Distrustful Micromanagement & Blatant Negligence - Management Keywords Studios Employee Review

3.0
Aug 1, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Can work at home without distractions of coworkers/people. - I appreciate the recognition of my hard efforts, when it is given. - Raises are significant, when they come. - Good Work/Life balance in terms of scheduling.

Cons

- The gross level of micromanaging is horrific. Sheets to record what you are doing, every time you do it. Write an email? Document it. Go to the bathroom? Document it. They must know what you are doing every minute of every day and will check it three times over. You need to seriously cool it with this savage, controlling behavior. Not only is it insulting and distrustful, it it makes all of our jobs more difficult. We would be 3x more efficient if you didn't have your hand around our throats. - They like 'busy work' and will have no problem in trying to stretch their agents as thinly as possible for highest possible profit. If they can convince one agent to work for 3 clients via pressure, they'll pay one person instead of hire three. And not tell the clients that their agents are also working for other people. In fact, I was told directly not to tell clients this information and keep it under the blanket. As clients may not pay KWS as much if they know that the agent's attention is split. - 'Team Leads' often fumble into their position of management with little to no training or previous management experience. I've seen them yell, throw fits, and come down on entire teams of agents, demanding they work harder or faster with no compensation. This in turn drops the quality of an entire team of people and the client's perception of us. I've even had to correct timesheets that were overlooked by TLs on negligence, costing an agent nearly $400 in monthly pay. - Upper management handles feedback poorly and some may even resent you for coming forward with truths - because the truth can sometimes be damaging. You have to be very careful who you trust and who you talk to if you want to keep your position or work your way up. It's a social minefield. - Disorganized management causes the agents to suffer. Who talked to who about what? Someone sent an email, but I didn't get it? One TL was told something that the other TL wasn't and now the agents made a mistake and the client is upset? Forgetting when people work or pinging agents at 4:00am off shift? This is common. This happens near daily. It's communicative chaos. I had a TL not even show up on training day because they 'forgot'. Oh well.

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Keywords Studios Response
6y
Hello! Thank you very much for your comments. We are very glad you are enjoying your role, your schedule and the opportunity to work from home. We are sorry to hear that you experienced some difficult moments. Morale and empowerment are important to us. If you are feeling that you are being micromanaged or that your leaders are being impolite or rude in any way, we invite you to please raise the matter with HR so it can be dealt with appropriately. The majority of the Keywords management team began as testers and have grown due to their skills. If you feel like you are not being heard, especially when you share your feedback, please contact your project manager or HR. We pride ourselves in working with all of our employees towards creating a safe and positive work environment for all. Keywords practices and documentation are continuously reviewed because of feedback like yours. We thank you for letting us know what we can do in order to continue improving.

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