- Work-life balance is sometimes non-existent
- PTO black-out period during X-Mas and New Years
- Completely reactionary in its approach
- Lack of growth opportunities
CSAs on the Ambrose side are given extremely high headcounts considering that we are to provide "white-glove" service to both client contacts and the WSEs (unlike the other TriNet brands, Ambrose CSAs are the main point of contact for everyone at their client sites). The expected response time of 4 business hours is extremely stressful considering the sheer volume of emails that are received on a daily basis. The fact that the internal support system is spotty at best at times it makes for sheer hell - depending on the department you are working with on a resolution to a client/employee issue. The tension throughout our department is palpable.
Internally, Ambrose is a hot mess at the moment. All focus is on the upcoming integration into TriNet's systems (which has now been going on for over 1.5 years), with no attention being given to our awful legacy system. How can I be expected to deliver great service when 25% of my day is dedicated to trying to figure out why people can't log in, print a pay stub, access their I-9s - simple stuff that should not be my responsibility. New hires are thrown into the mix without proper training, which has resulted in a terrible turn-over rate. Honestly its a vicious cycle at this point with Ambrose just replacing people who are leaving.
Be prepared for a heavily reactionary environment. Procedures are constantly changing, but no one is on the same page. We are also not told about new items until just before they are implemented or when, surprise!, it is already a thing. On top of that, be prepared for no one to be able to answer questions you may have about these changes a lot of the time.
As I mentioned under the "Pros" you will have a nice compensation/benefits package, at least for me this is true, but be prepared to have 0 opportunities for growth. The only ways to advance within the Client Services department at Ambrose are to become a Team Lead or a Specialist, both of which are not expected to open up until at least post-integration (meaning there are no plans to open anything up). Specialist roles are a joke at best at this point and now involve you taking on even more clients. When these roles do open up, you'll have basically the whole department to compete with, so good luck!
My experience with TriNet as a whole is limited since Ambrose is still kind of its own entity, but they are 110% focused on growth with no real direction for doing so. Sales are definitely the most important thing here so everything is done to make sure to close those deals with no thought about whether or not clients will actually be a good fit. Let me tell you that it makes for awkward (mostly really unpleasant) conversations when you start the new client on-boarding process as sometimes things have been "promised" that are not actually in line with what we do/can do. TriNet seems to overlook that while new clients are nice, it is the existing clients who are happy (thanks to CSAs) who will bring long-term success and referrals.
You will get to work with mainly wonderful people, but that being said, any real concerns that you bring to the table will go no where. Management (not the Team Leads, but they are essentially powerless) is seriously out of touch with the CSA experience and are doing nothing to improve retention. Simply throwing money at a group of intelligent people is not going to cut it, folks.
