J.D. Power Reviews in Detroit, MI Area

Pros

Great benefits package provided by parent company McGraw-Hill.

Cons

Administrative staff goes completely unnoticed. No opportunity for advancement from this level. Pay raises are almost non-existent. The two point five percent increase that is given during review really is not enough considering the cost of living is high especially in this economy.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat ALL employees equally, starting from the bottom, including ALL Administrative staff. Pay attention in this area! Make sure to reward them in some way at this level to make them feel appreciated as this is not currently the case. They work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep their bosses schedules in tip-top shape but they are never rewarded. (The occasional bagels and donuts do not suffice!) Give them accessability to learning opportunities and treat them RESPECTFULLY. Give this area some serious thought. Ask the administative assistants for their input and make changes.

Pros

Looks great on resume, get to work on multiple projects

Cons

Boring, data checking, people do not care about interns

Advice to Senior Management

Take better care of your interns

Pros

It's a nice name to put on your resume. Other than that there is nothing positive about J.D. Power.

Cons

There is absolutely no training for your position. Managers are too over overworked to assist provide simple, basic training. Worst of all, the employers don't have faith in their work. They said that they would never trust their car rating surveys. That says a lot about the quality of work they produce.

Advice to Senior Management

Spend money upfront on comprehensive training. Ensure that all employees are treaty equally. Take a critical look at your surveys and ensure that all employees are confident in the work they are producing.

Pros

Great people
Benefits
Learn a great deal an entry level

Cons

Long hours
Stress
Work/Life balance
Difficult to move up at the mid-level manager stage

Advice to Senior Management

Start thinking about how to retain staff, many are leaving, and will continue to leave without change to the corporate culture

Pros

Team work is the best I've ever seen.

Cons

Too many people are overworked.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay attention to what is going on around the company before too many people leave.

Pros

-JDPA is a well-known and respected brand, and thus a lot of visibility.

-You work with a lot of experts in the industry you are based in and get a lot of client interaction (depending on what team you are on...).

-Lower level employees often get a lot of responsibility and don't have someone over their shoulder for their every move.

-Very flexible work arrangements compared to other places - if you need to leave early or late, then you can come in early or late as long as your job permits (ie: if you need to work with the California team and you live in Michigan, it may be hard for a Michigan person to leave earlier when California interactions are necessary).

-Good benefits.

-A lot of the employees here are really just great people to work with and they are very professional and knowledgeable.

Cons

-Although lower levels often get a lot of responsibility, senior levels sometimes take the credit.

-A lot of people are working a lot of hours... it's been like that for the last year and a half and hasn't changed much even though management has been saying they need to fix things and they are working on it.

-No time to talk to anyone anymore. This is bad for many reasons... getting to know people within the company and networking can lead to new products or new ways of doing old things. Now that everyone is cramming to get the minimum done, there is no time left to network. In the end, the company is losing money because of this.

Advice to Senior Management

Be honest... no more fluff. We know that management wants the new corporate culture to be working us to the bone.

Pros

Nice people. Great learning environment.

Cons

Often boring and repetitive work.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the strong leadership.

Pros

Good benefits
Resume builder
Strong brand recognition

Cons

Management is afraid of confrontation and therefore many longterm employees skate by without a strong work ethic. Its dificult for a young employee to move up in the company as they are too worried about spending any money on raises and promotions. From what I have experienced it looks like most new, younger employees will stick around for about 2-3 years before realizing that they can do better and be appreciated more elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

Take a look at your workforce and do a morale check

Pros

Good people and friendly atmosphere.

Cons

Business volatile, given reliance on automotive revenue

Advice to Senior Management

Try not to do layoffs so often. It disturbs employees and hurts morale, as people are expecting the next one to drop all the time.

Pros

The J.D. Power "brand" is second to none and opens doors.

Cons

It used to be great in the old days. But the new management for Automotive cannot be trusted. They went through a "re-org" at the beginning of the year and everything is becoming unraveled. People are leaving and those of us who remain don't know if we'll have jobs tomorrow. As our talent leaves, J.D. Power grows weaker and the competition grows stronger. This is the result of being part of a publicly traded company. Short-term gain over long-term growth.

Advice to Senior Management

Fire the senior management in Automotive.