Cincinnati Financial Reviews

Pros

It's nice to work with people that are considerate of one another. It's a company with a lot of diversified Associates. The building/environment is very nice. Free parking - free soup/salad bar which are nice perks. Everyone seems to be very respectful of one another. There's good work/life balance.

Cons

Seems to be behind on technology and getting with the times as far as I.T. and social media goes.

Pros

free lunch and decent work hours. Most people there are nice to work with.

Cons

Very outdated technology and a GOOD OLE BOYS atmosphere. Nice people to work with but it's all about who you know or related too. Training standards needs to be re-evaluated. Just because someone knows there job and is very experienced does not make them the best mentor.

Advice to Senior Management

Look for ways to update technology and improve training across the board.

Pros

If you happened to go to college with someone in upper management, you'll do very well for yourself here. Connections mean everything in this company.

The company is well respected in insurance circles, with arguably one of the better claim services in the industry. They really look after their customers.

Cons

Sadly, they don't take especially good care of their employees. Doubly so for IT personnel.

The culture of nepotism is such that people who are wholly unqualified for positions of seniority are promoted, usually to their own level of incompetence, thanks to a kindly word from a friend with influence. In a technical organization, this is a heinous oversight. We have utterly incompetent team leads, service managers, resource managers, and architects running the asylum. Of course, if you're the slightest bit vocal about these incompetencies, you're a troublemaker and will find yourself swiftly sidelined.

Communication within the company suffers from an overriding need for secrecy on even the slightest matters. There is absolutely zero transparency; senior management are well aware of just how incompetent their policies are, but are powerless to do anything about it - the policies and processes that exist would require a herculean effort to uproot and redo. Money is wasted at an alarming rate because management are paralyzed with indecision.

Technology has never been one of Cincinnati's strong points; it's estimated we lag five to eight years behind most other similarly-sized insurance companies. There's been a recent attempt at introducing up-to-date technologies and agile methods, but project management isn't up to the task. The future of entire IT departments are uncertain, as the company has gotten on the outsourcing bandwagon - again, several years behind the rest of the industry.

There's very much an "Us vs Them" attitude in IT; we're constantly butting heads with the various business units over patently unrealistic timelines. Their answer should be put to Gregorian chant music: "Release it on schedule and work on a hot-fix."

Advice to Senior Management

Mr. Johnston, you recently met with IT and shared your belief that we have the best people. Respectfully, we do not. We are bleeding intelligent and skilled engineers because they see the writing on the wall - whether that's because of outsourcing, lack of advancement opportunities, or because they don't get the recognition they deserve. The worst people are being promoted; they have the support from similarly unqualified friends in more senior positions.

Resource managers do nothing to truly evaluate the skill levels of their direct reports. How relevant are the skills of a team lead who has been with the company for 20+ years, yet can't explain what an Object Oriented language is?

Your best people are the ones who are passionate about what they do. When they stop talking and stop sharing their enthusiasm, you know they're headed out the door. Start listening to them. Please.

Look at the experiences of other companies who have outsourced - the ones who are desperately clawing to bring their operations back home. Don't listen to your self-serving cronies on the Board.

Pros

Company has a good reputation and makes you feel proud to work there. Free soup and salad is a nice perk if you forget to bring lunch. The people really come together when fellow employees need help with personal matters such as death or health issues.

Cons

since my job is being slowly fazed out, I'm unsure what I will do next and no one is really communicating the options when that happens

Pros

The company itself is a very nice place to work for. There are some very awesome people that work in the company. The company does have alot to offer.

Cons

It's all on who you know to get were you are going to go 90% of the time. They pick who they like rather than see who is best qualified for a position. I still wonder to this day how did some of the employees get in certain positions that are are clearly not at all qualified for.

Advice to Senior Management

Be fair, Treat others how you would like to be treated. Be professional. Practice what you preach.

Pros

Free Lunch. It was a solid company financialy. It was close to where I lived. Extra day off during holidays.

Cons

I worked for three different departments and they all had different rules about almost everything. None matched the rules in the handbook handed out by the company.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep a close eye on middle management. It seems that most of them I came in contact with took their title to mean they had free rein on company rules.

Pros

Its great if your mom, dad, aunt or uncle work there. You do get free lunch in the "dining room" but that gets old fast. They used to have a pretty good pension plan but it is being phased out - new associates are stuck with a 401k and small match.

Cons

CFC has a lack of career opportunities, pay raises that don't keep up with inflation and almost no training budget. The IT department just implemented a goofy organization structure in IT where I report to a service manager, resource manager and project manager. CFC is very slow to adopt any new technology - upgrades take place when the vendors stop supporting the software. Nepotism is rampant at CFC so don't be surprised if certain people move ahead faster than others for no apparent reason.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't promote people who are total suck ups; promote the smart people before they all leave. The lifers who got management positions are killing the potential of the company. Oh yeh, go back to the old dress code where we were allowed to wear polo shirts and khakis. Last thing: Top executives might want to actually try communicating with the "associates" (you know - that vision thing that most other companies have).

Pros

CFC has a well-recognized name in P&C insurance, especially throughout the Midwest region. Its strengths in prior years was their commitment, first & foremost, to agents and insureds, as well as sound underwriting & business practices. Lots of opportunities to advance in the home office in Cincinnati or in any of the field locations. Field reps (e.g. state sales reps or claims handlers) work from their homes in their assigned territories.

Cons

Employees often viewed by middle and upper management as expendable resources, whereas in the past they were seen as valued resources. Sense of belonging/worth for most employees decreasing over the last few years. Perception that employees will be "downsized" more prevalent than in recent years. CFC has gone from a very good regional carrier to a "wannabe" national carrier, losing those small-business attributes that distinguished itself in the early years and becoming very similar to those competitors that were CFC's typical rivals.

Advice to Senior Management

CFC has gotten away from those core values first established by Jack Schiff Sr. half a century ago. Were he still alive today I believe he'd be embarrassed and upset at the direction the company has taken in the last decade. The company has mutated from an organization steeped in traditional values (honesty, trustworthiness, personal and professional integrity) to one in which the pursuit of profit apparently is valued above all other objectives. A common concern voiced by many agents is that "its not the same company it was ten years, or even five years ago". Loyalty from agents, insureds, and employees is declining at a steady rate.

Pros

friendly , collegiate atmosphere and a good place to work

Cons

some positions limited opportunity for growth

Advice to Senior Management

review of certain posititions to retain top talent appropriately

Pros

It is easy to get in the door as an insurance professional. No potential to be moved/transferrerd if you enjoy Cincinnati.

Cons

The training program is obsolete and outdated. The underwriters are greatly mismanaged and lack the necessary talent/skills to propely underwrite and negotiate accounts. The pay is on the low end of the insurance scale. You are not compensated for performance but for tenure, no matter how skilled/productive you are as an employee. The morale of the entire company is the most negative I have been around possible. Very few who work in the home office setting are very happy to be employed by CINF. The technology utilized for analysis is vastly underwhelming.

Advice to Senior Management

Upgrade your technology and training modules to be more in line with the insurance inustry. Work to improve the employees morale to increase workers enjoyment and efficiency.