Ameriprise Reviews in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Area

Pros

There are some very passionate people at Ameriprise that want to do the right thing.

Cons

Skill levels of management and trainers were extremely dissapointing.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire older more competent people.

Pros

Tuition Assistance Program was a great benefit. Free Series 7 training. I met some very helpful and encouraging senior leaders.

Cons

There was a general condescending tone toward band 25 (entry level) staff. Obfuscating process for advancement. Poor internal promotion opportunities.

Advice to Senior Management

I respect the senior management and appreciated their regular all-company meetings. Openness should be adopted by all levels of management.

Pros

Nice location and LEED certified buildings
Competitive benefits
Sound approach to financial planning
Committment to giving back to communities
Diversity is valued

Cons

Hierarchical
Employees aren't valued
Push to drive results comes at an expense -- both in work quality and employee engagement

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on preventing operational issues rather than cleaning them up after they happen. Develop your leaders and give them time and resources to develop their teams. Teach people how to respect each other for what they bring to the table. Encourage your leaders to be competitive without being ruthless.

Pros

Good salary compared to other companies

Cons

Very assertive employees - not for the faint of heart, very, very fast-paced

Pros

The health benefits are remarkable. The employee pension and 401k program is pretty good as well. The location is convenient compared to other downtown Minneapolis locations.

Cons

Terrible Work/Life Balance
Need to work endless overtime to stay ahead of performance standards
low compensation/bonus incentive
the provided sales leads have been called and called so much they don't answer the phone anymore
Advisor turnover is so high every client lead provided has had 2 or 3 Advisors in the last 2 years.
The technology is not supported and crashes daily (literally)
Good quality financial advice is not valued
Overall its a perfect Churning machine new Advisors yearly calling with little background info on client and attempting to churn a sale from existing assets already invested

Advice to Senior Management

For the Ameriprise Advisor Center management needs to lower performance standards down to a point that they can be achieved in a regular work day without requiring 55 hour work weeks that extend into the evening hours 9 or 10 pm if you are licensed in the west coast states. Professional financial advisors are not going to be away from their families and loved ones through every evening and remain with the company long term.

Pros

Monday to Friday workweek
Immediate benefits (health, vision, dental, paid time off)
Supportive management

Cons

The job is 100% over the phone, can get "burned out" making 150+ outbound dials a day
Balancing dialing time, setting appointments, and studying for the Series 7, Series 63, and Insurance

Advice to Senior Management

Bring back the Kaplan trainers to assist new employees in passing their exams

Pros

Good efficient processes.
Glen Salow is a strong leader
Profitable business
Good chances for promotions and raises
Company is always looking for newer and better ways to do things.

Cons

Processes sometimes ties down things.
Downtown location means parking can be a problem
Company is never shy to carry out layoffs...but again that keeps them profitable

Advice to Senior Management

Start listening more to your people. Sometime you get into the clouds and start building dreams that will never make it to reality. Also share more of your goals and long term vision with employees.

Pros

For new employees compensation and benefits packages are competitive with similarly sized companies.
Ameriprise faired better during the recession than many of its competitors.

Cons

Although it is talked about publicly, work life balance is not an area of emphasis in many groups.
Rigid compensation structure for existing employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Emphasize work life balance, allowing flexible work arrangements where there is no business case against it.
Require salaries for promoted employees to meet at least the starting salary for the position.

Pros

company was really good at recognizing hard work and people were really great to work with

Cons

tend to be a very silo organization so you don't learn more than the tasks assigned to you. Organization tends to take advantage of people and several people end up working long hours.

Advice to Senior Management

make sure to check in with your talent before they leave

Pros

Amazing place to start a career if you can stick out the initial 18 month requirement. Best place to start a sales career because of all the support they give.

Cons

You won't really have a life for the first 6 months and will be expected to stay after 5pm minimum 3 nights per week. It is very difficult to be successful without working nights

Advice to Senior Management

Revise transfer requirements. There should be a sales metric incorporated into the decision to transfer an employee if they have performed well but do not find a sales role suitable to their career