Revel Reviews

Thanks for your feedback. Really happy to know you're enjoying your time with the firm. I'd appreciate an opportunity to grab coffee to learn more about your positive experience so we can do more of it! Thanks again!... MoreLess

Thanks for the feedback and as usual every post/comment/perspective is an opportunity for us to learn and grow from....

You obviously had a terrible experience and we apologize for that. That said, every experience is just that an 'experience' and now you know what to (or not) look for in a subsequent/future organization - employer or business. So hopefully not a total loss of your time.

Revelers are extremely happy about the org we continue to develop w/r/t to our focus on digital – marketing (attract customers into the funnel), experience (how people interact w/ an experience), and commerce (how people transact in an omnichannel experience). It’s difficult to work on a project that isn’t considering digital as a value chain accelerator and/or new channel – this is why clients should be hiring a consulting firm in the first place? So a peculiar comment. Moving on…a few projects – developed a cloud GTM strategy and digital transformation office (e.g. marketing led vs. sales, self-service, new site on AEM – etc.) for a hardware company, building a complex analytics & visualization engine for one of the largest entertainment companies in the world, engaged with largest NGO's to help them introduce digital to accelerate time to assistance...so a bit confused (& disheartened) about this general comment considering Revelers are working on some really interesting missions & you’re letting your experience (yes – important – I get it) somewhat cloud/adversely impact the hard work and outcomes this larger population is delivering. [I'm assuming at some point current employees will read this so not sure how much more authentic these comments/example projects can be]. This company is a reflection of their (and your) work/outcomes.

Guidance on short-term. Please don't join or do (or give advice) anything in your life w/ a short-term perspective i.e. a ‘gig’ for a few dollars. Life is too short – take whatever time in between jobs/work and live a bit lighter/frugal and then focus on passion and long-term commitment. The fact that anybody would even consider or give advice that any mission be accepted in exchange for short-term monetary benefit is an issue and highly contradictory to all other comments.

If growth mindset is a BIG game! You bet I talk a "BIG" (massive) game; reading, always be learning, visualizing plays, taking small steps/actions towards the long, learning again, optimizing – ALL of this fuel’s strategy in a #perpetualbeta world! Strategy is a living organism it no longer sits on a shelf collecting dust. You make a decision, collect metadata and then continue to optimize for the greater good and durability of employees, customers, community, and shareholders. It’s NEVER perfect. This is what ‘digital’ means. Access to information, evolution of mindsets, evolution in customer expectations in a world that expects instant validation and gratification – etc. The goal is to get ahead of them – anticipate. The world has SO much to offer and it's up to each of us to conceptualize our own destiny (similar to you leaving – kudos!) and then work with like-minded people to arrive at this destination/goal/state of being.

Yes, I can go off on 'what can be' tangents which can create dissonance e.g. person A is thinking and watching and living in 'today' whilst I'm thinking and watching and living in a future state i.e. helping you ‘see what can be’. so you can take control and help improve the situation. Perhaps, we talked about improving things and then left the conversation in a state of 'idea flow/generation'/ ‘see what can be’? If so, then yes harmony was broken which can lead to trust issues. My expectation is that you (or any Reveler) would own next steps/action and then propose options and a recommendation. My goal is to help introduce the ‘growth mindset’. From there we diverge and then eventually converge to deliver on a goal/mission. Advice and ideas are cheap – I can literally walk into any business and surface gaps all over the place – not hard to do? It’s all about ‘so what’ and ‘now what’ that enables that business to make things better. It takes energy, focus, and time to deliver on the change/evolution that you want the organization to become.

The TWO things that I've always been respected for are integrity and ethics. So I'll respect your comment. This is a judgement call.

Thanks again for the perspective. Super happy that you found the courage to transition from the firm. Wishing you all the best in 2019 and beyond!!!... MoreLess

A lot here – will do my best to summarize and hit on most points.

