KIMBO Design Reviews

4.1

76% would recommend to a friend

(15 total reviews)

Kim Pickett

76% approve of CEO

76% positive business outlook

KIMBO Design has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 15 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The KIMBO Design employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

15 reviews
1.0
12 Jan 2017

Worst Workplace

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I can't think of anything WORST WORKPLACE

Cons

No lunch breaks (too busy) CEO doesn't know what's going on Let you do almost every little thing (fixing printers etc) and then fire you. Keep the design and get money.

1.0
20 May 2016

Avoid

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Downtown location is great, nearby transit and convenient enough to get to on a daily basis.

Cons

Lack of HR department, unhealthy work-life balance, poor management, under paid and over stressed. Would not recommend.

1.0
18 Aug 2018

Growing pains - Slow down and create a safe space

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working for a small company means you can try on many different hats. You get to try out different roles (design, writing, project management, ad buying, etc.) and may discover you had talents you never realized you had. Of course, some may see this as management's way of taking advantage of employees (having them work multiple roles without adequant compensation). Also: working for KIMBO looks good on paper. What's cooler than working for a Vancouver web/design company that boasts a rather impressive list of clients/campaigns?

Cons

Although working for KIMBO can look good on paper, it is not what it appears (at least, not when I worked there). I read a few reviews on this site, and some responses by KIMBO. KIMBO claims that the former employee concerns cited were not known to management at the time (KIMBO asks, why didn't you talk to us?). The answer is rather simple: fear. When I worked at KIMBO, the atmosphere was unpredictable. It was like walking on eggshells; you didn't know what kind of moods you were going to encounter. There were a lot of raised voices in that office, and unprofessional responses to stress (by both management and workers alike). Everyone worked long hard hours at their desks with their heads down. And despite how hard they all worked, they were yelled at when they made mistakes. At the very least, employees who weren't immediately cutting it, were treated to some scathing emails and a lot of TONE. Perhaps, with the company being so small, management simply didn't have time for proper onboarding and mentoring. But training is ongoing, and requires care and understanding. "Training" in this case involved micromanaging and the assumption that employees were "mind readers." After reading some of KIMBO's (rather defensive) responses and recent PR attempts (they are quoted in a recent BC Business article about their work happiness initiatives), it is likely that little has changed with this company. KIMBO thinks that "unhappy employees are more creative" and states that, in her industry, they must "never fail." These two quotes alone reveal a pretty significant blindspot. Failure is an integral part of success. Employees must fail, without fear that doing so will bring reprecussions they may never recover from. Although this place may look good on paper (and their website and office is nice and slick), it's probably not worth the risk. A bad work experience can have severe effects on your mental and physical health, as well as your future goals.

avatar
KIMBO Design Response
7y
As a small company, we don’t have enough work to justify full time positions for everything required, and this is why staff wear many hats. In our interview process, we are clear that we are a small company and must pull together as a team, and help where needed. Employees are adequately compensated for their time here, and within industry norms. It sounds like you are someone who has left the company a while ago. You’re right, we did have growing pains a while back, but I have since learned from my mistakes and we, as a company, are continuously improving. To quote you, failure is an integral part of success, and I recognize the areas that have hindered KIMBO’s success and acted on improving them. We are making continuous changes to our HR practices, all across the board. While this personal attack is hurtful, and saying the workplace was unsafe is quite a stretch, I do sincerely apologize if you personally found me unapproachable, and had a seemingly awful time at KIMBO Design. I don’t know when an employee has faced severe repercussions in failure, or for making the wrong call, but I am sorry if this is something you feared for. In terms of BC Business, this was a quote taken way out of context, and the publication should be printing a retraction on this statement. I do not want my staff to be unhappy, and I do not encourage this for project success. I actually feel totally opposite than what was posted in this article; I feel that happy workers are productive workers, and as a business owner, that is what I want. I also come to the office every day, and in turn want a positive working environment with people whose company I enjoy. We have created a team that is positive and work together when problems arise (because in business, struggles are inevitable). Again, I am sorry that you feel this way about KIMBO. I am thankful for your input, it’s been a positive journey to learn from my mistakes. Rest assured, KIMBO today is nothing like how it’s been described in your post. Kim Pickett, Owner
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Glassdoor has 26 KIMBO Design reviews submitted anonymously by KIMBO Design employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if KIMBO Design is right for you.