The company we built no longer exists
Pros
Many employees are highly skilled professionals and genuinely good people. The company has talented individuals across nearly every function, and many teams continue to deliver strong results despite significant organizational challenges. Compensation is one of the few reasons many employees stay. The pay is good enough to make you seriously reconsider leaving, even when the work environment has deteriorated. That said, compensation practices are inconsistent and difficult to justify for a company that advises clients on total rewards strategy. Salary ranges within the same role vary dramatically. Internal mobility exists, but employees who transfer into new functions often remain significantly underpaid relative to external hires performing the same work. Employees who move from Advocate roles into other departments are particularly disadvantaged.
Cons
Read the 5/14/26 "Masterclass" review. It is accurate. The company that many long-tenured employees joined no longer exists. The culture has deteriorated significantly, and the decline continues to accelerate. A striking number of tenured employees, including many with 10+ years of service, have been terminated over the past several years. Some were told they were no longer a "fit." Others received no meaningful explanation at all. The pattern is clear: institutional knowledge, historical perspective, and candid feedback are not valued. Compliance is. Performance metrics matter less than compliance with leadership. Employees who exceed expectations, hit their goals, and deliver results still find themselves at risk if they challenge decisions, raise concerns, or offer perspectives that conflict with leadership's preferred narrative. Additional concerns: • AI and automation initiatives are repeatedly used as justification for delaying hires and denying resource requests. The promised efficiencies rarely arrive, while teams continue absorbing increasing workloads. • Teams are chronically understaffed and expected to do more with less year after year. • Executive leadership routinely avoids direct ownership of unpopular decisions and pushes communication responsibility onto middle management. Employees are expected to accept major changes without meaningful transparency or accountability from the leaders making them. • Strategic priorities change constantly. New initiatives are introduced mid-year, resources are redirected away from existing commitments, and teams are expected to pivot immediately. Bonus goals and performance metrics remain unchanged despite the shifting priorities. • There is a growing erosion of professional confidence across the organization. Experienced employees who once operated with autonomy and expertise now second-guess routine decisions because priorities, expectations, and standards change continuously. • There is also an erosion of personal confidence. Employees spend enough time being told they are the problem that many begin questioning their own judgment despite years of proven success. • Strong contributors are let go while problematic leadership behavior remains unaddressed. Accountability is not applied consistently across levels of the organization. • The return-to-office push was sold as a collaboration initiative, yet most employees spend their days on Zoom calls while competing for conference rooms and quiet workspace. • The company's own benefits package falls short of the standards it recommends to clients. For an organization operating in the benefits industry, the gap between what is sold externally and what is offered internally is difficult to ignore.
