State Farm Reviews

Pros

The agent is awesome. Treated me and my family like we were part of his family.

High growth, professional environment.

Clear Agency Track and opportunities for growth within the office.

Advice to Management

Keep caring about your people. Thats what makes us fight for you.

Pros

(At the time)

Fair pay and predictable bonus structure
They were pretty good at covering travel expenses and paying them back quickly
Diverse workforce & diversity initiatives
Fun and funny coworkers
Opportunities for growth
Again, this was all four years ago and has likely changed

Advice to Management

When I was first hired to State Farm back in 2010, I felt truly blessed and fortunate. I felt I had found my work "home," and that I would be able to learn and grow over time, and watch my career develop. And guess what? It did. I held three different positions at State Farm, each "better" than the last in terms of challenge, growth, and pay. I used to brag to others about State Farm and actively try to recruit them. I was a true believer and evangelist.

State Farm was like an abusive relationship in that, there were times when things were good! Really good! And then, there were those bad times...

Even though my career was progressing, I was met at every level with some of the most hateful, spiteful, narcissistic leadership you could ever imagine. Egomaniacs and control freaks of the highest order. It was almost like they didn't want us to succeed, for fear that we may take their jobs someday. The behaviors got so bad that I even told one of my managers, "There's no amount of money in this world that could get me to do your job. You all seem miserable." This was toward the end of our relationship, of course. In each role, my managers found something, anything they could to harp on, and once I fixed that, something new would pop up to "fix." It was a moving target. They never taught, they only scolded. They treated employees of every age like children, from age 21 to age 61. It was disgraceful.

Others took the time to focus on my personality. My work product was excellent and above standard according to one, but they always shifted the focus to my "happiness." "Are you happy? You don't seem happy. Others are worried that you're not happy. Are you happy? Your happiness, or lack thereof, is affecting the team." When I'd ask clarifying questions like, "What makes you think I'm not happy?" "How is it affecting the team?" "Describe a time when you distinctly thought I wasn't happy..." they couldn't do it. Never could. It morphed into vague generalizations and hearsay (made up stuff). They could never give me actionable specifics, and therefore, I could never correct the "problems."

At the time, I did not realize that I was witnessing the beginning of the end. Everything that happened to me was symptomatic of a company preparing to enter into decline. Instead of leadership banding together and figuring out how to fix it, they chose to eat their babies. And they're paying for it dearly now.

The second part of this title is to trust your gut, and this is where I'll speak to current employees: When I quit State Farm, people thought I was crazy. I had a great title and pay. I had climbed through the ranks relatively quickly. The path was clear, but I wasn't willing to fight off psychopaths along the way. So I trusted my belief that I could do better for myself, and I did. You don't deserve poor treatment from anyone, and especially not your employer. Sometimes you have to vote with your feet. Although you will be brainwashed, threatened, and intimidated, State Farm is not the end all be all. There is life outside of SF. There are other industries. Regardless of what you do, you have picked up some valuable skills that are highly transferable in the marketplace. Don't give up on yourself. Start saving money and get out of there. You will survive and you will be better for it.

Pros

State Farm has good benefits and good people. There is an extensive training program.

Advice to Management

Listen to your front line employees-- the people actually doing the job. We are smart people and know what we are doing. We understand it costs the company money when our call times are 30 seconds longer than average. We understand that it means more people need to be on the phone. However, what management doesn't seem to understand is how frustrated the employees AND customers are with being rushed through the claim process. State Farm will more than make up for the handful of extra employees required to be on the phones by retaining more State Farm customers, making new customers with excellent customer service to claimants, and not having to retrain new associates when frustrated associates leave.

Pros

Relatively stable company financially
Great co-workers

Advice to Management

Repair the culture and treat employees as professionals like they use to

Pros

Part Time employees are benefits eligible. Pension benefits after 5 years of service.

Advice to Management

Stop micromanaging people. Abolish the points system. Tipsord, fire yourself.

Pros

Great leadership in Jacksonville location.
Good work/life balance.
Good resources for continued training.
State Farm attracts some of the best people. I definitely have a work family.

Advice to Management

Get back to where the company used to be.
Remember loyal employees who stand by State Farm rather than just looking to replace everyone and pay someone less money to do a mediocre job. Longevity with employees used to be your best asset.

Pros

*A lot of time and effort spent towards training new hires
*Good place to be if you are a "company man" who likes to play the game
*Name recognition from the community and the industry
*Company is supportive of those pursuing education...if it is in the
   interests of the company
*Good medical/dental/retirement benefits
*Plenty of lateral and upward career opportunities if you are passionate about the insurance industry

Advice to Management

In this day and age, State Farm is no longer the big dog on the block. Competition in the industry is fierce, and consumers know what their options are. SF has a reputation for having high premiums; Other companies offer more technology options for app-savvy consumers who have no interest in speaking with a claims dept or having a personal relationship with their agent; Production is lagging in claims and underwriting departments because the operating systems are outdated and not user-friendly. These are issues that you can't "customer service" your way out of. There is way too much time, money, and effort spent on micro-managing employees over scripts and quality scores rather than upgrading technology, making sure that all managers are on the same page, and providing competitive rates to consumers. The Micro-managing is a huge blow to employee morale and the cause of the constant turnover throughout the departments. A lot of good people are either getting fired, laid off, or voluntarily taking their talents to the competition when it really doesn't have to be like that.

Pros

Great benefits. Incorporating technology changes.

Advice to Management

Excellent customer service is what used to set State Farm apart, you aren't providing that in the same way any more. Changes to adapt to new market conditions were needed, but you can't let customer service suffer as a result.

Pros

fun to be a part of

Pros

-Steep learning curve
- Boss cares for employees a lot
- Great office environment
- Great colleagues

Advice to Management

Have weekly lunches. My boss did with the team and they helped us bond and work better together.