State Farm Reviews

Pros

Great company to work for and be a part of. Lots of potential for growth and great compensation.

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

I've worked at State Farm for 3+ years.

1. Pay is OK for this area, especially if you factor in the Pension. Note that pension is NOT the same as a 401K as the investment risk falls on the Employer and it's fully insured by PBGC so your retirement is pretty much "guaranteed".

2. I'm an exempt employee so I don't feel all that micromanaging that people are talking about here. Yes, there is 1-1 with manager each week, or every 2 weeks, but that depends on whether you like to have them and you are not required to have them. I don't see that as micromanaging, but an opportunity to communicate my progress and my concerns with management and they can communicate their expectation to me. It creates a more productive environment.

3. The time off system has been changed -- it wasn't as good as before, but still great compared to other companies I've worked for. Some complains about limited sick days versus unlimited sick days before. I can't see how this is a valid complain -- I don't know any company that gives unlimited sick days so this is rather just eliminating abuse.

4. Some perks are nice -- SF park activities, discount programs such as Hertz rental car, local services, restaurants....etc. They also give you three fully paid trips to places like Hawaii, Bahamas, or Canada if you study and obtain the corresponding insurance designation. Also they pay for your masters once you complete a designation but degree must be relavant to your current role.

5. Depending on the department, work life balance can be good, but given recent company underperformance, that'll likely change (if it hasn't already).

6. Lets you move to different positions, but this will like be more restrictive going forward.

Advice to Management

1. Seriously, lose the 2.5% salary increase cap. This is the most absurd rule I've ever heard. If your employee worked 100 hours on a noteworthy project for you, he/she deserves to be recognized and compesated properly. I'm not saying to give everyone 30% each year, but exceptions should be made for exceptional employees. My manager said someone can get 5% and some can get 0% so good performers are rewarded. That doesn't make sense at all. So what if your team all worked hard on a project and everyone deserves to be rewarded? Someone will have to be thrown under the bus to meet this 2.5% cap. In addition, the annual increase should cover at least the increases in local property tax and medical insurance premiums -- otherwise, you are actually cutting your employee's real wage.

2. Why would you ask your most highly paid and highly educated employees to spend most of their time dealing with tasks that can be completed by anyone with a college degree? Instead of paying those insane salaries to those "validation" teams, you'd rather hire some assistants for your most valuable statisticians and have the assistants complete the procedural documents -- that's money well spent! I interned at an equity research firm and almost every quant have at least 1-2 assistant helping them dealing with model documentations.

3. Senior leadership needs to communicate the reason behind the current loss of policy and and plummeting customer satisfaction ratings. What's being done to stop the losses?

4. Treat your customer-facing employees with respect and don't be scrooge with them. If they are angry, so will your clients.

5. Cost reduction is important, but overdoing it will lower employee morale. Cost cutting will NOT miraculously increase sales, or retain customers. I can name three major companies that went under in the past decade which would probably have survived if they chose innovation rather than meaningless cost cutting. Instead of taking away benefits or perks from your people, who are directly dealing with your clients, a bigger focus should be on what's driving the lowered sales and higher cancellations.

Bottom line, I am not going to claim I know how to run a Fortune 100 company, but looking at the recent trends, it is obvious that your current strategy is not working. So perhaps it's time to really drop your ego and really discover what's driving the decline, before it's too late!

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

An attractive major medical healthcare package.
Tuition reimbursement after one year of employment, with qualifying grades.
Employee discount program, local and US.

Advice to Management

Reorganization and reduction of has occurred at the incorrect level across multiple departments. We've paid multiple third party vendors millions of policyholder dollars to tell us what we already knew about OUR business, implement changes that were not to the benefit of OUR customers (remember those MUTUAL policyholders - the ones, who in theory, own our business??)

Training is poor, skill sets have been reduced to glorified phone operators, management oversees metrics - not quality driven, customer centric service and deliverables. New departments exist purely to be proud of the paper they produce. Yet, VPOs and OVPs are amazed we continue to lose market share.... that JD Power scores are failing.... customer complaints are soaring.... attrition and termination rates are at an all time high. Morale is plummeting daily, alongside Agent and customer confidence.

Pros

Great Benefits, the people are great, good work/life balance, established company

Advice to Management

It is unfortunate that after so many years with the company employees are being forced to find new jobs because the company is choosing to consolidate into oversaturated markets. There doesn't seem to be much diversity at the highest levels of senior leadership. You have a great chance to grow with the company if you are willing to live in one of those 4 cities.

Pros

Solid benefits package. Clean, well-maintained facilities that are reasonably secure. Very accommodating of special needs.

Advice to Management

You will lose policyholders in unprecedented numbers if the claims enterprise continues in the direction it’s headed.
Go back to treating your people like people.

Pros

It was pretty good I enjoyed the food

Advice to Management

More chicken

Pros

It really makes a world of difference what agent you work under. My agent is awesome. He is very flexible as long as we are making our goals. It is typically fun to go out to local businesses and meet new people and help enforce the brand. I had state farm insurance before I ever worked here.

Pros

Great pay. Great teams. Reasonable benefits options. And excellent respect for individuality! You can tattoo your body and color your hair any way you want, and they respect you. You are not forced to dress-up every day, but it is encouraged. Most people are able to wear casual clothes every day (jeans, acceptable t-shirts or button-ups, etc.). In addition you get to talk to some pretty pleasant people, who are just seeking your help and expertise. It is a good feeling to help someone and know they appreciate your assistance.

Advice to Management

Treat your employees like a team, but be a team with them. Each person deserves your attention.