Pros

Large bank - potential for good salary

Cons

Very many layers of management are involved and even the smallest groups of three to five employees are managed by a Vice President. There are so many Vice Presidents that it seems that the title is given instead of a salary.

Advice to Senior Management

Be aware of feedback from lower level employees. There was a time when employees would rate their managers but I don't think that management liked the results.

Pros

Free downtown parking on the weekends and weeknights.

Cons

Very political, aggressive, and bias. Full of sharks and supports aggressive corporate culture.

Advice to Senior Management

In order to produce a positive and effective working morale, the organizational culture and work environment needs to be positive. By always promoting sales and increasing revenues while minimizing costs, the environment effects employees and becomes resentful towards the company.

Pros

- Many open opportunities to advance within the company
- Branches with heavy foot traffic quite easily meet their sales goals (judged on a points system)

Cons

- Very aggressive sales environment, more concerned with numbers than finding appropriate products for customer needs
- Micro-management - multiple conference calls throughout the day to report production and points (not "what have you done for me lately?" but "what have you done for me in the last four hours?")
- Lack of training - bankers only complete one week of teller training before they are sent to their branch and are expected to sell, so unless there is an experienced individual in the branch you will flounder until you teach yourself
- The many opportunities for advancement seem to come from the high turnover rate

Advice to Senior Management

- Try to evaluate why there is high turnover in certain locations. The company would save a lot of money on training and turnover if they were able to keep some of the quality people who leave before they've established themselves and solidified their customer base. The high turnover also negatively impacts the customer perception of Fifth Third resulting in low customer loyalty and trust.
- Please develop a more thorough training program. Even individuals with previous banking and sales experience need to learn about Fifth Third's specific products and guidelines before being able to sell well.

Pros

I enjoy the fellow employees

Cons

Salary, Long hours, Pushy sales requirement. You cannot merely just be a great teller and people-person! Every a.m., the mgmt team has to listen to a hyped up intense conference call about what everyone MUST sell that day.

Advice to Senior Management

Get back to relationship building rather than everything being about the sale.

Pros

Recognition for hard work, and will help those who help them.

Cons

Focus on too many things that do not matter - they are too far away from the primary objectives to banking.

Advice to Senior Management

Follow through on some great ideas that are initiated, instead of reshifting focus elsewhere.

Pros

Fair Benifits, Good People, Fast Paced

Cons

Salary less than other local employers for similar jobs, Every group works with a skeleton crew. Not much room to move up.

Advice to Senior Management

The Management is doing a good job keeping the business moving considering today’s operating environment however, it seems Fifth Third needs to make a larger investment in their employees. I think if employees were compensated better and received more training management could increase expectations, job performance and weed out low performers.

Pros

The company has great benefits and the large majority of people you work with are great people. You'll develop several good relationships with co-workers and customers.

Cons

The company is going in the wrong direction. It's all about fees fees fees and how to get more out of the customer. Not a very moral company and is very high stress. Different depatments don't have good communication and there at just too many incompetant employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on customer service...not just say focus on customer service. There must be a balance between making a short term profit and having good customer service to maintain customers and aquire long term growth and profits. I think management focuses to much on the short term profits and not enough on the customers.

Pros

Fifth Third offers plenty of resources and the potential to move up or around the company. They offer great benefits and wonderful opportunities.

Cons

Fifth Third does not pay very well. I left a different financial institution as a part-time teller making almost $12 an hour. I am a full time "teller" (really a CSR) making a little over ten and I have been working there for over 2 years. Their raises are lousy. Fifth Third also pushes you to sell products a lot, making coming to work and doing your job uncomfortable at times-especially in this economy.

Advice to Senior Management

Really care about your staff and look at what is going on around you. Look and learn each individual and see their potential.

Pros

The Average age is very young, which is a positive for young professionals. The work life balance is also very good, management is generally supportive of employee needs

Cons

There aren't a lot of opportunities to make an impact early. The culture is very conservative and tends to be non-confrontational and passive.

Advice to Senior Management

Management should be more active in managing employees interests and aspirations. Also, not all managers are qualified to manage staff, because they do not care about their staff's careers.

Pros

Always changing and creating new opportunities for career development.

Cons

Negotiating salary is tough they will always try to low-ball the offer unless your coming from outside the firm with a specialized skill set that they need.

Things will be stressful because the bank is in a constant transition from small bank thinking to big bank thinking.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop growing NII at the expense of credit quality.