No clear strategy or market approach outside of US Higher Ed (Gale, Skills, International currently appear adrift).
You have to be in the right ‘cliques’. If you are not in the right groups your voice is unlikely to be heard.
‘Preach’ Radical Candor, but this only works top down. Most employees will say on surveys that staff can be candid, but those who are candid are criticized.
Global organization of only around 5000 people, but a very complex organization that relies heavily on personal relationships and personal networks (see the ‘cliques’ comment). This makes it very difficult for capable new staff to have an impact – unless they were sponsored in by someone in an influential position (either by positional power or via cliques).
Cengage has gone ‘all in’ for Agile in the technology division to the extent that it really has become ‘what was the question, because Agile is the answer?’ This makes innovation and transformation nearly impossible as everything is expected to bubble up from below.
Cengage drastically needs to transform due to the bureaucracy, reliance on personal networks and organizational knowledge to get things done.
Overall, this has to be the most frustrating place that I have ever worked. A lot of staff feel as though their voice is not heard (even those in Software Engineering) yet there is regular talk of open door policies, radical candor and openness. The reality does not match the stated intent.
I really liked and valued the CEO Michael Hansen, however, the things I have seen ultimately rest on his shoulders (particularly the cultural shift below) so I cannot endorse him any more.
Recent announcements and actions (including mandatory training on radical left wing political ideology, for all staff) have effectively told heterosexual Caucasian white males (and especially Christians) that they are no longer welcome and should expect to progress very slowly or probably not at all.
The lurch towards accepting radical left politics as company policy is worrying. Cengage preaches diversity yet has demonstrated that it is against the most important diversity of all - diversity of thought. If your views are not ‘far left’, you will be increasingly uncomfortable in this company.
