Misses the mark for Branch Employees
Pros
The company has an awesome benefits package that has comprehensive healthcare plans and large time off; almost 1 month as a new hire even. The back office and headquarters employees are treated well. Their training program is very good, and the employees who run it are a pleasure. They continue to offer engaging learning and talent development yearly. The company has great relationships with the community through their volunteer work, of which you get time off to participate. It feels good to know your company is giving back where it can. Highly recommend positions at this company that do not work in branches, you will not regret it!
Cons
The pay is low, and they will argue that the benefits package is the reason they fall below industry standards. This is a real negative if the benefits aren’t helpful to you, such as a single individual. This con is less of a deal if you have a family as these benefits quickly ramp up and can cover the family. It’s a choice to consider carefully. Branch employees will struggle to move up, and oddly more so if you are a better employee. Often getting stuck at the loan officer title, and being told you are too indispensable to move. This problem does not exist outside of branches. Branch employees should expect abuse from customers and varying support from management. This will depend branch to branch if your manager takes customer abuse seriously. Some examples of this. An employee was told after denying a loan that they would kill her boyfriend and rape her. Management did nothing and in fact continued to ask her to work with the member as she could speak their language. Another example is members making blatant unwanted sexual advances on the women and zero effort coming from management to stop it. Frequently would receive cat calls and requests for sexual favors. This isn’t new in the industry; but the complete lack of management support is. A final example would be a regular patron of the bank, who upon entering all female employees would close their windows or doors to avoid being harassed. Instead of believing these complaints, the manager decided to endorse this patron by putting a photo of him within his office. Despite multiple complaints across multiple employees, nothing was done and the man was in fact encouraged.