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Hawkes Learning

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Hawkes Learning Reviews

3.9

77% would recommend to a friend

(52 total reviews)
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Scott Virkler

100% approve of CEO

74% positive business outlook

Hawkes Learning has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 52 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Hawkes Learning employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

52 reviews
1.0
7 Apr 2017

A Terrible Experience

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

From my time at Hawkes, I met a fair share of kind people and honest employees, and was reminded of just how extreme a bad work environment can be.

Cons

Leave your dignity at the door! While I can certainly say that I met a lot of wonderful people there, I can also say that I met and worked with terrible ones. Of course, one expects to have to work with some jerks wherever they're employed, but this was truly different. Some employees should have truly been handed a box and thrown out immediately for their mistreatment of others. I was taken advantage of by the supervisors, who knew they were understaffed, in efforts to keep me there. I was also spoken to, numerous times, like a parent reprimanding a mischievous child or perhaps a stray dog. The design area was particularly atrocious: belittling, demeaning, and with absolutely no evident interest in keeping a coworker motivated through the use of any sort of constructive criticism. They were constantly understaffed, and I was able to see why. Ultimately, employees carrying this idea that demeaning another on such a personal level is in any way a form of professional criticism is only an embarrassment to themselves. I was able to walk away with this knowledge, and with my dignity intact. I cannot say the same in regards to dignity for the aforementioned.

2.0
29 Jun 2020

A Lot of Potential, But Misses the Mark

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Hawkes is great at finding really talented, high quality employees. Unfortunately, time and again they squander the opportunities they have to empower and grow these employees, opting instead to settle for dissatisfaction and high turnover rate because they don't appreciate or respect the employees they have. -Hawkes customers are generally fantastic to work with and there is a shared passion for bettering education on campuses.

Cons

-There is a disconnect between the culture Hawkes advertises (flexibility, laid back "family style" office, open to feedback) and the culture that exists. The culture that exists discourages friendships between departments (Sales and Training and Support or between Marketing and Sales etc.), rejects new ideas or critical feedback, and takes away (even a high performing) employee's autonomy by limiting their ability to work from home and micromanaging their progress. -The culture that exists seems to be slightly different depending on if you work upstairs (Marketing, Sales, TSRs, Tech Support etc) or downstairs (Content, Product, Devs etc.) in terms of flexibility and autonomy. - Management has lots of room to improve in their communication between one another and between their employees. I found my manager to be disorganized, insincere, and more of a hinderance to getting my job done successfully than as someone who empowered me to grow and work efficiently. There is very little transparency between departments, within a team, nor between a manager and their employee. This lack of communication causes inefficiencies in processes, redundant work across departments, and leaves employees without a clear understanding of their performance and areas of improvement. -There is a culture of fear perpetuated by management, that discourages employees from speaking up, and I spoke to other employees who, even though they were high performers, were constantly worried they would be fired because managers were quick to reprimand an employee for a mistake, but were slow to give constructive feedback or acknowledgement for a job well done. -Overall there is a feeling that the bottom line is more important than creating long lasting solutions for Hawkes' customers or creating a welcoming, inclusive, and functional place for employees to do great work. The company puts bandaids and short term solutions on problems they could be leading the industry in. -Hawkes has neglected to create opportunities for talented employees to succeed and there are little opportunities for growth within the company. Most of management has had a long tenure there and this juxtaposition between the long retention of their management, but an average of 1-2 years for their non management employees highlights the company's resistance to evolve and a closed-mindedness to feedback.

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Hawkes Learning Response
5y
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review and sharing your thoughts about your time with Hawkes Learning. The overall culture and team atmosphere at our company is something that is very important to us to continuously cultivate, and we’re glad to hear that you noted our dedication to both our customers and student education. We are working hard on organizational communication and will consider your suggestions to ensure our leadership team is one that our employees trust. Similarly, providing employees with opportunities to grow in the company and their careers is a critical focus for us, so we will take a close look at opportunities for improvement in ways that we can help our employees succeed. Our strength as an organization comes from the incredible employees that we hire. We know that we will always have room to grow as an organization and are constantly seeking to better ourselves. Thank you again for sharing your feedback, and we wish you the best in your career.
1.0
2 Jul 2016

Anonymous

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The only positive I can say is that Hawkes is in the beautiful city of Charleston. Other than that it's a terrible company that will not be around for much longer.

Cons

The people. Very stuck up and pretentious with unrealistic expectations. Very clicky and non inclusive. I've seen so many people treated terribly and let go out of the blue. The management is rude and the CEO is crazy. A bunch of clueless people. And they TERRIBLE technology internally!

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Hawkes Learning Response
9y
We appreciate you sharing your opinion. I’m disappointed that you had this experience and feel that way about our employees as we invest a lot of resources in ensuring we hire not only the most qualified people, but also those that will fit within our laid back, family-style culture. We truly value our employees and want the company to feel inclusive and transparent, which we do through various avenues such as “open door” time with managers and semi-annual meetings with our President. In regards to our internal technology, we are continuously adapting and developing in this area and in our practices. We strive to stay at the forefront of technology and innovation, both internally and externally, and believe that as technology keeps evolving, so too must we. Please feel free to contact me directly with any suggestions that could help our current employees by emailing fclark@hawkeslearning.com.
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Glassdoor has 64 Hawkes Learning reviews submitted anonymously by Hawkes Learning employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Hawkes Learning is right for you.