Volusion Employee Reviews about "manager"
46% would recommend to a friend
(37 total reviews)
Troy Pike
62% approve of CEO
Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "Good culture, with an HR department that makes efforts to compensate for the terrible work environment" (in 22 reviews)
- "They have free food all the time as well as other free snack type items in the office." (in 14 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of Volusion and is not affected by filters.
Found 37 of over 318 reviews
Updated Jun 8, 2023
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Reviews about "manager"
Return to all Reviews- 5.0Jul 25, 2013Senior Systems EngineerCurrent Employee, less than 1 yearAustin, TX
Pros
Very laid back and the ability to perform at a high level
Cons
Communication style of team managers is often aggressive
3 - 5.0Mar 31, 2014Volusion SalesCurrent Employee, more than 1 yearAustin, TX
Pros
I have been with this company for close to a year. Everyday the perks just keep getting better. Very relaxed place to work that has goals like every other company. Not sure there is a sales position without one. A manager is not breathing down your neck yet readily available when you need them. You have a set work schedule and its all about how you manage your time when it comes to hitting your goals. Jay Motwani is the Director of sales which is a very humble and straight forward guy. If you can imagine having a manager that you can talk to like your having a beer in a bar then its that guy. He fights for his sales team and gives them the tools they need to make bank.
Cons
Offices are split so its hard meeting upper level management. It would to have more interactions then the quarterly mixer. If you ask me the effort you put in will make you stand out. It is a small company so there is not a specific career path in this company. Company is driven by self motivated individuals. If you are not motivated by growth or money then this is not the company for you.
- 1.0Jun 10, 2014Design ManagerFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsAustin, TX
Pros
Great people (mostly). Great office space. Great coffee. Ping pong.
Cons
Lack of transparency from the top down. Awful communication and blatant misuse of defined processes. Zero accountability for managers who are hardly ever available and don't take time to develop employees. No long term plan and prone to emotional decisions rather than leaning on data and employee expertise to drive projects. Extremely expensive health insurance and fake perks. The only free benefits are occasionally catered food, t-shirts and a small gym in one of the offices. They are cheap relative to other companies of the same size.
9 - 5.0Jul 18, 2014Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, less than 1 yearAustin, TX
Pros
I, literally, have been waiting for this job my entire life. Here are some of the reasons why I feel this way... Top notch manager and team members. My manager really knows the tech side of the business well. I have had 'non-technical' managers in the past. Not the case here. I feel comfortable collaborating with my Manager and look to him for insight into upper level managements potentially rapid changing business priorities. If he suggests a technology related change, I know a) it will work and b) the suggestion is based on the best interests of our team and an understanding of upper level managements current pain points. True autonomy. I am allowed to set direction, build business cases for tool set selection and have support for implementing cutting edge tools and technologies as long as there is a solid business case. Comprehensive Benefits Package. Medical Insurance for myself and my children effective my first day at work. This is a 'real deal' insurance package too, not some package that costs a fortune and covers nothing. Not just 'lip service'. I cannot remember the last time an employer actually paid the bonus that is typically a part of every compensation plan. Volusion does. Employee focused. Everyone knows this is a 'Culture Company'. Cool stuff happens pretty much every week. Watch out for the free ice cream and energy drinks (extra pounds...). People are encouraged to bring their favorite beer and drink a few on Friday Afternoons (as in, EVERY Friday). Flexible time-off policies. I missed work to have two procedures done on my lower back in my first 90 days. My manager was nothing but supportive. Support for Work/Life Balance. My Manager frequently reminds me that he does not expect me to work 24/7 and supports work/life balance. At my level, there will always be challenges with regard to that balance. I leverage the Volusion 'Work from Home' policy (one day a week) as much as possible. 'Crunch time' I frequently work from home. It allows me to be a part of my son's lives even when I am putting in long hours. A flat organisational model with upper level management that are accessible. I brought my sons to work on National bring your kids to work day. They loved it. My oldest boy wants to be a Developer. I mentioned it to the Director of Development here. He took my son and I to lunch and is making time to evaluate my son for an internship. Hopefully my son will have an opportunity to learn and grow here as well. A Company with a solid financial future. I have read reviews from people who are or have been employees stating Volusion is in trouble. I am not at liberty to say how well the company is doing, but I am responsible for producing the financial reports. I take my job and the accuracy of the data I surface seriously. Based on the current and projected growth of the company, Volusion Stock Options already have substantial value. This is the first time in my life I feel the options I am offered have substance. You do not need a Crystal Ball to see the direction of a privately held company that is profitable, has been for a while, and continues to grow. I truly cannot say enough good things about being a part of Volusion.
Cons
I am sure that if I stopped focusing on the positive aspects of working here I could probably find things to complain about. I choose not to.
