Pros
Decent work location - easily accessible. Good benefits, perks etc. Great office - probably amongst the better ones in Toronto Love the attitude towards communication Some genuinely friendly and smart people
Cons
My stint at Flipp was absolutely torrid. I think it was Joseph Goebbels who once said ‘If you repeat a lie enough, people will believe it and even you’ll come to believe it yourself’. This maxim could be one possible explanation why cultural tenets are regurgitated time and again at Flipp - right from the on-boarding journey to the weekly big scrums. Employees are constantly reminded of how special and unique the Flip culture is - 3 Hs (Humility, High Intelligence & Hunger) etc. amongst other things - in order to haze the day and night difference between what is practiced and preached. You hear the founder constantly harping on the importance of being humble or a great servant leader. But its management through fear mongering and intimidation that is practiced instead. Much of what is said about the founder’s behaviour is true. I recall meetings where he bragged about the number of f bombs dropped to get folks in line. He lives up to his reputation for flying off the handle, blasting employees in public with complete disregard to how this affects overall morale/sentiment. Sadly others in the Lighthouse seem either oblivious to this, or worse fearful to confront him over this. You’ll hear a good deal of talk on the amazing Flipp family. However unlike typical families, Flipp does not hesitate to cut the cord at any moment. You’ll know when team members suddenly don’t show up for work and vanish from Slack & the company phone directory. Make mistakes uploading a flyer - Boom, Don’t get along with or disagree with your coach - Goodbye, Don’t answer your company provided phone when needed - so long, poorly managed project - fired. There is no regard for the careers and lives of people being let go. The only ones with their pensions secure at Flipp belong to the clique that I call the Inner Circle (many from the Class of ’03). They have no qualms in letting people go when things go wrong under their watch, yet somehow they seem infallible. Nothing sums up my experience more aptly than a ‘critical’ feedback that I received during my review. I was told that my ‘non native communication skills’ were an issue. I can’t think of a single instance in my working profession where I have been at the receiving end of such an outrageous remark. Weak communication skills? Sure, perhaps! But what do I do about being a non native? The strangest part of the story - The 'coach' with this feedback could be easily considered a non native himself. I am guessing there is a small possibility that AY may respond with his boilerplate response of how he welcomes feedback and would be open for a chat. The negative reviews (from 2015!!) all seem to have recurring themes and if there was any meaningful initiative to address these issues, a discussion should have started a while back. That hasn’t happened and I don’t believe anyone cares to.
