Welcome to Progressive! There is a lot to learn about your new employer and most likely
you will be most familiar with the human resources department as they handle your on-boarding
process, among other things.
The Human Resources department will be your one-stop-shop to becoming an established
employee and leading your growth and development. Traditionally, human resources are
responsible for hiring, training, determining pay, establishing benefits, conducting performance
evaluations, and granting accommodations.
At Progressive, the roles are a little different, your supervisor will be your liaison for most
things, but with our HR department, they will assign you to a department to work, then will
assign you to a training class and will help you to set up a schedule. One of their biggest roles is
handling special working accommodations and benefits. Progressive is a great company for
working with the employee’s individual needs and they are the best department to contact in the
case you need to modify your work conditions. Whether it be for a life-change, handing
paternity leave, modifying your schedule, or requesting benefits. HR has a whole website
dedicated to navigating benefits, as there are many! It will be important to schedule time to meet
with your HR coordinator to learn which ones you qualify for. One example is education, after a
year of employment you will qualify for tuition assistance which can be used to pay for classes
relating to your development at Progressive. Another useful benefit is parental leave, which
provides four weeks of parental leave to new parents, whether it be naturally, adoption, or
foster, you can use your leave all at once, or space it out as the need arises.
At Progressive, everyone is assigned a mentor, or as we call them “coaches” and they are
your guide as you start, as well as helping your development as you progress. Mentors will
introduce you better to the company and help you understand the culture of how we operate,
they will help you establish your career goals and best ways to achieve them and set you on your way. While in training still, mentors or “coaches” will work with you to fine-tune your job skills
to get you ready to operate on your own. Your relationship with your mentors will change as you
are fully trained. After training, your supervisor will become your coach, who will work often
with you individually to meet job objectives and will help you take charge of your personal and
career development.
Progressive is a champion at personal development and growth; it is vital to work with
your mentor to ensure you are getting the most of your time with Progressive and progressing as
needed. Some of the tools we use are time management tools to ensure you are satisfying all
your objectives to be available for your shift, monthly dashboards to track your progress with
job objectives as well as bi-annual reviews to establish overall progress and opportunity for
bonus and pay increases. In addition, your success in your job objectives even determines your
rank within the company, with evidently allows you to choose your schedule each year. With all
of the tools made available, you can meet with your mentor as little as twice a month, and
sometimes weekly if needed to help you develop and perform at your best. Your mentor will be
the best person to reach out to if you are having difficulty in your position or struggling with any
job objectives as they will work with you to establish small goals and a game plan to help you
succeed.
When I started a Progressive, after hitting the floor after training I was assigned to a
supervisor who became my mentor. Over the last year, she has helped me to become a Top
Performer at my company and has helped me to create a plan for where I want to be within the
company and how to get there. One of my goals is to become a blended agent with the company
who is licensed to sell insurance, but also services existing customers. We have worked long and
hard to make sure I am keeping my focus, fine-tuning my skills, and nipping all problems I have
before they become larger problems. I have struggled with one of my primary job objectives, which is to make additional offers for insurance to customers. Through diligently working with my supervisor to determine the root cause of my struggles and utilizing feedback, I was able to
lead my team in numbers many months.
In addition, we operate in teams with other members of the department and we often find
ways to have competitions with each other on job objectives and it helps offer some friendly
competition to boost performance, it has also become a great way to help each other on our
struggles and offer suggestions to help everyone succeed. Teams are a helpful resource available
and teamwork is encouraged to enable growth for you and the company.
