Acumen reviews

3.1

30% would recommend to a friend

(394 total reviews)

Thomas MaCurdy

5% approve of CEO

22% positive business outlook

Acumen has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 394 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Acumen employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government & Public Administration industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

394 reviews
1.0
Nov 15, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- If you are very interested in health policy and would like to learn programming, this might be a good choice for you. - Intelligent employee and alumni. - New HR team on board since late 2016 - they try to improve by adding some employee benefits.

Cons

- Unlike other bay area companies, Acumen is NOT a tech company. For programmers, the skills you learned here are out-dated and not transferable to other tech companies. They hire and train people how to program before actually doing the programming work. A programmer don't even need to know how to program. Again, proves this is not a tech company. - Frequent organization restructure: team structure changes frequently without reason or sign, because the employee are not valued and respected here. The upper management do not care your career path, they just want you to get things done. Its not rare to work with more than 2 managers in less than 1 year. - Micromanagement: young employee with little experience were promoted to managers resulting in micro and sometimes unethical management. Poorly-planned management causes employee to work at last minute before every deadline. Most managers were promoted from analyst - they do not hire experienced managers outside. The pay is too low to attract any. - Way below market salary for a programmer in Bay Area. In addition, base salary is all you get. The company claimed to provide 5% 401k match, but vested in 4 years (employee get NOTHING in the first 2 years). A lot of people left in less than 2 years. - No work-life balance. Once you get by the first few months and become 'handy', the managers may dump you lots of work and ask you to work at evenings, weekends and even during holidays. Yes, the managers do talk to you and ask you to work after hours, like a commander. Not professional at all. - High turnover: The above results in high-turnover rate, especially for programmers. This is an infinite loop, getting worse and worse. Overall, the company treats employee a disposable resource and doesn't value their contribution.

avatar
Acumen Response
8y
Thank you for taking the time to provide a review. I would agree that we are not a tech company. We are continuing to bring better work life balance and management training. We are always open to feedback about how we might enhance the culture of the company.
4.0
Nov 8, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Employees are intelligent and friendly. - There are a wide variety of contracts to work on, many of which are interesting, rewarding, and have real impact on health policy. - Acumen has more access and expertise with public health data than other health research contractors. - When properly recognized by management, good work is rewarded with higher pay and accelerated advancement. - Hours are flexible (although often still long) and work environment is very casual. - The CEO is incredibly smart and has ambitious visions for the company. He is a workaholic who is absurdly committed to the company.

Cons

- A lot of teams suffer from poor management. Often managers are chosen based on how long they have been at the company or their project knowledge rather than their ability or desire to support the people reporting to them. - A lot of teams are over-worked. Depending on what projects you work on, you may have periodic crunch times where you have to work 80+ hour weeks. - Good work is often rewarded with more work and responsibilities than is desired until the employee eventually burns out. - The CEO can be very difficult to work with. He is very aggressive, demanding, and has trouble communicating his ideas to others. You need thick skin, patience, and good communication skills to be able to work with him.

avatar
Acumen Response
8y
Hello - Thank you for your feedback. I agree with your suggestions, I appreciate your time to review and wish you the best.
2.0
Oct 27, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Interesting projects. -If you have a good manager and respectful team, this can be a great place to work.

Cons

-Managers can be terrible, with some in position due to cults of personality rather than creativity, ingenuity or intelligence. No manager development program. Some managers are blatantly disrespectful, dishonest, and/or sexist. -High turnover, resulting in periodic overwork -Sub-optimal performance review system that encourages backstabbing but doesn't close the information loop and provide constructive feedback. -Acumen has implemented a policy that current managers can't provide references to employees who are leaving the company. This is a huge red flag; HR is aware that the culture is bad, and the response is not to improve the situation, but rather to limit your options as you leave.

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Acumen Response
8y
Thank you for your thoughtful review. I would be very interested in what team you have been a part of . As a company, we are working very hard to create a healthy and productive environment for everyone. Unfortunately we can't address an issue if we don't know about it. I am sorry you didn't feel we would be receptive to your issues and we did not have an opportunity to improve. The company has been building a better culture over the last year and the feedback I do get has been positive. To address your reference issue - this is a legal requirement, not a cultural one. Even though you have left the company, I would welcome your feedback. Barbara
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