CannonDesign reviews

4.0

77% would recommend to a friend

(74 total reviews)
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Brad Lukanic, AIA

81% approve of CEO

81% positive business outlook

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74 reviews

Reviews about "Compensation"

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1.0
Feb 16, 2020

Proceed with Caution

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I made many continuing friendships with talented and engaging people during my time at Cannon Design, which I still maintain. Most are not with the company anymore. I enjoyed many of the clients and consultants I had the privilege of working with over the years. Working on varied projects in different areas of the country and with different types of clients was very rewarding. Clients were usually the bright spot, while company leadership created obstacles.

Cons

Cannon Design continues to deny responsibility for the actions leading to the $12 million fine paid to settle the Criminal Enforcement Agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, for remediation of the Company’s criminal conduct in the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal. It’s false that the conduct was “isolated to one former employee.” The Agreement (publicly published and available online) makes it clear that scores of other officers of the corporation were involved in the greedy criminal conduct and avarice resulting in devastating financial loss and a huge number of layoffs. Cannon Design agreed to a $12 million fine to avoid further criminal prosecution, for which there was ample evidence. Cannon Design states “the issues with the federal government are behind us.” The $12 million criminal fine payment schedule extends into January 2022, unless it has been paid off early. Former Cannon Design employees have suffered not only job loss but pennies-on-the-dollar payouts of their devalued stock, much of it purchased from individual payroll. Although there’s a new CEO, most of the officers of the corporation involved in the criminal conduct are still fully ensconced in the company. Financial woes and mismanagement predates the problems created by the federal criminal conduct. Cannon Design made no 401k contributions, gave no raises, awarded few promotions, or paid no bonuses for years to hardworking employees who worked thousands of hours of unpaid overtime to ensure project completion and ensure company profits, with which leadership lined their pockets in self-interest. Sure, it’s an employee-owned company, but that’s of no consequence unless you are a higher positioned “officer.” Cannon Design remains an old-boys club. The company makes token attempts at diversity but falls woefully short in hiring and engaging women, minorities, and LGBTQ staff and leadership. Dividing walls are fully in place. Cannon Design openly practices employee ageism. It’s no secret that the management philosophy is to hire younger personnel, purportedly under the guise of youthful exuberance and encouraging fresh ideas. It’s really to lower the payroll average and keep the company from being “top-heavy.” Self-righteous designers and self-anointed, clueless blow-hole leadership ensures mediocre project design and an aura of short-sighted and tone-deaf project execution. Cannon Design is a revolving door. Yes, the company does hire many talented and earnest people; it just doesn’t have a clue about how to engage, support, and keep them. Hundreds of layoffs and staff departures have greatly lowered the average tenure. It becomes abundantly clear to staff that staying with this organization will ultimately lead nowhere. Your years of hard work and devotion will not be acknowledged or rewarded. Cannon Design employs the management practice of replying to each review and encouraging employees to positively review the company, in a PR attempt to placate and stem negative comments. Carefully consider the replies with a grain of salt, and fully research the company before deciding to join.

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CannonDesign Response
6y
Hi there. This is Roland Lemke, the leader of CannonDesign’s DC office. As we do with every review we get, I want to thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. I hear your frustration and I’m sorry that’s how you feel. But the firm you describe is not the CannonDesign that I and my more than 50 colleagues in D.C. pour our hearts and souls into every day. Yes, our firm was under federal investigation back in 2015 for the actions of an employee. This isn’t something we hide. CannonDesign assisted in the investigation and accepted responsibility for its shortcomings. The employee responsible was held accountable and no criminal action was taken against our firm. At the time, CannonDesign did not have a compliance program in place, but today, we have one of the leading programs in the industry. We wish it didn’t happen, but it did, and our firm is stronger because of it. To that end, if you have specific concerns, I encourage you to contact our Chief Compliance Officer (Paul Moskal) at 716.774.3295. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you may do so by contacting Navex EthicsPoint at www.reportlineweb.com/CannonDesign or by calling 1.855.502.1878. To the reviewer, I sincerely wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors – and I wish I had the opportunity to address your concerns in person as opposed to on Glassdoor. While your words don’t reflect the CannonDesign I have been apart of for more that 20 years, they also don’t fall on deaf ears. I will continue to work each day to make CannonDesign the best design firm in the industry for our people and clients.
2.0
Oct 27, 2019

Good experience at the expense of pay

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Experience, you will get to touch a lot of project types

Cons

Pay is below average. Pay is not commensurate on reviews, effort, or quality of work produced

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CannonDesign Response
6y
Thanks for taking the time to leave us a review. We’re glad you’re gaining valuable experience with us, but are bummed to hear you feel your pay is below average. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to have an honest conversation with your supervisor or HR representative about your pay. As a firm, many factors play into salary, such as experience, geographic location, etc., but we are proud of the competitive salaries we offer employees. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts – and thanks for contributing your talents to our firm!
1.0
Oct 7, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Consistent paycheck Principals are retiring and new generation is taking over

Cons

• Typical ruthless corporate mentality • The HQ is only looking out for monthly office revenue and never pays attention to the culture • Extremely cheap company that doesn’t provide necessary office supply, cleaning and sponsored events • Extreme push on employees to take over more responsibilities every day and minimal 3% annual raise • Many staffs are quitting Denver office and you can easily track that online • Dirty small dark office environment with obvious signs of sick building syndrome and leaking ceiling with a promise of the better is coming • Very little design and mostly production work of renovation and addition to an existing building So when the other reviewer says that Denver office is nothing but heaven, all I can say is, go get hired in a day and see it yourself and then come back here and make your honest opinion. It worth nothing to argue.

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CannonDesign Response
6y
We’re very sorry to hear about your experience. Our Denver office has gone through significant changes over the last 18 months, largely driven by merging three distinct firm cultures into one. We’ve learned a lot through the process and are actively making changes to ensure we better support our employees and create a dynamic work environment. You identified some of these leadership changes in your Pros. We recently hired a new leader for the Denver office who’s number one priority is addressing cultural challenges. While change does not happen overnight, the feedback from staff has been positive that things are heading in the right direction. We’re also gearing up to move into a new space in the RiNo Art District in early 2020 which will help unify the staff even more. All to say, we’ve taken comments like yours to heart and are making significant changes to strengthen our Denver office. Thanks for leaving us a review. We wish you well in your new career.
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