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Principal Financial Group

Engaged Employer

Principal Financial Group reviews

3.8

71% would recommend to a friend

(2,585 total reviews)
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Deanna Strable

81% approve of CEO

67% positive business outlook

Principal Financial Group has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,585 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
1.0
Sep 15, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Principal Global Services, the IT & ITES extension of Principal Financial Group provides excellent facilities like cab service (yes AC cabs!) and Industry average pay. Your salary will usually be around the average salary for typical captives like RBS, Wellsfargo etc. Thanks to the US office, the work load is usually never heavy, and typical of a reversal role in IT outsourcing, the US office usually works extra, while the India office has less work. There are Pune employees who have not worked for several years. Work and direct interaction with US office is the highlight of being in PGS and hence there is no onsite to play work related stunts. If you work hard, you can learn a lot and use it after you leave PGS and join other companies.

Cons

Due to captive nature of organization, there is no outward thinking and management is more on operations side - ie simple supervisory job. the senior managers in PGS don't act or work because there is not incentive for them to perform. Promotion is in the form of IJP and is highly controversial. There are instances of employees being promoted because they played "Tambola" (Bingo) and hence contributed to organizational activities and therefore promoted! Promotion has come in the form of shooting an email to the CIO on asking how backups are taken!! Decisions are based on hearsay and loose talk - anyone can "conspire" against anyone by going to the senior management and saying that "he/she said like this...." and the management takes decisions on such loose talk. In fact, the concept of "spies" aka "khabaris" is common in PGS. Every manager has a gossip monger and more the filthy talk, better is the reward granted in promotions or townhall awards. Unethical practices like personal relations being favoured in job selection and promotions. Learning in technology and business is strictly restricted. Even exams for certifications can't be refunded, and domain knowledge and skill building is a strict no no. There are weird reasons for not supporting knowledge like "We don't want to build knowledge, we build relations". Some managers curse and use abusive language to employees and despite complaining to higher ups, things have been hushed up making a mockery of the so called employee values and ethical policies. Birthday celebrations for the so called top management are executed in style, the most of the lazy bunch practice for a day and when the d-day arrives, what you see is songs, Mexican waves, balloons and sycophants that can put the the middle age dark world to shame. You may be wondering what is US office doing despite knowing the razzmatazz in Pune? Perhaps, US office is the main culprit in the kind of total waste of Princial's public shareholder wealth. The cost to PGS is a hedge to the ineffective team of PGS so that US jobs are safe.

4.0
Sep 12, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work Life balance is good in most areas. Retirement benefits are great, you get 401K and a pension. Onsite fitness center. Other benefits are OK. The people you work with are generally top notch, teams have a family feel. Some employees can work from home or remote.

Cons

If you work in a SCBU you'll have to deal with political infighting among the various business units. Once you reach a "senior" level in your position opportunities for advancement are slim to non existent if you don't have direct reports. Its not uncommon for senior staff level employees to retire having spent the previous 20 years with the same job title. At times work-life balance can tilt heavily towards work. Salary is on the high side of mediocre, other companies will pay more but Principal tries to make up for it with a flexible work environment. Another drawback is that during the remodeling some employees will get crammed into building with very little amenities.

3.0
Sep 10, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good salary and excellent benefits. Ample opportunities for development.

Cons

Ineffective leadership at the team and department levels. A company culture that was more talk that action. Many things the company supported were not liked or supported by team and department leadership so those areas just missed out. When Barry Griswell was CEO there was a real "people" culture. When I left it was all about metrics, numbers and reporting. The people were undervalued, not recognized, and overworked.

Viewing 2398 - 2400 of 2,585 Reviews

Glassdoor has 3,076 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.