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Bank of the West Reviews
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    Bank of the West Reviews

    Updated August 19, 2017
    655 reviews

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    Full-timePart-time
    3.0
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    Bank of the West President & CEO Nandita Bakhshi
    Nandita Bakhshi
    41 Ratings

    655 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • Upper management that is essentially heartless to staff (in 32 reviews)

    • Sales goals are even admitted by management to be un-realistic (in 23 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. Helpful (14)

      "Stay away for now."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Disapproves of CEO

      I have been working at Bank of the West full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Great employees trying hard to do good work in difficult circumstances, with limited resources and burdensome management. Decent benefits.

      Cons

      Layoffs. Outdated technology. Poor salaries. Upper management that is essentially heartless to staff.

    2. Helpful (12)

      "Administrative Assistant II"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Administrative Assistant II in San Francisco, CA
      Current Employee - Administrative Assistant II in San Francisco, CA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Bank of the West full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      There are some of the best and brightest people working there, and a truly diverse and international group of team members.

      Cons

      Ever since McKinsey arrived, the Bank has been going through major restructuring and downsizing. After routine layoffs, the remaining staff are expected to take on extra work, and a typical employee is doing the work of three people.

      Advice to Management

      The new HR (money-saving) policy that only 30-40% of any group is able to receive a rating of 4-5 on their annual performance reviews, which is higher than a Satisfactory rating of 3, is terrible for morale. Therefor, 60-70% of any team are ineligible to receive a salary increase during annual reviews. That is a real disincentive!

      3. Join the Bank of the West team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. Helpful (2)

      "Changing but Great Place to Work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Universal Banker I in Jackson, WY
      Current Employee - Universal Banker I in Jackson, WY
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Bank of the West full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Bank of the west is much more customer centric than other banks I have worked with. They also take pretty good care of their employees, at least where I am working. They are changing things for the better. I see them as up and coming, they are at a tipping point where they could continue their upward climb or flat line. I believe they will take the right direction.

      Cons

      They are owned by a French company which adds some restrictions outside of federal restrictions. It also makes customers cautious. They want a local bank, or at the very least, a U.S. Bank. We are a U.S. Bank only, but owned by a larger company that owns banks in other countries. They are currently going through a lot of changes. That isn't a bad thing, I like what I'm seeing in those changes. The problem is, again at least where I work, that the people on staff have been here on average about 15 years, if you exclude myself. They do not like change in general and can be quite negative about it, even though all I see coming are positive things. I think it's more of a group of people set in their ways who are being told they have to do things differently now. The training and technology/systems could stand for an upgrade.

      Advice to Management

      I came from Wells Fargo. They were horrible to work for and treated their customers poorly. That being said, they knew how to train their people. If I could give any advice to management it would be to create better training protocols and systems. This is a great place to work but in a lot of areas, turnover is high. I believe that is because people are thrown into their jobs and don't feel ready. They do not yet know the system they are supposed to use to take deposits or open accounts. I've been in banking for 8 years and I feel overwhelmed when I use the platform system to open accounts. As I said previously, it could use an upgrade or at the very least, a training version to open accounts on etc... would be beneficial.

    4. Helpful (1)

      "Great people, questionable direction from leadership."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Credit Products Officer in Clovis, CA
      Current Employee - Credit Products Officer in Clovis, CA
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I have been working at Bank of the West full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      People are great. Very relationship oriented when it comes to customers. Great documentation team and friendly people. Really enjoy my local team.

      Cons

      Strategic changes taking place. Some uncertainty about effectiveness of these changes. Depending on location there seems to be trouble staffing.

      Advice to Management

      More messages about strategy, don't attempt to spin things into a positive light when it's negative.

    5. "Customer Service Manager"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      Pros

      Hours, holidays, and no weekends. Benefits are great!

      Cons

      Push on goals. Report after report.

    6. Helpful (2)

      "Cash Management"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Cash Management Specialist in Los Angeles, CA
      Current Employee - Cash Management Specialist in Los Angeles, CA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Bank of the West full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Best company to work for. Smaller bank makes it possible to learn more. My position allows me to work with a set list of commercial business owners. I learn something new every day and the management is top notch.

      Cons

      Amazingly, none. It is the best place I've worked in.

      Advice to Management

      Keep doing what you're doing.

    7. "Great group of people"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Bank of the West full-time

      Pros

      Coworkers and business partners were really a joy to work with. Work/life balance is very good and it shows on the faces of people working there

      Cons

      None that really stand out. I wish the training was a bit more emphasized as well as using new technologies but I believe this is due to the industry.

      Advice to Management

      Just same as the cons section, just more focus and budget for training and education because there are a lot of new technologies that are outstanding.

    8. "Very political and stressful culture"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Bank of the West full-time

      Pros

      Offers good "on-the-job" learning opportunities;

      Cons

      Corporate environment is very political; lots of stress on employees; poor emphasis on work-life balance;

    9. "Full Time Employee"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I have been working at Bank of the West full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Employees are committed to excellence and caring for the customer. Benefits are fairly competitive

      Cons

      Management struggles to make and communicate decisions. Leadership looks to hire externally rather than promote local talent.

      Advice to Management

      Develop and promote internal talent.

    10. Helpful (1)

      "Corporate Restructuring"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Omaha, NE
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Omaha, NE
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      Pros

      The benefits are good - 401k match, health, life, paid time off and casual work environment.

      Cons

      Lots of layoffs and office politics make it very difficult to stay very long. Its a revolving door.

      Advice to Management

      Need to replace inefficient management, systems, and mind sets. Lots of good people are leaving and bad ones staying

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