My Family - Assistant Vice President Businessolver Employee Review

I'm a tenured employee, started out entry level (let's just say I knew I had benefits, but didn't really know what they were) and worked my way up to being a part of the senior leadership team. I don't think it will be hard to guess who I am and for anyone that has had a chance to know me, will know that I'm a bit of a stubborn arse (I'm eagerly awaiting the 'he's just a brown noser' comments that will surely follow. Yep, that's definitely my MO. No doubt). The pros of this company to me are this - if you work here, you are a part of a family. My dad passed away on March 20th many years before I started here. It's a rough day for me even to this day. My leader and several of my peers remember the day every year and leave a card on my desk (too dang mushy) as well as something random to make me laugh - like pink flowers....I will get you back you hippies! When my dad actually passed away, I worked for one of the largest employers in town. Outside of a couple of days for bereavement, my employer only really cared enough for me to get back to my desk so I could keep moving widgets in the mainframe and hoping I wouldn't think for myself, kind of like another brick in the wall in Pink Floyd's The Wall. If you have worked here before and didn't have that feeling - I'm very sorry. We failed each other, I hope we both learn from it, and I hope your next experience is much better. If you are curious about the company, please do understand that agreeing to work here is agreeing to be a part of this family. We may have days that we bicker and disagree (creative chaos if you will) and we may have days where we jump in together to bring delight to a client that would otherwise not occur, but most importantly, we care for each other, we care for each others families, our passions, and our pain. Second, the work we do here has an actual, tangible impact on lives of people. When I was younger and a 'dreamer' (no hippie) if you will, I wanted to make a difference in the lives of people (and, you know, make like 7 figures for giving hugs and pats on the back and stuff because I deserved it). It took several years of working here for me to realize that is exactly what I do on a day to day basis...or at least the making a difference part...not much of a hugger... Having lived through the stress of several family members becoming ill with cancer and eventually passing away, the added stress of standing at a pharmacy and being told your dad is not currently showing as covered with insurance and the prescriptions he needs to help maintain a standard of living for a time being would cost more than a paycheck while knowing full well that he does have insurance is unbearable. We have an opportunity here help people at their most raw and vulnerable by doing our day to day jobs. If this is something you want to be a part of, I beg you to keep this in mind if you do come to work here. We don't work in data, we work in people and if we don't keep that in mind, we increase the likelihood of hurting one or more of those people. Finally, my last pro (at least that I will list today) is the work/life balance I'm allotted to choose and maintain as I please.. ***Gasp*** Work/life balance? Hasn't he read the reviews here? He must be crazy or brown nosing or on drugs or something! That mad hatter must have gotten to him! I knew I couldn't trust that guy! So, yeah, work/life balance. When I came to work here as employee 40 (ish), it was made clear to me that we work hard and play hard. Okay, I'm from the Midwest, I like to do both. What I was surprised to find was that we didn't have shackles on our desks, no one had a gun at my head, the doors weren't locked and only opened when we worked our 21 hour days, no. I had clients, Those clients were responsible for keeping the lights on at home. I knew the clients had employees that I would impact and I chose to work as hard as I could for them because of it. I even talked to my wife about the new found passion I had for my career and she was completely on board with me working as much as I wanted to. So I did. And I loved every minute of it. And then a funny thing happened: my wife and I found out we were going to be parents. And another funny thing happened, Rae expensed a laptop for me at a point where no one had laptops here. Well, that had to be so I could keep working long hours and not see my child or my wife right? I mean, it had to be because that's all we do here is get worked to the bone with no choice in how much we work! Yeah, well, no. In fact, the conversation Rae had with me was this - if you intend to keep working the hours that you have chosen to, you are going to do so at home with your wife and son. But, wait, I thought there was no work/life balance? Yeah, if you choose not to have work/life balance, then you won't. Some of you reading this may have actually had a conversation with me about spending too much time in the office. Yes, we have set office hours where our clients expect us to be at work. Yes, there are times where we have to make a choice to keep the lights on or go home and watch Mad Men re-runs. Yes, it is okay to say no. Bonus story - the day our son was born was about three weeks before he was expected and three weeks before I had planned vacation scheduled. In my lack of sleep from the days events (actually about 36 hours with no sleep), I showed up at work. I ran into Rae in the hallway and she was kind enough to tell me to "Get the hell out of the office and get to the hospital to spend time with my wife and newborn son."