Northern Trust Reviews

Pros

Small as compared to other financial institutions .... so flexibility with a few things still there ...

Cons

relatively less salary as compared to other fiancial institutions.
Technology expense is less ... better place to work on business side then technology.

Advice to Senior Management

There are bright people in organization ... they just need to get the right chance ... there are some people in organization for a long time on other hand who are at key positions but need to be re-evaluated...some changes has started happening recently when new people have stated coming in and it is working ... continue with this...

Pros

Room for error- they don't fire easily, good people, encouraging learning

Cons

Salary is at the bottom, no bonus and team leaders mid level managers don't leave so no room for advancement.

Advice to Senior Management

Move manages or create more opportunites for analysts to have a carrer path

Pros

Ok for a first job out of college
Decent benefits
Fast paced environment
You get paid for overtime

Cons

Same duties everyday
Limited growth opportunities (Norther Trust prefers outside candidates over internal)
Low starting salary (now around forty)
Average raises around 3%, but last two years around 1%
Systems break down daily (especially before and after major holidays)
Communication between departments is very bad and a lot of it last minute
No company sponsored events unless you pay and organize it yourself
Work first, personal life later
If you like to take vacation around major holidays (Christmas, New Year) it is not for you
Any perks you can think of (coffee, snacks, tickets to events etc.) there are none
Your advice or suggestions are as good as an echo in the woods
Fairly high turnover rate (around 80% over two years)

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees, fix the systems so work can be completed on time, engage everyone in the process and teach all departments about other areas of the company (we can work better if we understand the whole picture!). Remove lazy bureaucracy as it is very hard to get something done and even harder to get a response out of other departments without clear deadlines. Give people more responsibility as in the current system nobody is really responsible for anything except the person at the end of the process. Employees are your assets, treat them well and they will perform, but keep in mind salary and benefits compared to your competition (we are way below). Also, when was the last time you sent out any kind of anonymous employee survey?

Pros

Good balance between work and personal life.

Cons

Employee compensation was below average compared to other firms, yet the hiring managers went after competition (but didnt want to pay for better talent). Employees lacked many of the credentials found in competitors (substandard). Bonuses were weak during my time there and from what my former colleagues told me, bonus target rates that were stated at the beginning of the year where never reached by anyone (essentially the average bonus rate quoted was really the "top" bonus. And no one hit it). Bonus was very subjective, goals were not clearly and quantitatively measured so it was often hard to disagree with your bonus).

Advice to Senior Management

Very beaucratic, needs to be a lot more merit based.

Pros

Great culture, employee friendly environment. Gives importance to the employees individual development.

Cons

Slow career growth and less budget towards employee recreation.

Advice to Senior Management

Career growth of the employees should be faster, it will lead to employee retention and efficiency

Pros

-Vacation time is very generous for bank officers
-Some departments have great management

Cons

-Some departments are very back stabbing in client servicing
-Too much work on everyone's desk
-Inadequate compensation compared to other companies
- Low morale

Advice to Senior Management

Use some of your funds to reward and compensate the people that are facing your clients every day.

Pros

Great starting benefits for someone just out of college
Stabile company that takes minimal risks
My department doesn't fear layoffs very often

Cons

Low salaries
Minimal raises and bonuses
Terrible technology - computers are very outdated and more server space needed
Too many levels of management

Advice to Senior Management

The starting pay and/ or raises and bonuses could be more competitive. The technology needs to be upgraded to meet certain standards and to provide our clients with faster and more efficient service.

Pros

Good benefits and avg salary

Cons

Cost cutting/redundancies and job elimination

Advice to Senior Management

More innovation less expense reductions

Pros

Good knowledge share, good management, benefits, less work comes with less pay. Good for interns and new grad to start a career and progress.

Cons

Monotonous, less competition, unfair promotions, similar pay scale, No difference between a MBA grad and a Bachelor grad (as the pay is the same).

Advice to Senior Management

Do not promote any one so quickly and if you do promote any one pls have a panel interview with the candidate to find out if the person deserves to get promoted.

Pros

Employee friendly firm
Brilliant work life balance
Conservative
Great place for working mothers
Women have good representation in the middle managment

Cons

Decision making is slow.
Pay for Team Leaders and Section Managers are below what the market pays.
Pay scales are linked to your relationship with the managment vs your performance