Pros

Paychex is a great company. Their business model is very solid, and their senior management team is great. The benefit package is great, even if the pay may be on the lower side compared to industry average.

Cons

The company is so large that there is a lack of communication between different departments. The culture is strong, so it is difficult to introduce change. Tenure is often seen as superior to achievements when looking to move up in the company.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue what you are doing, you keep the company strong. Be sure to get a good mix of team members from inside and outside of the company.

Pros

Name recognition, very stable company, great support with marketing materials, excellent training.

Cons

Support from management, the pay- even at plan- is less than average for an outside sales rep, lack of leadership, sales is very isolated from the rest of the company and this is detrimental in a service organization. Very little room for advancement, despite claims made. Operations and sales tend not to work together well and it's difficult at times to follow the process through without cooperation between the two departments. Difficult to find a time to take any time off.

Advice to Senior Management

Paychex needs stable management with focus and the ability to have one or two consistent initiatives that they can see through over a period of time- not a new flavor of the week. The compensation plan over the years does not reward tenured employees. Conference isn't a motivator if employees have families- a good compensation plan is. Consider rewarding sales representatives based on client retention, even if it is minimal amount each month, and it will encourage a higher volume of current client calls and ancillary sales.

Pros

Good company overall...People are intelligent and very helpful to one another. Training is amazing and there are high expectations. Benefits are great. Not a lot of turn over...many veterans.

Cons

Upper management gets placed in position because of sales numbers and not because of leadership skills...Has been an issue within, but not willing to change it. Pay is average for what you do.

Advice to Senior Management

Really need to do something about how we select management...The stronger the leadership the better the performance of sales team and more $$$$ for the company

Pros

The job is highly detail oriented, but they provide you with the tools to do the job. There is a very good training program and the company is very loyal to it's employees. You do get a lot of feedback on your work and as a general rule everyone wants to see you succeed.

Cons

While it seems like there's always an open position, it feels very difficult to move ahead in the company. Promotions are often based on tenure and/or popularity. If there are specific reasons you were passed over they aren't really explained to you. Management in general seems to want to succeed, but they all have very different ideas about how to achieve it. Also, there is a lack of uniformity among the branches. Each is run almost like an individual fiefdom.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to employees and offer promotions and rewards based on performance instead of just tenure, or at the very least make it more obvious that's what you're doing. Try to take more of what works from other branches and incorporate it into all branches. Try to focus more on cross training and specialization. While it's great for everyone to learn about every aspect of the job, it's impossible for one person to be a SME on everything. Specialization allows for highly focused work while cross training can aid in out of the box thinking.

Pros

Branch level support is great. if you have a problem your local branch manager will gladly help or listen to you same with core managers. People are always willing to help at the branch level expecially when dealing with frustrations.

Cons

Corporate office doesn't ask the branch before doing they just do. branches that deal with the day to day ahve no say when they really should have alot more say. corporate focuses on the wrong aspect of the business when they should look at the current picture.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the branches and seek advice before just doing

Pros

Great place to get training for later use with a different company.

Cons

You are promised so much when you first start, then you get there and it's all down hill. It is very hard, stressful and you are very under appreciated for the work you. A very demanding job with pay that does not compare to the others in the same line of business.High standards, if you like double standards. You are only promoted if you are well liked, not by the work you do. The policies are all to supervisor and manager discrection, so be careful if you are not in the "in crowd". Not open to suggestions from employees, they only act like they care about what you think.

Advice to Senior Management

You should listen to what your employees suggest and take action on that, not what you think is the best decsion. We are the ones that keep this company going by our customer service, you are there to manage it, not control it. You should get out on the floor and know what the job is at all times, not sit in your office and look at the numbers all day. There is so much more to Paychex than the numbers, there are real people busting their tale off to do a good job and you still demand more of them. You should be helping to make sure that everyone has the resources that are needed for them, not just look at what they are doing wrong. Take a step back and look, maybe it is not the lower level employees doing wrong, but the upper management.

Pros

Salary and Benefits were adequate

Cons

Really old technology in place

Advice to Senior Management

Go back to what you do best - small business, your products don't sit welll in the enterprise space

Pros

Good entry- level position for those with minimal education.

Cons

Difficult to advance. It's about who you know, not what you know.

Advice to Senior Management

Need better communication with its employees

Pros

You work very independently.
Non-exempt so work stays at work

Cons

Nepotism runs rampant, you are promoted based on who you know not what you contribute.

Advice to Senior Management

Consider improving your human capital, since your business model is based on service, you should really measure their level of job satisfaction as they control the experience for the customer.

Pros

Taking time off is easy and we're given a decent amount. Depending on your needs the medical benefits can be decent. Non-management staff is a great team to work and be friends with.

Cons

This position asks too much for what is paid. I've transferred from different locations and there is a vast difference between management styles. Upper management is too busy worrying about the "numbers" to actually understand what is driving them. You're promised tons of advancement opportunities, but I'm still waiting for it to happen.

Complete lack of communication between departments - there is a 100% disconnect between services offered. One hand doesn't even know how the other hand works.

I did my own cost analysis of the area and found that we're grossly underpaid even though we're told by senior management this has been checked.

Advice to Senior Management

More focus on performance than seniority. Pay more. Cross train so that one department knows what the other one is doing, perhaps then clients won't leave for a competitor.