Hewitt Associates Reviews in Chicago, IL Area

Pros

- excellent work life balance with work from home options
- decent pay and benefits . Although benefits keep getting worse after the sell off to AON.

Cons

-Very Outdated technology ( been using the same tools since the last 10 yrs i've been working here - no kiddin - 10 yrs !)
- No oppotunity to grow in terms of technology roles
- Too much outsourcing ( they call global sourcing) . Folks in India do 80% of the work. They initially started off saying , India associates will do the 'unwanted' / "redundant" work but have gone miles ahead - go figure !

Advice to Senior Management

Company needs to invest in technology and its people . Go for a technology career in hewitt only if you want work life balance and nothin else period

Pros

Good work and life balance

Cons

Too much pressure on getting too many things done at the same time. Leadership is inefficient with processes introduced that resulted in overhead rather than benefiting the organization.

Pros

The fellow employees were easy to get along with

Cons

the workload isn't fair for employees. they weren't fair in getting backup help when we were shortstaffed and they were very unfair with their raises.

the job itself wasn't what was described in the interview. it was essentially a glorified call center, you take phone calls from participants and have to perform calculations. its hard to balance them and you dont need a college degree to do this job.

Advice to Senior Management

be more understanding of your employees and their workloads. you expect flawless results but aren't always fair with compensation as well on the reviews.

Pros

It's very structured and for people beginning in the corporate world it's a good place to learn. They used to provide good training and they have very good tools that helps you complete your work.

Cons

They will work you to your limit and then add some more on Be prepared to work if you show any sign of competency.

Advice to Senior Management

Hewitt has gone from a privately owned company to a public owned company and has lost focus on it's employees. It's now about the bottom line and leaves behind some of their employees.

Pros

Good pay and benefits, good feedback, options for promotion. Hard work is rewarded and I enjoyed my time there with Hewitt.

Cons

Strict work schedules if you work on the phones, but once you have worked your way up it gets easier.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your lower employee's they are the ones that deal with the customers and can provide good feedback. Happy employee's do better work.

Pros

Good Work life balance.
good enviorment

Cons

Salary is very low comparable to industry

Advice to Senior Management

Increase the salary and raises

Pros

Pay, telecommuting/work at home options are available, alot of money to throw at technology, people are great to work with - everyone says that the people are the best thing about Hewitt and they are right.

Cons

When I began there, Hewitt was thought of as an elite place to work and it was. Over the 5 years I spent there, I slowly watched it turn into a Fortune 500 sweat shop that was cut throat and a place where new leaders could make a mark and move on leaving a trail of issues in the wake.

Advice to Senior Management

Take a look back to the old days. People didn't leave, the firm had a strong portfolio, layoffs where few and far between if at all, employees felt valued.

Pros

- Flexible schedules
- Lots of vacation time
- Great benefits
- Good place to start out of college
- Well respected in the industry
- Very supportive of community charities

Cons

- I worked with some great people until about the last year or two and got stuck with a team of horrible people and despite every effort to post for a new job couldn't get out.
- I thought I was paid well until I started applying for other jobs and everyone was concerned they couldn't pay me as well given my experience, and then come to find out they were able to offer a lot higher than my salary was.
- I worked about 70 hours a week and only got negative feedback (very negative), even though I was working that much since no one else was capable of doing it. Very disengaging!
- Tons of layoffs, and the people not getting laid off were all wishing they were next.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to do a sweep of the managers to get feedback from their reports. I always heard about people having bad managers and never believed the things that went on until it happened to me. It's funny how I never was asked for formal feedback on that team's managers when I had to do performance reviews for all my previous managers. When I joined the team, some of my old coworkers told me to watch my back since these people are horrible, so it is definitely a pattern of behavior that needs to be stopped. But instead these people keep getting promoted while the really good workers leave the company.

Pros

Good training , decent co workers and ability to advance if you choose. If you have a decent manager/ jungle guide the the experience is more enjoyable

Cons

long hours and cutbacks based on your project with little assistance to transfer within the company. No room for error and beware if you have a bad manager, because you will be lucky to last 6 months

Advice to Senior Management

better training for managers. If you want to be McKinsey then pay like it. Otherwise don't expect that level of productivity.

Pros

really good entry level experience - everyone knows about Hewitt
used to employ decent team members
campus is big and roomy
enough human interaction to not go insane
able to take walks, smoke, or get coffee when you need a mid day boost
everyone on campus is approachable - regardless of status

Cons

work can consume your life when you get no help or feedback from your team
cant help feeling miserable sometimes
helpless when other people's work is dumped on you for defects/testing
technology is not stable so half your day you deal with your sub par dell optiplex 280

Advice to Senior Management

communicate with us more
offer advice and workarounds instead of reassigning tasks