Protective Life Reviews

Pros

Very old-school environment. There were lots of opportunities for advancement, but they were not doing a lot of hiring. Great company to work for.

Cons

They had strict budgets that would not permit a lot of hiring, but it is understandable with the current economy.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work! My manager always listeneed to my ideas, and made me feel very important. It was great.

Pros

The company itself is very conservative, which has been a plus in these tough economic times. 401k contribution continued and raises continued. The company has been very stable.

Cons

This was a great place to work when I started. I have been here for over 10 years and in the last 4 the management in my area changed drastically. There is an atomosphere of don't mess up or you will be gone, which stifles innovation. Friends hire friends and the people who have worked hard and performed well for many years get pushed to the side. Salary does not match market value in many cases. It is highly micromanaged in my area.

Advice to Senior Management

Put people in management that understand what they are doing as related to their area. Give employees some freedom. When employees are given space instead of micromanaged you will find they take greater interest in their job and the company, thus are more productive. You could take some queues from companies like Google, linkedin and such.

Pros

Great people, feels like a big family. The benefits are excellent.

Cons

Company is growing too fast and they are experiencing major growing pains. If you like to roll your sleeves up, get in there, and figure stuff out, then this place is for you. If you're looking for structure, steer clear. They do a lot of stuff "the short way" and deadlines set are too aggressive.

Advice to Senior Management

Better reward your talented employees and focus on retaining talent. Make better long term decisions, not just "quick fixes." Put the right people in the right positions, and invest dollars in expanding/building certain departments to better support the growing business.

Pros

Great company and great career start

Cons

Awful management. They are not willing to work with you and they show favortism. They are also underhanded.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop focusing mainly on the customer and focus on ur employees too. make it a place that people want to come to work

Pros

- Great people
- Great Benefits
- My management has always been helpful and met with me often for performance reviews
- Not stressful

Cons

- Boring work, dealing with Insurance and basically your work is about people dying but that is with any insurance company
- Not challenging

Advice to Senior Management

Push employees to work harder. People seem to get away with not getting the hours in, not trying at work, surfing the internet all day... This will seem like a good thing to employees which in a way it is but as advice to management you need to work on this more.

Pros

Great entry level opportunities for college graduates. Supportive work environment. Nice co-workers for the most part. With the exception of a few. Good benefits, vacation time, and salary. Management always supportive of professional growth initiatives. Consistant employee appreciation events.

Cons

Wasn't thrilled about promotion process. Personally, the life insurance industry wasnt exciting for me.

Advice to Senior Management

N/A

Pros

A steady, if meager, paycheck. A few educational opportunities for the rank & file. Home office cafeteria & free parking.

Cons

This company's idea of leadership is obsessive micromanagement of pennies. A complete vacuum of leadership toward career growth, realistic goals, and reasonable income potential. Management attitudes and decisions are eroding relationships with long-term business partners.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize & embrace the fact that your best growth occurred while you treated employees and business partners as family instead of treating them as expendable commodities.

Pros

Generally family-friendly. Good insurance, great food in cafeteria. Managers tend to be mostly be fair during reviews.

Cons

Very little opportunity for internal job or career growth. Most new managers brought in instead of being promoted from within. Virtually impossible to get funding approved for external training.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay more attention to middle management and senior analysts instead of just being buddy-buddy with all the senior execs.

Pros

Protective is a value driven company. They think and make decisions based on how those decisions will affect people. I cannot say how much I appreciate that in a corporate environment.

Protective is very interested in education and development. There are many opportunities to learn and grow within the company at no expense to the employee. Everything is paid for by the company.

The CEO does not hide in an ivory tower. He speaks directly (face to face) to his employees.

Cons

Somewhat limited opportunities to advance. Even lateral moves don't seem to readily available. Too much planning. Too much time spent planning leaves no time left for actual working!

Advice to Senior Management

Carry on and forge ahead. Don't forget that doing the right thing for your people is also smart business. Don't focus on now, focus on 20 years from now.

Pros

Excellent technology and use of systems, good sense of connection between people regardless of location

Cons

no clear job path, horrible benefits if you need anything out of the ordinary (therapy, for example), very "clubby" as most insurance companies are - if you're not in you're out. Impossible to get decent real-time feedback, which leads to surprises during the formal review process. Inconsistent application of HR rules; some folks are late all the time, others are late once and are fired.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on the development of your people; realize that they have lives outside the office; be sincere when you talk about personal development being so important