ALTERNA SAVINGS Employee Reviews

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3.0Work-Life Balance

3.1Pay & Benefits

2.9Job Security & Advancement

2.7Management

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4.0

Top employer award winning company

Retail (Current Employee) – GTA – 19 December 2018

I have been an Alterna employee for several years and find these negative reviews to be nothing more than sour grapes from disgruntled former employees. That's the problem with sites like this. Alterna won an AON top employer award this year which comes as a result of feedback provided by the employees. We had nearly 100% of our employees take the survey so what does that tell you? We all enjoy working for Alterna

Alterna compensates us very fairly but we have the very best benefits out there. This too comes from my past experience with other FI's. Our benefits are way above industry standard.

We have a very progressive CEO who works tirelessly on making sure Alterna is not only a great place to bank but a great place to work. He values employee engagement as much as he values member engagement.

If you are looking to work for a company that pays fairly, treats its employees well and you want the opportunity to advance in your career look no further.

Don't read too much into the negative Nellie's comments. We are an award winning company and that certainly doesn't come from unhappy employees.

Pros

Benefits - Advancement Opportunities

Cons

Not many branches - Head Office not convenient if you don't drive

Was this review helpful?Yes 1 No 9Report

5.0

Productive and fun workplace to work at

Hybrid Banker (Current Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 5 February 2019

-Good management
-Friendly co workers
-Good place to learn and gain knowledge
-Good place to grow and open yourself up to several new positions
-Position can have stress on it but it is stress that is not too overwhelming and motivates you to do better

Pros

good environment to work in

Cons

long hours on some days

Was this review helpful?Yes No 3Report

1.0

Would not recommend

VP of Marketing (Current Employee) – Toronto, ON – 8 January 2019

In my opinion and experience I would not recommend this company as senior managers often fire hardworking employees without reason. There is no alignment at the senior level, often middle level employees are going around in circles because senior management cannot agree on a project or strategy. Technology is in need of massive updating. Marketing & Product team has had 4 VP's in the last 4 years. All prior VP's have quit or have been fired.

Pros

free coffee

Cons

poor management, work/life balance, lack of balance, poor company culture

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3.0

credit Union teller

Teller/Customer Service Representative (Current Employee) – Scarborough, ON – 2 April 2018

it's a good parttime job with good hours and nice people, But can be very stressful. Very good pay and very flexible. Good learning experience for someone who is new with money skills.

Pros

good hours nice people

Cons

stressful

Was this review helpful?Yes No 7Report

2.0

Horrible place to work

Credit Officer (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 20 March 2018

management has no direction as to where they are going. Dont work here. Benefits are alright. Company has big plans but no real means to getting there.

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1.0

Not a great place to work

Member Service Representative (Former Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 9 January 2018

Avoid working here.

Pay is well below average.

Employee incentive pricing is good.

Health benefits are average.

Culture and environment is dismal.

Quality of service, training and development, and basic professional courtesy is absent.

Pros

Incentive pricing

Cons

Pay, environment, training, development, managers, corporate staff

Was this review helpful?Yes 18 NoReport

5.0

good work environment

Senior Business Analyst (Former Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 27 November 2017

business analyst, data analyst- data mapping consultant. Nice work environment. functional team. Team meetups and team parties to encourage team relationship

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1.0

The worse company I have worked for!

Manager (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 20 November 2017

Horrible work environment and culture. Hard work and results are punished instead of rewarded. Directors and Managers are conniving and will fire employees for the smallest infraction. There is not enough negative words to say about this 'wannabe' Bank it;s just not not a good place to work.

Pros

Benefits are good

Cons

Low salary

Was this review helpful?Yes 21 No 1Report

4.0

productive place to work with chance to move up

Member Service Representative (Current Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 22 February 2017

I've learned a lot about investments and how banking works. My branch manager is extremely helpful and always has time for me when I have questions regarding career growth. He knows it is my goal to work in marketing and so I have become the branch marketing rep.

Was this review helpful?Yes 5 No 22Report

3.0

Good

QA Analyst (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 7 November 2016

It was very good working with this company. There was very nice work culture and it was great to be part of this organisation

Was this review helpful?Yes No 20Report

5.0

Productive company

Deposit Services Representative (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 16 October 2016

A typical work day was to complete all daily tasks before days end and try to have fun while doing so. I made a lot of fabulous relationships with both co-workers and members.

