Pros
Location. Some of the AEs really do care about the merchant experience, and are not solely focused on their hefty commissions. Some of team leaders are really great and know what they are doing. The cafeteria food used to be awesome.
Cons
1)The compensation plans need to be reviewed and revised. Again and again. The market shifts, and companies and need to shift too. What worked 6 years ago to drive performance, won't necessarily work today. The plans do not necessarily reward the right behavior and the people who work really hard to hit their quota when they've fallen behind still get the short end of the stick, despite their best efforts. The model is archaic at best and was managed by someone who really should not have ever been involved in the process. Their involvement was due to a terribly misplaced sense of trust...and the output was garbage and did not motivate or incentivize people to do their best. The feedback about this fell on deaf ears (see issue 3). P-Club? That entire program is a joke, and seems like a free vacation for the leadership team when it's the front line people "making it rain" and bringing in the "revenuuuuuuuuuuuuuue!". 2)Work and life balance. Account executives are afraid to take time off, because it puts them behind and potentially on a performance improvement plan which can take many, many months to claw yourself out of, if you're lucky. So, though you've earned it, you can't take time off. 3)Feedback. It goes into a black hole. There once was a little survey that was put in place to collect real time feedback. The leadership team would review and respond to comments and it was starting to make a difference. 2 or 3 months later, with a massive change in the leadership team, that stopped and is rumored to come back sometime soon- almost a year later. So much for taking feedback seriously and implementing solutions with some degree of velocity. Thanks, Pulse survey! 4)Differing and sometimes unfair leadership practices. Some front line leaders (due their lack of professional development and lack of support from above) are afraid to take action on some people, for any number of reasons (the person is too nice, the person is too loud and scary, the person has something on me so I can't run the risk to my career, etc.). So- in some cases- noisy, toxic, too nice, or troublesome people stay around for far too long, even though they are not performing to standard thereby creating an environment of mistrust of the leadership team and their "tenets". Some of these people have since left but there are a lot of them still here. All things are not created equal- and that includes the use of the performance improvement plan. Leaders are allowed to be way too subjective in their application of it. Again, where is the trust? 5)Too often, when it does happen, the wrong people get promoted from within. AEs to trainers, trainers to managers, managers to directors. And the right people don't. Leaders (at all levels) are allowed the play favorites. It is demotivating to people, but they stick around for the paycheck. And the individuals with self-worth leave. 6)The culture is positively toxic here, abhorrent even, driven from the top down and perpetuated by lack of address. Sadly, this was not always the case. It was never perfect but was getting better. Most of the current "executive" (and I really do use the term loosely) leadership of the sales organization came from a couple of big banks, and had all worked together at some point in time and were all brought in to bring the band back together (see issue 4). Other leaders were brought in because they knew someone, or were promoted because they were buddies with someone on the leadership team. Other people were promoted because it was easier than going through the hiring process and would minimize some noise during a massive shake-up. Boy's club? Check. (There have been very few female managers.... and look at the telesales leadership team today. How many women team leads, site leads, operations managers, directors, senior directors are there? So much for diversity). Inexperienced "leaders"? Check. Of the leaders that are still here, it's a clown-show....not one that inspires you to do your best. One particularly elitist leader, will regularly, loudly and proudly tell you about their prestigious school and their "service" and will show disdain at pretty much anything other than ivy league. You'll hear the same loud, show-off stories at every event if you're in the club and get the invite. It's been said more than once that they only associate with people that can help further their career. So, "bottom feeders", forget about inclusion. Apparently there is an "I" in team. It doesn't make us look up to him, or inspire us to follow his path. You would think with a company this size with such potential exposure, after several prior complaints about leadership inefficacy that someone would take notice, take affirmative action, protect the people bringing in the dollars that fund those paychecks but in fact, those leaders instead get promoted and get the benefit of a coach (this is a massive investment that should be invested in the front line) and people that speak up or so called whistle-blowers are the ones that take the arrow from the exec quiver on those issues (see issues 4, 5 & 6). Which brings me to my next concern to call out for people looking to join the sales team, or PayPal for that matter. Human Resources, has zero human to it (see issues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). At all. Please do not expect them to help you or even take you seriously. They are there to protect the most senior of leaders. That's it. They are the next most dysfunctional attendee to this party. The HR senior leader refuses to engage on escalated issues therefore rendering complete paralysis to the team managers. Issues go for months and months without response or action and when things hit critical mass, the individuals escalating beyond for any type of intervention and support get the boot. And do not think to escalate to any senior execs either. Your issue will get pushed back down to the person you've raised concerns about and you will be at the mercy of their wrath....which, of course, is to get the boot and keep their reputation tidy. In short, to anyone doing their due diligence right now (be glad you did) please do your homework before you leave another environment to come here or even look to start your career here. Ask around your network, get the scoop not from the recruiter trying to sell you on utopia...but the real deal. If you aspire to receive recognition, support, career growth and a healthy environment- this isn't it. You likely won't be developed (the leaders who are supposed to be developing you aren't even developed). You probably won't see the benefit of promotion from within (but your leader's BFF might!). You may not even be supported by your leader, or your leader's leader and definitely not your leaders' leader's leader or beyond. There are better places to cut your teeth on than here. You can do better.