Softchoice Reviews in Toronto, ON Area

Pros

-good culture
-fast paced training that will make you learn alot over a short period
-excellent internal resources to help you sell
-relaxed environment where boss doesnt hover over your shoulder
-cold calling made easy where customers are receptive and wiling to do business if you listen to their needs and wants

Cons

-expect too much sometimes when hard to sell in competitive industry
-commission takes while to build up
-complex products selling at times

Advice to Senior Management

doing great, give you the advice you need to succeed

Pros

Contrary to what some of the naysayers have said below - I think this is a great work environment!!

Cool office, great people, competitive benefits, lots of opportunity (I still think this and I have been around for a while), fast paced technology industry, good development programs, regular performance appraisals, weekly one on one with my manager, solid company reputation and financials are strong.

Cons

Unfortunately people who don't want to be here for whatever reason stick around too long... probably because they realize the grass is not always greener. They should hurry up and leave so this isn't such a downer for everyone else. We actually have pretty good employee morale otherwise.

This is an environment of lots of change and we're super busy...this may put pressure on work life balance for some.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the focus on creating a great work environment. Employee surveys are good tools and we should be able to see more actions coming from them.

Pros

Corporate culture, Dogs at work, Employee gym, Great people, Six sigma training, innovative technology and a industry leader, charitable organization, green team, everyone has a voice, great benefits, 2 volunteer days.

Cons

The pay I think could be better depending on position. This is really the only con I can currently think of

Advice to Senior Management

Most of the managers I find have a good grasp on how to lead and motivate people and are an asset to Softchoice.

Pros

Benefits package is second to none.
Informal work environment if you're not in Sales.
Trendy office with dogs

Cons

Poor pay scale in Operations. Gap in salary between a worker and a manager is stark, especially if the (newly promoted) manager has no management experience.

Too many managers and not enough experienced people doing actual work. This leads to one person being relied on for a number of non-overlapping tasks.

Bring your dog to work is being abused by newbies, so this means there are too many dogs with different personalities. This leads to conflict and distractions for others without dogs.

Forget about raising your concerns to HR partners. It seems that sole job is to protect management and ensure the workforce is duly subdued. Concerns, complaints and even outright reports of discrimination are swept aside as 'misunderstandings'.

Training department that doesn't know how to use the internal tools, and disavows actual training of new recruits.

Advice to Senior Management

You want to make sure you have your finger on the pulse of Softchoice? Mandate regular (quarterly) company wide reviews as part of ongoing improvement. Make these truly anonymous and confidential. Compile these results and have an independent external agent review and make recommendations based on these. Relying on internal checks and balances has failed you before, and it will fail you again.

Pros

I feel that Softchoice is an amazing place to grow your career. For those that are not out spoken or don't out right ask for it they may not realize all the career development opportunities that exist. Softchoice has a practice of giving it employees more responsibility and ownership then perhaps they should have at their given tenure or experience but it's that trust that is placed in you and those experiences that really growth and stretch you. Some employees may not like that and see it as extra work but for those employees that want to be challenged you will thrive in this environment. My advice to anyone that is not feeling challenged is speak up and ask! So often we wait to be asked or bestowed upon by our manager but be in charge of your own career development, don't wait for your supervisor, manager or even VP make those decisions for you. Overall the culture is great, very friendly coworkers always willing to help out.

Cons

There is often an impression that the sales team get more perks then the operational folk, it can be true at times but I think that's the case with any sales company. I think executives to try to make it fair for ops employees but often those sales perks are funded by vendors and operational employees just don't get a slice of that pie.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the open door/ transparency a strong aspect of Softchoice culture. We have more visibility into Softchoice longterm plans now then we ever had before and it is much appreciated.

Pros

- There are a ton of opportunities to learn and develop new skills and take on projects that would normally be outside of one's typical job scope within most other corporations.
- Having the opportunity to work closely with managers. Communication is very open at Softchoice and it is a very collaborative environment to work in.
- This is a hardworking enviornment, generally work volume is full (across all positions) so it's a great place to work for someone who enjoys a challenging work environment.
- Goals oriented company, very entrepreneurial culture.
- Great commissions and incentives in place for sales people.
- A great place for junior sales people to start their career, learn, develop and progress within the company.
- Bring Dogs to Work
- Green commute subsidy
- Great benefits package
- Gym on site, free of charge.
Socially conscious company:
- Softchoice Cares program
- 2 paid volunteer days per person, per year.
- Green committee (SC is committed to being 'green' and adopting green technology strategies).

Cons

- Not a great place for employees who want to progress without going through the proper time lines, mastering their current position and meeting the appropriate goals communicated.

Pros

Great working environment, friendly people, work hard and play hard!

Cons

at times works needs to be distributed equallly to be fair to the entire group.

Advice to Senior Management

none

Pros

Softchoice is a genuinely interesting, active and 'young' company, with a relaxed in-office atmosphere and fairly trendy facilities. The ability to bring a dog to work or visit someone else's should not be under-rated. Many employees are bright, friendly and interested in a sense of community - the company's greatest strength are the people who last past their first year, and aim to make a career of it. The benefits package is excellent - and underutilized - compared to many employers. On-site gym at head office is nice, monthly 'beer cart' and President's Club trips are all nice up-ticks. I am seldom unhappy about coming to work; my co-workers make all the difference. If you're willing to put your head down and work hard, keep your nose clean, and be patient, you can do pretty well here.

Cons

Impossible not to sound mercenary, but pay is notoriously poor for all elements; Sales complain endlessly about their still-superior pay, which demoralizes support groups. Recognition and fiscal incentive for the crucial, hard-working operational teams is notably lacking - many are self-motivated or strive because of their teams, not because of immediate management or reasonable rewards. There are some excellent mid-level managers, but again, Operations is afflicted with mutually-supportive ineffectuals, to the organization's detriment. High turnover in Sales positions destabilizes, while popular managers proceed through a string of Byzantine management roles. I've personally seen effective but less-popular team leaders and managers be passed-over for better connected candidates, regardless of their actual experience vis a vis the new role. For no apparent reason, upkeep of simple facilities (kitchen areas, bathrooms) seems to challenge facilities; cleaning is minimal at best.

Advice to Senior Management

There are already entirely too many managers, while supervisors and team leads can take months to create or replace. If you have a team without a supervisor in their ranks, but they answer to 2-3 managers, that surely doesn't make sense. Neither does hiring a manager who cannot perform the basic tasks of their group, and never learn those skills - they will never understand their subordinates. Underpaying and under-recognizing Operations costs you a great deal in experience and efficiency, which our competitors are all to happy to acquire with relatively modest pay raises. Pay your people what they are worth, and they'll carry you to success.

Pros

Being part of a constantly growing and evolving organization; A winning company that successfully expanded into the US market; Very few uneventful days.

Cons

Trying to integrate too many companies and cultures in the last few years; Occasionally faces identity crisis; Very few uneventful days.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't keep greasing the squeaky wheels.

Pros

Energetic environment, great development programs, and highly respected in the industry. Strong brand and customer loyalty. Great opportunity to build a strong career and earn good money at a young age. Onsite gym, can bring your dogs to work, lunch provided to employees on occassion, great benefits, Softchoice Cares and strong Green focus, generous vacation days, company events and more create a great work environment.

Cons

Work/Life Balance can be challenging at times. Compensation is good (comparable against competitors), but you're always worth more. It's a high pace environment, this may not be for everyone.

Advice to Senior Management

The culture at Softchoice is unique and not seen in a lot of large organizations. The Leadership Team needs to ensure that is maintained over time and not become too corporate.