Negative Culture at Key Bank / Employees Hate Working here - Lead Teller KeyBank Employee Review

1.0
May 7, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Entry level teller training comprehensive. Teller school prepares new tellers for job responsibilities. Tiedeman location very nice and has excellent food services / breakfast, lunch, snacks.

Cons

Key Bank has an extremely negative culture. Area Retail Sales Leaders put high pressure and unrealistic sales expectations on employees. District leadership non existent until branch is under performing. Employees are micromanaged hourly, daily, weekly, monthly quarterly, and yearly. Tellers are increasingly responsible for contributing to branch sales goals. Micromanagement includes constant coaching / performance improvement plans for anyone not exceeding sales goals in all 5 areas. New system implemented in 2014-2015 for tracking goals / success is even more confounded and impractical than before. Leadership is negative, demeaning, demoralizing and just plain rude. No work life balance. Annual performance review for Tellers is nearly impossible to rank highly even when significantly exceeding all goals. Below average pay. All branch positions paid hourly except Branch Manager. Punch clock rounds to nearest 15 mins. Performance improvement plan if hours exceeded scheduled hours even though no fault of your own. Tellers expect to work less hours than promised regularly, unless someone in your branch is on vacation. Branch managers are salaried and abuse time off policies. Not well policed. Branch managers have lied about being at work, abused time off, show up late, leave early, will not be in rotation to work weekends. Branch managers frequently avoid accountability and force other staff i.e bankers and tellers to deal with difficult customer situations despite customer asking to speak with branch manager. No accountability. Little room for advancement. Bankers expected to stay late or come in early for meetings with little notice. Performance often graded by how well management likes you / vs actual numbers. Bankers frequently moved from branch to branch. Same negative culture seen at many branches across several districts. Teller lines are revolving doors because pay is poor, expectations are unreasonable, stressful customer situations and work in constantly critiqued. Very poor leadership throughout corporate levels. 1-800-KEY2YOU customer service is incompetent. Branch must often dealswith calls from Key2You and handle situations that take away from opportunities for sales.

Explore other reviews about KeyBank

5.0
Jun 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Culture, opportunities, industry leading products and benefits

Cons

Internal politics and favoritism blocks talent

4.0
Jun 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flexibility is what sells this place as a great place to work. Hybrid schedule, great PTO, no guilt trips for needing time off for family matters.

Cons

Your experience will vary greatly based on your manager. One asset manager can freely call in or wfh without worry where another AM may be reprimanded for the same. The insurance department is completely inept. Borrowers are constantly threatening to sue because our insurance dept management sucks. Very little training across most departments. Some people work very very hard, others dont work at all, there doesnt seem to be much oversight there. When a manager tells their employee "dont expect to get promoted next year" with no guidance or encouragement, you pretty much kill all motivation for that employee to do better. They will hire people as senior staff and pay them way more than their seasoned employees make, and then tell their seasoned employees not to expect a senior promotion.

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