State Farm Reviews

Pros

Benefits, flexibility, variety of work

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

(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

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

1. 401k match up to $1200 yearly (not bad, not best)
2. Pension + Federal Holidays Double Time Pay
3.Two Computer Monitors are used. Special Equipment is also available for any disability you may have. Desk size is spacey enough for being comfortable which also moves up and down so you can stand up during the day too
4.Beautiful location to watch Sunsets and Sunrises at Tempe Lake and a variety of gorgeous breakrooms , a patio balcony and one ping pong table!
5. Starbucks and a Cafe plus Matt's Big Breakfast restaurant all available!
6. Security is Great .. usually always around . Would be great if there was more in the parking lot .. like a Security Stand in every section.
7 . 1k+ Bonuses and Raises every year based on performance and status of company + Room for advancement to another department is encouraged. Bonuses were better in the past but they are still good.
8. Charity events ; Volunteer opportunities plus variety of groups available to join (Tech, Culture, etC) + Mentors are available
9. Decent Medical Benefits and Dentist + Vision for Single person. I heard Family benefits are pricy.
10. Commission for sales per bind is great. You can earn the avg 34k salary plus up to an extra 25k for the year. (50-60k total)
11. Not too many verbatim disclosures to read
12. Relaxed Sales Environment, Inbound calls and don't get pushed that much compared to other insurance companies .
13. Overall a great company and one of the best companies I ever worked for that always ask their employees what can be done to improve the quality of everything.

Advice to Management

What happened to the American Dream ,the old fashion way, working from the ground up? Fresh University graduate with no knowledge of company chosen over hardworking individuals that didn't want to get sucked into irrelevant educational debt with 15+ years work experience (or giving debt to parents :| ) I know an employee that was not here for 4 months fresh out of college and already came from a CSR position to a Claims Specialist. Yet I know people here for 5 years knowledge of State Farm that had to go to Claims Express first because they had no degree. Favoritism isn't cool. This is reason why it seems like no one knows what they are doing and there are a lot of bugs in the system. Almost daily there are system ; software issues which interrupt our work and irritate the customers. Plus there are many individuals or newly graduates not wanting to work/ late/lots of absence or quit after 6 months of hire. State Farm just needs some tidying. As far as EIP, I think rewarding customers for their loyalty with little gifts like small kitchen appliances, a gas card, or a mini-3 day vacation depending on how long they stayed with would give notice in the long run.
State Farm has been one of the best companies I ever worked for and appreciate the care you have for your employees and customers in the SF Family but everyone and everywhere always has room for improvement..including myself.

Pros

Best Insurance Company in the Industry

Pros

Great training and pay. Nice work atmosphere

Pros

Stable work environment and very rewarding

Advice to Management

A lot of changes

Pros

There is a variety of growth opportunities with in the company. There are good people willing and able to help you move forward along the way.

Pros

- Pension Plan
- Adequate benefits

Advice to Management

You said hundreds of times that the changes were being made to benefit the customer. After all the changes "for the customer", you are left with a customer service model that routinely scores poorly on customer service rankings (JD Power). You went from being an industry leader to a company hemorrhaging customers.