Capital Group Reviews in Los Angeles, CA Area

Pros

MRP
Clean offices
Always make payroll
Investment offices have free drinks and snacks
Billions in cash on the balance sheet

Cons

Dictatorial approach to management. Good people are now simply going through the motions, waiting for an opportunity to leave.
They say they treat associates with respect, but all outside of the 400 or so shareholders are treated like pawns and yet are expected to have the same fanatical "I'll sacrifice anything" mentality that those who get their dividend checks each July pretend is the case..

If there were a stock rating attached to CG, it would be : "AVOID"

Advice to Senior Management

Think about the damage you're doing.....

Pros

Master Retirement Plan or in other words 'the golden handcuffs'

Cons

At least in IT, managers are brainwashed daily from the day they are brought on board. They are trained to throw any sub-ordinate under the bus to cover their own failures. They are taught how to motivate by picking on one person at a time. I did not see anyone in my department get promoted and I was there for 10 years. If you are single and an IT employee, don't get married while working here because your spouse will grow to used to the compensation, not allow you to leave and you will live a life of cubicle hell.

Advice to Senior Management

Remove some of the dead weight managers in the IT department.

Pros

Capital Group has great benefits, including retirement, medical, vacation. Capital also has great people and this shows how great the culture is.

Cons

Some areas within Capital Group are good at promoting within the organization. Other areas are not as good in developing its associates.

Advice to Senior Management

Look for associates who stand out and are exceptional within various departments. Promote those associates in an effort to retain top employees.

Pros

Pay - above market level in comparison
Life / Work balance - people are encouraged to keep a balanced lifestyle
Bonus and Profit sharing (annual) - private company has perks that public companies can not offer

Cons

Not enough technically competent IT Managers - one can keep the count with fingers.
New Sr. IT leadership is transforming the company - change management and an organization in flux is going to be the norm for the next couple of years.
If you are a good software engineer and are impatient then this is not the company for you. Things sometime take a very long time.
One size fit all solutions and standardized solutions are producing negative results - time to market ability to deliver flexible solutions

Advice to Senior Management

For the new externally hired Management - learn your history. This is a 75+ year private company - it's not your average public company.
For the ones who have been at Capital for several years, learn from the "new blood" - what worked in the past may need to be adjusted
For IT Management - empower and trust the opinion of your technically skilled managers.

Pros

Benefits. Comfort. Great reputation - name on resume.

Cons

No room to grow. Micromanaged in most departments. Lack of communication/feedback.

Pros

Great benefits, great people to work alongside.

Cons

Limited career growth potential for a young professional exploring career options

Pros

For a private sector company, Capital Group far beats any other for benefits and extra perks. It's hard to find any other private sector company that beats it.

Cons

Because people want to stay in this company once they are in, things are hush hush there. Very little gossip at work.

Pros

A lot of team support. You don't only have co-workers you develop friendships. You celebrate all Birthdays. There's always a group putting together after-hours hang out events. There's even fun events during work hours where management serves the employees..a fun snack like icecream. Great benefits. Good company overall.

Cons

Micro-management type of company. It is good since it is very organized however sometimes it can be to much. All sick time is counted and you can only call out so many days. Time off is easy to get but only if the hours are available in the department. If there are no hours than you will not get the day you request.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue the fun events for customer service since it's not an easy role. It would be nice for the company to be more lenient on sick days.

Pros

Benefits and work environment is very good
Most people are very professional
Can learn from some of the processes in place

Cons

Too many meetings required to get anything done
Company doesn't help associates to grow professionally
Too rigid with too much formality and rules in work environment

Advice to Senior Management

If you get back to the original values of the founder of the company things can get better

Pros

Retimrement program (MRP) is unique and provides a great "bonus" each year.
Salary and bonuses are higher than average
Managers and employees are respectful of each other, even when there are differeing points of view.

Cons

So many management and org changes I cannot keep up. I've had 4 managers in 3 years, so far.
The MRP and high compensation seem to keep people here longer than they should be. Many people are completely unhappy around me but stay for the pay. I have to admit I am in that category as well. Prior to 2009, this was a great place to be. Plenty of staff to handle the work, all kinds of training available to us, and good technical decisions were made by the technical groups (of which I am a part). Things have changed, since new management was put into place, and the layoffs of 2009.

Many technical decisions have been made by upper management and handed down for implementation. Most of these decisions, as you can imagine, haven't worked out so well. But we don't feel free to speak up and challenge anything, as we are not asked for our opinions much any more. Some that have gone against the will of management are no longer here, so people have stopped speaking up entirely.

Workload has increased 200% since 2009, and our headcount has decreased is not allowed to grow. We are working 50-60 hour weeks just to keep up with the work. Management believes outsourcing is the answer, although the implementation will likely not be until 2012 in our group. Outsourcing is a cost cutting measure that has come at a price, paid with our morale, effectiveness, and job satisfaction. Not sure I'll be around to watch in 3-5 years, when we will have lost many of our best people, and the company will be struggling, trying to keep their infrastructure stable while depending on off-shore resources that know nothing about our business.

Trainig seems to be not a priority any longer, as many of us have not had any formal training for 2 years. Training is only atteneded if a critical project requires it and there is money in that project's budget. Alternatives have been sold to us, such as "peer training", which of course does not work well, as no one has the time to organize this in any effective way.

Advice to Senior Management

I know you expect attrition in the next year due to greatly increased workload (ANXI mentioned this), but please provide some reason for us to stay. Our immediate management paints a bleak picture of our future here, with no hope of regaining any level of job satisfaction close to we used to have. One person from my group has left recently, and there will be more soon if nothing is done. We cannot continue this level of effort much longer, and it seems the company has no interest or concern with it. We need immediate changes to improve our work/life balance, or we're going to lose many more talented people soon.