Compensation and benefits are top notch. We’re part of an annual benchmark analysis facilitated by True Benefits and consistently rank at the top of the list. Is there room for improvement – yes. That said, we’re not looking to get into the business of giving away money [like some newer firms that are attempting] to buy market share by paying people above market. That’s not a sustainable strategy and lasts about 3 to 4 years before things start to fall apart – we see it all the time. There’s no shortcut (i.e. elevator) to attaining and retaining top talent – it’s one step/stair at a time. Durability and resilience e.g. we were one of the first to add an attractive parental leave policy.
The biggest issue of this artificial value (new firms have created to buy market share) sits with the individual – this new/premium salary becomes the new mental benchmark of their value and if/when they’re looking to transition to something new nobody is willing to match that (inflated) salary – this becomes a disheartening process – I’ve spoken to many that have gone through this & the valley of despair isn’t fun for anybody. Expectations aren’t set correctly – real value vs. artificial inflation.

And yes, 401k could be better – one step/stair at a time.

We wouldn't be in existence with a strong team if there was no pipeline. Where's the logic - why would great people stay with a company that didn't have or provide access to exciting projects? Are all of them here for short-term work - if so, then why have they been here for multiple years? I think they seem to like the firm, take advantage of workshops - learning and development budget, and the projects…by default the pipeline must be there, no? Also having such a strong talent base ladder up to relevant offerings creates organic pipeline. Perplexed.

Do we talk about pipeline as a team - YES! But that's a good thing! Perhaps talking about it equates to ‘vulnerability’/’weakness’ - everybody should want to learn and participate in different facets of the business. A quick crash course - we aim for a 3x pipeline relative to our revenue target. Btw that's a really great target per ANY industry benchmark. That said, we must always remain cognoscente about the skills of our people, our offerings and etc. to ensure they align to where industry demand is going. From there we provide our people access to learning and development platforms e.g. General Assembly and/or budget to learn new skills. We can't and won't force them to take any of these – intrinsic motivation must guide them to these resources/investments. The formula of predicting/anticipating where the markets are going and then aligning skills isn’t perfect.

Our Chief Strategy Officer is focused on bringing together multiple dimensions of data (R&D) to help us better understand where the demand is going/coming and from there we make decisions to increase the probability of success. Because we get this wrong at times (#perpetualbeta) it does and can adversely impact positions. We take these decisions seriously and vet through many options before arriving at these types of decisions. The cost of hiring and then keeping talent engaged isn’t nominal.

List of many logos we work with (or have worked with) - T-Mobile, Microsoft, F5, Symantec, Disney, Verizon, Cisco, Juniper, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Expedia, PayPal, Fred Hutch, HIAS, IRC, the list continues. If was to reconcile our QuickBooks w/r/t A/R I bet it's over 30 (probably more) logos.

As usual would love to grab coffee in the New Year – in the interim wishing you all the best in 2019 and beyond!! In the interim we'll keep at it - engaging one Reveler at a time! Speaking of which - I should probably get back to that!... MoreLess

Thank you for the balanced feedback.

The people make this place magical - they care SO much about each other, respective customers, and the broader community. I'm forever grateful for the opportunity to explore and learn with them every day. Our guiding principle of 'see what can be' fuels our spaces and pushes interactions to new heights.

We do have a lot going on - exciting growth (~8 offers last week) thanks to our people and their expertise in digital marketing, digital experience(s) and digital commerce! Quite frankly balancing every work-stream to 100% perfection during this growth and transformation (running in parallel) phase has been testy at times. We recognize this and have put stop gaps in place. Some of those are listed in prior comments (and are working). As we continue to become the preferred and trusted partner for Chief Digital Officers & Chief Marketing Officers - we're working aggressively to bring our people along by hiring some of the BEST LT in the industry & combining their super powers with our current LT to create something special (full-service digital native consultancy). Furthermore and interestingly enough these imperfections are what attracted new leaders to join. It’s their opportunity to make an impact by implementing best practices and etc. at rapid speed. That said, all GREAT things require time so we don't want to rush it!

