Cengage Learning Reviews

Pros

Good benefits, a lot of good people. Editorial and Marketing are top notch.

Cons

Challenging pace of change. Many areas have no clear career paths. Raises are very low despite good performance.

Advice to Senior Management

Staff development should me more of a priority. Managers are so involved with initiatives that the team suffers.

Pros

If you have decided to make the publishing industry your career, Cengage is a good choice for a company. I believe they treat their people better and with more respect than the other big publishers and have the resources that smaller publishers don't have. Their salary and compensation package is comparable and generally speaking, their managers are more people oriented than those at other publishers, although they have been trying to mirror Pearson more lately and therefore, have hired Pearson trained management, which will certainly have an influence on how employees are treated. There are incredible people who work at Cengage and the company is very supportive of outside activities such as the Rise and Shine charity event at the NSM. It is incredible to see so much support for something that truly changes peoples lives for the better.

Cons

The industry is in transition now and I see very little from upper management to address the drastic measures needed to remain competitive in the marketplace. Upper management needs to think outside of the box more than trying to copy Pearson. Management has no idea of the amount of time that is wasted daily due to the numerous inefficiencies of such a large bureauracy and reps are just expected to give up their evenings to overcome these inefficiencies. Wouldn't it make more sense to correct them? I don't believe channels are open for communication to flow up the chain so nothing ever improves more than bandage fixes.

Advice to Senior Management

The challenges from the marketplace will only increase as the price of textbooks escalates. You will need to come up with very innovative strategies and I didn't see that happening. Stop trying to copy Pearson and come up with strategies that will work for Cengage as the two companies have some major differences. Review your pricing policy because it no longer is realistic. Hold more Sales Summits so you can hear more feedback from reps on how they can have more time to actually sell textbooks rather than struggle with the inefficiencies of the company.

Pros

Work / Life balance
Support from Mgmt
Fun, engaging projects
Great team environment

Cons

Red tap and process policies

Pros

Opportunities to try different jobs and advance.

Cons

Very disorganized, unable to pull together real solutions to the issues that are holding them back from continually losing market share.

Advice to Senior Management

Promote people based on real accomplishment and stakeholder feedback rather than just the time a person has stayed in the company not really moving things forward. Managment needs to set benchmarks and hold management accountable for doing their jobs well and improving our image and performance in the market.

Pros

Work had, play hard, family environment. Great work/life balance. Chicago Team is supportive and great to work with.

Being part of a big company is great for the benefits, Cengage offers an incredible benefits package.

Cons

Being part of a big company has draw backs once in a while...everything takes longer to process and to get approvals.

Advice to Senior Management

Streamline the approval process.

Pros

They have been flexible when something comes up. It started as a positive experience, but with a 1 time a year bonus schedule, it's not something you can depend on. The base salary is not competitive.

Cons

Low pay and not much room for advancement unless you are in the 'in crowd".

Pros

The Good - The company seems to be embracing the ideas of quality of life and work/life balance which has resulted in a pretty generous work from home policy and a more relaxed environment in regards to dress code, etc. 401(k) plan is excellent with 100% match. Health benefits are cafeteria plan style so you can pick the amount of coverage that suits your needs. Buyer beware, this can add up quickly though if you want a respectable health package. Vacation time is excellent and includes floating holidays. There are still a number of good people here that truly care about the organization but the numbers are diminishing.

Cons

The Bad - As much as the generous work/life policies are a good thing, they are also bad. In the case of Cengage, there seems to be no accountability for what people are really doing when they are "working from home". Even in the office, the norm seems to be to come in late and leave early, especially for management. Disciplined employees with high work ethics may struggle here as they see what is going on around them when employees (at all levels) are blatantly taking advantage of what should be a good thing. Compensation is well below industry standards. Interestingly enough, the typical response to compensation inquiries is "if you include your bonus, your total compensation....." At the same time, you will here that "bonus is not a guarantee" so it gives the impression that the company wants to play both sides of the compensation conversation. Ironically enough, this year we did not receive any bonus which directly impacted morale.

The Ugly - There is a lot of dirty politics here and advancement is based on who you know and whether or not you are part of the "in crowd". Because of this, the top ranks are filled with people who are poor or ineffective managers. There is a lot of restructuring going on as the company tries to move to the digital age and this has resulted in a number of people being let go. Whereas you would expect this to be an opportunity to get rid of the dead weight, it instead looks like an opportunity to let go of people that they simply do not like.....even if they are strong performers. HR is ineffective and one would wonder what they really do besides tell you to call the benefits number. Ironically enough, this is one group that appears to be growing in size despite large scale reductions in other areas.

This was once a great company and what made the company great was that everyone from the top down thought of the company first and strived to make the company as successful as possible. These days, everyone is watching out for themselves. Turf wars prevail and people are more concerned about protecting their jobs and not losing them in a bad economy.....especially when there is no rhyme or reason for why certain people get cut but incompetent people are retained.

I come to work, do my job, and go home. I stick it out because of my vacation time and in the hopes that when my time comes, I will receive a good severance package.

Advice to Senior Management

Open your eyes to what is going on around you. Engage employees at the lowest level and they will tell you what you need to do to become a shining. well respected, company.

Pros

Very enthusiastic and helpful management that wants to teach those under them how to learn and grow in their position. Very open to new ideas and coming up with the game-changer that will forward the company.

Cons

The process in the office can be slow at times with management, which can be attributed to many employees who come from less business backgrounds compared to education.

Advice to Senior Management

Work on making people see the value of timeliness or find people to work there that can stress it. Continue to foster new ideas to gain a competitive advantage.

Pros

managers are lenient with time off, benefits and 401(k) are great (100% employer match), friendly, laidback atmosphere, people are nice

Cons

very low pay, somewhat degrading to be making copies for nearly two years, hard to get promoted without switching teams

Advice to Senior Management

Open up another position in each editorial team to allow more room for movement. Meritocracy does not exist here, it's more a stroke of luck whether or not you get promoted.

Pros

-small company, lots of hands on learning
-ability to work independently and in a self directed manor
-great experience for entry level, and people who are new to industry

Cons

-Cengage corporate has a vastly different corporate culture than the Chicago office. This clash is hurting the effectiveness of the Chicago office to run e-commerce businesses. (Chicago office was recently acquired).
-Products are not doing as well as they once were.
-A lot of people have left after there was a large restructuring.
-Compensation is low for the industry.

Advice to Senior Management

Kick the corporate habit, and get back to start up mentality. No one ever made it in the web by sitting and waiting.