Competitive stressful environment -- everyone acts touchy-feely, but advancement procedure & evaluations are cut-throat.
Pros
Relatively good management salaries for the area, especially when hired into a management roll (not quite as much when advanced from within). Benefits are very good, even providing some not required by law. Nice new offices with outdoor break area, walking path around the retention pond, separate smoking area (outdoors), small break areas on each floor and larger "cafeteria" room on ground level, monthly perks from HR/employee relations group like free pizza or bagels. Healthy food options available in the "cafeteria" machines, although they are pricey.
Cons
Overtime is a given unless you're an hourly customer service phone answerer. Customer service has hourly goals for number of calls handled, length of calls, length of customer wait time, and it's all tracked and used during evaluations to weed out the lowest performers -- who are put on a ridiculously difficult-to-accomplish performance improvement plan so they will eventually quit rather than be fired. Quality isn't considered -- such as how helping some customers might take longer, but they get the help they need and don't have to call back the next hour/day. It's all about answering the call fast, getting off the phone fast, and answering the next call fast. Bar is constantly rising based on numbers -- so a great performer from last year might maintain their level but still fall below the bar this year cause others have performed faster. Management looks at it as keeping the best and brightest workforce and continuous improvement. In reality, they are keeping the fastest, the most likely to brown-nose, and the least likely to assist customer to 100% satisfaction. It feels like survival-of-the-fastest, dog-eat-dog, and throwing people under the bus to make yourself look better.
