Mar 10, 2023
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Directions Training reviews
3.5
53% would recommend to a friend
Jennifer Didier
73% approve of CEO
61% positive business outlook
1.0
May 11, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
Firstly, it should be noted that Directions no longer exists as an independent organization. We were purchased by Fast Lane (a Germany-based, international organization) and have co-branded. for the US market. The acquisition was unceremoniously announced to our entire staff the Monday after Thanksgiving 2021 - after the sale had already taken place. Both teams were then given the immediate task of forming and completing a full integration plan. The week prior to sale, Directions had 21 employees. One (owner's family member) was "retired" in the transition and, since that time, we have lost an additional 7 employees. This is not taking into account the staff losses from Fast Lane in that same time frame. Morale from both teams is abysmal, and acknowledgement of the severity of the situation by management has been tepid at best, let alone any actual perks or monetary gestures to the overburdened teams. The Directions team are all-around dedicated, hardworking, smart, and creative professionals. I have never worked with such a talented and dedicated (sometimes, to a fault) group of individuals, and I hope that we will all find better futures either within the new organization or beyond. Judging from what I have learned so far, the Fast Lane team seems every bit as great and hardworking. It's really a shame to watch both organizations hemorrhage because of the decisions or hubris of 1 or 2 people. There is some initiative to bulk staff back up but, without significant structural changes, I fear this will only continue in cycles as the new bodies quickly wise up and burn out.
Cons
-Below industry standard pay (doubly so for Fast Lane staff, who are paid even lower for similar positions) -Salaried positions with more than 40 hours of work to do. There is a culture of putting in additional hours without it being openly addressed. The most effort made is a promise of hiring more staff (which is taking ages, likely due in some part to low starting pay) or shifting workloads around to keep one employee appeased while another suffers. Put another way, robbing Peter to pay Paul. -An atrocious software suite: this is in regard to the primary software solution that Fast Lane uses. It is a proprietary "CRM" that was developed in-house and is rife with bloat, unintuitive functionality, and seemingly no thought given to productivity. Expect excessive manual data entry for very simple tasks. -Lack of Leadership: the migration and training post-acquisition was hamfisted into an unrealistic timeline because of a desire to make products more accessible for the sales staff. Little or no thought was extended to the Client Services, Operations, IT, or Product management teams that would have to (and still are, at the time of this writing) manage the fallout.
1.0
Dec 3, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
Work from home, provides a nice work-life balance but NOTE, this is the only pro.
Cons
No benefits, no health insurance, no Christmas bonus (a $25 gift card if you are lucky), no growth opportunities. Salary is very low and most employees have two jobs to make ends meet. Ownerdoes not invest in her employees, mistakes on commission payouts are very common. Have to constantly monitor that your commissions are paid in full every pay cycle. Lack of marketing strategy and budget beyond spamming customers. Upper management and top producers are treated poorly.
