Deeply Dysfunctional and Weak Executive Leadership
Pros
Employees care about the members and want to do right by them, although it seems the executive ranks have other priorities. I enjoy working with many people on my team.
Cons
Where do I start? My last day with USAA is next week and I am thrilled to be leaving. From the very beginning of my tenure right down to the last day, I experienced a complete lack of accountability from executives when it came to the toxic environment, chaos, and lack of direction. Ever see a dog chase its tail? That's USAA in a nutshell. The Bank is mired in a mass of regulatory issues and has been for a few years - and it isn't getting better. The Board and executive leadership cannot make strategic decisions to move things in a positive direction to save their lives and they hold the fronts lines accountable by cutting back bonuses and really destroying what used to be a decent retirement option. Having a board member tell people who are answering phones and taking beatings from members to, "Pull up your britches" when their benefits and pay are cut doesn't sit well. The attempts to buy executive talent from other financial institutions have backfired when some talented people come in and see the mess and within a few months walk back out. It has happened multiple times. Or, the new employees coming in have great experience with other companies and they aren't allowed to leverage it because "That's not the way we do things here." When I joined USAA I was told early on by someone who had been there for 15 years that if I wanted to survive at USAA, I should never question certain people or certain levels of leadership because they will make sure I don't go anywhere. I kind of laughed that off because, what??? That is crazy. We are supposed to ask questions and speak up if something is wrong, right?? But oh boy is it true at USAA. I heard people being blackballed for speaking up about things that were wrong or not in members' best interests. I know people who went to the 'anonymous' Ethics Line as a way to challenge or question some practices only to hit a brick wall with employee relations and then suffer the consequences when leaders thought they figured out who was reporting things. HR is useless and probably the most dysfunctional part of the entire company which perpetuates everything that is wrong and stops serious, necessary change in its tracks. I have had 5 bosses in a short period of time, one of whom was moved to another group to avoid having to deal with him, and two who quit. One of those who quit walked out about 30 days into the gig and the other about a year into the gig.