BBVA reviews

BBVA is a national bank masquerading itself as a international player. An institution cannot be international if Upper and Middle management are all Spanish with little experience working overseas. A politically driven place where work and getting the job done falls second to one's own personal agenda. If one doesnt make alliances with the right people from the start opportunities for career development are few. During my first few weeks I was told that as a foreigner to harbour any ambitions to break into management. Being naive it took me a couple of years to realise it. Few foreigners last more than 2 years. BBVA has the knack to prevent one exceeding and achieving personal goals by dragging and constantly beating them down. Communication from the top down is the worst I have ever seen to the point that a new hire could have been interviewed and be sitting with you on your team without anything been said. BBVA's relationship with its staff is the ultimate donkey carrot adage. Althoguh recently BBVA has tried to improve fairness in the distribution of annual renumeration , management keep the lion's share with the remainder being divvied out without thought to other staff. BBVA management apart from being undynamic makes strategic decisions and thinks about the consequences afterwards. It is not unusual for decicions to be reversed or not followed to completion. BBVA tries hard to keep up the the giant Santander mirroring their actions. BBVA is a follower not a leader. I have never worked in a place with more dissatisfied and unhappy people. In short if you are a foreigner contemplating employment, don't entertain it.

Unfortunately strategy (defined by Spanish-minded bankers sitting 4,000 miles away) changes every 8 months... therefore it is impossible to develop a career away from BBVA's motherland. Junior staff usually leaves as soon as possible and only those tied by a visa to BBVA stay around more than 12 months. No training whatsoever, no career development. International network does not really change anything, as the bank is actually a federation of local banks scattered around Latin America and Europe. Compensation is really weak, with salary increases in the 2% range.