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Principal Financial Group

Engaged Employer

Principal Financial Group reviews

3.8

72% would recommend to a friend

(2,591 total reviews)
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Deanna Strable

79% approve of CEO

69% positive business outlook

Principal Financial Group has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,591 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Principal Financial Group employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Finanzas industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
4.0
Mar 23, 2017

Excellent Work/Life balance

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work/life balance, flexibility, job opportunities, variety, benefits, strong senior leadership, solid financial standing

Cons

Lower base salary, can feel like a number in a big company, less perks through out the years.

1.0
Mar 20, 2017

Dinosaurs still roam in Des Moines, Iowa.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

One of the few things to evolve beyond the Triassic period is the flexibility for some jobs to work from home. Benefits are decent as is the pay. Senior level management seems to genuinely care and want to serve as good role models.

Cons

Sales management in the benefits division is crusty and reptilian. Lifers in the home office are straight off the set of Madmen -outdated thinking and tolerance for sexism, ageism and homophobia in the sales offices. If you're a sales person and you have xy chromosomes, you're at the top of the food chain. And don't try to innovate - you'll be punished.The best thing that could happen to sales management is mass extinction...

1.0
Mar 19, 2017

Girls Club

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Cliquish - apparently a great place for women in management, to relax. They will ask for your input to feign consensus, then dismiss it out of hand. There is a significant amount of make work, that is, more important than real work. Conference rooms for projects are full of people around the table most have very little reason of being there, then claim they were never told about x.y.z. Female management will mother hen every thing. Agree with the most absurd plan your "leader" presents and you are GOLDEN. Best to just simply play dumb, and simply just not care.

Cons

The favorites are well known, as are the patsy's. If your thoughts are dismissed management will laugh behind your back, then expect to be "counseled". Strike ONE The continual churn of the make work is embarrassing: Project managers insist that the project fits into their personal template method. Project managers insist on using a past projects, that are similar in name only to populate the new project. This leaves no room for something new or different. All tasks must be accounted for. Most tasks are left N/A. Then the project team goes through each task to scrutinize each task, followed by mass confusion. STRIKE 2 Mother Hen / Queen Bee will scrutinize every word you write, every word you say. They will guide you to go left when straight is the correct course, the project team will demand to go right even after advising of the risks. Strike 3 After some further manipulation, it is broadcast that you are not a team player. Management decides to coach you, and now you are officially blackballed. From that point on your management will always go all historical on you. Many are kept around as patsy's. Most simply claim they don't know anything about anything to avoid any and all possible work. Many Many others are just simply bullied, until the preference is to kill yourself. PFG claims to be the most ethical company. Employee class action (settled) showed that the only offered 401K investment vehicles chosen were offered by PFG which carried significantly higher fees than nearly identical index funds. These higher fee funds have now been replaced with a percentage rate management fee, which now suggests PFG will make more money off of employees retirement accounts.

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Glassdoor has 3,082 Principal Financial Group reviews submitted anonymously by Principal Financial Group employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Principal Financial Group is right for you.