10y
Thank you for posting the review. I am sorry that you’re not having the best experience at ML. As one of the two founding partners, I wanted to take the time to respond to your concerns personally and also encourage you to have a discussion with me so that we can improve your experience at MeridianLink.
First, I want to address your concerns regarding our products and technology. Reflecting on the past ten years, we are consistently deploying new technology, and methodologies (e.g., up to date .Net framework, SQL 2014, distributed computing for scalability), and constantly refactoring our code. Given that our applications are mature and complicated, deploying new technology will require more time. We are very careful to ensure that a change for one client does not pose any potential risks to other clients. Our clients appreciate that we put ourselves through a diligent process to keep their data secure and prevent outages and disruption to their business.
Secondly, I’d like to address our recruiting process and the perception that many in management are either family members or friends. Every employee who joins MeridianLink, goes through objective third party assessments. All of our managers are given either or both the Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT) and/or Mini-cognitive Rapid Assessment Battery (MRAB) as part of the evaluation process. We pride ourselves on promoting from within, and in 2015 alone, we have promoted ten people into management roles based on their experience, merit and previous accomplishments. Of the ten promoted in 2015, none of them are related to either of the founding partners. However, we feel that once you have joined MeridianLink, you become a member of our MeridianLink family.
Next, I’d like to address your concern regarding micro management and lack of consideration for new ideas. Micro management in general goes against the culture here, but there are definitely times when employees need more guidance and direction from their supervisor, especially when new in a role, taking on a new task, being mentored for career growth, or if expectations are not being met. As far as new ideas, we strongly feel that more minds and collaboration will strengthen our products and services. We want for you to have the opportunity to address any ideas and/or concerns and for our management team to brainstorm and problem solve with you. At the end of the day though, each employee has direct access to any of our executive team members, regardless of their idea, concern, or thought and regardless of his/her role or title.
Lastly, I thank you for your advice to provide transparency and visibility into our vision and mission. We are in the process of re-launching our mission, vision, values, and long term strategy. We have been and continue to be in a growth spurt. We’re trying to determine the various directions that we can take to expand in our existing space and possibly explore different verticals with new products/services. Long term strategic planning is a process that we don’t take lightly. The industry in which we operate is a highly complex one with many diverse and often times divergent, moving parts. We are taking a long term approach to do this right, and that requires balancing our existing operations with a future outlook. Once we agree with the strategic direction at the executive level, we plan to communicate this and solicit your input on how we should get there.
Again, I thank you for your valuable input and if there’s anything I can do to enhance your experience at ML, my door is open for you.