Pros

the people that work at this call center are very nice and seem to usually have a smile on their face

Cons

need to have better schedule options, to be off on sunday, then one other day off during the week, aka split days off, sucks the big one

Advice to Senior Management

give us better scheduling options that do not have split days off, i wouldnt mind working sundays to have my days off together

Pros

Brand is respectful along with its longevity and integrity. I have never seen so many people be willing to work so hard for a company. There are a lot of long term employees that provides stability to the organization as well as introspect and history. I primarily stayed because of the brand name and because I was able to continue on with my responsibilities with little interference from above - a situation that is certainly appealing to me.

Cons

What is most disappointing about The Hartford is its leadership (or lack of the right leadership). There is a club mentality and unless you give up your indviduality and independence, you will not make it into the club and you will go nowhere. And, what's amazing, the individuals in the club aren't taking The Hartford anywhere either - as evidenced....

Advice to Senior Management

Take a fresh look at senior leadership in GBD - it's smoke and mirrors.

Pros

Great Work / Life Balance, Fair Compensation, Good Benefits, Free Parking, Decent Reputation

Cons

Senior Management has been there for too long and don't want to change anything. This is part of the reason why the company is going down hill now. There are also too many under qualified people in management roles.

Advice to Senior Management

Start listening to the worker bees. They know what they're talking about!

Pros

Nice people.
Leaders in several insurance lines.
Flexible hours. Can come in early and leave early or come in late and leave late.

Cons

Slow at changing. Projects take forever to finish.
Horrible data infrastructure. Way too much time wasted on finding the information that you need.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to look at how to manage data more effectively.
Need to be less conservative and learn to take some risks.

Pros

Opportunities for personal growth, including training, to further one's career and marketability. Traditional financial services company with a long history of protecting his insureds.

Cons

The environment is very political with promotions based on who you know and answer "yes" to vs. what you know and your contributions. Decisions are made very slowly, and the culture is not conducive to positive change.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen more to your employees, especially those in change leadership positions who are accountable to identify and drive positive change in the organization.

Pros

While it's certainly debatable about the competency of senior management, local management is generally above average. The people are professional and very friendly. Salary and paid time off is very competitive.

Cons

Communication from mangement is not the best, but it is improving. Sales call requirements for underwriters are fairly high. Workload is higher than average.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to keep employees in the loop on the whereabout of the company. Increase staffing where appropriate to meet client needs and prevent employees from being overworked.

Pros

The people, the culture, the company all are great. This is an excellent company to work for and everyone is nice.

Cons

Not many oppurtunities for growth in San Diego. Sometimes the management uses you for the our advantages. Everyone else is nice.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good wotrk

Pros

The salary for experienced and strong performers was good overtime. However, if you are a "successful" (ie. medium, C ,3, meets) review salary was increase was modest, below that...likely no increase. "Total compensation" which included 401K match, employee stock purchase plan was worthwhile, as long as the stock price held. many have seen the retirement funds they counted on decimated (although in fairness this was true of many plans the Hartford stock value was essentially wiped out in March.
The culture was a strong, positive one, with a focus on diversity and inclusion, however that too has been eroded with the innocculation of the Progressive mindset into the P&C company.

Cons

I was shocked and disheartened about 8 years ago when the Mission statement's #1 mission was to deliver value to the shareholder......not outstanding products, not ethics, not sound financial judgment.
Once the stock price became the main driver greed seeped into the organization. Since Hartford proudly states they "pay for performance" they get the results that provide max compensation to the employee, not necessarily the most ethical, prudent or business savy results.
 The Hartford has become a 200 year old company in search of identity. Leadership adopts the McKinsey business philosophy of the year, sometimes resulting in corporate whiplash as the organization seeks to change direction to adapt to the change in a management philosophy. They believe their own hype and this resulted in imperiling the company's existence.

Advice to Senior Management

Return to fundamentals. Remove the greed motive; modify the executive compensation plan. Ramani Ayers, I believe, is truly devoted to this company - he grew up in the organization and has been with The Hartford since the '70's. The key focus of the senior leadership will be to identify the new vision for the organization and embed consistency of direction in the corporate focus.
Ramani will be retiring soon as he approaches the age for compulsory retirement. The company must be turned over to a seasoned manager - not a high flying "wiz-kid". Return to the values that allowed the company to make it to 200.

Pros

Lots of paid days off. Flexible, no micro management depending on the department you work in. Casual dress on Fridays if you do not work in Home Office.

Cons

Employees were advised that everything was going ok with jobs but the next week unknown to everyone many were laid off. No warning at all.
It also seemed that there was favoritism given to certain people doing the exact job as everyone else. Even when others did perform (numbers to back them up) better than the "favorite", the recognition was given to the "favorite" people.
Recognition was always given to the same people.

Advice to Senior Management

Some very valuable employees that provide great contributions to their teams/territories, may not be the people who are normally recognized. Recognize those also to help retain the valuable employees.

Pros

Very good job stability, as there have been few layoffs and generally employees are treated well and given opportunites for promotion and development. The company has cut back on a lot of things recently and tends to treat employees that are not in home office like they would not understand the financial issue affecting The Hartford as evidenced by their poor communication to employeees.

Cons

Senior leaders of the company tend to keep people in the dark, particularly during the current financial crisis. No one is ever fired (except for recent layoffs) just made to feel unwelcome until they quit. Overall a good place to work though.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep your employees in the loop