Northern Trust Reviews

Pros

At Northern I've been very happy with the people I've worked with; a general sense of friendliness and intelligence. The people make it easier to come in every day.

Cons

The company is cheap and doesn't express any sort of appreciation in regards to competitive compensation, cash bonuses, or even company parties. Also Northern has cut several valued benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

There is an unbalanced emphasis and appreciation for new business versus continued excellence in service of existing accounts. Some appreciation should be given to those who are tasked with managing the existing accounts, as that is where the money is generated.

Pros

Friendly work environment
Above average benefits (think other than salary)
The opportunity to work alongside of some skilled and tenured investment professionals

Cons

Lack of autonomy
Untimely top-down approach
Typical bank management hierarchy

Advice to Senior Management

If you are young and ambitious, I'd suggest looking somewhere that will value your talent and effort moreso than just providing you with the conventional cost of living increase in pay.

Pros

Northern Trust is respected in our community.

Cons

Technology is lacking. Client service model has created an unpleasant working environment.

Pros

supportive culture to get things done right

Cons

sometimes slow to respond. some corporate functions seem to think the business gets in their way rather than doing everything they can to support the business

Pros

Work/Life balance
Management is fair
Autonomy
Mature working environment

Cons

opportunities for advancement
corporation has an identity problem - wants to be an investment management company, but it's managed by private bankers and lenders

Pros

fair benefits but lacks the important ones

Cons

not in downtown chicago
no disability benefits to persons with disabilites
poor management skills, only negative feedback
low pay, tiny raises (if any), reduced savings benefits
education/training is not encouraged unless its on your time
managers do not have advanced degrees, some came from non-finance background
promotions are unfair and based on who you know, not what you know
moving and closing departments (to india) for cost savings, while saying they are growing

Advice to Senior Management

Please stop trying to micro-manage your employees.
Provide equal benefits to all, both executives and staff workers.

Pros

- Good for beginners, get an hands on with company having policy(always work on exceptions)
- Management is very supportive of Analysts
- Good workplace
- Fantastic Transportation

Cons

- Sr Management will only execute their decision powers to give verdict, never involves
- Rewards & Recognition not yet conceptualized for any levels
- Highly focused individual is considered as a treat by immediate managers
- Managers should not involve themselves but only delegate
- Career Development plans is the least priority, that in turn results into attrition

Advice to Senior Management

Consensus decision making is art and requires experience. Kindly take scenarios to practice. If done in wrong manner seems like a conspiracy.
Please focus on clients, customer requirements and customize technology to suit the need. Never do a job to show the world it is a organization. Keep it clean and systematic

Pros

Very good work/life balance and good benefits. Friendly work environment and plenty of good people who would go out of their way to get the job done right.

Cons

Conservative business model from an old school Chicago bank. Depends on what you're looking for in this point of your career. Compensation is not very competitive in the industry.

Advice to Senior Management

The bank needs to be more aggressive in its growth prospects. Good talent costs money. Stop hiring consultants to run parts of your business who don't have a clue what they are doing. Foster growth from within with education.

Pros

Great place for work-life balance seekers where mediocrity is valued. Senior management is full of leaders. If you care about ethics and integrity look nowhere else, it's truly a place where clients are at the center of everything. It's a great global organization with mid-west roots.

Cons

Mediocrity is valued and over achievers are viewed negatively especially viewed as a threat by senior employees. Senior managers try hard to break the silos but middle management breeds politics and can't break silos. Discretionary bonus system throughout the company breeds more politics and less meritocracy and less incentive to drive real results.

Advice to Senior Management

The real problem lies in trying to educate middle managers to break the silos, look beyond politics, reward junior (young) people, demand managers to develop their talent (one way to measure success is by measuring growth in their top performers' salaries), create forums for senior management where young talent is encouraged to bring forth issues/ideas, implement 360 degree feedback mechanism, demand some kind of management degree (MBA) for middle managers that don't have one, deliver constant message to managers about issues, need for change, and ideas, allocate special budget for domain training and development (technical training). An example to prove above point: senior managers often advocate for diversity and junior employees 'get it' but if the middle manager doesn't see bigger picture and restricts his/her direct report from engaging in those activities, how is it in employees' control to support diversity initiatives. Overall, it's a "well-run organization" where values are at the center of everything. My advice may be based on an isolated situation.

Pros

The management team and on-site day care.

Cons

Too far from the rest of the fnancial services community in Chicago.