Pros
- Original hiring process was fast, faster than any corporate job I've ever applied to. I went through multiple interviews and received an offer within days of my final interview. Other companies I've had to sometimes wait months just for a rejection notice. ADP’s hiring speed and process is fantastic, and I felt very important to them as a potential future employee. - Associates in my department are friendly, and the atmosphere with management is great too. They have an open-door policy so I don't feel nervous asking questions to my manager, let alone my manager's manager. Many of them also make an effort to wish everyone in the department “Good morning” in person. Overall, the company gives off a family vibe and less of a hierarchical one, which I appreciate. - Adding to my previous point, the company promotes an environment of inclusion and diversity. There are multiple support groups including for LGBT, veterans, women's inclusion, etc. It's great to see groups like these in place, and it gives associates the notion that they don't have to leave parts of their personal self at home. - The Elk Grove building has multiple amenities: Cafeteria, Fitness Center, and Wellness Center. Cafeteria food is pretty good, and the company ADP works with has a selection of quality options. You can use the Wellness Center to complete your biometric screening, flu shots, and daily medical concerns. - Benefits, 401k, Stock Purchase Plan available for employees depending on part or full time employment. Enrollment is easy and simple thanks to the website's newly designed layouts. - Surveys. ADP encourages not just their clients but also their employees to take them, ranging from company changes to training to manager reviews. I think it's important when a company wants to hear from its employees so often. - Department has recently implemented a new Client Service model where employees are assigned to clients as a point-of-contact within ADP. I believe long-term this will increase client engagement and service over employees answering phone calls from random clients.
Cons
- Department is busy and at times stressful. It's hard having a desire to participate in other ADP opportunities (social media, support groups, networking events) when workloads are overwhelming. There are multiples times I feel deterred from participating because I have so much client work or I'm mentally exhausted. - Knowledge training is long, boring, and ultimately ineffective. Out of my 14 weeks of initial training, I got 3 or 4 weeks worth, and it was mostly from shadowing other employees. It's not to say the training isn't informative, but it's mostly lectures, tests, and webcasts, and it's very difficult staying engaged for hours at a time. As a result of similar feedback from other employees, training is starting to be condensed, but it proves to be even more ineffective. For example, what was once 6 weeks of knowledge training is now squeezed into 2 weeks. Instead of lectures and hands-on learning, 3/4 of it is now watching webcasts. Add to that most of the material presented was not even on the final test. If you compare this training to the yearly corporate policy training (which is exceptionally well-made, engaging, and fun), this feels rushed, lazy, and uncaring. - Company changes and implementations take a while. While ADP has been promoting quality over metrics for months, some current work models still do not follow the same idea. For example, job compensation is still rewarded more on job knowledge over performance. - Blackout dates are mid-November through January because they are the busiest times for clients to call in. Again, not a big issue for me because I understand the reasons why, but it can still be a bummer when overtime is considered a necessity during the holiday season. - Only 1 day of volunteer paid time off. I love to know I am making a difference, not just processing someone's payroll but also on a personal level. They are many opportunities offered, but due to only 1 day I feel I have to carefully choose which ones I will use it on. While there is progress and transitions being made at ADP, there is plenty of room to continue improving its corporate environment.
