Auto-Owners Insurance Reviews

Pros

Benefits, 7.5 hour work days, large desks, plenty of lighting

Cons

This is a great place for fresh out of college grads...you will learn to stay put at your desk, work for little money, and be treated like a child. The only way to get promoted is to kiss up to your supervisor, push paper, and expect small salary increases year to year. If you do this, you will climb that large ladder. Get your experience for 2 - 5 years, move on to bigger and better things - which is exactly what I have done.

Also, remember that quiet hour is from "8:00 to 9:30" and is strictly enforced - don't get caught talking during these times or something will be handed to you.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat employees like tax payers and maybe you will get better quality over more quantity.

Pros

Everyone around me seemed to be competent at their job, and was generally friendly and accommodating. As an intern management could not have been better at providing feedback and congratulating me on a job well done.

Cons

The company seems to be very conservative and prudent to the extreme. This is sometimes frusterating especially working in the technology field, as things were slow to move and get done.

Advice to Senior Management

Emphasize collaboration between departments and in a technology sense strive more to stay up to date and competitive.

Pros

37.5 hr work week
people are nice and friendly
Benefits package is great
Never laid anyone off
Lots of treats!
It's possible to do 25 and out here

Cons

Management structure is very vertical
You need approval to do just about anything... ever.
salary is on the low side
Never laid anyone off - lots of fat to trim
gross incompetence among coworkers

Advice to Senior Management

Auto-Owners needs to lean to make the best decision for Auto-Owners and not let external forces guide strategy

Pros

Your fellow co-workers (not management) really could be your best friends. They never talk you down and really care if something in your life is not going right.

Cons

Management talks you down big time. This is what is bringing the company down slowly. You have a complaint? You will get the phrase: "That is your fault!" This place is stuck in the 1970's: big business attitude and no business casual dress. It is like Big Brother watching your every move...management always sneaking down the aisles to see who is working and who is not, and eavesdropping left and right. Even if there is a blizzard, if you are late even one minute, the guard will make you sign in just like if you were tardy in school. If a movie could describe this place, it would be "Office Space"...to a T. It is not worth your time...your experience here will not help you elsewhere as everything done here is out of date and little can transfer to more up-to-date insurance companies. Luckily, I found one that is up to speed with things with my skills from this place...

Advice to Senior Management

Leave and give your roles to younger people...they will bring the place back up to speed with reality. Your ideas helped survive in the 1970's, but the company will come down if you continue along with your AM Best ratings.

Pros

7 1/2 hour work day -- without exception. Overtime is available if you're a non-exempt employee. Very little stress. Job duties are explained well, company policies are well laid out. The company claims to have never laid anyone off due to lack of funds. Some managers are really great people that talk to you and treat you like you're human.

Cons

Agree whole-heartedly with the reviewer that said this place was stuck in the 70's...Very stuffy, conservative environment. Promotions are almost 100% based on seniority, and not at all merit based. The only opportunity for advancement is if you take insurance classes and move your way into a management track. The attitudes of a lot of people that have been there for more than a couple years are to do the absolute minimum, since going above and beyond won't get you a larger raise or promoted faster -- it'll earn you more work, that's it. The apathy, morale, and lack of goals at this company among associates is stiflingly bad.

If the weather is bad (e.g. snow), you're still expected to be in your cubicle by 8:00 am, period. If you're one minute late, they make you sign in at a guard shack, like a tardy slip for truant teenagers. Being consistently five minutes late is a bigger offense than being worthless and doing nothing all day long at your cubicle and can cost you your job. Management will go up and down the cubicle aisles at different times to see who is "working", as if this is supposed to motivate and/or scare employees. All it does is annoy employees and make them feel like children. Management will also snoop through your cubicle drawers after hours and eavesdrop on conversations to see if they can use anything against you. Have any health problems or are having a baby? Be expected to make up the time lost not covered by FMLA. Have an opinion that someone that "out-ranks" you is doing the wrong thing? Keep it to yourself, even if you're 150% right. Want to get ahead? You can work hard and be a team player, making you, your team, and your boss look good, or you can withhold information from your co-workers, making them look bad and you look good. Many "lifers" choose the latter of the two methods.

Advice to Senior Management

1) Do something about the culture (see above paragraphs verbosely outlining this) - this was my biggest complaint about working here, and many other people would agree and tell you the same if they weren't afraid to.

2) More opportunities other than management are a must for any company.

3) Get rid of the glass ceiling - somewhere at the manager/director level, ideas from associates are stifled and we were talked down to like it was a dictatorship. Listen to what your associates like and don't like. Some of them have some pretty good ideas, but they never make it up the ladder.

Pros

The benefits package is outstanding (health, pension, thrift & savings). The management is kind, approachable, fair and helpful. Even though you sit in a cubicle all day, there is a lot of interaction between the department. My coworkers are fabulous and management seems to understand that things can't be serious all the time. One of my favorite aspects of the job is that no one micromanages me - nobody looks over my shoulder to tell me what to do.

Cons

I never know anything specific about my performance. Whether I make mistakes or do an outstanding job, the response from my supervisors is about the same. The training is not very structured and leaves lots of questions unanswered.

Advice to Senior Management

Although I appreciate being told that I'm doing well, please let me know what my strong points are, where I can improve, and what I need to seriously work on.

Pros

Auto-Owners is a very secure job. The company claims to have never laid off any workers (although some have been fired), so it's got a lot going for it in the way of job security. The benefits package is also quite nice.

Cons

As nobody really gets laid off, many associates have turned complacent. A large percentage of people are perfectly fine with the status quo, and work just hard enough to scrape by. Hardly anyone strives to improve or to be excellent in their job, just proficient. Also, the corporate culture is very 1970's big business style - no business casual, associates arrive by 8:00am or be forced to sign in with the security officer, and there are a million layers of management involved in getting anything accomplished. All management is promoted from within, so that means most current IT management started 20 years ago writing COBOL, and are generally clueless about things like "The Internet". Nothing is even close to cutting edge.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop running the business like it's 1970. Times have changed, and if people want to go to lunch at 11:50 instead of 12:00 one day, the company isn't going to fall apart.

Pros

Very stable 40 hours per week. No more, no less. Good health insurance coverage and benefits. Laid back work environment. Very regular hours.

Cons

Little to no opportunity for advancement unless you are willing to relocate. Raises are very minimal and promotions aren't worth the money offered. No flexibility in hours worked. 8 to 4:30 with lunch break at 11:30 only. Set vacation and sick pay. More of a job than a career.

Advice to Senior Management

promotions should be based on hard work and not seniority. If you want employees to relocate and take promotions you need to adequately compensate them for it. If not they will take their experience and move to another company that will!

Pros

Stable company with good benefits - one of the few that still have a pension plan. Members of management are promoted from within, so strong performers are awarded accordingly. Strong company vision.

Cons

Not much opportunity for advancement unless you are willing to relocate. Job openings are not posted for viewing by all associates.

Advice to Senior Management

Positive feedback from management to associates has improved greatly over the last few years.