Personnel changes at Faithlife
Today we laid off a number of team members here at Faithlife.
Faithlife is not in financial trouble.
Faithlife is still a profitable business. We intend to be here, supporting you, for many years to come.
But as in every business, things change. It's the job of the company's leadership to see, and hopefully even anticipate, changes in the marketplace and then to make changes in the business. That's what's happened here, only at a larger scale than happens in the normal day-to-day of business.
The simplest explanation of what we're doing is 'restructuring for sustainability.' We make digital goods; our largest expenses are payroll and royalties, so when we have to move any of the levers in the business, payroll is at the top of the list. There's almost no other lever to move.
This is an internal process, and I think in most businesses it's something you wouldn't even know about, but after some of the recent forum threads I thought it would be best to communicate this change pro-actively.
You should see little difference from the customer side, though there may be a particular staff member you know by name who is no longer with the company.
I don't want to get too deep into our specific circumstances -- and in a company our size they are complicated and interconnected -- but I can assure you that nothing has changed about our plan (and our ability) to profitably remain in business and to serve you for years to come.
The changes today are part of the ongoing process to ensure that.
-- Bob
Comments
You should see little difference from the customer side, though there may be a particular staff member you know by name who is no longer with the company.
While I hope my salesman that I deal with is still with the company. If I email him and he is no longer will the email be forwarded on to someone else or will it be lost in limbo?
Thanks Bob for the update. We do understand the economic climate we find ourselves in these days. Just a suggestion, I would like to see more leverage with the sales staff - special deals, discounts based on size of purchases, throw in a free book, etc. It is difficult being in sales at any time and particularly today. If we think we will get a better deal working with a rep we will probably call or email. He/she can then address our questions and suggest other purchases or options. Otherwise we will usually just order what we want through the website. Both the company and the customer benefits by good rapport between the customer and the sales rep.
Thanks Bob- and if any consolation to your employees I feel their pain- laid off as well- and I, like them, am making financial decisions today that effect all aspects of life- including FL- so like you I'll be making cuts as well.
Praying for them and their families that doors open quickly and the Lord sustains them during this time, its never easy during times of transition.
Thanks so much for the communication Bob. You didn't have to do this but your transparency is appreciated. Even though it must be difficult for the family impacted by this it is good to hear that Faithlife is doing well and that you are positioning the company for long-term sustainability.
Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God
That happened to me once and turned out to be the move that galvanized me on to even better things.
Today we laid off a number of team members here at Faithlife.
A few (laid-off employees) for the whole (Company/customers). I trusted they were duly warned and letters of references are prepared for each upon request. What a way to start a new year (2016)? I guess no time, is a good time, to be laid-off. Mainly, at the end of the day, bills have to be paid.
I will resist the temptation to ask for the details (how many, male/female, age, years with the company, title, etc.). However, I trust you had some principle guidelines to do, what you had to do. I wonder what are their chances of finding another job soon? Is there any chance that some could be recalled in the future? I hope each has The Logos Bible Software to use in between jobs (Hint: A parting gift, if they don’t have it). I feel their pain! Much prayers!
If you work for any corporation regardless on what type it is,you run the risk of being laid off or the company going out. If you want to avoid that,start up your own business(although that has risks on its own)otherwise know that you could end up looking for another job.
Hope those who got laid off found other job or not in a financial jam where they can afford to take the time and look for one.
On the other hand, I tried to someone who knew something about Verbum products and was told there was nobody around. I was looking for a knowledgeable sales rep to help with a Verbum purchase - no one was available and the sales rep I was speaking to told me knew nothing about that product line.
Blessings,
Floyd
Pastor-Patrick.blogspot.com
Thanks for the update and information. It is never fun to fire someone, and it is never fun to be fired. I am confident that all was done because it was necessary, and it was done in proper manner. I am praying for those who lost their employment, and I praying for Faith Life. Faith Life has been a blessing to me for years, and I trust its leadership.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley
Thanks Bob for reassuring
I don't think anyone has posted this yet: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article53186915.html.
Mac Pro (late 2013) OS 12.6.2
Very tough call to make. Thanks for the update.
