A monolithic, bureaucratic, waterfall mess - AVP-IT LPL Financial Employee Review

1.0
Jan 4, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Their people-first mindset is real. The people who work at LPL are serious about work-life balance and the employee's well being. It's refreshing that they really seem to care about their employees. As a whole, these are the just about the nicest people I have worked for - which is really saying something for a company this size. They have somehow managed to grow, but keep a lot of the small- to mid-sized company closeness. The pay is good. The insurance is just OK (disappointing for a company of this size.)

Cons

When I was hired, they said they were Agile/SCRUM. They're not. They're SAFe/Waterfall. They don't really care about Agile methodologies or SCRUM practices. They have a fundamental misunderstanding of points, sprints, velocity, empowered developers, and autonomous development teams. They don't even understand the basic conflicts between SAFe and Agile. They really think SAFe is Agile. They have an addition to ticketing systems. You can't do ANYTHING without creating a ticket and watching the ticket work it's way through the lengthy approval process. I recently had to create a ticket that required 9 approvals. So far, I have 4 of them after about 45 days. I haven't spoken to a person regarding my request yet. They want you to be fast, responsive, productive, and "agile", but then they saddle you with a cumbersome waterfall process. You don't have input into the process and have no power to effect change, which does nothing but breed apathy. They can't even tell you why the process is what it is. The only two reasons I have heard is "it's the way it has always been done" and "the VP said we had to". Sometimes that person is no longer with the company. It's more likely that the person just didn't understand enough to know what they were asking for and no one felt empowered enough to question it. ... and God help you if you question anything. If you mention that the process is unreasonable or that they 're not really Agile/SCRUM, you are branded a troublemaker. If you speak up in meetings, but don't toe the line, you're labeled as disruptive. When I joined, I was warned about people on my team being disruptive. The warnings kept coming, until it was realized that I too was "disruptive." If you want to stay at LPL long term, you have to embrace the LPL way and sell your soul to live it, but at least the people are nice and the pay is good.

Explore other reviews about LPL Financial

5.0
May 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great culture and work life balance

Cons

Pay for area of living on lower side

2.0
May 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

LPL Financial offers a flexible hybrid work model, which is one of the better aspects of the company. Managers are generally not overly strict about specific in-office days, giving employees some flexibility in managing their schedules.

Cons

Work-life balance is a major challenge. Weekend release work is common, often averaging two weekends per month, yet there is no overtime compensation. Employees are essentially expected to work a full workweek plus weekends when needed, which has contributed to high turnover on some teams. The culture can also feel harsh and impersonal. Leadership rarely expresses appreciation or recognition for employee contributions, which negatively impacts morale. Some managers come across as cold or overly task-focused, creating an environment where employees feel valued only for output rather than as people. There also appears to be a lack of trust between employees and leadership. Many teammates do not seem confident that leadership understands or genuinely addresses their concerns. Overall, morale feels low, and recognition for strong performance appears limited.

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