You will get out less than what you put in - Helpdesk Specialist Commonwealth Financial Network Employee Review

Hi Current Employee/Contractor, Thank you for writing such a detailed review, as I genuinely appreciate your perspective and the opportunity to respond. You reference a few topics, and I’ll do my best to provide some color and clarity around the same. First, our holiday bonus is a longstanding tradition started many years ago by our founder, Joe Deitch. We value tenure as we feel it’s an essential element of our unique culture. The way it works is that we award a $100 for every year someone has been part of our team as a special thank you to spread some cheer around the holidays—and with hundreds of our more than 1,000 team members having more than a decade of tenure, it’s a highly appreciated tradition. It’s certainly not intended as a “slap in the face” to anyone, and I’m sorry you felt so slighted, as we also greatly value the contractors who work for us. While we may differentiate between what full-time staff receives, we almost always include these significant contributors somehow, such as a similar award when we won our 8th JD Power Award for Advisor satisfaction earlier this year. Full disclosure, I didn’t realize that we excluded you here, and I’ll see to it tomorrow that we include you in this special tradition—better late than never! Also, in case anyone is wondering, the holiday bonus is in addition to the performance bonuses paid in February for the prior year. As for your comment about our technology, hardy working is hardly accurate. While we have certainly had some IT challenges, one of the driving categories for the JD Power award is technology—so we must be doing something right. I, too, see the references to lower pay but having sat on the compensation committee for twenty years, I can assure you that we take great care in ensuring that we’re competitive in each role at the firm. I’d also add that we have hired more than 500 people in 2021, and I’m pretty sure that hundreds of people would not have joined our team for below-market compensation in this job environment. I also see career advancement throughout the organization! You are correct that we will require team members to return to the office once it’s safe. We will be evolving from a primarily on-prem workforce to a hybrid environment offering up to 40% (2 days) work from home and have always allowed flexible hours. I certainly understand that some folks prefer fully remote options, and that’s ok—it just doesn’t fit our approach that highly values the benefits and on-premises workplace provides. This strategy doesn't mean either one of us is right or wrong—it’s just not a great fit for some folks. Thank you again for your feedback. While we may not agree on all your points, your perception is your reality, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to respond. Better yet, please shoot me an email or drop by my office as I always appreciate team members’ advice. Merry—Merry, Wayne Bloom, CEO