Too many chiefs and box checkers - Anonymous employee TIAA Employee Review

1.0
Apr 15, 2010
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The mission is great and I think there are some people who believe in it. There are a lot of great people who work at the company.

Cons

The politics are terrible. There is a complete inability to make decisions. Everything is done for the purposes of checking boxes and covering rear ends. There are too many expensive chiefs being hired but nothing ever seems to get done. Senior management is constantly changing its mind and this is reflected in its decision to do everything and be everything to everyone. The Alternative Work Strategy (i.e. forced telecommuting) is not a good idea.

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Pros

Great opportunities for growth and supporting management

Cons

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2.0
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Pros

Good starting salary and benefits package.

Cons

The longer you’re there, the more of an expectation that you work more for the same or less income. Producers find it hard to justify staying when leadership keeps moving the goal posts on how to increase income. No rhyme or reason as to how they decide “promotions.” One advisor might have one good year and get promoted over an advisor that produces year in and year out. They fail to share revenue because they’d have a hard time justifying the income level compared to outside advisors with a fraction of the book size. They claim and depend on brand recognition to justify a capped income but fail, or just won’t admit that is why they keep losing their top talent. Operations is a nightmare that I can’t even begin to describe. When I share the processes that have been in place for over a decade, colleagues in the industry shake their head and laugh. They can’t believe we earn and keep business. The saying while I was there was “the biggest threat we face is that TIAA clients start to explore their options outside of TIAA.”

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