Capital Group Employee Reviews about "senior management"

Pros

Good office perks and benefits

Cons

Marketing senior management hell, more interested in looking good internally and self-promoting themselves rather than managing teams and providing support. Layers of poor senior management keep being added on adding to even less engagement and a widening gap between associates and management. Too many senior managers doing the talking without the understanding or knowledge on how to do the walking. The company keeps on talking about inclusion and being non-bias but the CEO is always happy to push a Democrat agenda in his communications within the company and is clearly anti-Republican. A typical example of a company's core values being destroyed from within.

Pros

The pay is competitive, benefits are excellent, there's a measurable commitment to DE&I with benchmarks and transparent accountability.

Cons

There's constant, and I mean CONSTANT, change in operating models in marketing. Your success, raises, work/life balance, etc. depends on almost entirely on your direct manager and some of them are really abysmal at the job of managing people. There's very limited oversight from Senior Managers, they're more worried about impressing the higher-ups than taking care of their departments. Top-down refusal to consider real flexible options for WFH/hybrid is causing the company to lose a lot of valuable people and nobody seems to care much. It's definitely impacting culture/morale and we're losing a lot of great talent to companies who are willing to be more flexible. Communication is an absolute clusterf&@%. Major changes are communicated through the informal grapevine long before management makes a poorly worded statement with opaque decision making processes informing us of the change. People are frequently pushed out implicitly through re-orgs or explicitly through layoffs, there's no sense of stability or certainty. People are moved around into roles they're not qualified for and there's no training for the new expectations, just fumble your way through and don't get too attached because you'll probably be pushed into a different role within a year or two.

Pros

Smart, capable and talented people work here in grunt work positions. Facilities are stunning and inspiring. At times there is great work/life balance. Bonuses and retirement package are top notch and the only thing keeping many there during incredible times of turbulence.

Cons

What was once a place of respect and collaboration has quickly slipped into an oligarchy with more brown-nosing and backbiting than you can fathom. Notice any positive reviews are coming from senior managers, on a campaign to clean up the ratings here. Work is expected to happen at double speed, with little to no support in proper channels to complete with any level of success. More senior management is getting hired when there aren't enough associates to complete the work. You are expected to answer emails all weekend and on all vacations. Autonomy and ownership of work is non-existent anymore. Structured agile, not functioning agile. Teams are too large to be nimble so you become reduced to email answering cogs.

Pros

- Great retirement plan (FYI - you're not fully vested until 6 years) - Great healthcare - Nice offices with amenities (at least if you work in a building w/investment group offices) - Stability - you're not likely to suddenly lose your job - Good comp with multiple bonuses / incentives throughout the year - Big company - possible to move around, sort of. I quit, but *was* offered a position in another business group. - Civil office culture - yelling & open disrespect aren't tolerated - Good coworkers - some really lovely people work there. If you're looking for a stable corporate job where you punch a clock and don't need to think independently, it's probably a good fit for you.

Cons

- Employee satisfaction varies dramatically depending on business group and manager. - Not a meritocracy - most places aren't entirely, of course, but it seems especially true at Capital. - Growth is often not possible because most associates are overburdened with volume of tasks. - Intelligence and honesty are not valued. Being able to play the game is. They promote and emphasize growth in theory, but in practice advancement is a result of politicking and interpersonal strategy. Get in good with the boss = get your workload reduced + get handed opportunities for exposure. I saw this happen at all levels, from senior management all the way down to admin assistants. Also - globally speaking - they're going through some big changes, so it may be a little extra bumpy for a while.

Pros

1. IT gives you access to Facebook, MySpace, almost any website you want. 2. Clueless management. If you actually do work, it's easy to shine at this company.

Cons

1 and 2 as listed in the Pros section. Senior management not sensitive to HR related issues. Promotion based on seniority rather than skill sets (i.e. a person becomes a manager despite lack of management experience). There are a lot of CG employees who have been at the company yet do not really know the business that well too. Cliques involving management are aplenty; in other words, if you are a regular employee who is friends with a manager, you will get special treatment (i.e. be given more opportunities than others in order to be seen as valuable to the company and "layoff-proof"). If you aren't a friend with a manager, you will be harassed. In a nutshell, you need to be cordial to the clique otherwise face a bad review. No discipline for those who do not work because of this "everyone is nice to each other attitude". Constantly changing processes and organizational structure. This is a result of people trying to be "innovative"; the normal behavior of an "innovator" is one who wants to accomplish things without having thoughtful analysis of the process. Oftentimes, there is no tracking of what changed or analysis before changing something; it just is changed.