Was this review helpful?Yes 1 No 21Report

1.0

Terrible employer and culture

Anonymous (Former Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 19 August 2016

Opportunities to advance are limited at best. Horrible work culture. Training and support is non-existent. Management is all over the place. Hard work is punished instead of rewarded. Can't say enough bad stuff, this is not a good place to work.

Pros

Benefits were good.

Cons

Low pay. No opportunity. Schizo management.

Was this review helpful?Yes 41 NoReport

3.0

Changes taking place in terms of re-engineering and staffing

Member service specialist (Current Employee) – Toronto, ON – 4 August 2016

Huge changes in manpower taking place including budgeting as well as software changeover.
Thus retaining a stable job is becoming difficult.

Pros

Fundraisers and occasional free lunches

Cons

Long hours overtime

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2.0

Wannabe bank without the infrastructure

Personal Banking Officer (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 20 September 2015

I almost feel bad for people who decide to switch from a bank to a CU. Unfortunately we just don't have the same technology and infrastructure to compete in the evolving retail banking market. It seems like with Alterna that too many mergers and system upgrades have turned this company into a confused and inefficient place to bank and work. I don't know many people in retail finance who are satisfied with their work and look forward to coming into the office everyday, there is no exception here with Alterna. Management pressures and bullies employees into ranking them higher than they deserve on their employee surveys but most people will tell you that they don't really like working here. If you are considering taking a job with Alterna I would recommend that you work somewhere else if you have a choice. And switch to a different career if you are considering retail banking. Good luck.

Pros

Good dental coverage

Cons

little room for advancement, poor company direction, lousy career options

Was this review helpful?Yes 43 No 2Report

5.0

Work Environment

MEMBER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (Current Employee) – Ottawa, Ontario – 16 April 2015

Alterna is a very professional work environment and the management treat staff members with respect and the motivation to be successful in their current role.

Was this review helpful?Yes 5 No 49Report

1.0

stay away from this employer

financial advisor (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 15 February 2015

Stay away from this employer. The culture means "micromanagement" and finger pointing. After 2 weeks of working at Alterna you will be close to nervous breakdown.The work/life balance means your manager calling and emailing you at 10.30 pm on Saturday night or chasing you during your lunch break. Forget advancement. Be happy that you have a job. Salaries are below standard GTA compensation. Even if you are desperate to get a job consider working at Starbucks to pay your rent but not at Alterna.

Pros

no pros

Cons

everything is con

Was this review helpful?Yes 59 No 5Report

1.0

Great benefits, absolutely terrible employer

Call Centre (Former Employee) – Ontario – 24 November 2014

I had worked for a bank in the past and absolutely loved it therefor I thought Alterna would be a great fit. I was so, so wrong! From my first week of training at Alterna I had to drag myself into work every day. The training was way below sub-par and borderline unacceptable. The trainer lacks ANY and ALL training/people skills. During training (which is supposed to be 2 and a half weeks of training then two weeks on the phone and then again back in training class) ended up being 4 weeks and at the end the only thing we had learned was the trainers personal life.
Then once you are on the phones, you are constantly told and reminded of everyone who is there to help you however when you reach out for help they act as if you are a huge bother.

I strongly advise against applying for any positions within this company. Unless you enjoy being walked all over and not have any of your efforts/hard work noticed.

Pros

Health Benefits, Dental Benefits, Colleagues

Cons

Terrible/non-sufficient training, dull-to-none culture, horrible management, HR is always against you, Branch staff treats call centre staff horribly, Not a paper-saving environment AT ALL!

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4.0

Positive attitude

QA ANALYST (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 12 August 2014

good and friendly environment helps me in competing all tasks on time,learned a lot and increase my skills.

Pros

party once in month on friday

Cons

n/a

Was this review helpful?Yes 5 No 43Report

4.0

N/a

N/A (Current Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 28 October 2013

N/A- great place to work. room for advancement but compensation could be higher.

Was this review helpful?Yes 10 No 48Report

4.0

Good company benifits and salary

Manager Member Service (Former Employee) – Bolton, ON – 25 April 2012

A typical day went in so fast as there was always something different to do, in the years I was there I learned a lot about finance, for the most part the management was good, the co workers all got along well, we had all woked together for some time and we worked well toghether. The hardest part was the stress in trying to meet monthly goals. The most enjoyable was it was a really nice office, close to home it was a good place to work, and getting to know the customers well.

Pros

great benifits and incentives

Cons

having to leave

Was this review helpful?Yes 18 No 55Report

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