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
4.0
Dec 13, 2018

Good place for now

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Hardworking, driven coworkers; mission-driven work that have real-life consequences

Cons

Not great about promoting work-life balance

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Acumen Response
7y
We appreciate you taking the time to leave us a review, thank you.
2.0
Dec 13, 2018

Mixed Reviews

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Projects - This is where the company excels. They are involved in virtually ever major health policy reform initiative that the government is driving and as a researcher you get to be part of this. You come here for the exposure, but virtually little else. Don't expect to learn any pick up programming or project management skills that reflect industry standards. This company is a dinosaur. If you are not interested in pursuing a career in public health, just do something else. Benefits - They have a good leave policy and decent health benefits. I don't care about receiving bagels once a week, donuts once a month, snacks twice a week, or lunch once a month, but if those are things you care about, they exist. They also offer free 24 hour fitness gym pass if just any gym pass is what you are looking for and free group fitness classes onsite, which are actually pretty decent. Job Security - You will have your job forever. Given the state of healthcare in this country, no matter what happens, Acumen will always have work which in turn means that you will always have work.

Cons

Management - Top to bottom, it stinks. There are no two ways about it. It's a long standing issue and it doesn't matter what HR says in their responses here. Although there is a new management training program, this is geared towards new first time managers (two years out of college). Mid-level and upper management is not trained at all. Work-Life Balance - Despite its age, the company has not found a way to staff up effectively. Both junior and senior staff regularly put in obscene hours and it is not unusual to see groups regularly working well into the night and on the weekends. As an employee you are expected to stay switched on for at least 12 hours each day. Family, hobbies, time for yourself be damned. Turn over is high and not unsurprising given the circumstances. Pay - Pay is ok and is not commensurate with effort. Benefits - HR is focused on bringing a wide range of "benefits"; free 24 hour fitness passes was one of the "upgrades" that they implemented. Similarly, they have found a way to offer a range of services that you can pay to receive at the office include chair massages, teeth whitening (!), shoe repairs etc. Not sure I would want to receive any of these services in the middle of packed day in a conference room somewhere. Not my style, but perhaps there are employees who appreciate this. To me this is a con. Just give me the money instead. Again, see previous comment on HR cluelessness. Getting to work can be a total time sink if you don't own a car. HR - Pleasant, but clueless (as they will repeatedly demonstrate through responses to most of these posts and as implied above). They don't seem particularly clued into issues around the lack of work-life balance and, frankly, I believe they are hamstrung by upper management.

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Acumen Response
7y
Thank you for your feedback. I am happy you are pleased with the projects and find the work interesting. I am sorry the benefits are not aligned to your needs. We continue to get positive feedback but we are always interested in the views of others who prefer to comment here.
1.0
Dec 12, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

majority are friendly coworkers company tried to create more positive company culture, the effort was noticed and appreciated

Cons

inconsistent and poor leadership at the management level which leads to a very toxic and hostile work environment. The negative experience experienced while working at Acumen has taught me all about office politics and how to properly and maturely navigate this when I come across it at other companies. People seemed to become managers of people because they stayed at the company long enough, when instead should just be individual contributors and have no business managing people.

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Acumen Response
7y
Sometimes being a star employee is enough. At other times, there is mutual agreement that that a star employee has earned an opportunity to test themselves at the next level, including potential management. There is always a learning curve, but that should not dissuade us from providing opportunities for growth. No, it does not work out all the time, but it is usually worth the effort. HR is always available to listen when the process breaks down, and will help facilitate improvements and necessary changes.
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Glassdoor has 432 Acumen reviews submitted anonymously by Acumen employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Acumen is right for you.