Pros

Great benefits, nice amenities, good work/life balance in the Investment Group, 2 bonuses. A calm work place.

Cons

Management here is generally really bad (across most departments). The company culture here used to be great but is declining rapidly. It used to be a joy to come to work, now it's a pain and many people are just collecting a paycheck. There has been an increase in an overall sense of dissatisfaction in the last few years. It's hard to move up unless you have been here for a really long time and are in good with Senior Management. There is not a lot of rhyme or reason around promotions here, lots of decisions are shrouded in secrecy. Additionally, managers are well aware of the bleak employment opportunities out there these days and have taken a "take it or leave it" attitude toward employee dissatisfaction. I would recommend working here to someone who needs a paycheck and is not concerned with sharpening skills or moving up. You can easily sail through a 20 year career here not putting forth much effort.

Pros

You have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with some very intelligent and professional people--some would even say there's too much collaboration. I've made some great, what I know will be life long friends working there. Pay is more than fair, especially once bonuses are factored in and the benefits are in the upper quartile of all companies. There are plentiful opportunities to get involved with non-profits as well as volunteer opportunities in the community. Work-life balance is a consideration, at least in my department.

Cons

When I first started working here, there were very few layers of management so you always felt like you had a voice and could make a difference by influencing a decision maker. Nowadays, senior managers manage senior managers and there are way more layers of bureaucracy than ever before. Upper management positions constantly seem to be filled with outsiders and corporate values seem to have eroded over time. A defined career path is one of the most desired items by employees but HR has done a poor job communicating their plan to offer one.

Pros

Great culture and benefits. In the VA office, strangers actually smile at you when passing in the hallway. Good place for recent college graduates. You cannot beat the retirement plan -- 15% contribution (no, not a match, just a straight contribution). 100% vested after 6 years. The bonuses are pretty good too. Yearly raises range from 1-6%, and 6% is obtainable if you go above your job.

Cons

Limited advancement in VA office. Managers do not jump into the lines and help out when times get busy. Often, managers do not even know how to do their suboridinates role. The company is very management heavy. Senior managers do not manage employees, just processes. It is difficult to get fired so sometimes you're stuck working with losers. The company is really controlled by the CA office and management is given very little leeway on anything. You will be consumed by "CG language" and if you want to advance you must drink the koolaid and learn the language. You can "claim you soul" back when you walk out the door each day.. just like you must do with every other corporation. No matter where you work there are going to be negatives, but comparitively CG is truly a great place to work.

Pros

Competitive compensation, out of office, and retirement benefits Respectful, intelligent, and capable colleagues Work/Life balance can be good if you carve time out for yourself

Cons

IT is overrun by vendor solutions and contract labor, particularly H1B visa recipients and offshoring Extremely limited advancement opportunities, recent trend is consolidation of middle management through attrition Senior management positions tend to be filled by outside hires, often from consulting firms like Accenture Constant pressure to do more with less resources and tighter deadlines Pressure to perform not aligned with incentives i.e. management pushing for more despite stagnating compensation and limited growth opportunties There is a clear trend of IT teams alienating and pushing out older employees in order to replace them with cheaper contract labor or new career hires Red tape as far as the eye can see

Pros

Work for Capital Group if you have no desire to advance in your career and you just want a nice place to work. The retirement plan is very generous - you will find very few companies that provide such a rich benefit. You will get 15% of your salary plus bonuses tax free placed in your retirement account every year. There's an incredible work/life balance - not many people work more than 40 hours per week, and those 40 hours are pretty lax. There's flextime and telecommuting (for some) as well. Everyone is polite and respectful to one another.

Cons

Career growth is very limited and slow. Don't expect to be promoted, no matter how talented you are, how hard you work, or how much people like you. When vacancies come up they will be filled by external candidates. A promotion every decade or so is about what you should expect if you really work hard at it. The culture is insular and slow (5-10 years behind) to adapt industry best practices. The Senior Managers & Directors (the middle management layer) adds little business value but does contribute to a lot of complexity (politics). This is the most secretive and least transparent place I've ever worked. If you enjoy getting things done, changing things for the better, advancing in your career, and achieving results, go work elsewhere.