Great American Insurance Company Reviews

Pros

* Division President
* Great model for knowledge and designation growth. Reimburses and awards pleasantly for educational achievement.
* Division president makes goals and direction clear
* Work Life Balance
* Paid Time off
* 401k match
* Positive and Friendly Work Environment
* Gives you products and service you can be proud of
* As a Division makes good macro decisions

Cons

* Tenure > Talent
* Yes man environment, objective thinking from bottom hierarchy undervalued and scorned
* Inability to think and foster creativity.
* Non-competitive pay, but great place to start your career when just getting your feet wet is important
* Thick and sometimes unnecessary layer of middle management / Very Hierarchal
* Mixed bag of nuts with management...some are highly qualified and effective leaders while some have just been there long enough to achieve their role. Does not part ways, scrutinize, nor evaluates the performance of manager’s leadership with subordinates. There are a number of elephants in the room collecting paychecks while there are some really exceptional managers.
* Salary Guidelines promote mediocrity and not high achievement

Advice to Senior Management

Management deserves an A-. I couldn't stay because promotion and a competitive salary seemed grim. No matter how well you perform your chances rely on tenure or someone moving on. You need to evaluate with a whole new mindset what it takes to compete when our industry is becoming a commodity market. Product differentiation through intangible qualities will be key. Not this silly coverage enhancement here or there, but things that truly think outside the box. Scrutiny should be an ongoing process from the "bottom layer" and more candid not on a yearly basis. Train and evaluate your managers better. You might be afraid to hurt morale to release long tenured ineffective managers, but in the long run it will be for a better environment. I wish I could have stayed because my time here was pleasurable, but this model doesn't fit those entering that are competitive, talented, salary driven, or creative.

Pros

Great American has a lot of training opportunities. It is an insurance company and as a result the culture is conservative. The pace is very laid back.

Cons

If you are a high energy individual that is always looking for change and mixing things up, I would not recommend Great American.

Advice to Senior Management

Overall, I think that management is doing a good job. I have no complaints. I think that the company knows the business of insurance and knows how to do it well.

Pros

Good work/life balance. Decent work environment.

Cons

No one listens to you unless you're an officer. Poor decisions by management on occasion. Record profits don't trickle down to the worker bees.

Promotions based on length of tenure rather than ability.

Advice to Senior Management

Those corporate yes men will not get you to where we need to be.

Pros

recognition of achievement
overall, it is a fair enviroment
benefits are not the best but it is OK
compare to other companies, much less politics
linient on work hours
people respect each other
Macro- management

Cons

less opportunity for career growth

Pros

The only pro to working for this company was the name recognition.

Cons

Crappy benefits, bullyng from management, cronyism was prominent. Employees are treated with great disrespect.

Advice to Senior Management

Diversity training is needed by management. HR should be more visible in the field offices and remember employees are one of the greatest assets of a company.

Pros

-Good training
-Regional office staff is excellent.
-Very strong underwriting company (great place to learn underwriting basics)

Cons

-Senior management is stuck in the old days.
- Appetite is far too conservative this prohibits writing business and prohibits employees career growth as exposure new risks is limited.
-Health benefits are horrible.

Advice to Senior Management

Look at the current industry trends and adapt your thinking

Pros

high commission is the main point

Cons

uncertain income becoz of low basic salary

Advice to Senior Management

listen to us

Pros

Good pay, that's about it. If you stick around long enough, vacation time becomes pretty decent too.

Cons

Very poor management. Most people are promoted based on their "yes" man mentality and how long they have been at the company. Management is terrible with no idea how to manage employees. No appreciation, lots of gossips, you will not be rewarded based on your work.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of middle managers who are not doing their jobs and who do not know how to manage people.

Pros

Company provides a fair compensation package and encourages independent decision-making, most of the staff is great to work with. Training is available for most employees.

Cons

Work life balance is non existent for underwriting staff in certain operating units, there is a clear lack of communication between divisions, opportunities for growth are very limited.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve communication between different divisions, share your market data. Allow employees to actually take time off their earn. Make more opportunities for growth available for current employees.

Pros

Nice work/life balance, plenty of paid time-off.
Generally pleasant people.

Cons

Raises have been flat or under inflation rate for 3 years running, even though company reports record profits quarterly.
Limited advancement opportunities.
Increasingly stressful workloads.
Management either oblivious or indifferent to understaffing/workload issues.

Advice to Senior Management

Loosen the purse strings!
You have a large volume of work that needs to be accomplished, but you aren't incentivizing your employees to work hard. At a minimum, there should be opportunities for high-achieving employees to earn merit bonuses.