Pros
I've been with Principal for 2 years after spending the first almost 15 years of my career at other firms-- both large and small-- and Principal is right up there with the nation's best places to work in my opinion. *Competitive Salary *Exceptional Financial Benefits (401k matching AND employer funded pension AND personal finance group classes/ 1:1 consulting for you and your spouse including a review of your budget and financial webinars for parents etc) *Flexibility + Work Life Balance (you do have to use your emotional intelligence though when you work and not just leave it all up to your employer/ leader) *Supportive + Caring Community of other Principal employees and leadership *EXCELLENT place for working mother's to thrive. Lots of women in leadership roles and probably more women then men at the company overall *Career Opportunities & Long-Term Upward Mobility: I feel like I could have 5 different careers here all under one umbrella
Cons
*Imperfect People *Some leaders are stronger or more forward thinking then others *Things can take a long time to move forward because the company is generally risk averse-- which is likely what makes them an ethical and financially prudent organization-- so leaders and employees need to be aware of this and remove road blocks whenever possible *Sense of entitlement for those who are tenured or local to Des Moines sometimes. This will be common in any company that's been around for such a long time (Principal is 140+ years old) with employees or leaders inadvertently being attached to the "old" way of doing things. For example, there are so many tenured employees that have been here for decades that some are innocently ignorant/ out of touch with how the job market has shifted and changed. They lament about specific kinds of benefits offerings they had 20 or 30 years ago and it's not realistic for Principal-- or any company that wants to maintain relevance for the future and not become obsolete or bankrupt-- to revert back to "the good old days" when it doesn't serve the business or the current/ future workforce well. Not A "Pro" Just Yet (But Getting There) I'm a black employee that was not born in Des Moines, Iowa. The company is full of extremely kind, generous, thoughtful people who genuinely want to help people-- all people-- be successful in their careers. I can, however, tell that there is a lack of exposure to people of different cultures and ethnicities in conversation with some leaders. But as the company continues to become less of a local powerhouse only recognized in Des Moines to a global employer with a growing reputation-- we're attracting a more diverse talent group and thanks to our inclusion efforts we're getting better retaining that talent group too and become more competitive in terms of diversity of thought and how we serve our customers.
