There are very high expectations in terms of performance along with a huge workload but little to no feedback/ resources to help reach goals (supervisors are very seldomly, if ever available to coach and provide feedback due to "service levels," which is some metric of how busy we are relative to how many associates are available to take calls. This low availability plus a high turnover rate means you will frequently be taking back-to-back calls which leaves no recovery time after getting yelled at by a customer. Geico's biggest problem is they are always understaffed they grew very quickly to 13 million policyholders but because of their high turnover they are constantly hiring to make up for this. This problem seems to be getting worse with no end in sight. Granted mgmt has been hiring lots of service agents-many of whom seem to have huge knowledge gaps due to being rushed onto phones because of the low service levels- it really seems like for every agent we gain we lose two if not more...
HR/ Leave policies are draconian. Because of heavy workload due to low service levels I, a healthy 27-year-old, got a bad case of carpal tunnel so I applied for FML. To do so I obtained a legitimate doctors note with specific instructions where he indicated my workload should be lessened to allow enough recovery time. Well long story short these instructions were never accommodated and when I brought it up mgmt/ supervisor had the gall to say, "well that's not what the dr.s note said." Are you kidding me? They basically were implying I was stupid and couldn't read. Also, no surprise FML was declined after two Dr.s visits and several phone calls to re-fax paperwork.
As far as leave be prepared to accrue very little vacation hours relative to how hard you work and pray to God it gets approved when you need it. You will very frequently have to work holidays, weekends and nights due to aforementioned service levels. Also you can basically only miss 5 work days per year anything more will put you under the standard 97% dependability. This policy is so draconian given you work in tiny cubicles, we work in a high stress environment and are sitting all day which means this is really unhealthy and weakens our immune system. Also, almost every reward mgmt gives is very high fat/ sugar which only weakens immune response even more. This gave me the distinct impression that they don't care about your health. I'll grant that HR recently started offering discounts on fit bits and other weight loss programs but it's scary to think how many people there fall on the obese/ morbidly obese category or smoke and how this high stress environment puts them at risk of cardiac events/ strokes. I honestly have seem ambulances called to work multiple times there in my 4 years there and this is not exaggerating nor hyperbole this is fact. Also, for those of you with families there is no paid maternity leave and this job is very much not family friendly in terms of working with your schedule. It wasn't until I told mgmt that I was quitting that they even considered accommodating my schedule.
Pay is less compared to other insurers, commissions might be better for sales but still wages are still low relative to other employers in the industry.
For any serious applicants weigh the cons and pros and I'm sure you'll find it's really not worth it unless you have no other choice.
