Desire2Learn Reviews

Pros

Talented and passionate people, friendly and supportive culture, challenging work, dogs in the office, free food and hot chocolate, meaningful purpose

Cons

Growing pains: As a high growth company there is lots of hiring, learning and change.

No tuition reimbursement program currently.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve internal systems. A lot of efficiencies could be gained here.

Give more swag to employees.

Pros

Nice office space
Dogs allowed in office
Snacks

Cons

Senior leadership is lacking and direction is not set for employees
A lot of products sold to customers do not exist leaving employees lying to customers and causes frustration among staff
Compensation is poor compared to other local companies
No management support
Annual bonus structure sounds great, but realistically is not, nor is the information to calculate shared. Employees are kept thinking the company is doing great, until bonus time and numbers aren't met so bonuses are poor.

Advice to Senior Management

Deliver on promises to customers and staff.
Senior leaders should pay attention to staff and talk with them.

Pros

There are a number of very good things in the company including:
Great Office Space
Great technology
Great Location
EcoPlan
Bring your dog to work

Cons

There is a very weak and immature management team. Steps have been made to improve this but it is still a serious issue. High turnover rate due to poor hiring practices and lack of respect of employees by management. There is a high level of inappropriate internal back patting - Mission statement is to "Improve Human Potential Worldwide", but perhaps it would be a good idea to focus on "Improving Human Potential Internally" first. Good people get frustrated and leave.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve hiring practices - especially at the management level. Provide long term employees with a clear career path, vision and support to meet personal goals.
Snacks and treats do not make up for poor management's lack of respect for employees -
I have heard a headhunter state that they could not recommend Desire2Learn to a potential employee in good conscience.

Pros

Desire2Learn is great technology. There are some very good people here with long term vision to meet client needs. This is a growing market, and the company should continue to grow accordingly.

Cons

The executive team is driven by greed, while attempting to paint a picture of being committed to making the world a better place. The desire to succeed is fine; the hypocrisy is what I have a philosophical issue with.

Pros

Casual atmosphere
Benefits
Subsidized food (nothing is free)
Dogs allowed in office
Flexible work hours

Cons

Inexperienced, new managers
* Nepotism - it is a family business
No training on systems AT ALL
Lower than average pay
Deceptive hiring practices
High turnover
Deceptive sales practices

Advice to Senior Management

This co will not be open long the way it is being run. The more negative press you get, the faster the closure will be. In today's online world, this is guaranteed. Treat employees with respect; do not lie to them; do not lie to new clients; maybe you will stay in business.

Pros

Great office chairs that swivel
Birthday cakes on your birthday
You get a water bottle
Few humans walk around

Cons

Only a select few knowledgeable managers.
Expect lower compensation than industry average.
Too many complex software integrations.
Inconsistent expectations.
Lack of autonomously.
Alot of robots walking around.
You are forced to fill out daily timesheets in ridiculous detail .
Inadequate future revenue projections (many worry when a number is picked out of hat).
You are forced to fill out documents which are hardly looked at including (timesheets, PDPs).

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to understand why there is a high turnover rate.
Higher salary budgets rather than higher office furniture budgets will bring in more competent employees.
Employees leave managers not companies. (retension officers may help)
Constructive criticism by managers who have already been there and done that would be beneficial for the employee.
Managers may need to start acting like mentors. (mentorship programs would be nice where managers actually care and know detailed career paths)

Pros

fast-paced excitement; lots of nice people; flex hours; many skill sets are required; amazing technology; on the leading edge of a revolution!

Cons

highly inexperienced management; low salaries; serious growing pains across all levels are leading to burn out; large turn-over rate means knowledge and skills walk out the door

Advice to Senior Management

Walk the talk better. And re-vamp HR so that the obvious conflicts of interests are removed (everyone talks about it).

Pros

Opportunity to learn from other employees who are qualified.
The ability to understand management decisions and why.
No whip.

Cons

Features are important than simplicity.
There are agile teams in a plane in flight with words waterfall on it's wings.

Advice to Senior Management

Give the employees what they deserve to reduce the high turnaround.
Employees may have an exit strategy.
Respect Devs.

Pros

There are many very intelligent and wise developers at Desire2Learn, which makes for lots of opportunities to learn. The projects can be challenging, and the work gives you lots of room to grow. The atmosphere is really relaxed and social, you can get up and play a game of ping pong, or fooseball, but people are also very passionate about their work and you are expected to get your work done. Working for a company in the education industry can give you a feeling of working for something meaningful as well.

Cons

Some HR policies are the spotlight of many contentions. The way compensation is presented is counter-productive sometimes and is lower than the industry average, especially for more Sr. developers.

Advice to Senior Management

More clear pay scale so people know what they can achieve while working at the company. Take more advice on a few HR policies, especially those that have been proven to not work by academics around the world for years.

Pros

Desire2Learn is a great place to work.

Cons

Downtown Kitchener location is not the greatest.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work.