Guardian Life – “Stumbling toward Success”

Pros

Guardian Life enjoys a well deserved reputation as a well capitalized mutual life insurance company offering a wide range of retail and employer-sponsored financial products, such as group health, variable annuities, and 401(k) plans. It has a lean home office staff which, by necessity, requires its associates to wear many 'hats,' engage in activities outside their narrow band of expertise, and continue to grow their skill set.

Cons

Guardian hires new talent from the outside rather than developing and promoting talented associates from within, leading to poor morale and suspicion of new initiatives and change. Raises are low and bonuses are allocated to officers only, so in most instances, associates with long-term records of success face career and compensation stagnation that does not reflect their professional growth in taking on new challenges and developing new skill sets.

Advice to Senior Management

Make long-term commitments and stick with them. Too often investments in projects or products are abandoned prematurely because management is impatient with results and discontinues funding at critical make-or-break opportunities. Senior management also needs to develop appropriate metrics; for example, re-define its peer competitor group rather than comparing itself to other insurance and financial service firms that can raise capital through stock or through mergers and acquisitions are able to dominate market share as a result of 'deep pocket' parent companies. Also, Guardian needs to have more confidence in its existing, experienced staff and stop reacting in knee-jerk fasion to the many B-teams of well known consulting firms constantly evaluating the company's operations and intellectual capital.