Toxic culture and poor leadership - Manager ADP Employee Review

1.0
Jun 1, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits Medical office on site

Cons

Senior leadership doesn't know how to develop leaders because they don't cultivate leaders. They drive people with leadership capability to be micromanagers who focus on call metrics and adherence while purporting to focus on behaviors and quality. So when those managers eventually become leaders of leaders, they have no idea what they're doing and are simply Yes Men. You are 100% on your own for development and understanding the intricacies of the business. The culture is very toxic. Two of the managers in my team were very gossipy and we had Associates leave for that reason. They loudly discussed how dumb they thought other people in other departments were. Another time I watched my VP harangue a manager for 5-7 minutes (with the help of one of the gossipy managers who jumped right in) in front of everybody for her not attending the department softball games. Way to make that a "requirement!" Not only would that give this manager the impression their participation was required for her to be viewed as part of the team by her leadership IN the office, but it really imparted that to the Associates there to witness it. The HRBP is there 100% to protect the company, not the associates. I've seen this on multiple occasions. In one, a manager was given a verbal performance review that had her meeting and exceeding expectations. The next day, she was written up. There weren't any specifics for her to act on, basically a directive to do better. She tried on multiple occasions to meet with the HRBP and was told she could not do so without her direct supervisor. In another, a manager had the buy-in and instructions to move forward with a write-up for an associate who was underperforming. When she did so, the associate said it was racially motivated and the person who ended up on the write-up was the manager. It's hard to maintain high engagement with your team when they can so clearly see a different agenda being pushed from above you. I did my best and built a great team, but they were afraid when I left because they saw the leadership on other teams and how they were saying and doing two different things. They didn't blame those managers as much as they blamed the senior leadership they saw it coming from. It's like playing for two different teams trying to balance that. Not a lot of growth opportunities, especially if you're not in one of the "Win As One" locations built in one of the less costly areas of the country. There have been so many layoffs in the last 5 years it's hard to count. And that's just in my office. I know there were other waves of layoffs that have happened in other locations or other locations that have closed entirely, so it's hard to be certain of how much good talent has been let go. It seems pretty evident they're intent on getting rid of experienced associates and replacing them with new people. My guess is this is a cost-cutting measure because tenured associates are more highly compensated, but it's hurting service levels and damaging the business as well as the reputation of the company. Work-life balance can be tough on frontline associates, but it's a call so it's understandable on some level. That being said, even at the manager level it can be difficult. I don't think I ever saw my director work more than a standard work day, though all his direct reports were pulling 9 to 10 hour days every day.

avatar
ADP Response
8y
Thank you for the comprehensive and thorough review. We will share with our talent and HR leaders so your insights can be used to better improve our office culture and actions.

Explore other reviews about ADP

5.0
Jun 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

work life balance continued education opportunity

Cons

segmented internal departments some unreasonable client escalations

2.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Established company with a long history and relatively stable business operations. - Provides a sense of job stability compared to many organizations navigating rapid changes in the current AI-driven market. - Lower risk of frequent restructuring or large-scale layoffs than many high-growth technology companies. - Opportunity to work with experienced employees who have deep institutional and domain knowledge. - Predictable work environment that may appeal to individuals seeking long-term stability over rapid change. - Strong choice for professionals who value job security and a steady career path in an uncertain economic climate.

Cons

- Documentation is limited or rusted, and many operational processes lack clear runbooks or standardized procedures, making onboarding and troubleshooting more difficult than necessary. - If you're coming from a modern, fast-paced engineering environment, the organization may feel behind current industry practices and tooling. - Internal politics can sometimes outweigh technical merit or execution. - There are teams with very long-tenured employees where change and innovation can be difficult to drive. - Decision-making often involves multiple layers of approval, resulting in significant bureaucracy and slower execution. - Processes can move slowly, and collaboration is not always transparent across teams, leading to inefficiencies and occasional confusion around ownership. - In some areas, roles, responsibilities, and operational processes are not clearly defined, creating unnecessary chaos and inconsistent ways of working. - Engineering standards and best practices vary considerably between teams, making cross-team collaboration challenging. - Organizational change tends to happen slowly, which can be frustrating for employees who are focused on modernization, automation, and continuous improvement.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All