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PEMCO Insurance

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PEMCO Insurance Reviews

3.7

83% would recommend to a friend

(185 total reviews)
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Stan W. McNaughton

87% approve of CEO

45% positive business outlook

PEMCO Insurance has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 185 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The PEMCO Insurance employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Insurance industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

185 reviews
2.0
Oct 11, 2014

It's like Neverland. No, seriously

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

For the right level of patience and silence there is good money to be had, and you never feel threatened or unliked. If you're fortunate to have a good management tree above you then you'll be well taken care of.

Cons

I said that it's like Neverland. Did you see the VH1 special "Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story"? If not, there's this feeling in that movie that things are great on the surface. But that's only as long as you "believe" in Michael. Failure to do so results in people disappearing. Same with Apple and Steve Jobs: If you don't "believe" you won't be around for long. PEMCO Management is this way. Doesn't matter if what they say is flawed. It doesn't matter if what they want is illogical. Doesn't matter if what they're asking for is risky. Your job is to nod your head and agree. It's especially frustrating, because like Neverland, it's great otherwise (except its location in the worst part of Seattle). It's frustrating when you forewarn people that a course of action can only end badly, but because they *think* they know what they're doing, they trailblaze forward blindly. Not a big deal except, when things go south as warned, they don't come to you and say "I was wrong and I should have listened." They'll blame you. How? Who knows. But they will. Just like when Michael's peers warned him about his actions and weren't heeded. Then there's the hiring process. They favor people from the industry even if they're otherwise incompetent. So maybe you were an insurance sales rep for 30 years but never did any customer service in a call center. You'd be favored over someone who is new to insurance, but has 20 years of call center experience. They assume that you can't learn fast enough. This results in the wrong people getting jobs. Hint: I'm using Customer Service, but it applies to every department hiring, and right now, there's just one. The result is a blatant waste of company funds, to the tune of many millions of dollars, simply because Management is too proud to listen to staff and be held accountable for poor decisions. Just like how Michael wasted millions of dollars despite people telling him to calm down. But the next decisions are not about learning from these errors in leadership. They're a prelude to layoffs that are 100% avoidable. Do you really need to buy four different kinds of tablets? Do you really need huge displays in HR that nobody uses or sees? Do you really need 360 degree conference room video when nobody uses video? Expensive shades on the windows? Tricked out cafeteria when you knew you weren't keeping the building long-term? Thing is the managers like "cool" things. They've been swayed by Amazon, Apple, etc. But they fail to realize that PEMCO is not and never will be on the level with those companies. I agree with the other reviews that say that PEMCO refuses to act properly for its size, and if you choose to work here, make sure you reconcile with yourself that you are expendable, even when you're needed.

2.0
Apr 19, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

While there are many cons to working in certain environments within PEMCO, I feel it is important to give the company credit where it is due. Their benefits package is top notch. With healthcare offerings being on par or better than other similar institutions in this industry, as well as an unheard of 401k match it is apparent that PEMCO does want to try and recruit or retain top talent. PEMCO is also committed to providing a safe, clean, professional and beautiful working environment for their employees. It is readily apparent that leadership wants to promote a professional environment from the ground up that will inspire employees to deliver the same professionalism to their clients. I will also say that I have rarely seen such transparency between the executive team and the employees. Quarterly meetings are held in the offices to update employees on the company direction, challenges, future and financials. This is a refreshing change as compared to most companies, where you don’t even see, let alone know who your CEO is. I have met hundreds of employees during my time with PEMCO. Almost all of them have been kind, genuine and caring people. Having pleasant coworkers is a immense bonus to your working environment. If you are working outside of the service or claims oriented fields, this is likely a wonderful company to work for. However, if you ARE working in service or claims, there is more to this story to be found under the ‘cons’ section below.

