I've been here a number of years and never so few promoted from within. Only people i've seen moved up were from another bank or outside. Talk about no motivation. If your father in law is Jamie you report to the top. If you work here 10 years you go no where.
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The lack of internal promotions is definitely surprising and my number one reason for wanting to leave. Even when my manager put me forward for a promotion last year and it was approved by two levels above her I found out months later that “nope you’re not getting promoted” because the leader of the group (who left within 6 months) decided no promotions were allowed.
@raq, yep, some jobs are definitely rigged. But there’s a right way to do it if you have a preferred candidate: post the job so they go through the competitive process with everyone else AND be open to the possibility that you may find a better candidate. One wrong way is doing all that but with no intention of offering the job to anyone else, regardless of interview performance. Worst is cherry-picking your fave person, moving them to the higher-level role and calling it a “growth promotion”. I’ve seen this done with someone who didn’t even meet the required qualifications - moved from an IC role to manager role in completely unrelated job family, then promoted again one level higher. No competitive process either time even though many folks would’ve been qualified and interested.
Boomer-ranging is common in banking (leaving and then coming back to re-negotiate your salary). When I left WF For another bank I literally got a $50k raise for doing similar work. When I tried to come back to WF, they wanted to pay me less then what I was earning before I left. WF is a mess now and it really depends on who you know.
This place is a political cesspool! All about a– kissing and who you know, not leadership, integrity, ethics and performance. Oh, and your location too! Get out, this place stinks!
Some jobs here seem rigged (i.e. they have someone in mind already) while others seem wide open. Hit or miss probably. Same all over I suspect. They should do more to promote from within and have more defined career paths. That seems like a weakness to me.
I’ve gotten two promotions since i’ve been here, and with any luck i’ll get a third this review period. Immediate manager submitted it, but i know it goes to some committee level one or two levels above him.
Depends on your area. In my group I’ve seen several individual contributors promoted to manager roles, and a couple front line managers promoted to mid-level management.
It’s a big company. It makes sense the experience isn’t uniform.
Now raises are ridiculous. At least other places I’ve worked they were honest that 1.5 or 2% were cost of living adjustments. Here it’s “merit” and in my area I’m told 2% is the top people get. That’s not merit, it’s holding your ground.
I'm in a lower level job and see this in my part of the bank as well. Promotions into management tend to go to folks who had management experience from outside of Wells or the person is good buddies with a manager or both. Promotions in this company will not happen because you are knowledgeable, competent, have leadership skills, and perform well. None of that beats outside experience or having management buddies. Even when the outside experience does not prepare the person to perform the duties at Wells.
The feeling is that if you've been working at Wells Fargo for too long you must not be any good or have any other options. Only outside experience is valued. What could anybody possibly have learned working here?
They promote tellers to Engineering Manager positions! Be a teller with no technical background, no degree, maybe know something about how to use Hogan, and you are all set!!
Do what Charlie does, stay for 1-2 years, hire buddies, make a mess and then on to the next place before they figure you out.
Managers are paid bonuses to hire externally instead of being directly linked and compensated for what their team does.
It's very frustrating. I have been a top performer 3 times over nearly 20 years and continue to go up the ranks, but I only get 5% for each job change and only 2% for an annual raise. It's my fault for not leaving, I understand that.
If you stay its one lateral move after another at this company, you go no where. That's a big problem at this company. People who are 3 levels higher have less knowledge than some people who they've keep at the individual contributor level.