The mind of man is the mill of God, not to grind chaff, but wheat. Thomas Manton | Study hard, for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow. Richard Baxter
@Bob Thanks for your openness. Very appreciated.
Hans
MacOS Sierra / Logos 7 Collector's Edition & All Base Packages / Logos Now
I don't think anyone has posted this yet: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article53186915.html.
Thanks for sharing....
The latest change is part of a plan for entering new growth areas that require a different business model, Pritchett said. This includes more subscription services to access a wide range of resources and information through tools like LogosCloud.com and ProclaimOnline.com. This business model means different capital and cash flow requirements, he said.
Pritchett said. This includes more subscription services to access a wide range of resources and information through tools like LogosCloud.com and ProclaimOnline.com. This business model means different capital and cash flow requirements, he said.
This seems rather ominous to me
Have I heard this before? More subscription services tools like LogosCloud.com and ProclaimOnline.com, does this sound like something I suggested last year sometimes about renting it all out or do a combination of ownership and rental? Check the threads and set me straight.
Better yet, Bob can define "more subscription services" in more detailed and concise language than I can at this point. I am in no way imposing upon the prerogatives of a CEO. Time is a revealer of truth and the removal of the string, "to let the cat out of the bag."
This seems rather ominous to me
Ominous? Makes me want to cue up some organ-in-a-castle music... :-)
Software businesses are moving to SaaS models, and I do see more of that in our future. It's not a threat to our current product lines, but our growth areas (Proclaim, Proclaim Pro Media, Logos Cloud, and even new things like Faithlife TV) will probably all be primarily subscription models. That takes more cash up front, and slows revenue down, but ultimately works out over time -- if people value the service.
Don't worry, though -- we (still!) don't want to do anything to mess with the wonderful relationship we have with existing customers who like the 'I bought it, it's mine' transaction model.
I appreciate everyone's concern, and I know that what's being expressed here is normal concern both for your own investment in our tools as well as for the people who were laid off.
I would love to explain to you in detail why you don't need to worry about the company. But it would just be going down a bottomless rabbit hole; there are simply too many moving parts, and too many opportunities for people to misunderstand / get upset / still be missing data.
For example, it would probably reassure many of you that your investment in our tools was secure if I told you that we made $100 million in profit last year. (We didn't!) But then someone would probably think it was unkind to lay people off just to make even more profit. (That would be.) And someone else would think that in that case, we should lower our prices. Etc. etc. etc. One person's reasonable business explanation will be another person's heartless inconsideration. To really judge our actions you'd need to know more than I can ever explain...
We're a significant business, and well established. We (still!) have more than 300 employees and millions of users. It's possible, even in an established business, to have things happen faster than you anticipate, but it's also possible to address things quickly, as we did when we realized we needed to. It's highly unlikely, though, that a company as established as ours -- and with such an active and still purchasing customer base as all of you (thank you!) -- will suddenly 'go out of business.' BlackBerry is still in business. And they've felt 'dead' for years. :-)
Our size, our intellectual property, and the very fact that you're active enough users to care if we stick around guarantees that you will be supported. Because you're a huge and substantial business, and even if we make some terrible mistakes and cause 5, 10, 20% of you to run away (please don't!), the remaining 80-95% are still a huge business that someone would find significant enough to take over and run.
If we go completely nuts and destroy more than half the customer base and someones slips on ice and falls and sues us and the business is bankrupted and I have my house forceclosed... the remaining brand / assets / customer base will still be a business in the tens of millions of dollars and a steal for whoever buys it out of the bankruptcy auction.
You're going to be fine, and we're going to be here to support you.
I appreciate the concern as well for the people who were laid off. Rest assured that those of us still at Faithlife share your concern, and more: these people are our friends, our neighbors in a small town, and people we go to church with.
The good news is, they're great people who once made it through our hiring and screening process, and they shouldn't have much difficulty finding new situations. Other local employers have already reached out to me to get connected to these people, and our team is offering what support we can in recommendations, introductions, etc.
