Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Reviews in Austin, TX Area

Pros

Great work atmosphere to be in.

Cons

Streamlining certain processes not in sync with other departments.

Pros

Kind and Friendly Human Resources Department

Cons

Senior Management is working all by themselves up at the top with complete disregard for those lower than them. Lots of stupid decisions being made.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay attention to your people!

Pros

Ability to work remotely on occasion (despite division policy against it)
Evanston and Boston locations are easily accessed via public transportation (easy commute)
relaxed office environment, no enforced dress code
great colleagues (personable, skilled, knowledgeable, etc.)

Cons

Austin location is on city outskirts (difficult commute)
Senior leadership does not manage or communicate down very well
There is no clear vision or direction for K-12 division
low pay, no raises
corporate environment, heavy use of buzzwords
bureaucratic

Pros

Amazing pool of talent
Still open for business

Cons

The amazing pool of talent is stifled and/or untapped
Inexperienced and incompetent senior "leadership" team
No raises
No promotions
Dwindling benefits
Low morale
Lack of commitment to and investment in product development
Unwieldy bureaucracy
Company currently under the control of authoritarian consultant clowns

Advice to Senior Management

Hire leaders with real publishing, product development, and people management skills -- seriously, at some point, we're going to have to sell a product.

Pros

We still create excellent product.
Benefits are good, and HR department does their best to help us.
Intelligent, creative, literate and innovative co-workers.

Cons

-- After a mind-boggling amount of layoffs and reorganization, cost-cutting, and discontinuation of raises and promotions, few incentives left other than fear of unemployment. Extremely low morale. Now that the job market is beginning to look up, people are beginning to leave, and that will probably become a mass exodus of brains and talent.
-- Following a large merger and 3 large waves of layoffs in 2008, extreme restructuring of three subsidiaries into one K-12 organization across 4 locations in 2009 has rendered once successful organization dysfunctional. Either many of our job functions have been moved to other areas, or we have gained a string of new functions with no warning and little explanation. Either way a once-satisfying job may be a misery now.
-- Efforts to standardize everything have created a growing bureacracy, but processes are not explained so it's difficult to get things done. Very frustrating day-to-day, especially when the company was once effective and successful.
-- Policy is set from top down with no input from employees. We are no longer empowered and our experience and judgment are not valued anymore, whether we are staff or managers. Decisions are primarily from consultants or former consultants, who have little experience in our industry. If their bright ideas don't work, they still get rewarded but the employees are blamed.
-- Extremely poor communication from senior management. This began with the merger of HM and Harcourt in 2007 and has not really improved in 2-1/2 years. About once a year they'll have town hall meetings, but not even make it to all locations. Otherwise it's unintelligible memos, usually announcing yet another VP hired, or congratulating themselves on the success of some initiative they've never told us anything about before.
-- Communication within a department can also be poor. Department meetings are a thing of the past in many areas, there are few forums to ask questions or discuss things as a group. Everyone is isolated, most meetings are conference calls.

Advice to Senior Management

Both HM and Harcourt were companies we were proud to work for. It's amazing how quickly a good company that took years to build can be dismantled, but you can restore this one if you want to. We've stayed with the company hoping that you will. Let us know where you want the company to go, keep in touch with us and listen to us, thin out the dead-weight consultants, be more responsive to customers and vendors. Bring back solid behavior like people managing people and acting as leaders, not people managing up and covering their tails with snowstorms of data.

Pros

Some great key players. Great knowledge base. some with the knowledge to get the right things done.

Cons

When a project fails or falls behind scapegoating tends to roll down hill. another responder hit the work environment on the head - combat zone mentality.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the ones who "know" the business. there is great talent but they are not listened to.

Pros

People below Sr management are the best. They all support each other, are creative, and work hard to produce top quality products.

Cons

By changing almost every process, the senior management has caused confusion and made many tasks take much longer and thus be more expensive, especially in technology. In some cases they laid off all people working on products so that no one was left to pick up and run with production of time sensitive materials.

Morale is extremely low because of lack of understanding or caring from senior management. They fly first class, stay in first rate hotels, and make huge salaries while there are many layoffs of the people that make the products that pay for all of their perks.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management needs to truly open their eyes and be honest with themselves. Their micromanaging will be the end two, once-great companies.

Pros

some quality programs and products, flexible schedule, decent benefits

Cons

low morale, constant layoffs, instability, bad press, lack of direction, horrible sales management

Advice to Senior Management

focus on branding and improving morale and keeping quality sales people

Pros

Generally plenty of opportunities to be creative and develop new products that can make a real difference with students. Intelligent, hardworking staff make going to work everyday fun and enjoyable. Average to slightly above average benefits.

Cons

Little to no communication from senior and executive management to staff; extensive restructuring and lack of communication have created an atmosphere of uncertainty and lack of confidence that management has a realistic, workable plan for the company's future. Numerous rounds of downsizing have left workers overworked, underpaid, and feeling disrespected. Professional development opportunities and training of existing staff are nonexistent. Little sense of teamwork within most departments.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate with your employees, develop a solid plan for future growth, and stick with it!

Pros

People are what made the company go. They had clearly defined roles, yet were still encouraged to think and contribute outside the box.

Cons

The debt taken on by the parent company to acquire, first Houghton Mifflin, then Harcourt, has become a strain on every division and greatly affected workflow. People who are normally buzzing around with work are left to sit and wonder if the company is going to make it. The initial integration of the two companies was a grind on those who made it through. Now an announcement that we're heading in a totally different direction, with a massive new batch of cuts and changes. It has placed an enormous strain on the morale and spirit of employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate - in plain-spoken English. Not the soft, corporate language being tossed around. And do so in a regular manner. Its hard to keep good corporate citizens happy when they don't know what the heck is going on.