Cons

I am writing this review with mixed emotions. I have spent almost a decade with this company. During my first several years with PEMCO, I had some of the best professional experiences of my career. Leadership was excellent. Benefits were excellent. Workloads were manageable. Stress levels were low. Employee performance goals were achievable. However, as new leadership came into the department and in an executive level, things have radically changed. If you are considering working for this company, specifically in Customer Service, be aware of the following; 1) I have never worked for a company that has made requesting and obtaining time off so difficult. You will be forced to request time off 6-9 months in advance. Most of your requests will be denied. Securing time off on short notice (outside of the 6-9 month in advance window) is all but impossible for average employees. For these reasons, employees PTO balances have soared and their sick time balances have plummeted as the only guaranteed way to secure time off on short notice is the use of sick time. 2) You will be met with constantly moving goal posts for measuring your employee performance. No longer are you measured by your insurance knowledge, service and timely handling of calls. You are now measured on how much money you can save or make the company. Your schedule and pay will be based on how many people you can convince to sign up for paperless options or online accounts. A year ago if you managed to secure a cross sale that resulted in a new policy, you received a small bonus. Now, you must secure many of these a month in order to keep your job. Failure to secure these cross sells will result in undesirable shifts, no annual raises and ultimately, termination. 3) This company will own you and every second of your time on the clock. This may make sense to some, as this tends to be what a job is - However, this feels different. Your every second of every day will be tracked. In the bathroom? Tracked and recorded. Taking a few minutes after a difficult call? Tracked and recorded. Recently leadership has become obsessed with ‘employee efficiency” meaning that during your 8 hour work day, you will likely have no more than just a few minutes of rest between work. There are no slow days. There is no coasting. There is only one work mode, and that is pedal to the metal, full tilt, strap in and hold on for hours straight until your scheduled breaks. Speaking of those breaks, they are built into your schedule. If you are late to a break because you are on a call that goes longer than expected, this is counted against your employee adherence to your schedule, though it is through no fault of your own. This fact brings me to my last point… 4) There is an enormous disconnect between leadership and employees. This seems counterintuitive as the company tries to promote a culture that is open and accessible. However, the thinking heads that come up with these new adherence ideas or cross sell requirements seem so far removed from the realities of what the job has become, that their ideas seem generated in a vacuum with no eyes as to what is achievable by an average employee. 3-4 years ago most employees seemed at ease, relaxed and content. And now, just within the past 2 years I have talked to a half a dozen coworkers who have found themselves feeling so hopeless about their prospect of not only enjoying their work, but keeping their jobs that they’ve actively thought about self harm. These are coworkers that I know well, who provide WORLD CLASS service and have extensive institutional knowledge. But their leadership is consistently failing them by moving the goal post ever higher - keeping that employees job security just barely out of reach. I feel that this is by design. I am disappointed by what PEMCO has become.

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PEMCO Insurance Response
5y
I appreciate you raising your concerns, and I hope you’ll follow up with me directly. I know the job can be challenging – we provide the best customer service in the industry, and have always had high standards for our customer service agents. The specific metrics have changed over the past few years, but the core goals are the same: We want you to use your insurance expertise and service skills to provide those world-class customer experiences you mentioned. Of course we’d like calls to be handled in a timely way, but during the pandemic the average call time has actually increased, and we’re OK with that. We do track overall call trends for coaching and training purposes, and we expect employees to be online and available to work during their scheduled shifts. But we certainly aren’t tracking every move, nor are we monitoring what employees do during their breaks. I wouldn’t want to work for a company that did that! We want to give you the support you need to succeed, and that includes giving you vacation time to refresh and recharge. While not everyone always gets their desired dates, I believe we have a fair system in place to make sure everyone is able to schedule time away. We’ve all had to change how we work because of the pandemic, and while I’m proud of how well we’ve adapted, I know the last year has been tough. If you or anyone you know is considering self-harm, please encourage them to call 911 if it’s an emergency. As a reminder, our Employee Assistance Program offers free and confidential access to wellness resources – you can access it via Homeport. Again, I hope you’ll reach out to me directly. – Harris Clarke, VP of Claims, Customer Service and Sales
1.0
Oct 25, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Benefits, treat external customers very well and try to do the right thing

Cons

Severely dysfunctional at recognizing who has real talent to move the company forward. Very afraid of people who speak up and call management out on anything. Environment is one that encourages people to stay quiet or fear repercussion

Viewing 1 - 3 of 185 Reviews

Glassdoor has 197 PEMCO Insurance reviews submitted anonymously by PEMCO Insurance employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if PEMCO Insurance is right for you.