This has been a sad and (for me) embarrassing week. There's a lot of speculation / rumor / untruth circulating that I can't fix. There are unhappy former employees (from long ago) who are gloating and goading. I just have to live with that, because it would be futile or simply unkind to respond in detail. There's too much detail and too many people involved.
I made some mistakes (could have caught things sooner, could have addressed payroll issues slowly over the past year instead of needing to do it all at once, etc.) but I also acknowledged the mistakes and dealt with them. Now we're moving forward.
I feel a little compelled to respond here in the forums because, though you're kinder than some local critics, your opinion matters a lot more. I don't want you to stop purchasing out of mistaken fears about our viability; I don't want to 'start a bank run on a healthy bank.' :-)
And I hate even saying that, because it implies that's a risk: it's not. Our customer base is large enough that even if all the forum users stopped purchasing, we'd survive. But I don't want you to stop -- because there's no reason! We're here, we're healthy, and even this painful change is evidence that we'll do what it takes to continue to be here for you, even if means admitting embarrassing mistakes on the front page of the local newspaper.
I don't know how to give you any stronger assurance of our dedication to being here for you than that.
Bob,
Change is seldom welcomed. I did not like the changes to the payment plans. Even worse is the loss of my Sales rep, Dave Kaplan.
I hope there are no more drastic changes in 2016.
Logos 7 Collectors Edition
Even worse is the loss of my Sales rep, Dave Kaplan.
I purchased 2 or 3 times through one of the reps who was very highly recommended, and he was very nice...until he saw that I had purchased from a different sales rep more recently (because he didn't answer my call, and I was in need of some resources quickly while they were on sale, and I had the money). The next time I called him he was very upset with me for purchasing through anyone other than him. Then he followed up with an email to me apologizing for wanting to be my "only" sales rep. saying he was happy for me to buy resources any way that was convenient for me. And things were good...so I thought. It happened again several months later, when I called him for a price, as I usually attempted to do first, and he said "call one of those other salesmen to see if THEY could work some magic for you", and in shock I said Ok? And he hung up! I hoped for a follow up email apology like last time, but none came. My order history reflects that I had made many different purchases, some through sales, many just through the site, yet I was treated as if I'd made a pact with him to never purchase any other way. It was very strange. Maybe he was just having a bad day. Either way, it appears he was included in the layoffs.
Logos 10 | Dell Inspiron 7373 | Windows 11 Pro 64, i7, 16GB, SSD | iPhone 13 Pro Max
"James Taylor" I was treated as if I'd made a pact with him to never purchase any other way. It was very strange.
James,
I had the identical thing happen to me about a eighteen months ago. And I had even previously referred a friend (to that salesperson) who purchased Logos 6 Silver. I have been a Logos user for ~16 years and have purchased through the Website as well as from many sales people -- that particular one, perhaps three times.
I called him for a price on a particular volume in a set of commentaries to which I was adding. Later that day he emailed me the price and I emailed him back to enter the order. Two days later, the resource still had not downloaded so I called him again. I got a message saying he was currently not in. I called back the next day and got the same message. So I finally placed the order with another salesman. About a week later I receive a phone call from the original salesperson in which he chewed me out royally for wasting his time. I was astonished by his attitude; he acted as if he owned exclusive rights to me as a Logos customer. From your depiction of the event, I think it was probably the same salesperson to whom you referred.
On the other hand, every other Logos salesperson with whom I have dealt has been extremely pleasant and helpful. I am happy to report that my unpleasant experience with this salesperson was a one-off.
_______________
On another matter, I have great sympathy for Bob (as well as those affected) over the recent layoffs. Before I retired I was the president of a retail corporation for 37 years. During my tenure the company went through several recessions in which some people had to be laid off because of the slow down in sales. One of my more difficult responsibilities as president was having to lay off a less efficient long-time employee because a newer employee was better motivated and was doing a far better job. I didn't take these decisions lightly, but if the company didn't survive then every employee would have lost his or her's job. Being the head of a company is not easy.
I was always generous with severance pay and tried to help the affected people find other jobs. Sometimes difficult decisions have to be made and it cannot be helped.
Bob is a really decent person.
