Affiliated Computer Services Reviews

Pros

Great clients to work with, willing to invest in tools/technology to ensure success of the SBU, Xerox will (hopefully) fix the ACS culture

Cons

Pay, benefits, no 401K match, favoritism, no investment in the people who are needed to leverage the tools to be succesfully, complete disregard for their employees

Advice to Senior Management

Take your bonuses from the acquisition and leave this place so the good people who work there can receive the recognition they deserve.

Pros

if you work on a good project, with good management, and do not have to deal with corporate, this can be a great company.
there are many great people working here

Cons

you are a number, not an asset
left hand doesn't know what right hand is doing
acs follows the letter of the law nothing more, nothing less
only people acs care about are shareholders and senior management bonusses
acs takes bean counting to a whole new level
RIF is a way of live

Advice to Senior Management

employees are assets, treat them that way. Stop having the bean counters make decisions. You need a shared resource model across the company, this will save money, and bring stability.

Pros

Good paid time off benefits. Had one good manager which induced me to stay with the company longer than I should have.

Cons

Limited opportunity for advancement. Senior Management is on a merry go round and has little knowledge of the lines of business they manage.

Advice to Senior Management

Actually speak to people who work for you might be a good start.

Pros

Balance (Labor time / Personal time)
Salary
Recognition

Cons

Limit of Resources
Limit sources of knowledge
Lack of Education

Advice to Senior Management

Education, education, education

Pros

9/hr to sit around in training, that's okay money I suppose. Can make up to decent money about 4 months after being hired, which when you get paid per call. Having a degree even if not in the field of communications may lead you to an easier position upon hire. I haven't had a problem getting days off, and the company seems accepting of person specific needs. I got promoted quickly, even though I know the promotions don't mean anything they will look good on a resume.

Cons

No raises, ever. A lot of talking and being run breathless unless you are able to get off the phones. If you get "promoted" to Senior Team Lead, which is after three promotions, you will not have to take calls any more but you will only make a flat rate of 9.25 an hour. I don't see the advancement/pay ratio balancing out any where; and don't expect to get promoted to a supervising position unless you walked through the doors as that position. Pick your friends carefully, many of them will slit your throat, it happens quite regularly. You can't win unless you cheat, if you want good statistics you WILL find ways to cheat.

Advice to Senior Management

They won't read this, and if this is read nothing will be done to improve the company. However, my advice is to pay more for promotions, and stop changing the bloody rules and guidelines every two weeks; it just annoys everyone!

Pros

Many talented people work at ACS and they do not mind sharing their knowledge.

Cons

•Unqualified people promoted to lead or management positions
•Managers using their positions for their personal agendas against employees under them
•Pay reductions to already low pay
•Ungodly working hours - seven days a week, 10 hours a day

Advice to Senior Management

Stop working your employees like dogs. Slavery is over!

Pros

There are always opportunities to learn new things. Ground level management does a good job of making sure people are able to get work done. There are a lot of good people at ACS.

Cons

I've earned two promotions in the past year and have seen no pay raise. There are people doing the same work making 50% more than me because they either joined the company at that level or were promoted to their Peter principle level while the company was still giving raises.

There are a lot of people who are suffering through the same situation.

Advice to Senior Management

Do something for the people who have been working at jobs way above their pay grade for the past few years. If (when?) those people leave, the company will have issues.

Pros

* Online professional development resources were available to employees.
* There was a good attempt at implementing employee recognition programs.
* The call center seemed successful at meeting contract requirements for customer service.

Cons

* In general, employees and managers behaved (in actions, speech, dress) unprofessionally (at times, unethically) and espoused very low standards of accountability.
* There was an adversarial attitude toward state stakeholders. (These customers were usually regarded with disdain and overtly criticized.)
* There were managers who blatantly showed very little respect for their employees--even in business meetings.
* Nepotism was widespread.
* Performance evaluation was not valued; instead it was regarded as a joke by employees and managers alike.
* Employee morale was extremely low.
* Communication about compensation cuts was terribly executed.
* Holiday policy was quite insensitive.

Advice to Senior Management

* Hold your employees (at all ranks--even/especially managers) to a high degree of accountability.
* Quickly and firmly resolve the big problem of under-performance at all ranks.
* Make customer service a top priority, especially with state stakeholders--who are your biggest contracts.
* Consider work attitude as a significant factor in performance and truly reward excellent performance.
* Practice showing integrity--say what you mean and mean what you say. And, just as (if not more) importantly---deliver on your word!

Here is something practical and concrete you can implement immediately:
For performance evaluation of managers, have an official process whereby the evaluation must include input from that manager's employees. It makes sense for the subordinates to speak to the manager's strengths and weaknesses as a manager.

Pros

They offer a good package.
Xerox and ACS Policies are best atleast on papers.
Dallas and Monterrey Management are best.

Cons

Bangalore Management is fractured management, there are bosses who have spent 7 yrs and rule the fellow colleagues very rudely.
Legacy issues of management even after Xerox took over.
Lack of transparency.
9th Floor @ ITPL is worse place to work

Advice to Senior Management

Managers need to effectively communicate,
Ethics guys must learn to protect anonymity of guys who raise the concern.
US management needs to step up and come forward to hear their counterparts in Bangalore.
 Leadership must learn to interact with employees in a very friendly manner.

Pros

Interesting clients to work for.

Cons

This is one of many profits first companies. There is very little focus on developing employees and providing them adequate resources to do their jobs. Grievances are ignored and people are punished for trying to use the open door policy.