Disclaimer: This may seem as a disgruntled employee's review, however, all the information provided is in fact very valid, pertinent information provided by a former employee (of 2 years), who remained consistently successful as a top performer. Most of the information disclosed by the owner in his previous glassdoor response to the initial review, was not only false but a perfect example of how he uses bullying and manipulation as an oppressive tactic with his employees. I felt the need to accurately inform any possible applicant the truths and what they will have to succumb to as an employee of Uniquity Financial, LLC. Although my name is not provided, this will not be anonymous due to the fact this office is very small. The owner, unsuccessfully, made an effort to contact and coerce the initial glassdoor reviewer, via Facebook, to make changes to their post against Uniquity Financial.
Background:
Immoral, unethical, unprofessional, illegal, and unrealistic are a only a few words I can use to describe Uniquity Financial, LLC. The company is not woman owned, although that is one of the first things you will hear and read. Uniquity Financial consists of a joint partnership of a husband and wife, with her name being on the paperwork for the sake of reaping the benefits of a minority owned business. She is completely unaffiliated and uninvolved with business practices. The owner of Uniquity Financial, LLC is a very manipulative, insulting individual. I feel it is important to emphasize his toxic role in the office culture, because he is directly involved on a daily basis with office functions. He does make an effort to convey an open-minded mentality when dealing with problems around the office, although his actions and responses are quite the opposite. He relies on degrading, humiliating, discrediting and belittling as a way to control his employees. Most employees are very submissive and generally do not "rock the boat" out of fear of becoming a target. Most feel stuck in their situation due to the higher pay rate than most companies in the general area. A few, to include myself, would speak up when something unethical or illegal would happen. Typically, the confrontation would occur in a professional manner, behind closed doors during a meeting with just the office manager or owner. On occasion, the owner would welcome feedback during our daily morning meetings, then would shoot down any opposing opinions or input, then would make it appear as though the discussion was completely out of line and unprofessional. I, on a few occasions, was specifically advised to suppress any doubts/concerns of unethical and illegal activity, in order to deflect and prevent others from developing any concerns.
Office Culture:
This company is approximately 4 years old. The management is compiled of the "originals". The majority of supervisors have been promoted to their position by default based off of superiority or nepotism. Most of the supervisors have no experience in human capital, resulting in an outdated, narrow minded, "do as I say because I'm your boss, that's why" mentality. The issue with this mentality, besides the obvious, is that most of them are unprofessional and immature with nobody to hold them accountable for their behaviors. There are no checks and balances, any attempt to implement accountability becomes a fight, ultimately resulting in some type of punishment. The punishments revolve around business inventory. This is a collections agency. Now, they don't like people to know this. They use words like "borrower counselor" and tell you you help people get into programs and lead them to financial freedom! All in all, this is a call center, you sit at a desk, glued to your phone and make cold calls. If you are heard having any length of conversation during business hours with a coworker, you are chastised in the morning meeting the next day. Uniquity has no formal office policies. Therefore, whatever the supervisors decide for that moment, is how is goes. If you do something a supervisor all of a sudden doesn't like (for personal reasons more than professional reasons), you are then punished and it is all of a sudden a "violation of office policy". On several occasions, employees have requested a copy of an office handbook due to the abuse of power by a few supervisors. Nothing has been provided. You get the picture, the higher the expectations of an actual, professional office, the more likely you become a target by the supervisors.
Training:
There is a very skewed definition of collection laws and violations, many of which are considered "ok" to bend. It has been encouraged to "do what you have to do", however, if at any point some type of attention is brought to something that had been done, it becomes an individual consequence. At that point, the company claims ignorance to the actions of the individual, leaving the employee open to disciplinary actions. This can become problematic, specifically when this company prides themselves on hiring individuals with NO collection background. Uniquity has no formal training. You are hired, complete piles of new employee paperwork, listen to a few people on the phone, then you're off and running. The company Uniquity is contracted by, requires quarterly training, which consists of reading through slide shows that emphasize phone etiquette, customer service, privacy laws and program specific knowledge. The training barely touches the surface of collection laws. I couldn't count how many times I, unknowingly, violated and heard others violate collection laws, generally finding out after lawsuits.
Compensation:
The company advertises the potential to earn this ungodly amount of money in bonuses. This can be true! There are a few things you have to do before you get to this point. First, it takes approximately a year to reach earning potential. That is not completely determined by Uniquity. Uniquity is a subcontractor. Secondly, you have to watch your inventory very closely. Although this office is not portrayed to be a 'dog eat dog' office, most employees (generally influenced by a supervisor) steal your money! I would leave at the end of my shift one day, and go back to work the next with several of my accounts missing. This happened very frequently to many employees. Many commission based positions have "the early bird gets the worm" mentality. That is not the same for this line of work. Although it is a collections agency, the management has made it very clear, the company does not 'condone' stealing accounts from co-workers. However, it happens frequently, typically by managers/supervisors or whomever their buddy is at the time. Don't bother addressing the issue, just refer back to the topic of accountability for an idea of how things are handled. Believe me, I have tried! Next thing you know, you're more concerned with sifting through hundreds of inventory on a daily basis and writing your numbers down constantly to ensure you're not losing paying accounts, or accounts that are in the process of paying. Another very important thing you should know about your bonus, the owner changes the commission shares, makes adjustments to discount himself when share schedules aren't benefiting him, and they keep excessive goals for employees. What that means, you're penalized for not reaching goal. So if the goal is unobtainable by the inventory that has been selected for you (by a biased supervisor), then you do not receive all of your bonus. The key word is you can EARN these bonuses, which are generally yanked right out from under you for various, fabricated, reasons and goes right into the pocket of the greedy owner. When making the adjustments, the owner makes every employee sign an informal commission adjustment form, of course ensuring the verbiage, "Uniquity Financial, LLC is an at will employer", just to make sure you understand if you don't like it, leave.
Morale:
I could honestly go on and on, of course that is not what this forum is for. This review only covers about a quarter of the issues (I do not think addressing the illegal activity publicly is appropriate) I encountered over two years with this company. I am not disgruntled, as I left on my own for a better, professional, less negative lifestyle. However, the turnover rate is quite significant. The company (when I left) had approximately 15 employees. I started with the company having 11 employees to include myself. In the two years as an employee, I learned of the former employees, as well as new hires. When I left, 7 out of 21 employees had quit, 2 were let go and 2 just stopped coming back to work. Statistically speaking, that is approximately half of the company's employees. Many are still looking for a way out that will not create a financial hardship for their families.