Our size, our intellectual property, and the very fact that you're active enough users to care if we stick around guarantees that you will be supported. Because you're a huge and substantial business, and even if we make some terrible mistakes and cause 5, 10, 20% of you to run away (please don't!), the remaining 80-95% are still a huge business that someone would find significant enough to take over and run.
If we go completely nuts and destroy more than half the customer base and someones slips on ice and falls and sues us and the business is bankrupted and I have my house forceclosed... the remaining brand / assets / customer base will still be a business in the tens of millions of dollars and a steal for whoever buys it out of the bankruptcy auction.
Hopefully it doesn't come to that but that has been my thoughts have always been the same... worse case it would end up in others hands.... under a new name... Hopefully this whirlwind of speculation will settle down.
-Dan
I found this:
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Faithlife-RVW5973227.htm
It broke my heart
...
Hmmm - how long did it take you to find it? If you start at "most recent"
I've never worked there but know that they regularly get "best places to work" awards and know from being an IT manager that IT makes herding cats look easy - you want creative, independent thinkers to work as a team ... and IT employees are not noted for people-skills or conventional behavior. So why are you deliberately pointing out discord where discord is to be expected ... and where the overall picture is not bleak why do you select and publicize the disgruntled?
So let's provide another piece of selective feedback that breaks my heart ... and notice how recent it is.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
Hmmm - how long did it take you to find it? If you start at "most recent"
I found the link precisely at that location from a comment at the bottom of a news article on the layoffs. But rest assured I don't take negative comments against Logos as the gospel truth, but there is some hearing out I afford them.
Every story has two sides.... and every person also has a right to a private life... Now the accusation if completely true would be damning and show lack of integrity. But as Bob explained it, it seemed harmless venting in poor taste. Some people like fart jokes some of us find them vulgar and in poor taste. But if an employee in his own sphere wishes to tell them, he shouldn't be penalized for bad taste. In common business policy the customer is always right, but what the customer expects can often be unreasonable. I want better offline capability for the mobile apps. I have been vocal about it, I know one developer who is frustrated at my repeated mentioning of it. Would it bother me if I heard he tweeted something nasty about me in venting to friends. Not really, even if he went off on what personally would feel a not ok attack on my sexuality, again his personal time and private account.
-Dan
PS: I am in no way trying to accuse said person of any involvement in this alleged matter, just using him and myself. Knowing I could well be an example of someone who might frustrate someone enough to need to vent.
"Some customers, especially pastors and those involved in ministry, can be extremely rude/condescending." That I can well believe, having seen it often enough right here. It was very disconcerting when I first started frequenting the forums but now it's just par for the course, which is sad.
Hmmmm, let's compare ... human sales force v. online sales:
does exactly what it is instructed, without error winner: online sales
works long hours, never late for work winner: online sales
one time training cost with minimal ongoing maintenance costs winner: online sales
no salary winner: online sales
no health insurance costs per the [anything but] Affordable Care Act winner: online sales
no 401k costs winner: online sales
no cappuccino, pop, &etc. costs winner: online sales
no whining [incl. via Glassdoor] winner: online sales
no paid vacation, no holidays, no personal days off winner: online sales
no misc. HR overhead costs winner: online sales
From a human perspective it's a brutal assessment, yet, survival is priority no. 1 for any business. And if significant revenues can be saved and used to boost the viability of a small company ... well, it is only a matter of time until even the most kind-hearted, Christian employer will be forced to switch from flesh and blood to bits and bytes. We had to say goodbye to buggy whips, elevator operators, carbon paper, slide rules, paper telephone books, and so forth, too. My guess is, for the foreseeable future, there will always be one or two, maybe a few, sales people standing by, ready to take your call. However, like it or not, the world moves on.
Instead of Artificial Intelligence, I prefer to continue to rely on Divine Intelligence instructing my Natural Dullness (Ps 32:8, John 16:13a)
"Some customers, especially pastors and those involved in ministry, can be extremely rude/condescending." That I can well believe, having seen it often enough right here. It was very disconcerting when I first started frequenting the forums but now it's just par for the course, which is sad.
