The Motley Fool reviews

Those who can "see" what has happened at The Motley Fool over the past couple years are NOT pleased, but we are not alone and we are also not a small minority. Employees are generally good at putting on their "Happy Face" though. As previous reviews have stated, if you don't assimilate than you will have someone (typically a manager, or their manager) talking to you about your behaviour and lack of perceived "Foolishness" (cult-speak for fitting in and not "rocking the boat") Many veteran ex-Fools painfully saw the rapid decline from the fun, collaborative, organic and free-flowing workplace, where it was understood that as long as you got your work done - you were free to be, now transformed into a place where only the chosen ones participate in that experience. Those days of equality are gone except for Chosen Ones: the Yes-Men, the Fantasy/Sports Enthusiasts and the in-crowd PartyCrew® all seem to have free rein to do whatever they please while others are held to an unclear litany of constantly morphing standards. Not to be misunderstood, EVERYONE is meticulously graded on multiple levels, scoring rubrics, metrics and tests. You will be analyzed and charted by a group of (?) not really sure...peers, superiors, managers? However, in the end it is all fairly irrelevant considering like other reviews on here have explicitly stated, it seems to be a select few people gathered in a room agreeing on who they like or dislike. Walking into the Fool anymore feels like one signed up for a clinical trial where they'll be monitored and charted, rather than the highly touted transparent workplace that TMF was once known for. The only thing missing is wires and monitors hooked up to employees reading their heart rates, blood pressure and stress levels. The Motley Fool is using an overreaching system in order to place it's employees into groups. Every metric seems to have been taken care of and is scored in a rigid, cold and non-transparent system that attempts to place employees into categories instead of looking at their actual work output, and to be honest, it feels more like segregation. Enough of this, let us work - judge us on our work and not our networking/beer-drinking abilities. It is tiring and demotivating. Many long-time and valuable veteran Fools have already left the company recently, and now we can all see why. I guess they too saw the writing on the wall. At The Motley Fool, it is perceived that there is a select group in the company that can do no wrong: take 2 hour alcohol lunches, watch sports, Netflix and play video games with no supervision, all while others are working around-the-clock worried about losing their jobs without even participating in any of these activities. It is a vast understatement to say that this has created a resentment from many employees toward the "untouchables" who seem to do as they please. How are some people failing to meet goals by astoundingly embarrassing percentage points (Think: actual final numbers = less than 1/3 of projected numbers) and being rewarded, while others who do not participate in the "bread and circus" activities are constantly having the bar raised for them causing burnout? Either make it fair for all or get rid of the "perks" and increase the pay, half of us don't even get to use the perks.

The company offers such amazing fringe benefits because it's cheaper than competing with other companies on salary. Depending on your department, you will likely earn a fraction of the market rate, particularly if you work in tech or investing. Despite repeated initiatives to make compensation more transparent, few understand how the process works, who you can talk to or who makes the decision. Further, the company has very little discipline about developing and managing people -- despite high profile coaching initiatives. The majority of senior managers are long-tenured employees who joined the company during its startup stage. Few have worked in traditional settings, let alone have management training. In general, the company's expectations for employees are incredibly inconsistent and unclear, if they exist at all. There's no clear career path and managers aren't required to have set metrics for subordinates. This leads to an unhealthy focus on politics. The org chart is a mess, and the company has devolved into a series of fiefdoms. Authority rests with whomever can get the founders most excited in a given week, and this leads to a game of "who can build the biggest sand castle." Moonshots are a dime a dozen, and the company seems far more enthused by shiny ideas than execution. All in, the Fool talks the talk of an employee-focused company without actually walking the walk. The company makes a show of window-dressing with fringe benefits but falls down on meeting core needs like fair compensation, sensitive management and clear career opportunities.