AustinCSI Reviews

3.4

63% would recommend to a friend

(88 total reviews)

Rizwan Sheikh & Karen Moree

83% approve of CEO

63% positive business outlook

AustinCSI has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 88 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The AustinCSI employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management and consulting industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

88 reviews
2.0
16 May 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

To be honest, there are some super smart and cool people here and I think that most people really care about each other. I had a few health issues and they stood by me during that time and during some family issues and helped. For that I am forever grateful. However...

Cons

AustinCSI claims to be a consulting company. Make no bones about it. It is not! It is a Staff Augmentation company. I have been at the PepsiCo account for a long time and am known as a go to person there. We do not consult, we do what ever the client wants and we say "how high" when the client says "jump." That's not a bad thing, but just tell it like it is. This company stands for one thing: Profit Margin. In my situation, I got a promotion to a Senior Project manager role from the client based on my performance. AustinCSI did nothing to get that promotion, it was based on merit, skill and ability to deliver and being the go to person on vendor issues and tools. Upon getting the promotion and having a discussion with my "manager" about financial compensation. I was told that my manager has nothing to do with my compensation and I was told that the Strategic Account Lead had to have the conversation and that person is the only one who makes that call. When that conversation came about I was told that I would not get a financial promotion, but they were moving me from hourly to salary. That would be my promotion. I would get a vacation and paid holidays as my "promotion." I told the strategic lead, I wanted to remain hourly. I was told I had no choice. I asked for the difference in that vacation time and holidays as the difference in my hourly rate. Again I was denied and then told I had "No Choice." About a year later I was asked if i was interested in another opportunity at another client. It was a role that would be a promotion in to program manager role. After having a discussion with the same strategic lead, I was was told that even though I was fully qualified and they knew i would no doubt execute in this role, i would not get a financial promotion until the next years review. That that is company policy. I commented that "so you want me to do this, believe that I can and will do this effectively, but are not going to pay me and yet at the same time you are going to bill significantly more for my services and i would not see any of that until the following year's performance review?" The answer was the same. Well now you understand why my perspective is that we are a Staff Augmentation company and not a company that focuses on people and giving them what they deserve. This was all about profit margin, not about people and growing them. I know of multiple folks here on this account that the increase in bill rates based on merit and performance happened, but those individuals did not get a financial increase and were told to wait until they next years performance review. One person was bumped two levels and they were told the same thing. Additionally the sentiment about moving into a higher level without a financial compensation package is happening as the norm here. This is my view regarding why we focus on staff augmentation and profit margin only. There are Favorites, the ones who do exactly what they are told. For goodness sake, don't ask why or what is the value in doing that. You need to just drink the kool aid and do what you are told and look away if you don't like what you are seeing! Benefits are extremely expensive and there is no matching on 401K as well.

1.0
28 Jan 2016

Know Thyself

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The organization is great for the recent college graduate who needs the experience and to ‘cut their teeth’ in the business world. Organization is also good to work for as an interim company or a stepping stone for the experienced professional waiting for the right opportunity, with the right opportunity not coming from this organization. Optimal for the 9-to-5’ers that just want to come in and do their job for the client and leave for the day. Benefits are on par with comparable organizations, which is very minimal. The other reviews that have commented on benefits are accurate. If you don’t expect much in benefits, you won’t be surprised. Make sure you like how the ‘kool-aid’ tastes before drinking it. AND taste it regularly because management changes the taste quite often

Cons

Consultant wanna-be’s that are actually in the staff augmentation business. The organization strives to be consultants with this being more of the exception rather than the rule. The majority of client work is not consultative in nature, but is a mere augmentation of client staff. Leadership is continually saying they are not in the staff augmentation business and have not learned to call a spade a spade. Business development sits squarely on the shoulders of the two executive leaders. This is a risk the organization is willing to take and, perceptively, has not paid off with the occurrence of large client losses and some, but very minimal, client gains. Senior leadership is more reactive rather than strategic. There have been some strategic moves, but the strategy is so fluid and fleeting that they do not have stable footing and cannot land on solid ground when there is a downturn in the business. The senior leadership approach to staff is heavy handed to ensure compliance. Still very young organization that the executive and senior leadership does not know how to take advantage of and properly handle the tremendous growth they have had to continue the growth of the organization. So far their growth has been more attributable to luck, with some minimal hard work. They will continue to grow but at a slower pace compared to other successful leaders in a similar business. Difficult to retain top employees. There are a lot of smart, sharp, and talented individuals working for the organization. As another review mentioned, there is rampant favoritism. It’s based on this favoritism and not how talented you are that will make you successful in this organization. The ‘C’ in CSI stands for culture, which leadership says is a top key value, but on the contrary is lower in the value scale. There is a reason why they didn’t make it to the 2015 Dallas Morning News (DMN) Top 100 Places to Work For, compared to 2013 and 2014. Proof that culture has been on the decline. Although their tactics to get on the DMN recognition is questionable, with managers coercing subordinates to nominate the organization to become eligible. If employees really liked the organization, strong-arm tactics are not necessary.

2.0
17 Feb 2016

Smoke And Mirrors

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good stepping stone to get to a bigger, better opportunity. A lot of flexibility in working from home. Even though their business is tightly wrapped around two main clients, they are very big players in the game and look great on your resume. Some movement across client sites when possible. Fun coworker happy hours.

Cons

AustinCSI struggles with retaining talent. Look at the trajectory of former employees to see how almost all of them have moved on to better opportunities. The only people who remain have figured out how to play their game and are complacent with being a big fish in a small pond. Either that, or they're not talented enough to find a better position. Favoritism is based off of who is drinking the Kool-Aid. Doing well with this company is not based off of merit and performance, but rather who they can control and manipulate. The politics at client site are sickening. No matter what they tell you, they are more concerned with making the client happy (even when they are unethical) than keeping your job and family secure. Remember, Texas is an at-will state. Leadership does not conduct themselves as professionals, but as biting, insecure teenagers. Whenever there is an influx of positive reviews, it is because management is encouraging it to hide these negative reviews. Perception is reality, so pay attention to what people are saying.

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Glassdoor has 98 AustinCSI reviews submitted anonymously by AustinCSI employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if AustinCSI is right for you.