Pros
If you want to work in the Detroit office of Aimia, you can ignore all the other Aimia reviews. Because, unlike the rest of Aimia, the Detroit office has nothing to do with Customer Loyalty programs. It is an automotive agency, doing training, catalogs and brochures for U.S. automakers. And if you've ever worked at an automotive agency, you know what that means: lots of growth during the boom times and lots of layoffs during the recessions. The Detroit office is also different in that whatever political or office changes happen in Minneapolis, Detroit is barely affected. Detroit is the stepsister that all the rest of the kids make fun of... until she lands a prince. Then everyone has their hand out. So, the Pros of working at the Detroit office: 1. Work My Way - Basically, if you job function allows, you can work from home whenever you want. (If you're the kind of person who keeps track of what time people come in and go home, this will drive you insane. On the surface, it's unfair. But, most people put in their full 8 hours. Just not from 9 to 5.) 2. Summer Hours - Work an extra hour a day and get Friday afternoon off. 3. Wages - A little below average. But that describes most of Detroit, where all employers are still shell-shocked from the Great Recession. 4. Benefits - Typical. 5. Work Environment - Subdued. (See Cons.) Quiet. Unexciting.. If you're the kind of person who likes to keep his/her nose to the grindstone, eyes fixed, mouth shut and work basically in a library, you'll love it here. 6. No Big Brother - From the amount of Facebooking, YouTubing, streaming and tweeting seen, it's clear no one is keeping track of who's messing around online. At least, I've never heard about anyone being disciplined for it. So, this is a good place to keep your blog up to date. 7. Taco Tuesday - Or ice cream Friday. Or holiday potluck. Once a month, Aimia tries to buy your loyalty by giving away free food to all employees. It's a pretty transparent bribe. But we'll take it.
Cons
Again, this review is for the Detroit office, doing automotive work. It doesn't apply to any other offices. 1. Things. Move. Very. Very. Slowly. - Most of the people who work here are old. Not older. But old, either in age or thinking. No decision is ever made without multiple meetings. So many meetings that a decision is finally made only because the deadline to make it is usually only hours away. Don't expect a start-up mentality here. 2. Your changes for promotion are nil - Most of the staff has been with Aimia/Carlson Marketing for over 20 years. Yes, really. Many have never worked for another company. And they ain't going anyplace. So if you want one of their jobs, you better be prepared to wait many moons. 3. Change and Progress are not appreciated - All those people who have been at Aimia all those years like things just the way they are, thank you very much. And any newfangled ideas you have about using computers or going paperless or recycling or videoconferencing or making a process more efficient are not welcome. At all. 4. That's the way we've always done it - This old chestnut, plus "The client is always right," are used everyday. Get used to hearing them. 5. No HR department - Yep, despite having almost 200 employees and bringing in a gargantuan share of revenue, the Detroit office doesn't have an HR department or representative. Good luck getting your healthcare issues fixed. 6. Office supplies and equipment? Nope - Clearly, someone in finance has been reading the Wall Street Journal and learning all the wrong lessons. Not providing office supplies? Check. Not providing comfortable chairs in an effort to make people leave their desks? Check. Making cube sizes smaller so everyone can overhear your conversation? Check. At least we're not in Minneapolis,where some "visionary" bought into the idea of getting rid of cubes all together, forcing everyone to sit at random tables with no privacy or personal space. I can hardly wait for that stroke of genius to be adopted in Detroit. 7. Not conducive to career building. The work is very, very easy. The atmosphere is hypnotically boring. You come in. You shuffle some papers. You go home. ou find you're redoing the same projects, over and over and over again. Not much is expected of you. It's very comforting. Like being a half-awake Rip Van Winkle. And just like that, 20 years have passed. Someone asks you about your career. You think back to when you had a career. When you had goals. When you were aggressive. When you dreamed of promotions and accolades. Then Aimia Detroit lulls you back to sleep. It's the Hotel California of Detroit. You can check in anytime you like, but you can never leave.