I resigned because this company is not even close to the one I started working for. The atmosphere is horrible, there is a huge lack of respect, the least valued are good and loyal employees, long-term plans for this company are behind smoke and mirrors....
There are many reasons to leave here. On the other hand, I am quite nostalgic and I am sorry that this company is sinking. It will probably never be clear to me what actually happened to this company? When did it all go downhill?
Many feel the way you do. It is astounding and heartbreaking what happened to the company. Was it the acquisition of LearnVest? The addition of Don Robertson? The choices of successors for Schlifkse? Their treatment of women? Should I go on? The environment is intolerable. So you leave, move on, and feel good about your life and your job. Good for you for leaving that he-l ho-e.
not true, it all started when Ed Zore retired
Outside of the home office, out here in the field, the company has no unified identity or culture. It's absurd. You see the advertisements and social media posts where NM has positioned itself as a progressive modern company but the fact is in reality it's still the stodgy old NM of the 50's. It's like they want to stay in that space where it's a small group of affluent men selling insurance over golf cigars and scotch to other affluent men but the world has forced them to open up the organization to women, people of color, etc and they're going through the motions. And despite all of the commercial smoke and mirrors, they do not want to change their original model. I want to throw up every time I have to log in to a national meeting and watch the couple of token women in their Lularoe and fun earrings talk about how they love to plan like a girl, wink wink nudge nudge, knowing full well they never actually get a fair shake at shaping the company. They parade them out like show pieces. The reality is there are so many barriers in place preventing diversity from actually happening. Even this antiquated compensation structure is a joke. Keeping this model in place of 100% commsission isn't about bringing in motivated sales people and ki-l what you eat and all that- it's a barrier to prevent anyone who is not already rubbing elbows with affluence from entering into the career in the name of "we would never put you at risk if you don't have 6 months of savings to weather the first few months". Ask about the recruitment philosophies of this company. Ask about what indicators LIMRA scores low to drop down candidate scores to bring them into the "do not hire" scores. Ask about their turnover in the field. It's a disgrace. So- to answer your question- where it went wrong, in my humble opinion, is that the company has engaged in this mass charade of growth and change without changing who and what it is at is core, and it continues to do it with utmost arrogance.
In 2016, a union attorney told us about the 5 year plan. She named the affected departments that would have jobs eliminated. Restaurant, guards, HVAC, electricians, and several office areas. She also said that there would be a lot less management staff. As a non-management employee (former) I could see that the Company was top heavy. Everyone and his uncle was a consultant.
There was never a post-mortem on the purchase (and eventual closure) of LearnVest. Was any intellectual property retained? Was it mostly a talent acquisition (most of their former leaders have left)? In any case, this was one turning point for the company.
Another turning point was the layoffs in 2017. It was a painful exercise that ended up with a fair number of people being re-hired or brought back as contractors, leaving many to wonder why the layoffs happened in the first place. In the IT departments, there was an "everyone's an engineer" mentality that didn't seem to take hold, the adoption of Agile has been up-and-down (and same with SAFE), and deeper investments in offshore changed things, too.
It all began with John’s creation of the so-called Culture Club. A group of up and coming EOs charged with changing the longstanding culture of Northwestern Mutual. Mission accomplished folks!