A Sinking Ship - Anonymous employee Kaplan International Languages Employee Review

Please accept my sincere thanks for the feedback in your employee review. As one of Kaplan International English’s (KIE) priorities, the management team is working hard to reinvent the company culture to one in which honest feedback, no matter how difficult it is to hear, is both respected and encouraged. While I understand and appreciate your post, I do respectfully disagree with its title and your apparent conclusion that KIE is “sinking ship.” Without a doubt, the organization has gone through a rough few years. But in the past twelve months , I have been inspired and encouraged by the energy, creativity, and passion of the staff here at KIE. In the face of strong headwinds in the language training industry, we are seeing resilience and stability throughout the organization demonstrated in the spirit of the worldwide KIE team. In addition, KIE is finishing the 2018 year in a dramatically stronger position than the organization has enjoyed in several years. I must admit that your thoughts on upper management not being transparent disappoint and mystify me. One of my strongest goals for the organization has been to improve communication and transparency within KIE. In fact, I believe that communication will be critical to the future success of KIE. We have recently implemented initiatives to strengthen communication with staff at all levels of the organization from regular one-on-one meetings to large “town hall” style gatherings in which we communicate openly about the state of the business and our plans for the future. The management team will continue create ways to connect with staff in the hopes of offering greater transparency and engagement. We have received some positive feedback on the efforts we have made to date, but we remain, as always, open to suggestions. I would like to hear more about your assessment of some managers team not being “qualified to lead a team.” As I am sure you understand, this sort of feedback begs for further details. Of course, no manager is perfect, and we should always be striving to improve our management skills. And in some cases, yes, managers should be removed from post if necessary. While I know that Glassdoor is an anonymous site, I would welcome meeting and hearing more details on this point, if you feel comfortable doing so. Finally, I was sorry to read your impression that KIE does not care about our staff. Over the past year, we have implemented numerous initiatives indicating the contrary. Improving communication, involving staff in the strategic direction of the company, and upgrading and improving incentive plans are a few of these initiatives. The headwinds facing the ELT sector have made budgets tight, and the worldwide team has had to pull together to face the challenging environment. At the same time, we have been committed to rewarding staff for strong performance, and we will continue to do this. Thank you again for taking the time share your feedback. Sincerely Dave (C.O.O.)