Alterna Savings Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Alterna Savings

Pros – - Friendly people
- Great Pension & Benefits
- Proximity to the top (contact with Senior Management Team at all levels of the organization)
- If you have good ideas and work hard, it will pay off (Fairness)
- Committed to the community
- Great hours

Cons – - Pay is technically in line with other organizations, but staff are overworked
- Turnover seems to be an issue
- Some employees don't necessarily "buy in" to Alterna's value system

Advice to Senior Management – Even in an extremely difficult business environment you've managed to set the ship in the right direction. For close to 100 years Alterna (formerly CS COOP) had the benefit of guaranteed business from civil service employees. This is no longer the case, and you've recognized that and adjusted as such. Right now certain things may be painful, but in the long run I believe Alterna will continue to succeed. Very excited about Alterna's new online banking capabilities and our shift towards the latest high tech services already offered by the big banks.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Alterna Savings

Pros – +The benefits are great for medical, dental, vision
+Vacation time available
+Weekends go mainly uninterrupted depending on the sales quarter

Cons – -leadership based on intimidation. Ruthlessness are driving away great employees
-rewards and recognition is not there. For instance, a rep had received a gift certificate for 4 appointments while another who brought in close to $1 million in sales is not even given a nod of thanks
-horrible communication. How to proceed in week 1 may not be the case in week 5 for the same situation
-lack of / blocked from much needed resources to assist members
-the blame game is rampant. Expected to be blamed even if you had nothing to do with the situation
-you are expected to mind read mgr thoughts. If you are even caught speaking to someone the mgr had beef with the week before and didn't know about it, expect to be excluded
-if you are rising to fast in your sales, expect to be sabotaged by both mgr and staff
-expect not to get information from team meetings missed even if you ask for it
-if you air your concerns of colleagues coming in late from breaks and lunches(causing you to be late), expect to be accused of doing the same
-expect mgr to state false things about you then tell you not to speak when you try to defend yourself
-do not say anything in confidence or it will be used against you, I've seen this happen to another colleague
-expect to take on more assignments without a pay raise
- teamwork is lip-service
-expect to have your position be made very difficult if you are not on the "in-crowd" with mgrs while their minions get away with murder
-there are lazy employees that stay there like used furniture, yet they are protected due to seniority despite there being no union

Advice to Senior Management – -weed out ineffective managers and employees
-ensure there is adequate resources for employees to do their jobs
-set up anonymous surveys so you can see what employees REALLY have to say about their work conditions
-provide the adequate funding for special projects, not all employees have the money to pull it off all the time
-members are leaving in droves because disrespectful staff (inc'l mgrs)- they treat them like dirt
-the service is poor, staff morale is poor, some mgrs are shady, it's a bad deal all around before the merger there were members lined up - now it's a ghost town...

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Alterna Savings

Pros – The benefit package is incredible in terms of dental, extended health.
No shift work so evenings and weekends are free.

Cons – If you don't meet sales goals, forget about a pay increase even if you excelled at every thing else.
The pay is much lower than other institutions for the same job.
Management is way more concerned about bottom line than staff morale
Head office doesn't understand the challenges at the branches

Advice to Senior Management – Leading with intimidation and negativity is destroying company morale and you will not be able to retain quality employees if you continue
Customers are becoming increasingly unhappy and won't keep their business with the company much longer

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Alterna Savings

Pros – Vacation is relatively easy to take in some position. Not much penalty even if you don't meet the target as long as you work hard - which is fair.

Cons – Not much opportunity for advancement. No budget to pay for your continuous education. Management ask for lots of feed back, but they ask and not do anything about it. Not much money making opportunity. Unequal treatment or advancement. Expect the institution as 'Bank' - although it is Credit Union, it is always comparing themselves to the major banks and trying to operate like a bank. Not much penalty even if you don't meet the target as long as you work hard, which is fair on best reason, but other side is that even if you do well, not much reward either.

Advice to Senior Management – Try to understand the bottom employees - too many management in between.