Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Employee Reviews about "senior management"

Pros

- the people - the purpose / mission of the Company (something special about being involved in education) - excellent products - customers are huge fans

Cons

- stresses of recovering from the recession are still being experienced - new senior management team doing a great job; just still not fully coordinated so can send sometimes conflicting / confusing messages

Pros

coworkers, compensation was good, work/life balance, work remotely, people wanting to help and do the right thing

Cons

Limited digital capabilities making it difficult for the company to compete Senior management and leadership of some groups lack flexibility to seize revenue opportunities Little to no career advancement (esp with 25% cut in Q4)

Pros

Some talented and kind colleagues.

Cons

This place was on the decline when I was there (trade division), and the quality of the company has plummeted in the past two years. I'm still close with people who work there, and they are miserable. Senior management spends their time fighting with each other and ignoring their employees, which is a big mistake, because their employees are the ones who actually know anything about book publishing. Just take a look at how the company is responding to other negative reviews, blowing them off and just saying it's a time of change--it's been a time of change there since at least 2012.

Pros

Good Hard working, skilled professionals fill every aspect of this company and the pride that is felt shows in the work and products when allowed to be seen. Many areas for many different styles and work identities form the heart of HMH.

Cons

Past lack of focus and direction of Senior management left the company a bloated shell with a weak skeleton of infrastructure. Focus on over the top growth in areas that HMH had wide eyed ambition to make a part of the company portfolio fell short too many times as projects couldn't meet deadlines nor could those project be completed properly before moving on to the next big idea.

Pros

Good location in Downtown Boston, no suburban commute issues. Dedicated, long time Houghton Mifflin employees, but no good direction from senior "leadership".

Cons

Toxic senior management. Still infighting from Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt merger. Stock is in the tank and they have not posted a yearly profit since they went public out of bankruptcy several years back.

Pros

Can work from home for certain positions Can get big publisher experience

Cons

Compensation is way off base compared to other top publishers. The expectation is to be on call 24/7 with any lack of appreciation. There is a huge divide between those who work 70-80 hours a week and those you are legacy, favored employees who don't contribute. HR staff has significant problems with confidentiality, petty middle school gossip and unethical behavior. Can just search online and see the employee lawsuits against HMH. Senior management is completely out of touch with staff. Most of the company is completely unaware of the large options and bonuses that the small circle of sr execs get, while the rest of the company is told, we really can't do a raise, maybe 2%, bonuses are cut, so sorry.... while they take millions in options and six figure bonuses. Best to keep you head down, go along with the flow. Definitely more important to get along than get your work done.

Pros

People, Schedule Flexibility, Salary, Educational nature of work, customers who care, employees who care

Cons

Entrenched individuals and silos, restructuring occurs too often, difficult to navigate organization, lack of accountability, lack of respect and professional behavior by some, entitlement by many who have been at company for a long time, arrogance by some senior managers, lack of senior management physical presence anywhere other than C suite

Pros

This place used to be about great products, a place to share opinions, and a team work to build success.

Cons

It has become very much like middle school. You either go along with the cool group (senior management) or you are dismissed or worse destroyed. I have seen it happen. The CEO picks and buys products that are completely inappropriate. Nepotism is rampit. Senior management is buying their time until their huge stock options come through. Options that most of the company did not get nor has any idea were given out to a select few. You cannot ever trust HR as they tell confidential information to managers who then share. People are encouraged to gossip, lie, to help with agendas. It has created an atmosphere where people cross lines to save themselves. Lastly, don't expect to move up with a competitive salary. There are opportunities to move up. However, HR has instituted a cap on pay raises for internal employee promotions. You will make much more if you leave the company and return. You may get promoted to a much higher position but will only get a 5-7% pay raise. This leaves many people working VP and Director jobs and extremely low salary levels. This is especially compounded by the meter cost of living raises that sometimes get given. However, a person with your same level can get hired and come in at a significantly higher salary. Again, HR cant keep anything confidential.