2 - 2.0Dec 4, 2015Senior Software DeveloperFormer Employee, more than 1 yearAustin, TX
Pros
Casual environment, unspoken and unofficial but useful work from home policy, all the hollow benefits everyone seems to like at trendy startups. Just be careful not to actually use the game room, as there are droves of folks waiting to tattle on you for not being at your desk every minute of the day, and plenty of managers ready to use that information against you. Oh wait this was supposed to be "pros". I did get a 1% raise, so that was cool.
Cons
Where to begin. At the risk of beating a horse that's already thoroughly stomped by other reviewers... Upper management. I've never seen so much backstabbing, idea theft, sniping, and disrepectful behavior at a company. I once witnessed the director of product management berating a product manager and asking him repeatedly 'are you completely stupid? are you? are you stupid?' Never be naive enough to think your ideas matter. Unless you're in a certain clique, much like high school, the best and most useful ideas are dismissed out of hand. Except when they're stolen and used by a director or VP level to please the CEO. Departments have openly adversarial relationships, especially between 'Product' and IT. Lots of blame and finger pointing, lots of excuse making. When I left the company, there was effectively an IT shadow organization under Product trying to work around IT. Weekend and overnight deployments galore. Building a new 'enterprise' ecommerce platform that is SOA but undeployable without manual oversight and vast service dependencies speaks volumes about the 'genius' crew - the ones who make decisions and get lots of hero-worship service. All in all, this place is like an episode of Silicon Valley. Hooli, without the talent or success. Don't waste your time.
25 - 2.0Nov 2, 2013Software DeveloperCurrent Employee, more than 1 yearAustin, TX
Pros
People - The people at Volusion are definitely the best thing about working here. Work - The work is challenging and exciting. Environment - The office space is nice with a living room and a number of different sitting areas you can work in. They give most teams laptops so you can move around during the day and not be tethered to a desk. The game room has a ping pong table, shuffle board, and pool table. People ride scooters to get to and from conference rooms. Nerf gun wars and office games are common. Perks - Perks like hack days, bring your dog to work Fridays, and the occasional free lunch are very nice.
Cons
Mid level management - Some of the Product Managers at Volusion routinely practice behaviors that are notoriously disheartening for their employees. Practices like stonewalling, taking credit for ideas/work, throwing team members under the bus, and lying about agreed upon criteria and delivery dates. I’ve had the pleasure of working with so many great product mangers in Austin’s tech community, unfortunately, Volusion can’t seem keep any of them. Outdated technology - Their current SAAS product is outdated and their plans for replacing it are too conservative. With this comes a pervasive “can’t do” kind of attitude that prevents the company from getting ahead of their competition. IT Team - The IT team is overbooked most of the time and this leads to project launch dates getting pushed back 6 months to a year. This is unacceptable for a technology company practicing agile, in my opinion. Fake Perks - Volusion advertises a number of what we lovingly call “ferks,” which means fake perks. They advertise items like massages, dry cleaning, oil changes, food trucks, beer fridays, fitness classes, life insurance, pet insurance, etc - which are benefits you can opt for, only if you foot the bill 100%. Don’t get me wrong, I love having these options, I just don’t agree with how Volusion advertises them, as if they were paid for by the company.
11 - 5.0Apr 22, 2016E-Commerce Sales ManagerFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsAustin, TX
Pros
Your experience at Volusion may vary based on the department you work in, but if you are in Sales you can truly expect to learn a lot, improve as a sales person, make good money and carve a career path out for yourself within the tech industry. Being in sales, you truly get out what you put in. Not in any order, but the pros would be: - Excellent management/leadership. You aren't going to work for a better Director of Sales than Jay Motwani and he assembles an excellent management team underneath him. If you are learning from Lauren Garza and Dustin Frazier, then you are learning from some of the very best that I've ever come across. Each of the named individuals above are true servant leaders and will do more for you than most any manager you might find elsewhere. - A core team of caring and motivated sales people. Volusion may not have the very best ecommerce product on the market, but this team busts their butts day in and day out to get the job done. You don't have to sell the top product in the world to succeed in sales. There is definitely a lot of competition in a fairly saturated market, but at the end of the day if you are passionate about what you are doing, take your role seriously, and sell yourself, YOU WILL SUCCEED at Volusion. - The ability to quickly make an impact. Volusion is the type of place where you can come in and hit the ground running and your work will truly be felt within the company. I've seen many sales reps come in and find quick success, and then I've seen others that may take a bit more time but when it clicks, it really clicks. Just know that your managers won't give up on you unless you give up on Volusion and yourself. - You will learn more about the tech industry (eCommerce specifically) working at Volusion in 3 months than you would if you worked 1 year at some 'major' tech company. Due to the transactional nature of Volusion's sales process, you will face a VERY DIVERSE range of customers. On one call you may be talking to someone with a dollar and a dream who's credit card declines for $15, and then the next minute you are talking to a C Level Exec with a big budget. The best salespeople are the ones who can be chameleons and talk to anyone. - It's not something that I'm particularly super into, but Volusion's People and Culture team really do a great job of offering the typical type of perks that you will find around the Austin tech companies. There are scooters, free snacks, tons of free food (you'll probably pack on a couple lbs), comfortable lounge chairs (for those with laptops), arcade games, etc.... If you are in Sales, the reality is that you probably won't take advantage of all the perks available because your phone is your money maker. If you see that as a negative thing, sales probably isn't for you. Overall, Volusion always treated me very well and I hold a high level of respect for everyone that works there. It was very difficult to leave Volusion as I care so much about the team I left behind and the colleagues that I built close friendships with. Everyone that has a customer facing job at Volusion - Sales/Account Management/Support/etc... - you really earn your paycheck every month, but that's a good thing. If you are lazy, you will not succeed in any of these departments, so the work ethic you learn to have will bring you success in your career.
