Bread Financial

2.0

19 June 2022

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

-The people I worked with were nice and easy to get along with for the most part -Hours and Work Life Balance are typically good, but there are some exceptions (see cons for more detail) -Internal mobility is highly encouraged (and often the only way to be promoted) -Good benefits (a huge focal point of management, often at the expense of compensation though) -Easy to stand out as a top performer (but that is not guaranteed to be rewarded) -A lot of opportunities to take on tasks/responsibilities outside the scope of your role (but once again, you are not guaranteed to be rewarded for doing so) -The work itself is interesting. Credit Cards is a niche industry with a lot of unique nuances

Cons

-The company is the definition of bureaucratic. Outdated technology is finally being addressed, but is still far away from being implemented -Salaries are low compared to competitors (traditional banks and Fin Techs). Bonuses are insultingly low given the level of work/responsibilities for Pricing. Bonus Targets were increased slightly, but still far off from where they should be. Business Development constantly relies on Pricing to get deals done, yet we do not share in any of the upside they receive. HR is adamant they constantly monitor the market to remain competitive on compensation, but all their announced initiatives have done nothing to address the compensation gap -Career advancement is a complete black hole. Promotion timelines are unclear and undefined. HR has promised they are looking to address this, but I do not have high hopes -For 2022, the company only gave out 3% raises. While this may seem like a normal amount, it is insulting considering the company had a record year in 2021 and inflation was at its highest level since the 1980s -The promotion process is extremely unfair and stacked against newer employees -Communication from certain groups (especially Sales/Business Development) are often unclear and delayed, which creates unnecessarily tight deadlines and often require major revisions to the work product. There is a clear disconnect between Finance and Business Development that creates unnecessary tension and it does not appear that senior leaders are willing to actually address this issue -The work can be very repetitive as senior leaders will ask for countless iterations on work products to arrive at attractive returns, even if it means submitting uncompetitive bids -The company goes through re-orgs what seems like every year, creating uncertainty in some groups and constantly shifting the leadership structure of others -The company has no clue what to do with Bread Pay and post-merger integration pains are continuing with no end in sight -The Bread Financial and Alliance Data brand names carry very little weight. This can make things difficult when applying to jobs at different companies as most people have no clue what Alliance Data is or does (and they definitely don’t know what Bread Financial is) -The company is fixated on controlling costs, which has led to reduced hiring as a way to not increase personnel expenses. As a result, employees are expected to take on a larger workload given the overly aggressive growth expectations communicated by executives, yet compensation remains relatively unchanged. The CFO was asked about compensation during a company-wide meeting and had a very negative reaction to being asked such a question, not a very promising sign… -Median employee salary increased 18% from 2020 to 2021, yet merit raises were only 3% It appears leadership is more than willing to pay for external talent, but remains stingy with internal talent

Bread Financial Response

We’re glad to see there are so many aspects you enjoy in working for Bread Financial, including work-life balance (which is often listed by candidates as the single most important cultural factor when they’re considering a new job) and interesting work, in which you can take on additional growth and promotional opportunities. While it would be impractical to address your compensation concerns on this forum, we encourage you to schedule a career pathing conversation with your leader to discuss your professional goals and develop individualized development plan. As an organization, we work hard to ensure we're offering what is relevant and meaningful to our associates in the post-pandemic landscape. Research indicates that a combination of both monetary and non-monetary benefits are valued highly by associates. We offer more flexibility in the choice of work environment, more leadership and career development opportunities, more robust recognition and benefits programs, in addition to improvements in market-competitive compensation. These high valuable, non-monetary Benefits include: · Flexible time off – Take the paid time you need away from the office (with no specified limit) to manage your needs, recharge and refocus. · Career mobility – Our Be Boundless programs let you grow in your current role, move to new roles, and learn new skills with job training. · Learning and development – Take advantage of our robust catalog of career and skill development resources. · LivingWell – Our award-winning, holistic well-being program empowers you to eat smart, move more, focus on self-care, live well at work and improve your financial health. · Your Voice Matters – We frequently seek your feedback and use it to improve the associate experience and our company. · Frequent and transparent communication – We communicate often and transparently to keep you informed. · Diversity, equity and inclusion – We’re creating an inclusive, equitable culture that attracts and values diversity of thought, experience, background, skills and ideas to help associates thrive and contribute to the success of our business If you’re looking for some specifics around the enhancements to Compensation and Benefit offerings for 2022: · We've increased the compensation ratios of both hourly and salaried associates and increased our minimum wage across the organization for hourly associates. · We've eliminated the 30-day waiting period, so new hires can be covered in our group health insurance plan right away. · We've added 3 new additional paid holidays (MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, Veterans Day) bringing us to 9 holidays annually! These enhancements are in addition to our existing benefit offerings and reflect Bread Financial’s commitment to investing in our associates with the tools, resources, and opportunities to help them be successful and continue to grow their careers with us. Our associates can have confidence that our Leadership Team will continue to assess the market and the needs of our associates to ensure we offer competitive benefits and compensation.

A lot of bad, not a lot of good - Pricing Strategy Analyst Bread Financial Employee Review

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