National City Reviews

Pros

Large corp with lots of job postings with preference always given to internal candidates. Benefits are above average for corporations.

Cons

Politics get in the way of sound management. Management deadlines result in poor performance, employees held accountable, management is not.

Advice to Senior Management

Take time to plan. "Doing" without planning results in "re-doing". Spend less time blaming someone, spend more time preventing issues.

Pros

There are still good people left after PNC took over.
You get the impression they are trying to do a good job.
Surrounded by a LOT of very smart people.

Cons

People are dropping like flies, every day more and more positions are being eliminated (I'm out of here in a few months myself).
It seems that for some positions they are hiring way over-qualified people because the market is so full of unemployed people.

Advice to Senior Management

Change your job postings on the PNC side so it is clear when job location can be flexible.
Revamp your job descriptions to be a true representation of the job responsibilities, at times they are not accurate.
Communicate, communicate, communicate. I know you are trying but there are a lot of confused employees and customers about the transition to PNC.

Pros

The money is ok
There is plenty of opportunity for advancement
If you like to travel, the commercial side of mortgages allows you to do that
Because management is so hands off, you do not have people looking over your shoulder. This is good and bad. It's good because if you are a hard worker, you don't need someone breathing down your neck. It's bad when you work with lazy people.
The information flow is TERRIBLE. Management does not relay information well.

Cons

Management is terrible - there is no support, you are expected to figure everything out for yourself
If you do a good job, they will work you to death
The work life balance does not exist
You do not get feedback unless you directly ask for it
There are people that have worked there foro far too long and they kind of "poison" the office
Very corporate
Currently merging with PNC - very limited information has been given out regarding the merger

Advice to Senior Management

I undestand that there is not much you can tell us about the PNC merger, but the 8 months of silence is really starting to take a toll. Your employees are scared and angry. Their attitudes toward their jobs is going downhill. These are hardworking people, but they are extremely discouraged right now. Tell us something! ANYTHING about the merger that you can... and even if you don't know anything, tell us what you are discussing with them. Tell us when you think the final decisions are going to be made. We have been left out in the dark for too long now.

Pros

Especially in I.S., many opportunities for a good salary without having to become a manager; however, there is very much a sense of being constrained by the way things have "always been done."

Cons

The biggest con is obvious to anyone who knows anything about the company -- you are nearly guaranteed to work in a department hit by layoffs in the next 2 years.

Advice to Senior Management

It's been nearly 9 months since the acquisition was announced -- stop planning and talking about the need for communication and start actually communicating.

Pros

Decent pay, and good benefits for some job positions. They offer some good products, which makes it easier to sell.

Cons

Not very good communication between upper management and branches. Too much of a focus on selling, and sometimes can overlook customer needs

Advice to Senior Management

Keep your employees more informed about decisions that are made, especially throughout mergers. My specific location has gone through 3 mergers in 6 years, and we really just want to know what is going on.

Pros

Great Benefits, even for part time employees including tuition reimbursement up to $10,000 a year for grad school! Very flexible environment as long as you have a good immediate supervisor.

Cons

Antiquated ways of doing everything!! It seems like they decided 1985 was the height of technology and have stuck with it ever since. Opportunities to advance seem to be lacking, of course that could be due to the fact the company has been purchased by PNC. Sometimes it seems like you have to jump up and down to get management to notice you for a promotion even if you've done a good job. It seems like certain managers play favorites.

Advice to Senior Management

I will be glad to see these guys replaced by PNC execs.

Pros

Good benefits, hours, and atmosphere. Most of your coworkers are good people. The time off, benefits, 401k, etc. were all pretty good. Mostly better than average. We had a good area for breaks, lunch, etc. There were some fun things planned to keep morale up like free cookouts, etc.

Cons

Unstable mortgage and lending market, risk of layoff. Although there were a lot of jobs open that you could transfer into, they always seemed to go to someone who was already in that department. It seemed like it was more important who you knew, or how long you'd been there. Not necessarily how good your work perform was.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to keep employment more stable.

Pros

If you are looking for a salaried position with some (but not great) commision. In the interview process they will try to start you in the low $30s but it is negotiable. Just show them you are a great sales person. First you will interview with HR, then Regional FA, then branch manager.

Cons

it is a duel role (licensed financial consultant) so you will be half customer service (regarding bank accounts) and half financial advisor. Way too many meetings and way too little options regarding investments. You are lucky if you make $60k a year with commisions. They tell you you can double your salary but when you look around at who is doing that its way to few who are. Its all about the market you are in (the branch you will be working with) thats why I left.

Advice to Senior Management

Broaden your investment options and specialize the role instead of having the LFC do everything.

Pros

The work was simple repetitive tasks. Once you learned what to do, it was 'easy' work.

Cons

Work was extremely repetitive.
Horrible Management, who relied on e-mails to communicate everything. If they were a desk away, they would e-mail you to say "can you come over to see me". Very impersonal.

Also I was mislead during interview in thinking there were additional opportunities - basically lied to.

Once you are working there, you have no control on what other positions you will be doing. If Management want to move you... you get a day or so notice and you are required to move.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't lie to employees.
Give feedback often, including positive.

Pros

The best reason to work for National City is their benefits but that will probably change with the merger with PNC. The 401K match was very generous except it was with bank stock and most employees probably kept the stock which turned out to be a big mistake! Also, there are truly some very dedicated and professional employees who work in the bank branches who are a pleasure to work beside!

Cons

The coach them up or coach them out management style is the true downside of working at National City. There are people who have been promoted into upper management positions who have had no Organizational Behavior training or Human Resources classes and actually could be putting the bank in postion to be sued with some of their actions. Public ridicule of employees actually occurred in meetings, and I was included in sales meetings which myself and other employees called the "de-motivation" meetings. National City failed for a lot of reasons not just because of the disastrous First Franklin purchase if the behavior of the managers in Louisville was indicative of the rest of the organization. Hopefully, PNC will rid itself of most of the management of National City and keep most of the "worker bees" because they are the true heart of the organization and they have made the retail part of the bank successful.

Advice to Senior Management

Re-evaluate your management style. You've re-arranged things a couple of times but you keep using a top down approach. Why don't you try evaluating from the bottom? You do this Gallup poll every year but it doesn't seem to change anything. Middle management needs some work. Some of these folks do not know how to manage people. Their quarterly bonuses drive their management style and I get a quarterly bonus too but I would never ever have let my LFCs think that was my priority more than servicing my clients or assisting them! That is just not the right message to send to the people who do not get the bonus.