Vanguard reviews

1. Cult-like approach to management. If you don’t fit into the exact mold of what the company is looking for, you won’t progress in your career. Nobody will tell you this, despite management supposedly being told to “Be Candid” as part of their expectations. 2. Low pay compared to competitors, but even worse if you’re a tenured employee. Raises are between 0-2%, maybe higher if you are below the lowest pay band. Supposedly, it’s pay for performance, but that’s not the case if you are in the mid- or high-bands. If your manager successfully lobbies for you to receive a “Distinguished” rating (which is 1-2 people per department), you get the lion’s share of raise and bonus, but both are still a laughable 6-8%. You can bust your butt all year and be lumped in as “Fully Successful” just like 99% of your peer group, most of whom might make zero effort. Get it? The incentive is simply to be a minuscule amount better than the worst peer. Why would anyone make any effort? 3. People are promoted based on networking, advocacy, and who the hiring manager likes. Oh, they will interview you so as to not get in trouble with HR, but there is often a chosen person or two already lined up for nearly every position. Your performance, your experiences, your skills come second to who the hiring manager wants on their team. It’s a popularity contest. If you come from one of the speciality hire groups, like VADP or MBA, you are fast tracked to various roles, regardless of how terrible you are at your current job. 4. Huge difference in how the retail and institutional sides of the business work. RIG recycles the same old managers through a “rotation” system that allows them to not actually hold crew accountable and then get promoted or move on and then someone else comes in to clean up. IIG is the Wild West that is allowed to do what they want. 5. Why am I still here?!?