Canoe – “decent place for a self-starter”

Pros

- lots of room to make your position whatever you want it to be, especially if you like working independently
- some very smart and very cool people in entry-level and middle-management positions
- the company is interested in investing in new techonologies and products (ex. mobile) and there are some interesting projects
- part of one of Canada's largest media companies (QMI)
- friendly and casual office environment

Cons

- little or no leadership from senior management
- little or no follow-through with company objectives and goals from executive level
- too many managers, not enough doers
- poor internal communication from senior management, between products and between teams
- compensation and benefits are safely below market standard
- no career development or succession planning, promotions are often given to the person closest to the hiring manager or to the person who's most convenient to fill the role

Advice to Senior Management

- thin out senior management and make them accountable for the performance of their team, not just for overall revenue results
- create an internal succession planning program
- really invest in finding the most qualified candidate for a position (internal or external), instead of promoting the nearest by-stander
- give HR active responsibility for performance coaching and reviews (together with the direct manager)
- do more to promote internal communication
- clearly define roles and responsibilities at all levels