MJ,
"Pastors and those involved in ministry" are like any other people without the influencing power of the Word. Many people with holy titles have displayed very unholy behaviors far beyond being "rude/condescending." Vast sums of monies paid out and jailed clergymen in the "Freedom loving" USA, because too many have not been transformed (Romans 12:1-2) by the very Word (Bible) that they handled. Be not dismay, there is still hope for change and them. Let's pray that the Christians, working around or with the people mentioned above, will be "living" Epistles (2 Cor 3:2-6).
I found this:
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Faithlife-RVW5973227.htm
It broke my heart
...
I do hope you read Bob's response to that.
This is my personal Faithlife account. On 1 March 2022, I started working for Faithlife, and have a new 'official' user account. Posts on this account shouldn't be taken as official Faithlife views!
I do hope you read Bob's response to that.
Yes, and I appreciate that, it's just sometimes the truth lies in the middle of two positions, and until today I had a good impression of the Logos team, but all this calls into question some things. Regardless, even if there were/are some bad eggs, I know there are many really awesome people working at Logos. It's just a bit like when people find out their favourite celebrity isn't exactly like you dreamed, you see I deeply truly believe in the mission of Logos and how it can nurture the body of Christ. And when you believe in it's potential and mission as much as I do, you can become nostalgic and view the team as angels. Yes, it's true, I'm infatuated with team Logos. 
But all this has brought me back to the ground, a place we call reality.
Due to the server issues that happened tonight, I wonder if anyone in the "server management department" was on the list. :-)
Nathan Parker
Visit my blog at http://focusingonthemarkministries.com
Due to the server issues that happened tonight, I wonder if anyone in the "server management department" was on the list. :-)
It might have something to do with this: http://www.zdnet.com/article/serious-security-flaw-found-in-openssh-puts-private-keys-at-risk/
Director of Zoeproject
www.zoeproject.com
Due to the server issues that happened tonight, I wonder if anyone in the "server management department" was on the list. :-)
It might have something to do with this: http://www.zdnet.com/article/serious-security-flaw-found-in-openssh-puts-private-keys-at-risk/
Faithlife don't use OpenSSL - they're on a Windows stack.
This is my personal Faithlife account. On 1 March 2022, I started working for Faithlife, and have a new 'official' user account. Posts on this account shouldn't be taken as official Faithlife views!
Faithlife don't use OpenSSL - they're on a Windows stack.
Does this have anything to do with "personnel changes at Faithlife?"
However, is there any truth to the content of this website? https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Faithlife-RVW9169552.htm
I tried to respond to the individual directly, but unable to do so. If this site is so, or partially true, we have been misled. I am not worried, but I am concern about those laid off (frequency and treatment of workers). I am the let Bob, be Bob person. However, this in no way I endorse him or anyone to exercise unchristian behaviors or create a hostile work environment.
Who is James G. Fowler? He claims to present "another perspective of the recent lay-offs" I don't want to be the source of fear mongering, but have we been sold a "bill of goods" on the laidoffs?
Bob
You seem to be keeping an eye on this Forum Post. I live in the UK, so I rarely contacted the sales office and on the occasions I did, they weren't able to offer me deals that I could get online, so I'm more than happy to continue to do all of my dealing online. However, as my library has grown, I find that my purchases are increasingly driven by offers, such as the Monthly Sale, Daily Deals and ad hoc publisher promotions like the recent NIVAC sale. I'm sure I can't be alone in this respect.
Therefore, given you seem to encouraging online sales, it seems a shame that the Daily Deals seem to have fallen by the wayside or at least become erratic. Can I please encourage you to resume 'normal service' with the Daily Twitter and Facebook Deals?
PS My wife will be grateful if you don't!!
However, is there any truth to the content of this website? https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Faithlife-RVW9169552.htm
I tried to respond to the individual directly, but unable to do so. If this site is so, or partially true, we have been misled. I am not worried, but I am concern about those laid off (frequency and treatment of workers). I am the let Bob, be Bob person. However, this in no way I endorse him or anyone to exercise unchristian behaviors or create a hostile work environment.
Bob will probably respond on Glassdoor fairly soon. He normally does. He's probably waiting for the dust to settle a little.
