HealthMarkets Reviews

Pros

The job is in a great location and the immediate managment staff is supportive.

Cons

Not knowing if your future with the Company is certain.

Advice to Senior Management

They know what needs to happen. It making it happen that is the issue. They are trying really hard but it is uncertain if the Company will make it through these trying economic times. Keep trying!

Pros

The company is making changes to its business model to permit it to be a viable business entity in the insurance market place.

Cons

Because of the change in business model, HealthMarkets is in flux and goals may change as these changes are implemented.

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to continue to make whatever changes are necessary to make HealthMarkets a viable business in the insurance market place.

Pros

The overtime and the ability to work from home

Cons

Poor management and Supervisors. Promotions are based on who you know not what you know.

Pros

Above average salary
short commute

Cons

Management is very short sided
Little communication

Pros

The facility is nice and the infrastructure is relatively current. Located in the suburb of Ft Worth Texas and decent restaurants around for the lunchtime break

Cons

This company is in a downward spiral. Too many levels of mid management and not enough workers. The tendency to rely on contract help and inability to convert from contractor to employee are big warning signs. Granted their business model is in MAJOR flux and their product/service has a multi-level marketing aspect.

Advice to Senior Management

Too many layers and lack of focus. Mid-Level managers are worried about protecting their areas rather than inter-department sharing and teamwork.

Pros

The particular area I work in has great employees. We make a great team.
Work hours are somewhat flexible (my department -not sure about others).
Location (not downtown dallas..)

Cons

Poor communication from upper management.
No raise in 2 years.
Layoffs Layoffs Layoffs - very depressing.
Morale is low.
Everyone I talk to wants o.u.t.

Advice to Senior Management

Better communication with employees. More respect for employees (we aren't dumb).

Pros

The field force is a very committed and enthusiastic group. Some of the leadership members are very knowledgeable and capable individuals.

Cons

Middle managers and even some of the leadership team are very territorial and adversarial. There is a lack of competence in several key positions.

Advice to Senior Management

Find a way to end the territorial and adversarial nature of management to allow for more open communication. Remove certain individuals who are not capable of operating in this new style.

Pros

It was a job.

I worked out a reasonable shift/pay situation.

Cons

Pretty much everything.

I worked for the company for six years -- I worked through college and shortly afterwards while I looked for a new position elsewhere. This is hands down the least professional and least functional company I've ever seen. The business model is suspect, but the internal structure and policies are horrific. The company is a farm of silos -- every group operates without regard for the others, both internally and at the senior management level. Some groups are overstaffed, some are understaffed. There is no accountability for management. In New Business, we were treated like slaves. There were days we worked 16 hours and had to return the next day to do it again. We were deprived of lunches until I complained to HR and threatened to call the workforce commission. Our turnover rate in new business was roughly 40% per year -- that's worse than a wal-mart store.

Management is almost laughable. They have no direction and no idea what's going on. Not just front line managers, that goes right up to the top. There's very little education, and whatever education is out there isn't being used. NOBODY knows what is going on. Promotions occur based on how much a manager likes you, regardless of qualification. So incompetence promotes people who are incompetent so nobody will make them look bad.

The people there are...interesting. I'll just leave it at that.

There's no communication with the rest of the company. You come in, you sit in your cube, you do whatever your manager says, and then you leave when they say you're allowed to go. The rest of the company is a mystery. If you're fortunate enough to get to come in contact with management, it's likely going to leave you with a sense of WTF. When they told us the company was going private, they sprung it after it was already online, and gave employees $50 gas cards to make us forget about it. I can't imagine how people who were laid off were treated...

Advice to Senior Management

Try learning how to do just one thing right.

Pros

The company is in a nice location. There are some really great people, but there are also many difficult people. Seems like it might be a good, lucrative place if you are a consultant/contractor.

Cons

There are a lot of silos. There are a handful of people with a lot of information around one aspect of the business, but not many people have a good understanding of what the company does as a whole. Communication is very weak. Leadership is weak. Change is rapid, but it perpetuates the same problems the company has had in the past. Management drives towards numbers without supporting changes that address the root issues of the company. There is a culture of blame and a lot of deflecting responsibility and finger pointing. You will continously work more than 40 hour weeks with little to no reward. I concur with the other review that line staff are blamed while management gets bonuses for just dialing in (and sometimes they don't even show up)

Advice to Senior Management

There is a culture of valuing speed over accuracy. If you want something correct, you need to give more time. Management also needs to better understand the business. You need to respect your employees. You need to do better by your consumers.

Pros

Depending on the department you work in, there are opportunities for above average pay as well as decent feedback from management, but this is not company wide.

Cons

This is without a doubt one of the most unprofessional organizations I have worked with. There is little accountability, poor communication and where direct reports are punished for making a wrong decision, senior management is rewarded with bonuses just for showing up and dialing it in.

Advice to Senior Management

It's time to clean house at the upper levels of the organization.