Senior management prides itself on having the lowest efficiency ratio in the industry, which means by definition this is the cheapest bank in America. Since 40% of executive incentive pay is based on keeping this ratio low, and the CEO bragged on an earnings call recently that he'd make employees bring their own toilet paper to work if he could get away with it. This mindset is the root from which all the other "cons" stem. Beyond general irritants such as no coffee or water allowed for clients in the branches, no maternity leave or short term disability, and no maintenance for branches which look ever more dilapidated, the ability of employees to do their job is compromised by some cost savings efforts:
Investments in technology are delayed until critical, meaning not only are certain systems outdated or non-existent, but we don't have enough servers and the system crashes or freezes on a regular basis.
Salaries are low, and there is no formal incentive plan for lenders. Bonuses are low and discretionary, so workers with ambition or skill move on to other employers, leaving Prosperity with more complacent and/or less competent employees who are overworked and underpaid (with the exception of many lenders and managers who were strong-armed into signing long term contracts during acquisitions). Most support centers (HR, IT, loan operations) are severely understaffed, and approved salaries for new positions are so low that lending teams are forced to hire from within and promote those with no lending experience rather than recruit good talent.
The company is still run like a $150MM old boys club community bank. From a shareholder perspective things have worked out so far, and as long as the regulators don't prevent new acquisitions it may continue. Management's strategy is to out-grow the attrition of workers and the runoff off customers by buying more banks rather than investing in existing staff and systems and growing loans or fees organically. They are open about this. All our rules and loan policy are organized around making sure the bank can continue to be allowed to make acquisitions - there is literally no talk of gaining market share, retaining customers, offering competitive products, or organic loan growth. One can only assume their ultimate goal is to sell the company to a larger competitor.
