Pros
Power or greed driven managers with friends at SIX might find an easy job and an attractive compensation package.
Cons
I am grateful to Kununu for creating transparency regarding company cultures. I don’t regret any second I have worked for SIX and I wish my peers there well, however, I can’t imagine to work for SIX again. I hope to give valuable insight to you as a job seeker, so that you find a company matching your expectations. At SIX I perceived the following - managers are mainly motivated by power and greed. Some also by aggressiveness. - Many employees are frustrated. Some have a ‘victim-trait’ in their personality. As people, most employees are very friendly and honest, making them nice colleagues. - SIX makes a lot of verbal promises to attract employees. The reality is different. If you are told that most probably you will be promoted after a year, or you can take on a management position, or that SIX supports a training as a reward for a very good performance, or that bonuses are in a certain range, it has no meaning. Make sure that the development plan is black-on-white and SMART in your contract. Else just forget it. - I often heard that compensations are very diverse and women earn much less than men in comparable positions - The organization is very hierarchical. All decision power remains at n-3 or higher. The decision processes are extremely lengthy. - The SIX culture strongly supports a power driven management style. Some specific examples are: - MBOs are a pure top town process. Managers are not reviewed by employees. - SIX employees get low ratings in MBOs. This has the following two benefits for power driven managers: a) SIX can issue lower-than-average reference letters. This intimidates employees and makes it more difficult for to leave the firm. b) Only small parts of the bonus need to be shared with employees - HR business partners are the partners of the managers. Employees do not know their relevant HR business partner. Employees who contact HR for any reason, are considered “high maintenance”. - Internal changes of position are rarely supported. Managers are informed if employees look at internal changes. - Goal setting typically takes place around August. I have also experienced a full-one-year delay, so the goals were directly recycled for the next January. SIX is currently undergoing a big shake-up. Potentially things change for the better. However, since the transformation is orchestrated by a number of major consulting firms and I hear that organization is defined first, without any defined targets or strategy, I suggest that job seekers ask their questions regarding targets, strategy and their individual goals before deciding to join SIX.