A great company doesn't become a terrible company overnight. As I understand it, two major decisions have been made in recent months — the first to dramatically downsize the Verbum department, and the second to dramatically downsize the marketing/sales department.
With regard to the former, whilst the Catholic focus has been very much appreciated by many, it's taken a massive marketing push to get where it has, and it's still less popular that Logos Reformed and Logos Baptist, which don't have their own branding, blog, videos, training materials, etc. It looks like Faithlife may have taken the view that whilst they want their Catholic market to continue to grow, a massive marketing push is not the way to achieve that.
With regard to the latter, the majority of complaints about Faithlife over the years on the forums have been to do with marketing — over-promising and under-delivering, or simply poor communication. Plus, the 'salesman' model is surely dead in 2015, isn't it? So we shouldn't be surprised that there have been big job cuts in sales, and we shouldn't be surprised that people leaving the marketing department are generally negative (sometimes very negative). Most of us have been negative about the marketing department at some point.
You can take this one of two ways.
On the one hand, you can conclude the company is in crisis, and disaster is around the corner. On the other hand you can applaud the company for finally attempting to fix a long-standing problem. Probably the truth is somewhere in between, although I'm inclined to believe it's nearer the latter than the former.
I hope that Bob and others will be taking the opportunity to ask, "How did we get here?", and the lessons learned through that should serve the company well into the future. The need for better HR oversight and more honest marketing/sales seem to be two recurring themes. But there are other things too, no doubt.
This is my personal Faithlife account. On 1 March 2022, I started working for Faithlife, and have a new 'official' user account. Posts on this account shouldn't be taken as official Faithlife views!
is there any truth to the content of this website?
Charles,
I have tried to avoid even posting a emoji on this thread, but I'll jump in here.
First, everyone who is a regular on the forums knows I'm not a Faithlife Fanboy. I have been critical of FL where I thought it was warranted (and perhaps overly so on a few occasions). I quit playing the trumpet 30 years ago, so I'm not about to jump on any bandwagons.
But as a manager of people, I'm going to have to come to FL's defense on this one (particularly Bob's, even though I'm sure he doesn't need my help). Without going into a treatise, let me simply say that if you manage anyone or anything and don't tick somebody off, you aren't doing your job. If you do your job well, you will really make someone mad, and if you do your job exceptionally well, you'll piss someone off royally (pardon my French) [6].
That's to say this: Take everything you see posted on a review site with a grain of salt, if not a teaspoon full. (Yes, that'll make you throw up, which is a fair response to much of what is posted on review sites.) We don't know the whole story. Remember the proverb about one man's story seeming right until the other side is heard? That proverb was written with managers in mind. Yes, there are bad managers and there are good managers that make bad decisions. But in 20-something years of managing, I can't recall ever seeing one of these types of accusations that didn't fall apart when more of the story was revealed. Remember, patience is a fruit of the Spirit. I have yet to find a translation where jumping to conclusions is listed as a fruit. (Truth be told: the way I've learned to be patient on these issues is by jumping to conclusions and then losing a chunk of my behind as a result. I may gain weight as I age, but I'll never have a big butt. Too much of it has been bitten off over the years. [:P] )
Hope this helps. I appreciate your concern for folks, or I wouldn't have bothered to write this.
Eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river.
Faithlife don't use OpenSSL - they're on a Windows stack.
Oh the irony
#App-lessWindowsPhoneUser
Just curious, no plans to SELL the company or be "acquired" right? ...asking for a friend [:D]
Eight years after the penultimate post the friend seems to have missed the boat.
tootle pip
Mike
Now tagging post-apocalyptic fiction as current affairs. Latest Logos, MacOS, iOS and iPadOS
Hopefully in the new version of the forums, the dates of posts will be more prominently displayed... this happens all too often...
Just curious, no plans to SELL the company or be "acquired" right? ...asking for a friend
Accordance was sold and the new management isn’t running it too well. Logos bought Wordsearch, what a blessing that was!
Your friend sounds like you’re the one asking 😂😂😂
DAL
Thanks for the communication, Bob.