These are my observations over the course of several decades with ADP. My colleagues agreed with me. I saw new hired employees that were raring to go, full of energy, and optimistic about ADP get disillusioned within a year or two when seeing the antics of their company. Everyone working with me went through the motions and acted as though they cared, but in reality we hated the company. Some quit in disgust, others stayed and put up with it. We laughed at ADP behind management's back, and raged when the company did stupid things to us. But very definitely, the company's credibility was low with most of us and we did not take ADP seriously. We just survived as we best knew how.
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Right. It is great to ADD new blood but dont throw out all the old blood. The experienced ppl could have given some help and insight to new ppl coming in. and show them the systems, processes, etc. And THEN the new ppl can learn properly and make suggestions for process improvements. Paying ppl off the street with low pay, minimal training to do work with clients is a recipe for disaster as we already know. Good luck ADP! I noticed an interesting website is online www.adpascending.com where Bill Ackman or whoever created it to get ppl to vote for shareholders. I find the site interesting where he has "weekly qtns" he sends to ADP. Regarding why ADP did something a certain way vs the competitors and he posts comparison charts with numbers. Lol
It is time for some fresh blood and new eyes. But at the top management level and NOT at the employee level. It takes YEARS for new employees to become productive. Getting new workers with no real experience is not creating a new perspective, but rather NO perspective. The new workers are not really motivated by their low wages and are simply trying to survive, let alone thinking of better ways of doing things. I don't think that you can make a blanket statement that the experienced and established employees that have been with ADP for 15, 20, or 25 years are old fossils that do things in old ways. Being an ADP associate requires flexibility and constant learning due to changing systems and ways of doing things. Employees who have survived for so long in such a challenging environment are not fossils but the epitome of success and out-of-the-box thinking. Such accomplished employees should be valued by ADP, and not thrown into the garbage and replaced by cheap and unproven workers.
It is very clear that it is the management team that must be replaced not the employees. However, this may be a moot point since so many veteran employees have been thrown out that there no longer exists a sufficient knowledge base which can sustain the company for long.
Maybe it's time for some fresh blood and new eyes. Who says that those that have been there forever know what is still best for the company 15, 20, 25 years later? Maybe it's time for a change. I highly doubt that anyone new can't learn your job, or better yet, a better way to do it perhaps? The company may be a mess because so many people were set in their ways of doing something only one way for so many ways.
I know..who dreams up strategies like THAT? Come on. Lets double business but cut the experienced employee base! I hope they do go out of business. The company treats ees like total crap. No one deserves that.
ADP is hoping to double client business by 2020? And they have been cutting experienced staff for the last year and a half? That goal is an absurd fantasy! They may not be operating any more by 2020 due to not having enough productive employees.
To the one who started at ADP 6 months ago:
I'm sorry that it is difficult for you. I worked for ADP for many years and know their corporate culture well. Unfortunately, management feels that their employees should take off on their own and become productive without much help. There didn't used to be any training provided at all when I first started there. If a person had difficulties and tried to seek help from management, their response was to act confused and say that "We hired you as a . We are just asking you to do your job. If you don't know how, then what kind of professional are you?" And the employee would slink back and try to solve the problem on their own, or seek help from his or her peers.
Later on, management realized that they really had to have some training or mentorship, because new employees could not do their jobs properly without it. But the "stand on your own two feet" attitude is still there.
Management also loves their employees to put in many overtime hours trying to figure out problems or learning new material that would help them do their jobs better. Overtime is always the answer in solving virtually any problem. Overtime, overtime, and more overtime. But only if you are salaried and are not paid for the overtime hours. If you are hourly and must be paid for overtime work, then they don't want to see any overtime hours from you.
Yes, management fed us well during the time I was with ADP. We used to have a standing joke that it was hard to starve to death while working there. But I would have much rather had things intellectually easier on the job than all of that free food. Even as a veteran associate, there were times that I did not know how to resolve an issue.
But one good thing is that just about everyone is having difficulties along with you. You aren't the only one. Hang in there. Do your best and keep looking steadily for a new less stressful job. I wish you the best of luck.
