High turnover, toxic work environment - Associate District Manager ADP Employee Review

1.0
24 Sept 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexibility. If they like you and you do well, there is potential in moving up. Good stepping stone for other future sales opportunities. Having this job on your resume will open doors.

Cons

ADP, at least in the Chicago office region was not great. When I first started they prided themselves on work-life balance and having a positive work culture. They trick you with happy hours on Fridays and allowing you to leave early, but that got taken away from us real quick. During trainings they talk about "screw work-life balance be here at 7am and leave at 7pm." I don't think you pay me enough to work that much even though I am so stressed about this job and constantly looking at my phone 24/7 and dreaming about work. When you don't feel well, they don't seem to care about your health unless you're putting numbers up, then you're free to do whatever you want. For those who are struggling, they are met with the cold shoulder and managers who try to manage them by fear. Instead of being genuine and sincerely concerned about wanting to help them succeed and be better. It's like the managers hate you if you don't hit your quota 'cause you're not making them money. They forget what it's like to have your salary, your bills and wanting really bad to do well and putting all this work and getting no help or no results. I wish I was doing nothing, because that's what they think you're doing instead of creating relationships and trust since this is a referral base only position. Inside sales works against us and has more opportunity and is able to steal deals, which happens often. You're given a territory that doesn't make sense and they take away certain relationships that you work so hard on and give them to someone else. Then you have to start all over and they expect you to continue putting high numbers up when they give you a brand new territory, new bankers and new CPA's to work with. Management claims to understand how difficult it is to build relationships with these partners and know it requires them to trust us before they refer but then think we aren't doing our job and/or gets upset when they ask us everyday "did you pull any leads" and you tell them no. There is a 6 month audit that you don't have control over. So let's say you sign a business up around the holidays where they most likely will have a lot of employees and then 6 months later they aren't paying as many employees anymore, you take a negative in your number. Battling a negative for the month and weren't able to get out of it even though you sold? Forget that commission, you get to pay them back instead. The deals are small anyways and the commission structure is absurd. For a Fortune 250, 14B dollar company they can afford to pay their reps livable wages. Isn't ADP an HCM company? We are supposed to sell solutions to business owners so that they can hire and retain top talent, yet ADP can't do that themselves? That's really confusing. Why would bankers or CPA's want to refer and trust us to teach their clients what this company can't do to for their own employees? Does that make us liars? I wouldn't be able to stand behind a product where the company themselves doesn't practice what they preach. When the office feels the stress of hitting quotas everyone gets micromanaged, which is all the time these days. The culture of the office has gone from slim to none. If you do not sleep, eat, breath ADP by choice, not because you're stressed you're about to get yelled at, then they'll try pushing you out because you're not worth it to them. You are nothing more than a number. Of course sales is a numbers jobs, but don't you think if the reps are happy, loved their job and didn't feel like they were being treated poorly they would gladly want to work from 7am-7pm because they were given positive reinforcement and felt appreciated? Instead of highlighting those who do well, they highlight those who are struggling. Kind of like bullying. You have to announce to everyone that you had a bad a week and then your name is highlighted for everyone to see if you haven't submitted a deal in a while and then you walk out feeling like a loser. Which isn't a motivating factor for most, in fact, it is very discouraging and implements fear into the individuals. The office is suffocating and very toxic creating a hostile work environment. That is not healthy for anyones mental health, and that is probably why there is such high turn over. Beware of the ADP koolaid. It's like tequila, a little rough, can be fun for a while, but at the end of the day full of regret and bad choices, just say no.

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ADP Response
6y
Thank you for bringing these situations to our attention and we are sorry to hear about this experience. ADP prides itself on creating and maintaining a workplace where employees work in a professional environment and are treated fairly. Your feedback into your role and your experiences are valuable and we welcome the opportunity to learn more. If you would like to share additional information so that we can look into this, please contact our Associate Relations team at hr.associate.relations@adp.com.

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5.0
11 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

- Great Experience - A work culture like no other - Benefits - Uncapped commission - WFH 2 days a week - Sales Training - Room for career growth quickly if you excel in your role.

Cons

- Need extremely high output and work ethic beyond what you think you are capable of doing to succeed - High turn over

1.0
4 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Resume Gold! Having the name on your resume opens doors because people know you can survive a high-volume, high-complexity environment. That’s where the benefits end.

Cons

Pay: It’s a joke. They expect specialized, expert-level work and deep tax knowledge for a base salary that is way below the market. They use the big name as an excuse to underpay you. Work/Life Balance: You are never truly off. To hit the impossible quotas, people are forced to work off the clock just to keep up. Management knows this is the only way the work gets done, but they look the other way so they don't have to address the workload. Management: They are manipulative and not leaders. Instead of helping with the workload, they use moving goalposts and vague promises of growth to keep you running. There is no advocacy for employees. Make sure to get everything in writing. Some get amnesia. Quantity over Quality: It’s a sweatshop for data. You’re forced to rush through complex setups just to hit a Go-Live count to appease Sales. Accuracy is key, but it often takes a backseat to volume, which is a nightmare for anyone who cares about doing the job right. No Room to Grow: There is no real way to move up. ADP is a lateral move company, and that’s only if your management doesn’t stand in your way and prevent you from leaving for another internal team.

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ADP Response
2w
Hello and thank you for providing your insight into your experience working for ADP. ADP prides itself on creating and maintaining a workplace where employees work in a professional environment and are treated fairly. We appreciate your feedback and advice and we would like to hear more about your specific situation so that we can review your concern completely. Please contact our Associate Relations team at 1-877-878-4811 or hr.associate.relations@adp.com
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