Arkansas DHS Reviews

Pros

State government agency, security, great benefits.

Cons

Hard to move up, hiring freeze, salary increase freeze.

Pros

Benefits package. Immediate access to time off. Fulfilling purpose. Great ability to network and learn your community. Great Co-workers. Excellent chance for advancement if you choose.

Cons

High burn-out from constant crisis mode. Low work/life balance ability. You probably won't have time to take advantage of benefits. The job must be done no matter what, whether sick, understaffed or without the tools or time necessary. You must make this job the priority in your life. Also, the stories and lives you encounter may keep you awake at night.

Advice to Senior Management

Excess constant overtime at time-and-a-half pay, high turn-over, and training newbies so often seems a gross mismanagement of tax-payer dollars. Support your knowledgeable front line employees who give so much and don't abuse them through unreal expectations.(Dcfs)

Pros

Reliable employment. Good benefits. Room for advancement.

Cons

Not alot of innovation or employee motivation.

Advice to Senior Management

Set higher standards and provide feedback.

Pros

An employee is not expected to arrive any earlier than 8:00 a.m. or stay any later than 4:30 p.m. Also, one will almost never be expected to work on weekends or holidays. Direct supervisors really understand the high workload pressures and therefore tend to be understanding of missed deadlines, etc.

Cons

Due to sheer number of citizens/clients who are seeking benefits in today's economy, there is an absolutely crushing workload for front-line employees. Upper-level management refuses to acknowledge the problems associated with such a heavy workload. "Get it done" seems to be the mantra. To deal with the clientele seeking services, employees are forced to cut corners in virtually every area that one can imagine.

Employees should not expect to receive pay raises of any type. During performance evaluations, employees are universally given rankings of 3 (on a scale of 1 - 5), and told by supervisors that it is not allowable to give higher ratings.

Advice to Senior Management

Try performing some of the tasks that some of the front-line, entry-level employees have to endure. Then revise your policies to streamline jobs that have become so bogged down by inefficiencies and tedious, unnecessary processes. Do a better job of monitoring what your front-line managers are doing.

Pros

Some flexibility in hours, usually a low stress environment compared to many other jobs, good benefits, mostly nice people to work with, nice facility

Cons

Low raises, if any, pay does not advance as quickly as the cost of living, reclassification of salaries not advantageous for some, not good for advancement in position or salary

Advice to Senior Management

Spend time getting to know people in all departments for a better feel of the day to day tasks and challenges that the workers face.