C Space Employee Reviews about "work life balance"

Pros

I've been here for about 6 months now and love my job. C Space is clearly committed to continuous improvement in our culture. The work/life balance is real -- while there are some late (6:30pm and on) nights, that is not the norm. I've worked at other places where 60h/week was the usual. C Space is not that place. You get to work on cool projects with interesting clients and supportive, smart teammates.

Cons

None have come up yet.

Pros

Very compassionate senior leadership team Opportunity to work on very interesting clients Good progression opportunities

Cons

Very fast pace of work making a good work life balance hard Intense employee turnover

Pros

over all concept of the company is great, location is nice. 6th 7th floor is comfortable, Facilities is fantastic! always on the ball

Cons

IT department is clueless!! they dont know talent when it hits them in the face overall. Some managers lie to your face and are completely back stabbing you, not a place to have a career, but a job for a few years max. Company expects you to be available for them 24 7 but touts work life balance. talking out out of both sides of their mouth.

Pros

Communispace does great work. Clients, employees, competitors... everyone knows the fabulous work that comes out of this company. It's a fantastic learning experience and wonderful resume builder. Communication at Communispace is pretty fantastic. They have regular staff meetings that review the company financials and everything going on. Every weekend the CEO leaves the entire staff a voicemail with the accomplishments of the week. Pretty awesome.

Cons

I started at communispace spring 2010. After I interviewed the first thing I did was check out the reviews on glassdoor. They were glowing. What I didn't notice was that they were all from 2008. I don't know what has happened since then, but the reviews were very... optimistic. Maybe it was because only the happy employees left a review, maybe things were different then. The Communispace I experienced wasn't the same place with the awesome culture I read about on glassdoor. The reality is that there are 2 cultures at Communispace. The culture they brag about and talk about is what I read on glassdoor. It's all about communication, collaboration and camaraderie. The 'real' culture is a work-your-ass-off culture. 50+ hour weeks are very typical. The first indication of this culture came on my 2nd week on the job. During the staff meeting the leadership team addressed the '45-hour week' rumor going around the company. Being brand new, I had no idea what she was talking about. She went on to say that every employee was expected to put in 45 hours a week, and if this wasn't happening he/she needed to raise his/her hand for more work. Say what? That never came up during my interview. And if it had, I would have seriously reconsidered. Work/life balance was something I asked about during the interview process and I was assured that it would not be an issue. After a few months there I realized they weren't kidding about the workload. Communispace is a very different work environment than most people have experience, and as such, there's a HUGE learning curve. The first 4-5 months were the worst, but it helped to hear (sort of) that the first 4-5 months are pretty awful for everyone. They try to onboard through 2 weeks of training (which are good), but once those two weeks are over there is very little support and understanding from your manager. You're sort of thrown to the wolves. My biggest struggle at Communispace was the lack of support. I felt like I was on an island with nothing but a two-way radio to communicate with the outside world. What really put the nail in the coffin for me was the 'value awards'. Every year they have a big pat-ourselves-on-the-back meeting to celebrate our accomplishments throughout the year. Communispace has 5 (6?) 'values' they pride themselves on, and awards are given out to employees who represent these values. In theory, this is a great thing. But as I sat through the meeting the 90% of the 50-60 employees who were recognized were called out because of the 'heroics' they'd gone through in the name of client satisfaction. 2am conference calls, launching communities while on vacation in hawaii, 70 hour weeks... this is what gets recognition. The longer I sat in this meeting the more grateful I was that I had not been nominated. While I want to do a good job and be dedicated to client satisfaction, I have to draw a line. I do not want my job to be my life. To be recognized at Communispace, you have to dedicate your life and I'm simply not willing to do that. While I was there I was a good employee. I got all of my work done quickly and with high quality, usually within my 45 hours. My clients loved me. But because I was fortunate enough not to land in a situation requiring 'heroics' I was never recognized for my efforts. And I never would be. If you are looking to build your resume and gain some skills, I highly recommend Communispace. However, this is not a long-term job for anyone who has outside interests or a family.

Pros

It's got really nice people there - however, it can be the luck of the draw. I was lucky to be in a really fun and empathetic team that cared about their colleagues - other teams aren't so lucky. Used to have good benefits, but I do think the £250 a year for personal development is fun.

Cons

-My biggest issue is that skills learned here aren't transferable. You get a crash course on research as an AC and then after that you're basically a project manager. So when trying to find a new job, you really have to convince people that you've got solid research skills (if leaving for a research role) which you don't. How can you go for senior jobs when you're not given the chance to do anything beyond communities? I've heard the above for those looking for branding, strategy and innovation roles. Many make it work and do go on to successful jobs but it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience and personal grit to make it happen. -Progression isn't consistent, some people whizz through progression 1 year at a time, and some others can't get get one in 3 years. -Pay is also unequal and frustrating - I never knew why I got paid the same as those with shorter tenure and more junior than me. -Don't get me started on work life balance. I was fortunate to have an account director that cared about it but there was always so much to do, it was really really hard to have that balance.

Pros

Nice product. Some nice people to work with.

Cons

Horrible work life balance. There is an expectation from the management team and senior people in the business for you to work extra hours. There was this 'fear' of pushing back to clients, which meant the workload was unmanageable. Bad management decisions. Poor leaders and bad mentors.

Pros

This company is a stepping stone. If you are looking for a job where you gain experience, but move on after a year C Space may work for you.

Cons

This company is a revolving door, which leaves teams very understaffed and overworked. Last year there was a very long hiring and promotion freeze, so if someone quit we were not allowed to replace them, meaning more work for the individuals on the team without merit. We were promised staffing improvements in January 2018 when the hiring freeze ended but these promises were never fulfilled due to recruitment's lack of ability to catch up from the hiring freeze with new business and high turnover. HR will comment about all the people that they have hired this year, which is great and impressive, however it is not enough! Employees are being abused and its not OK. People are asking for help and they are not getting the support and help they need. Work/life balance is not valued here.

Pros

Work and life balance and great flexibility

Cons

Clients always have deadlines to meet

Pros

Opportunity to work on cool accounts Free food, t-shirts Decent work/life balance Young group of people

Cons

If you like free coffee, t-shirts, and wearing Converse to work, then this is the place for you. If, however, you're not so easily impressed, seek jobs elsewhere. C Space has a very interesting business, but it is completely overshadowed by a phony work culture. C Space preaches how it is the embodiment of open communication and transparency, yet that is not at all what I experienced working there. Incredibly disorganized management, people only respond to your emails when it is convenient for them, and no one wants to hear constructive feedback. Don't be fooled by appearances- on the surface, it's a very nice company, but C Space has massive organizational problems that hinders growth within the company, and why there is such a high turnover rate. Underpaid employees, horrible benefits, and no opportunities for growth within the company.

Pros

People really care Work life balance Great array of clients Great people Company continues to grow and expand skillsets

Cons

Really depends on which department you work at. Challenges I faced that were supported by senior leaders around me were pushed back upon in other departments, on people with the same role I have!