HCSS reviews

4.1

84% would recommend to a friend

(235 total reviews)
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Steve McGough

95% approve of CEO

71% positive business outlook

HCSS has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 235 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The HCSS employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

235 reviews
1.0
Mar 29, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Lots of vertical and lateral mobility with many vacancies left by leaving talent -Decent facilities if you work in office -Good people working at the company -- HCSS itself is a great place, private equity has tarnished it and made it progressively worse for employees.

Cons

-Private Equity firm TB purchasing the company has taken company culture downhill ever since. -They removed ESOP and profit sharing without replacing it with anything or improving salaries to make up for the loss every year from this. -Roles being consolidated, teams not being given enough resources to complete the doubled workload. This causes people to leave, and causes the work to continue to multiply for those who stay. It seems the longer you stay here, the worse off you are. -Everyone and everything feels like a number here now.

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HCSS Response
3y
We appreciate your candid feedback regarding some of our more recent business changes. We are very proud of our internal mobility and giving all employees opportunities to grow in their careers. We believe we hire awesome people and we are glad you see it! Regarding our acquisition by Thoma Bravo, we hope to build on all the great things of past HCSS, while also leading us into continuous growth. Please feel free to reach out and share any additional feedback at employeereviews@hcss.com.
1.0
Mar 14, 2024

Negative Changes - Forced "Culture"

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

HCSS initially provided a launching pad for my career, offering an environment that was once recognized as one of the best workplaces, backed by numerous awards. Employees were valued beyond mere metrics, benefits were competitive, and there was a clear emphasis on prioritizing people. This culture was particularly evident during the shift to remote work amid the pandemic, which not only saved the company substantial overhead costs but also enhanced employees' quality of life. However, my enthusiasm for HCSS has waned over time. While I once passionately endorsed the company to others and referred several individuals, I can no longer do so with the same fervor.

Cons

Many of the positive aspects that once distinguished HCSS as an exceptional workplace are diminishing: - Standardized raises and the weaponization of titles have stifled top talent and disincentivized going above and beyond. This approach fails to reward extra effort, discouraging employees from sacrificing personal time and energy. - Benefits have either stagnated or been reduced. While the 401k match has seen a slight increase from 3% to 5%, significant perks such as profit sharing (previously at 23-28% annually) and the ESOP have been discontinued. Restrictions on learning funds and the limited usability of the "health and wellness" benefit further diminish employee satisfaction. A benefit that is designed to be difficult to use is one the company doesn't want you to leverage. - Despite evidence showing increased productivity and concerns for employee well-being, certain managers are pushing for a return to the office. Leadership's justification for this decision relies on vague anecdotal beliefs about culture and performance rather than factual evidence, demonstrating a disregard for employee concerns. The lack of top level cohesive policy leaves employees subject to the arbitrary whims of individual managers, creating an environment of uncertainty and frustration. Additionally, the company's indifference towards the impact of returning to the office on employees' personal lives and well-being is evident in its refusal to adjust compensation for increased expenses and loss of personal time.

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HCSS Response
2y
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. Jumping right in, we are still recognized as one of the best places to work, with multiple awards secured in the past years, continuing the streak of well over 15 years running. In fact, we just had a celebration event the day before you posted this, perhaps you were unable to attend. It is tough to be in a position to respond in a truly balanced way. We can find ourselves coming across as defensive. However, in this case, I feel we owe it to the community to clarify some of the statements you’ve asserted. We realize this may not impact your opinion and would encourage you to reach out to leadership or anyone on the HR team for further exploration of your concerns. We even have an email you can use to reach out employerreviews@hcss.com. On raises, we moved from an anniversary review date with pretty set raise amounts, regardless of relative performance or market alignment, to an annual focal review process where we factor feedback, internal team equity, and external market benchmarks. This process is far more beneficial to performers, differentiates raises, and is more open and fair. Similarly, we have endeavored over the past couple of years to make the career progression process more transparent and equitable. We have a process that allows us to promote throughout the year, not holding to an arbitrary date, and ensures that compensation is considered when the promotion happens (ending the practice of dry promotions from the past). And we have introduced rewards and recognition for those going above and beyond while upholding our values. Benefits have been enhanced every year. We went from one single medical plan option, the HRA, to 3 tiered options while still fully funding the employee coverage for HSA participants. We added paid family leave, multiple holidays and an additional floating holiday, sick time for you and your dependents in addition to our PTO, and of course the increase to the 401k match that you mention. The 2% additional match is a material investment by the company in the futures of our employees and their families. Our overall investment in benefits continues to raise, not stagnate, and we continue to look for options to bring more to our best in class benefits. Lastly, we are a hybrid company. Before the pandemic we were by and large, on site in Sugar Land. However, to ensure the best talent and support the needs of employees we have opened up with flexibility in both work location and days in the office as well as fully remote when it works for both parties. Our team is based in the US only which is not only a business decision but also one that helps with the cohesion of our team and our ability to support our customers in their time zones. All in all, it appears that your experience has not remained positive through some of the changes and we hope that you will share actively and openly with leadership so we can better understand as well as help you, perhaps, to have a deeper understanding of how compensation, development, and benefits work here and work for you.
3.0
Jun 23, 2023

Fun While It Lasted

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people at HCSS are great to be around. A lot of people are really helpful and kind, no matter what department you are in. The facilities on campus are also nice to use for a break in between work.

Cons

Some benefits that were available to employees, like ESOP and profit sharing, have been removed since being bought out by Thoma Bravo. The culture of the company feels like it's on a decline as more executives and employees are fully remote and there is a stronger presence of a traditional corporate environment. There doesn't seem to be a real concern for employees as there used to be before, except for a few changes like FMLA and maternity/paternity leave, and TB really just wants us to hit out numbers. However, with an obvious shift of culture and a growing lack of transparency from the executive team, there isn't much to incentivize employees to be hard-working, innovative, and sincere. I didn't get to experience too much time before TB, but the change is very night and day. I also think the performative efforts of HR mask a lot of the real issues that employees are trying to raise.

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HCSS Response
2y
Dear Employee, It’s warming to continuously hear how wonderful and welcoming each and every one of our employees are but we are sorry to hear that you’ve recently felt a decline in our culture. To address some of your concerns, our recent move from an employee-owned company to a privately owned one was made to assist HCSS with rapid growth and to ensure the continued success we’d all like the organization to have. The removal of the ESOP resulted in generous payment to many employees and profit sharing has continued at a double-digit rate. Certainly, the acquisition will bring about some change, but we never want our employees to feel as though their voices aren’t heard. As a result, we are working to enhance and provide a more inclusive environment/employee experience. A recent undertaking by HR to address employee feedback is conducting ‘Stay Interviews.’ These interviews will allow current employees to provide their experience in a safe environment to ensure any feedback they have can be shared. We know it’s not always easy to share your voice, but this communication is essential to us as a collective whole so thank you so much for sharing! We highly encourage you to reach out to your leaders and/or HR team to discuss these topics further. Please also feel free to email us at employeereviews@hcss.com.
Viewing 25 - 27 of 235 Reviews

Glassdoor has 280 HCSS reviews submitted anonymously by HCSS employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if HCSS is right for you.