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Integrated Design Associates

Is this your company?

Still acceptable as a junior staff just after graduation - Anonymous employee Integrated Design Associates Employee Review

3.0
Dec 23, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Friendly colleagues, compared with some other HK local firms -No so much work overtime

Cons

-Office management sometimes messed but could be acceptable.

Explore other reviews about Integrated Design Associates

5.0
Sep 20, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Prestigious projects and great colleagues. Everyone is talented and respectful

Cons

Very bureaucratic can come across insincere

1.0
Apr 19, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good design skills from the principal and senior, they should stick to doing design only and stay away from office management. Nice colleagues from different countries.

Cons

- no internet allowed at your computer as they worry data leaks, then they gave excuse about past history theft. In a design world that progresses fast, this is not possible. Do not hire us if you cannot trust. - salary is not high compared to other company. Petty with all cost related issues, in the end you rather not submit your client meeting's travel claim to avoid the fight. The calculation of annual leaves or wages for paid and unpaid leave is also tricky. - Marketed themselves like a western design firm, but in fact traditional and practices local style micro management. Close members of the family is taking over office management to salvage the PR. - Many ex-employees left at very bad terms. Go figure.

2
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Integrated Design Associates Response
3y
Dear Poster, Thank you. We wish to acknowledge your concerns and address your points, please know that you are heard and we are in the process of making changes where we can. As you know full well, internet access is restricted because we design important International Infrastructure projects, our data requires a higher degree of protection. If you have any suggestions please feel free to make them at our Project meetings, rather than coming on a public platform, work with us towards viable solutions. We are all too happy to take the conversation offline. On the topic of Salary, I wish to highlight you are making this post during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Our Directors made a conscious decision to keep everyone employed rather than make cuts in the office (like so many firms during these difficult times) in lieu of pay-raises. As you mentioned the "nice colleagues", we intended to keep them gainfully employed to preserve what we believed to be a "content, sociable, group of colleagues", we make no apologies for this decision, because since this post IDA has made wage adjustments to all staff and we are recovering well from the pandemic. We don't market ourselves as a Western firm, in fact we barely market ourselves at all. Our only marketing are the buildings we design. We are surprised to hear that IDA practices local style micro-management. Perhaps you should talk to your peers who even at junior levels are self-managing their own projects to great success. The Principal and Directors are on hand to guide when requested and allocate much of their time to coach staff at all levels, please do not conflate micro-management with guidance. Your final point on PR I will address personally: we are a family office, and we would not have to be involved in PR on Glassdoor if your suggestions were brought to us and grounded in solution-finding rather than going on a public platform to voice your disapproval. We consider our involvement in management a positive response to the few comments we have received, ironically the damage we are salvaging are posts like these. Ex-employees leaving on bad terms is not our desired outcome, but is inevitable. We wish all IDA employees (present and former) gainful employment, work that suits them, and the best in the development of their career. We bear no ill-will towards ex-employees and hope they feel the same towards us. We hear your Advice to Management, and would like to develop trust and respect from both sides, so please feel free to reach out and suggest how we can trust and respect our employees better. Your recommendations are important to us as we continue to grow as a company.
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