Critical Mass Reviews

Pros

Many different technologies and top brands to work for. Very liberal style work place. People are very nice. Lots of young people and Parties... Possibilities for relocating to other parts of the world.

Cons

Salary level is lower than average. You have to be able to voice a lot to get recognition. Performance review is flawed. Quality of work tends to average out with entry to mid level people.

Advice to Senior Management

CM tends to believe PR is better than Performance.

Pros

a lot of big interesting clients; relatively flat org structure; really smart and fun people; company is the perfect size; still growing despite hard economic times that have hit our clients hard; fun culture

Cons

centralization--doesn't work with all the offices they have and it takes forever for things to get rolling; employee retention--no career pathing, poor middle manager skills; pay--generally lower than competitors; nepotism; lackluster support for internal needs/initiatives; not as creative as they like to think they are; uphill battle for exposure; exec doesn't present a unified front nor communicate well-enough (or regularly enough) down through the ranks

Advice to Senior Management

when you see a problem, address it. when you make a decision to do something... actually commit.

Pros

People are excellent and the clients are highly respected.

Cons

Compensation is not at the top end of the industry although the client list is top-notch. Seeing top quality people leave the company is hard for morale as others wonder if they should also leave. Recent departure of several senior management has started rumours that they may know something that others do not.

Advice to Senior Management

If Critical Mass wants to be at the top of the digital space, then it needs to pay closer to the top of the digital space. Management has said that Critical Mass will never be at the top in regards to pay - so how is great work to be done?

Pros

Critical Mass has an open and dynamic work environment where people can get exposed to many different roles and projects and types of marketing work. It's a good place to gain some experience in the digital agency industry, and to improve your teamwork skills.

Cons

Critical Mass has problems with responding to employee concerns in a timely manner. Nagging issues which would otherwise be easy to solve are swept under the rug. This has caused a lot of turnover in spite of the ongoing attempt to keep a strong culture and an open discussion going.

Advice to Senior Management

You have a good base built, but please dig deeper into the complaints and requests that your employees give you and try to really listen to what your employees want. Don't shove your own interpretation of retention strategy down people's throats. Team building exercises and parties don't make up for lack of progress in other key career development areas.

Pros

Variety of clients to work for, challenging environments and ideas. Room for advancement in some specialties. Like to have a lot of fun in downtime. In other words, lots of beer.

Cons

work-life balance not only not respected but actively considered poor choice for advancement. massive disconnect between bottom level employees and senior level management. Not all 'types' of employees considered equal. It's also very unclear as to how you can push for the best things when the company seems to actively dissuade the 'right solution' even when the benefits are clear.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to listen realistically to the people that really matter. If the messages aren't coming up from those just below you, you're not hearing anything that is being told to them. middle management is the bulk of the problem.

Pros

The people at Critical Mass are passionate about what they do, passionate about technology.

Cons

There is not a clear understanding of where the company is going and therefore it is difficult to make an educated decision on your career path. The work/life balance is non existent.

Advice to Senior Management

N/A

Pros

Dedicated co workers who will always support one another

Cons

- salary was not very competitive
- salary reviews were non-existent
- long hours were considered the norm (evenings, weekends)
- senior leadership was not strong

Advice to Senior Management

- standardize your processes (bonus, promotions, etc)
- reduce micro management
- improve work life balance
- promote and compensate based on merit

Pros

The people are great, the work is good too.

Cons

Communication is poor and morale is suffering. I think it is a leadership issue. It used to be "the" agency. Not so sure anymore.

Advice to Senior Management

Talk to the people in the trenches, not just to the directors and managers.

Pros

The people are wonderful, and the work we do is sometimes best in class. When it is at its best, CM can be one of the best places to work hands down.

Cons

It is difficult to advance my career. I am not sure what is required of me to get a promotion. It is not what it used to be. People have been leaving in Toronto very quickly and that is having a negative impact on the office's culture.

Advice to Senior Management

Please focus on retaining talent and growing more internally. It created an atmosphere that people thrived in.

Pros

Best culture of any agency I've been with. They do care to a certain degree about their employees welfare, certainly more than other agencies that consider their people as resources.

Cons

Some of the support and back office systems are pretty weak in comparison to other companies of the same size.
HR and company orientation / onboarding for new hires could be improved.
Consistency in delivery across the company varies by office and region.
The company is still largely run out of Calgary, AB, not exactly the mecca for marketing professionals.
Administration and processes sometimes get in the way of doing good work. Processes sometimes feel very inefficient.

Advice to Senior Management

Put more focus on the larger markets in the US.