Pros
Most of the employees are friendly. Bonds are formed while commiserating over management’s short falls. Walking distance to Caltrain and restaurants Flexibility to work independently
Cons
Recent mass layoffs were made as a result of management’s failure to meet the expectations and requests from a client. Management provided absolutely no information to employees about the possible loss of client or what could have been done to retain business. Leading up to layoffs it was learned from a 3rd party regarding loss of a client and Assured Relocation knew about it for quite some time but chose to deny it to employees when confronted. The loss of client was due to management’s failure to make requested changes. No management was terminated as a result of this failure but mass layoffs among all other departments resulted. Rather than let employees know of impending loss of a key client and determine ways to keep everyone employed management sat on their hands. Instead, management hired cheap labor in the form of remote employees recently laid off from competitors. All new employees were hired just before layoffs which led to suspicion when caseloads were low. Most employees that were spared from the layoffs were forced to take large pay cuts and possibility for commissions and bonuses were eliminated. Employees in non commissioned departments were forced to accept the additional workload with no additional compensation. This is the tip of the iceberg regarding things wrong with Assured Relocation. The reason provided for layoffs were they are “restructuring the company”. Assured Relocation is a company that has failed to make the necessary changes to remain competitive in the ever changing insurance relocation industry. Further, the CEO, President and Owner do not communicate, stab each other in the back and all believe they are in charge and the pecking order is blurred. If you have ever seen the movie Office Space refer to the scene where the main character Peter Gibbons meets with the consultants and describes what is wrong with the company; “I have 8 different bosses”, “new cover pages on all the TPS reports”, “no motivation to work harder because no potential for advancement, growth, commission or bonus.” This is the best example of Assured Relocation. -Little to no training procedures set in place for new hires. -No set evaluation or ongoing training for employees. More on the job training and sink or swim mindset. -Management belittles the intelligence of employees that have questions. -Little communication with employees in regards to job performance or expectations. -Performance reviews are non-existent and requests for annual reviews are ignored. -Rules made up as they go with no set protocol. Example: client A calls and is upset about how something was handled, a companywide email is immediately sent out changing policies and procedures for client A, B and C even if it is not requested from client B or C. -Management’s decisions are emotion based. -Employees are fired at the drop of a hat and accused of being “unprofessional” if they raise concerns or attempt to have a discussion with management in regards to operations or possible improvements. -Have been sued multiple times for wrongful termination and have always settled. -Management is unresponsive even to urgent requests. -When management does get involved it is after the fact and “training” used is more finger pointing than anything else. -CEO flies in from Southern California on a weekly basis and makes a cameo appearance in headquarters wanders through the office for 15 minutes upon arrival then disappears to work on his side career as an attorney. He is there for a day and a half at most each week. When cornered regarding an email or urgent question he hasn’t responded to he retreats to staring at his phone and responds “yeah I need to take a look at that….let me get back to you” but rarely does. -CEO is unprofessional, uninvolved, snarky and does not have his finger on the pulse of the company or industry. -Management openly makes disparaging remarks about current and former employees in front of others. They even went as low as to break into the personal Gmail account of a former employee and sat around laughing and joking about it for hours in a room full of current employees in the office. -Company laid off a large portion of the staff of recently as a cost cutting measure but CEO stays at the most expensive hotels possible (on the company dime) when he visits the headquarters from Southern California. -Non merit based favoritism provided to employees; wedding, baby showers, bonuses and gifts for their favorites only. -Day retreats for some employees and not others. -Management starts new companywide rules and requirements constantly but they are rarely enforced or monitored which leads to confusion among employees and inconsistency in work product. -At least a dozen employees have left on their own accord after recent layoffs due to loss of trust, pay cuts and elimination of incentive bonuses. -Remote employees constantly left out of the few perks provided to in office employees. -HR company used is incompetent and unable to answer even the simplest questions. -No 401K match -Health benefits costs are outrageous. Employees with children mentioned that the cost to add a dependent on an HMO policy was roughly $700 per month out of pocket JUST for each dependent. -Employees are forced to sign a non-compete prior to starting employment. Assured Relocation knows that this is unenforceable and hopes people will not look into it. Management and CEO know this is illegal and have even hired employees that recently worked for competitors who were under a non compete agreement with former employers. -New management has not been hired and the company has not been reorganized. -Approximately half the company has been laid off or left on their own in the past 6 months and less than 5 have been hired, none in management. -Sales staff has been decimated which leads current employees to believe that the company is being leaned up for a possible sale or just closing of the doors.