Update since 2 weeks ago....the one who started 6 months ago. Again, I have worked for different companies and call center.... I am still filled with major anxiety and find it dreadful to come to work because the complicated nature and many systems I am not proficient on. I have never felt like this working for any employer. Literally have experienced payroll personnel calling to ask me for assistance...from new reps like myself who know nothing. Several other employees I started with feeling the same thing. Defeated......we just wing it with sss lines and chats. However, most of them have a presumption that we understand what they are saying. I have to be walked through various calls, have no clue how to troubleshoot. My spouse has no insurance with his small company employer , so I am burdened to remain until I find a new position. There has to be a better way to train, maybe have people just do security management , or just payrolls, or just special calcs. It is not that way, they expect us to do absolutely everything.....managers are friendly,smile, give us food, etc....but there is not enough time in the day to help queues, learn new systems, take calls, handle your cases.It is a nightmare.
I agree...it takes years to get proficient on ADPs systems, processes and troubleshooting. Hang in there while you look elsewhere for another job. It is definitely brighter anywhere but ADP!!!
So sorry that you are going through this. I worked for ADP for many years. Do not feel bad that you cannot grasp the material quickly. No matter how intelligent you are, it takes YEARS to become a productive employee and ADP management should have realized that. The work is very complex and there is no training program that could shorten the learning process down to a few weeks rather than years. When I was at ADP, new employees could rely on experienced employees who helped them get on their feet and start being productive in about a year or two. As the newbies got experience, they in turn started to help others. The environment was very friendly and everyone helped one another.
I don't know why the ADP leadership decided to get rid of their experienced employees. You just cannot do that if you expect your company to survive based on the complexity of the work. The only thing I can think of is that the upper management team has no clue of what working at the associate or lower management levels entails. That is a scary thought and means that management does not know what it is doing.
Due to the severe lack of experienced associates, ADP is now a sinking ship and, in my opinion, there is nothing now that can be done to save it. I strongly agree with your decision to seek new employment. Find a better company that is more pleasant to work for and who has management that know what they are doing. I wish you the best.
I am an older employee with call center and customer service experience (no payroll) and have been with ADP for only 6 months. I love the my manager, but the job is insane. I cannot understand how after 12 weeks of training and open book tests, that I received 100 scores on (after studying at home at night and re watching training videos) I still dont get a darn thing! TOOOOOO much info overload and I am an info junkie. 4 people left or were fired since I started, anxiety is high...I actually left early 1 day because I was so stressed from my ineptitude. And already wanting the 2nd level fast track training with more tests...I have only done two additional payrolls...I am completely lost, another guy I know cried in his managers office and another in her car. WTF? I would not recommend people working here...and I am now looking again. I have never wanted to leave a job fast enough.
I agree...everyone should stage a strike. Nothing to lose. Carlos is cutting the staff all across the company anyway. The year 2020 is when they hope client business has doubled. But what the heck kind of employees will be working at ADP to help those poor clients. Oh, the ones who focus on Instagram, FB and Snapchat all day long and dont know what gross pay is. Lol
ADP will pay dearly for getting rid of their experienced personnel and replacing them with cheap labor. They will pay very dearly.
One new hire asked what is gross net pay. I'm sorry but any normal person should know that. That's what happens when you hire cheap labor and get rid of experenced workers.
Agreed. Everyone hired was so full of energy and actually received somewhat decent training before hitting client service calls. Now the hires are getting crash courses: "Um, what is payroll? I was on Instagram when I should have been paying attention during my 2wk crash course."
Lol
I truly wish employees of this company would either strike or stage a sit in or something to that effect. Simply refuse to work for about four or five days or so and let the paychecks sit. The problem being of course is that everybody's worried about their own arse and wouldn't want to chance it. However it seems like most of them are going to be gone anyway so it almost doesn't matter.
Simply refuse to lift another finger until they fire that pig CEO's arse. Him and all his criminal cohorts.
Oh well ... it's nice to think about anyway.