SmartFocus Employee Reviews about "great company"
34% would recommend to a friend
(24 total reviews)
Chris Allan
46% approve of CEO
Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "The only good side i experienced was that most of the staff are really talented, very down to earth, smart and amazing colleagues who put a smile on my face through all the chaos that is Smart focus!" (in 6 reviews)
- "The work environment is great if you don't mind your colleagues watching porn in areas where visiting customers can see it!" (in 4 reviews)
- "Toxic environment and certain senior managers (who are still there) treat the staff with disdain which I have never seen or experienced before." (in 6 reviews)
Found 24 of over 185 reviews
Updated Nov 12, 2023
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Reviews about "great company"
Return to all Reviews- 5.0Aug 10, 2015R&D DeveloperCurrent Employee, more than 1 yearLondon, England
Pros
Friendly people, working on cool projects in R&D, free fruits and sometimes sweets, tech stack very modern and even cutting edge. Good pay in comparison to the same role in other companies. People care about product. They welcome being creative. Funny discussions with co-workers. Lunches in the park. Little negativity at least in the teams I have seen and worked in. They value talent. Good diversity.
Cons
Not really a con, but culture can differ from team to team. There seems to be a slight turnover in non-R&D departments.
4 - 2.0Jul 12, 2017Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee
Pros
there are a few good people staying with the company who genuinely try to make a difference and protect their teams from the politics. If you can get in one of those teams you may enjoy your job - it can be challenging and fast paced
Cons
Horrific political environment where merit counts for nothing if the loud mouths don't like you, from what I hear these bullies are still there. If you like taking credit for other's work then you'll fit right in. Senior management may have changed since I left but the bad apples still look like they are there
7 - 1.0Mar 14, 2016Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
Some good people attempting to do a good job. Free tea and coffee. Central location in London (until they move to East London). Plenty of new faces (at least two every week) Marketing and HR are very creative at promoting the company (see positive reviews on here)
Cons
Staff are simply expendable resources to be walked over if it helps to achieve a goal. If you have skills they won't be used here. You'll be told what to do. High turnover of staff. Like the two new starters each week, there's between two and four leaving each week).
25 - 3.0May 3, 2019Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
You have growth opportunities as it is not a big company
Cons
It is a 15 year old company that needs to renew a lot of things
- 1.0Oct 1, 2017Anonymous EmployeeFormer EmployeeLondon, England
Pros
Mmmm...... I used to think a pro was the new CEO Chris Allen. Certainly he was a huge improvement over the last CEO Rob Mullen. But what drags down Chris’s Pros is the he failed to address to huge cultural environmental problem at the company straight away. He put his trust in the people who help drag the company down and the people who oppressed employees for so long. Even after conducting an employee survey when he started he failed to address the negatives. Almost wanting to discount the negative pieces it seems. Reducing costs/waste to improve the financial outlook is great. But PEOPLE are what make great companies. Listen to them...especially the little guys...
Cons
Almost everything.... just do go there. It’s just a bad place to be. Some of the bad people are gone. But a few more need to be gone!
14 - 5.0Jul 1, 2014Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, more than 3 years
Pros
New management team changing the whole culture of the company from 'large company' thinking back to nimble startup. Great place to work and good clarity of strategy, something which had previously been lacking. Amazing how much has been achieved in such little time. So much change means opportunities for career progression.
Cons
The change of culture has not been without its detractors. Problem has been identified and seems to be being addressed. Although strategy is clear, the tatctics of getting their are still being ironed out. Be prepared to work on different projects on different days.
- 4.0Feb 14, 2018Client Sucess ManagerCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsLondon, England
Pros
You are given the freedom to forge your own path and generate ideas to help contribute to the success of the company. Exciting to be part of a transformational business
Cons
If you don't like change you might not want to join the team
2 - 4.0Jul 13, 2015Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, less than 1 yearLondon, England
Pros
Unfortunately, the culture of leaving reviews is hugely skewed as people are much more likely to leave a review if they've had an experience that differs far from the norm and so reviews are generally written with a bias agenda. My advice to you is to take all reviews (including my own) with a pinch of salt and get out there and formulate your own opinion. -- They say that it's the people that make the company and that could be more true with SmartFocus. I've worked with employees from all around the world having never met them and they've all been happy to help. Staff from all levels are eager and approachable and it's very easy to get working with new people. I work in a small to medium sized department based across several offices. We have extremely open channels of communication and creative ideas are always valued whether it's your first day or you're a company veteran. We regularly have team meetings complimented by team building or social activities which has ensured that we are a tight knit team where everybody not only gets on but where everybody also knows who to approach for a specific need. The technology that the company possesses truly is amazing and it's very exciting to work in a fast paced, buzzing environment that puts you at the forefront of the industry. There are internal announcements that product development so that everybody is kept in the loop. There are also Sales Win Announcements so that staff worldwide are kept motivated and are up to date with the brands that we work with. As there are offices based across three continents, there are opportunities to travel (free sightseeing!)
Cons
With so many software solutions available these days we're definitely spoilt for choice and sometimes several packages are purchased by different departments that in essence all do the same thing which results in two bills for more or less one piece of software. There isn't much 'official' arrangement to encourage communication across departments. We had a Christmas party and soon to be a summer get together but it would be nice to have something quarterly to mix things up and keep dialogue open without having to arrange this ourselves.
2 - 4.0Sep 28, 2015SalesCurrent EmployeeLondon, England
Pros
I have worked at SmartFocus for just over 3 months and I can honestly say I made the right move. It is no secret there have been a lot changes but the vision and direction of this company is really exciting and I believe it will be the market leader by 2016. I work in a fairly new team which is full of enthusiasm and the SVP is good at encouraging everyone to work to their strengths and not their weaknesses. It's a positive work environment and exciting to be part of a company with big ambitions.
Cons
It's fast paced, be prepared to go the extra mile to meet your deadlines, but with that comes satisfaction of a job well done. If you want an easy life you will struggle.
5 - 1.0Jul 1, 2015Production ExecutiveFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsBarcelona
Pros
It WAS a great company .... several years ago. A company who was giving career opportunities to the employees. But don't expect this now so don't join in this company if you have a little bit of ambition.
Cons
Where to start ? - They remove the advantages - They decrease the salaries by changing the way to calculate the bonus - They don't listen their employees / They don't listen to their customers neither - They push away their clients - They didn't invest in the product for years, ... - Huge turnover in the management - If you're a hard-worker or if you just come at work to watch Youtube & Facebook all day long, you will get exactly the same from your managers. - They closed different offices around the world - People are leaving this company in bulk ! And they don't replace anybody because they are out of budget - They even asked the promoted guys to do again their previous job (L1 support). Since they don't replace the people who leave they are out of resources - And the list can continue.......
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