We WILL continue to invest our people. Revel recently deployed a learning & development program where we subsidize (100%) classes and (1) boot camp per year (~$4k annually) w/ organizations like General Assembly, University of Washington and a few others will be coming online in the next quarter (we’re running test & learn pilots). This is a SIGNIFICANT benefit of being part of the Revel family. We recognize that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to remain relevant with new tech & trends in digital marketing, experiences and commerce. These flexible programs allow associates to identify programs that intersect well w/ their lives (leading w/ empathy).

So, yes, our desire is to remain a consulting firm. We're making significant investments in our people as mentioned above. These investments don’t align with a Staff Aug strategy and would be extremely poor leadership on my part. We have a strong operating model in place. Is it perfect - absolutely NOT (yet). Are we aware YES. Are we doing anything about it - ABSOLUTELY YES. And this is where things get exciting!

On the contract front - sincerest apologies if there's confusion here.

We have two offer types that are industry standard:

1. Project Contingent. This is synonymous to a deferred start date. Essentially, Revel People Services works with Community Leads to identify talent needs at Q4 of preceding year. We refine quarterly. Talent acquisition then develops it's (seasonality) campaigns to build a pipeline and etc. This is standard business protocol. We identify top talent where there's mutual interest, put together an offer and then provide a deferred start date based on when projects are coming online. Perhaps, that's what you’re referring too? This is not a contract per say - it's an agreement on start-date.

2. Immediate start. Well – it’s just that. You start on the agreed upon start date & it’s not conditional.

We balance (mix) immediate starts with project contingent to ensure we're not over/under hiring based on our annual forecast (refined quarterly).

We have three ways in which we on-board and operate with our associates (yes, these would qualify as contracts):

1. full salary
2. 50% bench. Comp is a little higher with this model relative to 'full salary' considering we're sharing the risk in this model.
3. No bench. This is for project specific where you've been hired for niche skills that are augmenting a strategic program. The need for these skills and experience are required to solve a single & time-boxed constraint.

I hope this helps. And apologies if I've misunderstood.

I would love to grab coffee/lunch/dinner to close any issues or gaps this might have created whilst you were at Revel. I would like to earn your trust in our future and build an even longer-term relationship with you.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve during your tenure w/ the firm.

Best,
Vikas K.... MoreLess

Quite frankly, my instinct was to simply scroll past this review (nodding my head w/ disbelief & disgust)...I quickly took a step back to apply/see through one of our core values of empathy, empathy , empathy - putting myself in your shoes before I jumped to conclusion. I must say, if you're still w/ the firm and believe this strongly against who we are and what we stand for then please reach-out to me and let's find a way for you to move on and unlock what you really want to do - and find happiness. Happy to coach you, introduce you to people in a vertical or professional better aligned to what you want to do - etc.

Don't waste your time w/ an organization that isn't aligned to or delivering to expectations. It's not worth it. I know how hard our 'makers' work everyday to create unique experiences for clients and their peers. We're obviously not hitting that mark for you (and maybe a specific persona/segment). Apologies for that.

Thanks for the feedback and whilst I don't agree with the matter of fact (frustrated) tone and absurd claims - I can't blame you for wanting to share how you feel.

Wising you all the best. You deserve better.... MoreLess

Thank you for the feedback. I'm ecstatic to know that the community model proved to be valuable during your time with Revel! We have several spaces, in which leadership (Community Leads) discuss programs and associates; ASAT is top of mind in these spaces.

We've spent a good part of the last 18 months organizing Revel communities (thanks for your support and patience) and now we're obsessed about integrating services/solutions to mature our enterprise-wide digital transformation offerings i.e. digital and interactive marketing solutions, direct to consumer experiences – ecommerce, portals, underlying technology services, cloud transformation, etc.

Thanks again for your contributions! We're grateful and this feedback only fuels our focus on care & feed for the PEOPLE!!... MoreLess