Cons
- I really don't have anything bad to say about Volusion. Like any company, there are ups and downs and there are times when you have to weather the storm, but if you focus on the things within your control and keep a positive attitude, you will be rewarded. For those that feel they are weathering the storm right now - keep your heads up because there is a lot of good stuff on the way.
3
Volusion Response8yThank you for sharing your experience. We appreciate your sincere synopsis of Volusion life!
- 1.0Apr 21, 2018PAYMENT PROCESSINGFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsAustin, TX
Pros
Free soda and ice cream Co workers pleasant and fund to work with Good PTO plan Food trucks from time to time
Cons
Company promotes positive culture. Company wants you to think there’s room for advancement and no micro managing. This is completely false. Management isn’t open to suggestions that would improve company. Company is worried about getting large useless LEGO blocks than improving antiquated operations and products. Opportunities for advancement or change of role is dependent on your direct leadership. If you’re part of a small department, you don’t have much of a shot. Especially on a 3-4 person team. Seems that you’re kept around in current role bc of complacency. Some direct management seems to just have gotten the title bc they have been there for a long period of time. Training is shotty at best and depends on the department you’re put in. No uniformed training. Only uniformity is orientation to fill out insurance and new hire paperwork, the you’re basically left to fend for yourself. Taking time off is a battle in itself as well. No clear system on calling sick. If you’re in a small department, there’s history of being threatened with disciplinary action or being forced to come back from a scheduled vacation early, if someone else is out and the manager doesn’t want to take on their responsibility of covering. You would need to text direct manager directly outside of company to ask permission for sick day. That can lead to a response insinuating you may be hungover from the night before. People and Culture team seem to have an open door and act as if they’re willing to help. However, if an issue arises, it really goes nowhere.
8Volusion Response6yThank you for sharing your advice with us. We are constantly striving to maintain an amazing work environment. Volusion has been utilizing an employee survey platform, Officevibe, for a little over a year and a half to gauge how employees feel about a variety of subjects, including leadership in their own department and C-level. Officevibe sends a brief questionnaire to employees on a weekly basis (currently, there is 80% participation across the company). Again, these questions pertain to work environment, peers, management, growth opportunity, and overall sentiment about the company. The surveys allow employees to provide anonymous feedback and allows managers to review engagement reports for their team based on employee responses. Over time, we have found this tool to be instrumental in helping us pinpoint areas for improvement and act on employee ideas. We meet with managers on a quarterly basis to review Officevibe data as well as a variety of other workplace metrics. Facilitating a better work environment is always a top priority, but we appreciate your feedback. Our V2 product has seen a lot of growth in the past few months and every day it’s closer to becoming an industry-leading product. We understand there are always improvements to be made, but we are making big strides!
- 1.0Nov 30, 2016Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee
Pros
No traffic and free snacks
Cons
Worst job I've ever had. Let me start by saying I liked this job before the Sales manager who originally hired me left. Do you like being treated like a child? Do you like your boss pressuring you to stay late EVERYDAY to make more sales after already calling people for 8 hours? Do you like having one on one meetings for being two minutes over your lunch break after not taking a break all day? Do you like being constantly threatened that you will loose your job if you don't work harder or show more effort because sales are down? If so apply here they'll be happy to have you and treat you like a piece of crap. I worked for this company for a year and can say the moment I quit was the happiest moment I had since the day I started!
12 - 4.0Jan 31, 2018Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, more than 1 year
Pros
Benefits are great and the work environment is what makes me stay. My manager really cares about me and does make sure to take care of her team.
Cons
It can get a little exhausting with the transition happening.
