to learn and grow within the industry. Very cohesive project- and discipline based teams. Lots of time and attention devoted to feedback and professional development. A smart, dedicated, fun group of people whom I looked forward to working with every day.

Cons – Despite efforts at communication, disconnect between upper level management strategy and employees, notably project managers. Management strategy often seemed more appropriate to a start-up than to a multi-sited firm of several hundred employees. Strategy in a continual state of flux -- three reorgs in less than 18 months, lots of apparently unstable growth through acquisition. Non-billable employees regarded as a liability; IT and accounting resources severely strained, no HR department to speak of.

Advice to Senior Management – Understand that you are bigger than you used to be and that the company needs to be reshaped accordingly. Compensation needs to be adjusted to meet industry standards. Support from non-billable staff is critical to making sure initiatives which benefit employees get off the ground.