Expense management is a major company theme. They are asking all mid-level and senior managers to cut 3-5% of their budgets each year for the next 3 years. What that means is the company will continue with the practice of providing no annual inflationary raises. I think this started when the Gov't bailed AIG out and they practice has continued where AIG will raise the employee bonus a little each year but not the base salary. What this means is that if the employee gets an avg or above avg review while the company meets goals the employee will make a little more each year but the downside is it is all bonus that can quickly go away of an employee falls out of favor with his / her manager or their is an irregularity with AIG's earnings / the company does not meet its goals.
AIG follows a style similar to what GE started with Top Grading for reviews. That means each year 20% of the employees are required to be at the lowest 2 review grades, 55% will be at the middle grade, and 25% will be at the top 2 grades. While this is not bad, the consequence is that in order to get a raise you need to earn a promotion which means you need to be in the top 25%. The 55% of the employees that are just doing their job and meeting their goals will not get any raise. Since 20% are required to be at the lowest 2 grades it can mean an employee doing his / her job decently can be pushed to that level if there are not enough low performers. This also leads to a lack of team work since everyone is focussed on their own goals and not as willing to help someone else that may be at a similar level and competing for an above average grade and promotion.
There seems to be 1-2 reorganizations each year where the strategic path is slightly changed. While change can be good, in this case it leads to a less stable enviornment where employees are switching managers 1 to 2 times each year.
There is a lack of career path programming for employees unless a manager takes an employee under his / her wing. As a global company many domestic jobs are headed overseas even for US based work. The focus does seem to be more on globalization for business and resources.
Each group and department feels like a silo. In some comapnies you have a family atmophere where you feel connected to the company and its success. AIG is a very corporate environment that does not offer that. An example of the culture is around the corporate dress code. Officially it is business casual but in the NYC offices it is common for many to wear full suits and ties each and every day. It is very rare to see a golf shirt on anyone. In some of the suburban offices you see more casual dress but the culture does seem very formal and buttoned up.