Fidelity Investments – “Fidelity has very little regard for its employees”

Pros

The experience is good, and my fellow colleagues are among the brightest in the field.
However, management in London is very aggressive about getting as much as possible from employees, while paying as little as possible. For example, in 2007 they gave such bad annual salary increases, that they had to reverse their decision because they suddenly realised they would have huge numbers leaving the investment team because everybody was so disgruntled...we were all called in individually 2 weeks after the 1st annual salary review mtg and told 'good news, we've decided to increase your remuneration'. Literally, every year the company decides how little they can get away with paying..they push their employees to complete disillusionment. I have never worked in such a negative environment...most people I talk to are waiting for the market to pick up so that we can jump ship.

Cons

A very aggressive managment style that has no regard for their employees.....msg is clearly given that we can be easily replaced because of what they regard as the 'strength of the brand'. Annual reviews are conducted by mgmt in the manner of how little they can get away with paying, rather than rewarding performance. They string you along that next time it will be better, but most people realise after being through the process 3-4 times, that this is a continued practice, promoted by the owners who demand an 18% or so margin from the business. We've even had it explained to us that our bonuses are down because this margin of profit to the Johnson Family must be preserved!! I find it hard to believe that the company can continue this mgmt strategy towards employees, as morale is so low. Once they've destroyed the goodwill among employees....as I've seen happen over and over again, when people realise that the promise of reward for hard work and exceptional performance is only a carrot they dangle with no intention of delivering....it is almost impossible to rebuild.

Advice to Senior Management

Get new management in...
I understand that this used to be a great company to work for before the current mgmt team took over (last 3-4 years - new CIO, new Director of Research).
The focus of mgmt before this lot was on building a team culture where everybody loved working for Fidelity
...current mgmt are rewarded singularly on delivering the required profit to the owners of the company, the Johnson Family....and seem to pride themselves on being perceived by employees as hard-nosed, tough.
However, it is a self-defeating approach, as the best are leaving in droves while most of us who are still here are just waiting for market conditions to improve so that we can leave.