"Better than the Other Guy" is the Goal
Pros
The overall environment is pretty laid-back. No one will even bat an eye if you walk in late, so long as your work is done and your hours are put in. Dress is casual. It's OK to occasionally check personal things on a work computer. No sense of "big-brother" while working. Upper management says all the right things as far as wanting to create an employee-centric environment, and seems very open to suggestion. 401K matching up to 4% is nice. The people here are generally quite nice, which is the single largest factor mitigating the Cons.
Cons
There is a disconnect between what the company aspires to be and what it really is. Within the past year they made a huge campaign based upon a book entitled "Everybody Matters". Management announced their intent to improve the work environment. Everyone received a free copy of the book, and meetings were held to garner employee ideas and advice to management. To-date we have yet to see any significant change in any process. There is no opportunity for growth. Management hires the specific people it needs rather than building up existing employees to perform those necessary tasks. Promotions are extremely rare and those that do occur seldom come with corresponding pay increases. The workload is enormous and tedious. Taking a day off is impossible - the expectation is you will complete all work upon your return. And this isn't necessary - it's merely a result poor management and workload distribution. Mid-level managers are nice but often without any real authority. Suggestions are stated as "welcome" but in truth are hard-fought and rarely implemented; management tends to view different ideas with caution and an air of suspicion. Contrary to management's intent, new ideas have to come from the top-down and not the bottom-up. Pay is OK, not great. Raises occur only during annual reviews, and are not commensurate with increases in responsibilities. Benefits package is offered, but the health plan is very expensive for a family. The claims-handling industry is riddled with sweat-shops and terrible workplaces, and this is Engle Martin's saving grace - Engle Martin isn't great but saves itself by being slightly less bad than the competition.
