Great People, Poor Execution - Principal Designer Yardzen Employee Review

2.0
Jul 29, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Yardzen has a great team of alot of talented individuals. Their recruitment team has a knack for finding people that have a positive energy and passion for what they do. I feel the company did genuinely try to make the team feel connected even though the remote workforce was spread across the United States through events and meetings. I found interactions with management to be generally positive even after informing them I would be leaving the company. As a relatively new company they are always looking for new ideas and are quick to pivot as new ideas come to the table.

Cons

The Principal designers have a unique position within the company . Your primary role is to facilitate design discussions (via video conference) with clients that are generally unsatisfied with their design and relay design those changes back to the designer for the project through call notes and drawings. Even as someone coming with 5+ years of traditional landscape architecture experience in addition to remote work experience and customer service experience, I found the workload unmanageable. Most days consisted well beyond 8 hours to accommodate the 5 scheduled client meetings and associated follow up work. The company is firmly a technology company with a focus on landscape design as opposed to a landscape design company with technology as a means to support the business. This is not inherently a bad business model but it does put the role of Principal designer in a difficult position to both perform work duties and serve as a sort of catch all for design related issues that other staff do not have the education or experience to easily handle. This is not to take away for the great staff at Yardzen but experience in the landscape design field is obviously important to help resolve certain issues that arise.

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Yardzen Response
3y
Thanks for your feedback and we agree with you that our people are our greatest asset! We are glad to hear that you felt connected to your coworkers and had positive experiences with management. We appreciate you sharing your experience of your role, as a new company we are always looking for ways to improve and ensure our employees are set up for success.

Explore other reviews about Yardzen

5.0
Apr 8, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great place to work. It’s a startup so expect to work hard and have your role evolve as the business evolves. I work with highly talented people that I am able to learn from each day. The owners are approachable and kind. They are working hard to ensure their business succeeds.

Cons

Thins can be chaotic but these are uncertain times and everyone is working hard!

1.0
Jun 10, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They are a remote-first company and have great benefits

Cons

Work-life balance is virtually nonexistent. Employees are expected to wear multiple hats, but the expectation goes far beyond normal startup culture. Taking on additional responsibilities is treated as the baseline, and those who question the workload or push back are often made to feel like they are not committed enough. The company lacks basic structure, clear ownership, and effective processes. Despite ongoing operational issues, there is little willingness to implement feedback or make meaningful improvements. Teams are often left wondering why projects are stalled when the underlying problems have been identified repeatedly. Leadership frequently changes direction with little warning, making it difficult to execute any long-term strategy. Teams can spend days or weeks working on projects only to have priorities suddenly shift and their work discarded. This creates a cycle of wasted effort, frustration, and low morale. Decision-making often feels reactive rather than strategic. Instead of following a clear plan, priorities can change based on the moment, leaving employees constantly adjusting to the latest pivot. Hiring, promotion, and workforce decisions lack transparency and consistency. The company has, at times, lost employees who were critical to the success of the business, while retaining or elevating individuals whose contributions were less clear. This has contributed to turnover, knowledge loss, and declining confidence in leadership. Overall, the company talks about growth and innovation, but the lack of structure, process, planning, and stable leadership makes it difficult for employees and teams to succeed.

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