Pros
TIAA-CREF WAS one of the best companies to work for. From the beginning, the mission of serving the non-profit realm was instilled in everyone. I appreciated this and was one of the most important reasons I stayed at TIAA-CREF for so long. Great Mission and Pension.
Cons
Where do I begin? 2003....Decisions 2003...killed everything that TIAA-CREF worked towards. It was at this time, that they became a "Wall Street Firm". What does this mean? It meant that collaboration was gone; all employees are on a collision course with each other. In other words, "Performance Culture". While this wasn't all bad...there was dead wood, it killed the camaraderie and caused many good people to leave. Bad reviews from customers came about. The company was rudderless. So what does Herb Allison do? Why of course, bring in outdated software from Sungard. Awesome...now, we've set up ourselves for failure in 5 years. 2008....what happens...more layoffs...mind you, layoffs were constant from 2003-2007. They just accelerated in 2008...and..bonus...Offshoring!!! Yay!!! You're programming and operations are now in India. 2009-2015 More of the same...just check out how the employee ratings went..from giving managers discretion on how to rate THEIR EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED FOR THEM THE ENTIRE YEAR, to saying..."No...you can't have X number of employees rated that high...it must be 5% High, 80% Average, and 15% low" . We need to have people to fire and churn through every year. This is known as Stack Ranking...and has been abandoned by many companies BEFORE TIAA instituted it. Leave it to TIAA....implement old processes both in technology and HR Processes. In any case, many of the cons include: - Lack of chargeback - I.E. For all services within the firm, they have no idea how to charge to the appropriate groups. When cuts are required, they simply looks towards IT to reduce costs. More offshoring and outsourcing. - Lack of budget discipline - Along with chargebacks, I've been involved in a yearly cycle where Senior Directors beg people to spend money...and 8 months later say, stop...save...cut. It's like they have no idea. - Lack of transparency - Upper management NEVER hears from anyone except very senior executives. Roger Ferguson....ask the people in IT who work below the Director level how they feel; what they think can help. Why do you have 2 virtual PC environments? Why? Because of Politics...which brings me to the next Con. Too Political - Honestly...anyone working here more than 5 years, should automatically be awarded a Bachelors in Political Science. Trying to get from point A to B results in a circuitous route around the various groups within TC. Suffice to say, you can't just do what makes sense. Lack of Career Opportunities - Some might disagree...but TIAA-CREF doesn't allow much movement within groups. IT rarely moves to the business...the business rarely moves to Aseet Management....why? They only hire "Experienced" folks. The problem is that these "Experienced" folks take at least 12 months to figure out TIAA-CREF...which would certainly enough time to train highly qualified employees with limited experience. Wake up.