LeapFrog Reviews

Pros

The work is interesting an the people are pretty nice. I am happy to be working on something that helps kids, kids enjoy and parent love. Most similar industry positions produce a product that is just for entertainment value.
I also enjoy the work environment. The space is open and comfortable.

Cons

The salaries are not competitive across the company.
The executive team is all men.
There is no credit given on products design.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize your incredible staff, employees that work hard, long hours and design amazing products. Give advancement to those who deserve it, allow opportunity to grow with the company.

Pros

Between 2000 and 2006, the people I worked with on a daily basis were smart, competent and helpful. Generally, a pleasant environment. People there were focused on having a good time getting the work done. Work schedules were generally flexible.

Cons

From 2006 till my departure it seemed like upper management was disconnected. Bloated executive layer. Lack of top-down communication. Managerial churn.

Advice to Senior Management

Get back to the basics. Focus on the company's core strengths -- rich, educational content delivered creatively and effectively, in my humble opinion.

Pros

Small company that has potential for future growth. Products we make are making a difference in peoples lives. Since it's a small company, your work is noticed, for better or for worse.

Cons

You can't ever miss a beat, it's fast paced and the company is REALLY depending on you to perform. Many people who have been with the company for a long time seem to have great job security even though their work effort is greatly reduced. It's a marketing company first, engineering company 2nd (maybe 3rd...4th...). Engineering does not receive the recognition and budgeting that it deserves which causes products to have high potential but poor execution.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to thin out on the under performers and better recognize over achievers, especially outside of the sales and marketing team, the engineering team is where the products come from, yet they never receive company wide recognition for their work, while people who secured a deal with Target seem to be well thanked, remember there would be no deal to make if engineering had not come through.

Pros

LeapFrog is an amazing educational brand with that all employees can be proud of. The products made really make a difference in children's lives. As an employee you will be pushed toward excellence and thoroughness in all you do.

Cons

LeapFrog has become very political in how an employee can drive their responsibilities. It can become confusing because there isn't enough communication giving clear direction down, but strict processes are expected to be followed regardless. Employees are not empowered to make decisions at their responsibility level and it causes re-work and very long hours.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire people that you believe in and trust and then empower them and give them the authority to do the job you hired them to do.

Pros

Fun products that help kids learn. Great brand. Fun place to work. Company meetings. Lots of friendly employees who really care about the company.

Cons

Over the years I have seen a lot of changes. There's been lots of turnover and some really poor management. Things have got a lot better over the last 6 months.

Advice to Senior Management

Lots of positive changes in 2011. New leadership has made lots of good changes and should continue to build teamwork across work groups.

Pros

- Fun, creative co-workers. Casual culture
- Work-life balance
- Products that make you feel good about your job
- Decent benefits package
- One of the few B2C product companies in California
- New CEO brings in hope for a better future

Cons

- Cartel of incompetent senior management: legacy management that needs to be replaced with leaders who can adapt to today's market demands

- Politics, politics, politics: Many incompetent senior managers/directors just try to hold on to their jobs. They refuse to take responsibility for tasks assigned to them and blame others for failures.

- Silo-ed culture: no cross-team collaboration. Inflated egos. People refuse to talk to other teams, ending up re-inventing the wheel several times.

- Has a history of failing to bring great ideas into action

Advice to Senior Management

Consider restructuring the teams. Nurture collaborative environment. Hire leaders, not managers. Try harder in retaining your best talent. Otherwise, all there will be left would be a bunch of incompetent people who are not employable elsewhere.

Pros

Cross-functional work environment; team leaders have an open door policy, and are happy to share their expertise. Strong support from supervisors and colleagues. Knowledge sharing is also strong.

Cons

Teams are very protective of their projects, even when changes are needed.

Advice to Senior Management

Help teams understand that critical feedback should be welcomed, and that punitive measures will not be the result of risk-taking.

Pros

Great brand recognition, and people here are passionate about the products we make. Junior to mid-management people are generally easy to work with and collaborative. For some unknown reason, people are also willing to work crazy hours to make things happen (given there's not much recognition in return).

Cons

Senior management, especially the CEO, has a tough time "walking the walk" - they claim certain things are important (brands, values, etc.) but then they turn around and their actions espouse the exact opposite. The CEO is a great salesman but has yet to actually produce the cultural changes he's promised for 7 months...and in general there's not a lot of substance below what he says/promises to employees or our customers.

There has been a huge employee exodus lately in large part due to frustration with the new CEO and senior management's lack of recognition of hard work and dedication. It's a real shame as we are losing some key people as a result. Certain people have received a lot of recognition, but in general the bulk of the "rank and file" continue to go ignored. Senior management is really weak as well and has little backbone to stand up for their employees...they also have a habit of taking credit for work that is not their own.

Oh, and benefits here are bad. You'd think in a place that makes kid products that this would be a family-friendly company, but it's quite the opposite - this is a workhorse culture with little work/life balance (or support from sr management for work/life balance).

Advice to Senior Management

Start appreciating what you have in dedicated employees - and recognize their efforts financially and publicly. Stop playing favorites. And stop saying one thing to employees as "lip service" when your actions show the opposite.

Pros

Can be a fun enviroment to work for.

Cons

No worklife balance/no job security. Some Senior Management only care for their own benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire good and competent senior management team to lead and revive Leapfrog!

Pros

Some smart people, but overall a lot of B+ folks in the ranks. People can complain about management changes, but you have to look at the ones that have been here for a long time. Mostly slightly above average and it explains the company's performance the past few years.

Cons

Not everyone works hard. Some work extremely hard while others roll in late and leave early. Also, we still have a couple people doing non-existent jobs from the Jeff Katz days. Let's get rid of them too.

Advice to Senior Management

Let's get more smart people in the org with the right experience.