Culture Where Favoritism Thrives and Accountability Doesn’t - Field Sales Consultant Cengage Employee Review

3.0
Mar 3, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

The work was genuinely mission‑driven and had a real impact on educators and students, which made the purpose of the organization meaningful and rewarding. The role also offered strong flexibility and remote‑work options, allowing for true work–life balance. Day to day, there was a high level of autonomy, giving me the freedom to manage my territory, relationships, and workflow in ways that aligned with my strengths and supported the needs of the districts I served.

Cons

The organization struggled with accountability, particularly among less‑seasoned managers who operated with inconsistent standards and clear favoritism. Decisions and recognition often felt politically driven rather than performance‑based, with managers taking credit for others’ work, repackaging ideas as their own, or publicly praising certain team members while overlooking others who contributed equally. Communication was another significant challenge—one manager relied almost entirely on text messages, avoided phone calls, and was frequently unresponsive. In addition, substantial resources were spent sending inside reps on travel, creating inefficiencies and raising questions about how budgets were prioritized. These issues collectively made it difficult to trust leadership or feel supported in delivering high‑quality work.

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Cengage Response
2mo
Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed feedback—and for the impact you made during your time here. I’m glad to hear our mission and the flexibility of the role were meaningful parts of your experience. Those are important strengths we intend to build on. At the same time, you’ve raised concerns about favoritism, inconsistent management standards, and accountability that we take seriously. That’s not the culture we are building. Performance, recognition, and opportunity should be grounded in contribution and impact—consistently and transparently. We have many strong leaders across the organization, and we also know that consistency in how leadership shows up matters. As I’ve stepped into the CHRO role, continuing to raise the bar—especially for newer managers—is a clear priority. We are sharpening expectations for people leaders, investing in targeted development, and increasing clarity around how performance and recognition decisions are made. We are also reinforcing expectations for leaders to stay close to the field and operate with a high standard of communication and follow-through. Culture is shaped by what leaders do every day, and we are committed to ensuring that experience is consistent across teams. I appreciate you sharing your perspective—it helps us focus on where we need to continue improving. Kamilah Thomas Chief Human Resources Officer

Explore other reviews about Cengage

3.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Company has some interesting approaches to the market and in the past they seemed value employees. There are some good employees there and there was, in the past, visionary leadership, but the people with the vision and leadership skills left the company a few years ago.

Cons

The company actively de-values employees. They had a project they called "Project Horizon" where they told all employees they needed to cut costs, so the company was going to have multiple layoffs over 3-5 years - but nobody was allowed to know when, where, or why - - just one day large swaths of people would be gone. That hung over everyone's heads - for years, and is indicative of how Cengage values employees - it doesn't. Everything is about trying to secure new funding and prepare for an IPO, so they stopped investing significantly in the products about 3 years ago and that's about when they stopped acting like they cared about employee wellness as well.

9
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