Argenta Reviews

Pros

The location Generally people are nice Salary package improved with time Part of a well-known banking group

Cons

- 0% turnover: People are there to stay until they retire. No skills updates. - Very bureaucratic and rigid organization. - Resistance to change: We will always do what we have always done. - Lack of clear communication and transparent vision: You never know if you have done the right thing or not. - Not very challenging tasks. Most are not analytical but rather repetitive. - Some key functions are in hands of people with no proper knowledge in the field of work. There I heard that S&P 500 index and the local regulator are the "entities" that provide credit ratings !!! Also tasks that require analyses are performed by extremely rigid and irrational people, who rather seek to stay in their comfort zone than challenging the work or being challenged. No goals at all at first for a long period. Then there were global collective goals and not personalized. Then no year-end assessment. Then a belated assessment; several months later. Then you hear that you exceed the goals but when it comes to the written version you figure out that you didn't match the expectations but that at the same you exceeded them !! If you think it's all incoherent and you ask, you are told that you indeed exceeded the expectations but that you didn't meet them because they "felt" you lacked commitment during the few last weeks of the year. Interesting! Since when the appraisal became based on the manager's "feelings"?! Don't you think you should first give clear and personalized goals to have them achieved at the end of the year?! Don't you think the final rating should be based on the performance of the entire year and not just some few weeks of it?! But the person who didn't distinguish S&P 500 index from S&P rating agency certainly matched the expectations!!! Especially when the assumed "lack of commitment" was due to a total lack of motivation caused by a generally not committed work environment and an absence of feedback, but mostly the resistance to change and the recalcitrant attitude towards any tentative of analysis. Every small task is delegated to external consultants. Even very obvious questions about interpreting the VaR. ...And the cherry on the cake is the way vacation scheduling is handled. So some people think they are - or are really- entitled to summer and Christmas vacations. They book them all and you have no right to book as well if you are from the same team. You can't convince them it's unfair. You have to negotiate with the boss for that, so he can let you book the vacations for the same time as the other person from the same team, because this other person is going to take them anyways because she is entitled to. It's once again what they have always done and they can't change it. But if you lose motivation in such conditions you'll get a negative appraisal based on the manager's feelings of course !! The reason I was given is that for the other person Christmas vacations are so important. Probably because in such environment where they have no idea what diversity is, they don't know that Christmas is not a religious event and it does not depend on where you were born... This company is still in the 90s.

Pros

Pragmatic most of the time

Cons

Goals set forth do not get the budgets required. Large dependance on below par infrastructure partner.

Pros

Culture, Family owned so long term perspectives before short term gains

Cons

It is a local player (Belgium and The Netherlands)

Pros

- good pay - technically challenging

Cons

- out of touch management (from ivory tower) - lots of restructering and reorganizing - too much processes, approvals, steps needed - not very agile

Pros

Good work life balance. Interesting projects.

Cons

Lagging behind in IT infrastructure and operational processes.

Pros

with great image, a different player in the Belgian Financial landscape. Fast growing company with lots of new initiatives. Relatively flat hierarchy,close contact with directors and managers

Cons

fast growing, means a lot of challanges which are not always well coordinated and communicated. Processes are not yet up to date, a growing company should learn more out of the mistakes made during the growin process

Pros

* Flat hierarchy which gives you the opportunity to work closely with very senior people. * A true green bank that walks the talk * Wide range of responsibilities and a management that is welcoming your ideas

Cons

* Pay * Lean level that is close to the pain barrier, especially if you come from/are used to cash burning multinationals.