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Ballistic Arts Media Studios

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Ballistic Arts Media Studios Reviews

3.2

52% would recommend to a friend

(14 total reviews)

Ted Lau

56% approve of CEO

49% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

14 reviews
1.0
14 May 2019

Media Designer

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The fellow staff have been amazing and great to work with.

Cons

Too Reactionary, doesn't think things through. "Leadership" doesn't know how to separate personal from professional. Doesn't take ownership of their actions, and often blames their employees. Doesn't have their employee's backs, often flip-flops on their decisions.

avatar
Ballistic Arts Media Studios Response
5y
Hello, thank you for your review. I’m sorry that you had a negative experience at Ballistic Arts. You’re correct that we have been guilty of being too reactionary in the past regarding projects and resource planning. I’m sorry that you felt like we were blaming you for company wide process issues. We have taken many steps to change our internal processes to ensure staff are not overworked, feel heard, and can contribute to the direction we've set for our company. I hope you can take the time to read what we’ve been up to: https://ballisticarts.com/feedback-is-a-gift/ In terms of your comment around mental illness, I’m sorry if you were not well and our response was inadequate for you. We’re not medical professionals, but as a company we have and currently do offer all our employees access to professional mental health practitioners through our extended health benefits plan. Should you wish to have a conversation around this, please call me directly. You have my cell. I hope you’re in a better place mentally with where you’re working now. Best, Ted Lau, CEO Ballistic Arts
1.0
3 May 2019

Media designer

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Staff is great to work with

Cons

Management does't value creative, despite being a creative agency. Disorganized leadership.

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Ballistic Arts Media Studios Response
5y
Hi, Thank you for your feedback. I want to apologize for the negative experience you had at our company. You’re correct in the fact that we were not explicit with our employees with the level of creativity needed to operate our business. This is on us. We also took note to re-evaluate what’s important to us in running our agency. As a result, we’ve made a pivot. Your post along with others contributed to that. If you’d like to learn what we’ve done, please have a read here: https://ballisticarts.com/ballistic-arts-transforms-into-a-lead-generation-digital-marketing-agency/ In terms of your comment that we were not organized, I agree that there is always room for improvement. We saw your feedback, along with others, as a wake up call to do better. And we are on that path now. I welcome you to take a read here on the significant changes we’ve been making. https://ballisticarts.com/feedback-is-a-gift/ We’re not done, but it’s a start. I wish you all the best in your career. Should you want to provide further feedback, I’d be happy to hear it directly. You have my cell, and you can text me to set up a time. Thank you. Wishing you a bright future ahead, Ted Lau, CEO Ballistic Arts
1.0
30 Jul 2019

would not recommend

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

great team of supportive and fun people who have good intentions

Cons

Poor leadership. Been in business for 16+ years and yet still running as a "start up" - super disorganized and always rushing to make the next deal, never looking inward to value, support, and empower the company's hard-working team. In my last year there, I saw a turn over rate of probably over 80%. Lack of optimization in their client contracts + blind desperation for sales means the amount of time it takes the team to finish a project is undershot every time. As a result, the team doesn't have time to do fulfilling, creative, innovative work, and instead repeats cookie-cutter concepts to much internal disappointment. Many are unhappy with the lack of growth and ability to build personal portfolios they're proud of. This in turn means many production employees are effectively stuck there without any concrete growth to show to potential employers. No HR and the leadership is too reactive to handle HR complaints or to deal with sensitive issues around mental health, discrimination, or minority status - in fact, they're often the ones perpetuating and cracking jokes about these things, leaving staff nowhere to turn in the event of any problems.

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Ballistic Arts Media Studios Response
5y
Hi, thank you for your feedback. You’re absolutely correct that a small business (even ones that have been around as long as ours) has periods of feeling like a start-up. This is also a time for rejuvenation as well. I’m sorry that your last year at our company resulted in a huge dip in morale. We were struggling with a huge market sector downturn and a change in leadership, and I can see that my failure as your leader exasperated the negative experience for you. You’re right. We had some pretty subpar processes that caused projects to be underquoted, and timelines to be rushed. All I can say is that we’ve taken serious steps to rectify this. If you’re curious about what real changes we’ve made to transform the company, including all the various new policies and practices we’ve instituted to improve the company culture and workflow, please have a read about it on our blog: https://ballisticarts.com/feedback-is-a-gift/ I do, however, disagree with your comment around our insensitivity towards mental health, discrimination, and minority issues. As someone who grew up in a mostly caucasian community, I have personally experienced first hand racial discrimination. We have made, and continue to make, a conscious effort to hire new Canadians and immigrants. Ballistic Arts has been blessed with team members who hail from all over the planet. Diversity of thought and culture has always been important to us. As children of immigrant parents, we know the struggles of new Canadians. We believe they deserve the same opportunities as the rest of us. I personally have mental health challenges and have worked with professionals to overcome them. I continue to have meditation and gratitude practices, and this is something I’m quite proud of. Your review indicates you worked at Ballistic Arts full-time for more than three years. Over those three years, you must recall our company sponsoring and participating in community events like Canadian Mental Health Association’s Ride Don’t Hide, SHARE’s IMAGINE, the Tri-Cities Soroptimist’s Gender Equality Walk A Mile in Her Shoes, among other events. The issue of mental health is so important to us that we even put on Mental Health education days and game nights for our staff and clients. That said, none of us are perfect and there is always room for improvement. If you have specific examples, I would really appreciate you connecting with me directly to discuss them. I don’t ever want to leave anyone thinking that our company doesn’t take any of these issues seriously. We’re all human, and perhaps there is some hidden bias that we as a company need to look into further. I’m inviting you to call me directly to discuss should you be so inclined. I truly appreciate your feedback. Thank you for your time. Ted Lau, CEO Ballistic Arts
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