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TIAA Reviews
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    TIAA Reviews

    Updated May 18, 2017
    999 reviews

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    Full-time Part-time
    3.5
    Star Star Star Star Star
    Rating Trends Rating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    TIAA President & CEO Roger Ferguson
    Roger Ferguson
    602 Ratings

    999 Employee Reviews

    Sort: Popular Rating Date
    Pros
    Cons

    • There are enough teams that are understaffed that complains about non-existing work-life balance are common (in 43 reviews)

    • Conflicting Senior Management agendas, under staffed, inefficient internal processes (in 35 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Great Culture"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Financial Consultant in Charlotte, NC
      Current Employee - Financial Consultant in Charlotte, NC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at TIAA full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Have the ability to grow

      Cons

      everybody starts at the same base pay

    2. Helpful (5)

      "Stay away from client facing roles if you can."

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Client Relationship Consultant in Charlotte, NC
      Current Employee - Client Relationship Consultant in Charlotte, NC
      Recommends
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at TIAA full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      This company has good benefits. There are great people who work here. TIAA has the best clients to serve in the industry.

      Cons

      This company is way hard to do business with. TIAAs products have too many liquidity restrictions and the clients are always confused and upset about it.

    3. "Pay Rate"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Internship in Iselin, NJ
      Current Employee - Internship in Iselin, NJ
      Recommends
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at TIAA (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Everyone gets the same pay

      Cons

      Hours are from 8 to 5

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    4. Helpful (3)

      "Senior Financial Consultant"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Senior Financial Consultant in Los Angeles, CA
      Former Employee - Senior Financial Consultant in Los Angeles, CA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at TIAA full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Freedom to set own schedule, outstanding benefits, solid company with excellent reputation. If you believe in the mission of working with educators and the non profit fields, you can fit in very well. TIAA offers excellent products at a very low cost. And their technology has improved immensely just over the last few years.

      Cons

      Very difficult to get promoted unless you are willing to relocate far away. Few positions to move into in So Cal other than Wealth Management. Depending on your director they can make your life great or a living hell.
      There are a lot of old school employees who don't necessarily like change so change in policy can take a while to make happen. System integration is also a real problem in that FC's rely heavily on their Wealth Manager teammates to ensure they earn credit on referred sales. But many Wealth Managers have idea how to do that. So many sales can get lost unless you are really on top of things. The way Wealth Managers and FC's get compensated is totally different. So until there is better training and integration, these problems will continue to happen.

      Advice to Management

      Have more oversight on the effectiveness of your field consultant managers. Interview FC's on a regular basis to get honest feedback on their manager. Most FC's do NOT speak up and bad managers continue to manage for years on end without being checked.

    5. "Great Company!"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Lead Program Manager in Charlotte, NC
      Current Employee - Lead Program Manager in Charlotte, NC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at TIAA full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Overall A Great Company With A Mission & Vision! Great Culture!

      Cons

      Continue To Flatten The Organization - Becoming Agile Is A Journey!

      Advice to Management

      Continue To Aggressively Communicate & Continue To Promote From Within.

    6. Helpful (4)

      "Great on paper and terrible in practice."

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Wealth Management Advisor in Charlotte, NC
      Current Employee - Wealth Management Advisor in Charlotte, NC
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at TIAA full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Base salary.
      Given a book of business.
      Not for profit heritage.
      Good co workers typically.
      Provided thorough training, which is also a negative. (See below)

      Cons

      You will have no work/life balance. Expect 60-80 hour weeks to get all of your duties done.

      Way too many clients to do a good job managing.

      Micro management at the highest level.

      You will be forced to pay back "training costs" if you leave within a year of employment. $7500!!

      If you think the interview process is stressful, wait for the job to begin.

      This is a service organization that only recently has tried to become a sales org and it is broken at every level.

      Technology is non existent...decades behind.

      You will be trained to speak to clients like a robot and you will question whether or not you have any competence without TIAA.

      Advice to Management

      Attempt to truly value and retain your honest and hard working talent. Look at the attrition rates and don't blame anyone but management. Instead of making micro management the cornerstone of your organization, try treating your advisors like grown ups.

    7. Helpful (5)

      "What A Mess"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Managing Director in New York, NY
      Former Employee - Managing Director in New York, NY
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at TIAA full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      TIAA used to be a great place to work, a stable blue chip company with a Triple A credit rating. TIAA offers good benefits and current management places a premium on promoting diversity in hiring.

      Cons

      TIAA is having a real identity crisis which has resulted in multiple "restructurings," lay-offs and an inconsistent strategy. It is not even sure who it is: is it TIAA or Nuveen? There have been 2 multi-million "re-brandings" within 9 months.
      TIAA has made a series of over-priced, poorly thought out acquisitions and is having serious issues in incorporating these new businesses.
      Managers are too focused on "managing up" rather than on managing their departments and their employees.
      Despite being a non-profit with the motto "For the Greater Good", inside the organization it is as mean spirited as any for profit on Wall Street.
      Despite talk of promoting inclusivity, there is a still an element of 'bro" culture that rules.
      The commitment to diversity and inclusion is great, but it has resulted in a very slow, cumbersome and complicated hiring process.
      Too much staff turnover and instability.
      Soul crushing bureaucracy

      Advice to Management

      The board needs to do its job and properly monitor and guide senior management. Stop making stupid, over-priced acquisitions. Stop being so insular.

    8. Helpful (1)

      "TIAA Review"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Developer in Charlotte, NC
      Current Employee - Developer in Charlotte, NC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at TIAA full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Great benefits and direct team!

      Cons

      Bad upper management with a focus on number and not enough on employees.

      Advice to Management

      Focus more on employees

    9. Helpful (2)

      "Manager"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Manager in New York, NY
      Current Employee - Manager in New York, NY
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at TIAA full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      Great teamwork and great people, great benefits. Always looking at ways to be more efficient and improve processes.

      Cons

      Performance review process needs more transparency and to be revamped again.

    10. Helpful (1)

      "Lead program manager"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Senior Lead Program Manager in Charlotte, NC
      Current Employee - Senior Lead Program Manager in Charlotte, NC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at TIAA full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Great company culture lots of training lots of good people.provides a lot of opportunity. Cares about their people. Provides good tools. Listens to you and appreciate your feedback

      Cons

      You better hire in high because once you're hired very difficult to get Salary increases to your base. Cash bonuses are OK but the opportunity to move up is slow

      Advice to Management

      Pay attention to the technology roadmap and stay ahead of the curb

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