FM Global Reviews

Pros

Good corporoate repuations. Career employment and job stability. Good advancement potential for engineers. Good technical resources and support. A time-tested (175 years) business model of providing loss prevention engineering with insurance coverage.

Cons

Technical advancement within the field engineering and technical sector is limited when compared to other positons such as Account Engineering, Account Management, Underwriting.

This company values their engineering staff, but the technical portion of FM Global is designed to cultivate engineers who are "generalists" of many subjects, with limited potenial for advancing too deeply into individual technical specialties. It is tough to get recognition for technical expertise in any subjects, beyond that of the FM Global Data Sheets, unless you are at the corporate headquarters.

Very few of the technical managers are involved in outside technical or professional organizations, so your abilitie to use them as mentors is limited.

Advice to Senior Management

The magnitude of formal policies and procedures is approaching that of a government organization.

Pros

Good basic benefits package (health, 401k) etc. Company is extremely stable and continues to grow steadily even in a slow economy, mostly due to the insurance side of the business.

Cons

- Management doesn't care about work-life balance, only about billable time.
- Extremely high stress level, many people in the group (myself included) have developed health related issues because of it.
- When you start the job you're told you will be required to have about 12-18 months of training before you are on your own; you are on your own from day 1 to deal with clients who are expecting you to be an expert on the subject matter, I have been here over 5 years and have yet to receive any of the promised training.
- While tuition reimbursement is technically a benefit the couple members of my group looking to go for advanced degrees were either given a hard time about it or denied altogether even though their desired degrees and current job titles met all requirements for reimbursement.
- Mid level managers will throw engineers "under the bus" in front of a client first and ask questions later

Advice to Senior Management

Care about your employees some, if not then at least don't act surprised when the employees treat you with the same respect you treat them.

Pros

Great stable company to work for. Training is second to none. Competitive overall compensation package. Great location if you live north of the city. Lots of opportunity to move within the organization.

Cons

Not downtown where most of our clients and competition are located. Base salary is less than competition.

Advice to Senior Management

Re-evaluate office location. Ensure individuals in management make good managers and not just proficient in their previous positions

Pros

The ability to do work on ones own pace at a home office and a superior level of independence offered to field engineers is very unique. The pay and benefits provided is decent, but not comparable for similar roles in other insurance companies. The training provided is superior and will be greatly beneficial to anyone who goes through it.

Cons

The expectations from a field engineer are different depending on the manager you were assigned when you were hired, luck of the draw essentially. There is sometimes a huge focus on menial semantics and a lot of hidden information, or information not readily available to the field engineer, that comes back a few months down the road to affect your report qualities. These are invariably CC'd via email to half the senior managers explaining your error.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the expectations high for your employees, but don't raise the bar so high that it's out of range for most people.

Pros

Benefits are great, and the relationships you can build with your co-workers is great. Also, depending on the position, there is room for progression through the company, whether it be within the Operation offices or in the Corporate environment.

Cons

For some, I hear that the pay is not that good. Also, Management does not give feedback and does not like to be wrong or be criticized.

Advice to Senior Management

As with every corporation, their number one asset is the everyday employee that gets to work, does their job efficiently and is able to provide the company with great value. Often times it helps not to belittle your employees, congratulate and thank them when they do a good job. Also, do not ignore your employee.

Pros

No lay off. good salary

Cons

Less bonus. less benefit tho

Advice to Senior Management

Always be positive.

Pros

Flexible, benefits package, training provided.

Cons

It seems like you're out on your own when it comes to the job. Feedback is rarely given. There is alot of information to soak in during a short period of time, and it is difficult at times to get help.

Advice to Senior Management

..

Pros

Career opportunities look interesting. The company appears to be doing very well. The work is very interesting.

Cons

Nothing to report at this time

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing at this time.

Pros

FM Global provides all the tools needed to perform well. The list of benefits is huge. The schedule is very flexible. Not everybody can fit in this job. If you do, it can get very rewarding, at an individual level.

Cons

Extensive training is sometime a slow process. It is hard to be recognized for the work done. It can be a stressful job at some point.

Advice to Senior Management

As several employees work from home, it can be difficult to maintain a good relation with colleague. There should be more frequent employees meetings.

Pros

FM global has great diversity. You can develop connections with many people, although it is quite hard to. The place has great facilities. It gives you a good balance between your personal life and work life. You never have to work over time. The benefits package is also excellent.

Cons

Connections are hard to maintain. Sometimes I feel middle management is prejudice towards certain people. Management does not allow you to take vacations very often, even if its only once every year.

Advice to Senior Management

To executive management, keep up the good work. To middle management, understand people need breaks. Also, please understand personal issues and accomodate them better.