case manager

career counselor

developer

instructor

infrastructure engineer

Forward Service Corporation

You can have 2 15 minute breaks and 1 30 minute lunch. You will be lucky to have any of this. You will be so overwhelmed with the lack of training, lack of equipment and pressure to meet/exceed your goals you WILL live,breathe and sleep W2,Forward Service Corp. When you voice your concerns they are overlooked by inexperienced and uncaring managers who will tell you to meet your deadlines and get things done. While you struggle, get frustrated with yourself and cry almost daily you keep trying to meet your goals. You continue to ask for help and support and it is there and then it isn't there. You will get help, then later it will be used against you so you become afraid to ask for anymore help.Your told we are here to help, tell us what you need, you tell your team lead or program coordinator and it is explained you have gone through training and you should know the answer or find it yourself.When your case loads are large and you work in an office with only one worker or your in 2 offices like me, you do not get the help you need.Things change daily and this is case management,but when your boss says today do this and tomorrow you do this for the same case it's EXTREMELY hard to keep up with this. Your boss gives you the wrong information or they made the mistake, but can't admit they did. You keep going and giving it your all and then you see and hear co-workers, even bosses say negative things about the employees they work with or have working for them. Doors are open and comments are said that should not be said. Upper management listens to the team leads and program coordinators so once you are on their list of you not meeting deadlines and goals no matter how much you have tried to get help in reaching them you look like you don't care to your bosses bosses.You can't win, you are wrong and you will change if you want your job. If you work in the right region you will have great co-workers, that is the only positive,people with awesome hearts who really enjoy the program. Hardest part of job is your managers because it's impossible to learn all you need to do with the lack of training your given and when you ask for help you need to figure it out along with the high caseload,phone calls, paperwork, computer work,training,meeting and other agency meetings.Typical day at work is your too busy to eat and you will cry or have a melt down because of frustration you get for lack of support. Co-workers some are good some are not good. you get that anywhere, but the good ones are good and they have amazing hearts. You will learn the W2 Manual and procedures for the W2 program. You will learn daily, mainly by all the mistakes you make and the emails or phone calls you will get regarding your mistakes and you should know how to do this because of your new worker training. You will learn how to work with parent or parents to reach there goals by maneuvering through many screens in a computer program. The most enjoyable part of the job is if you have a heart and care the joy you bring to a family when they have reached their goals. It is a great program, but unfortunately the people who manage you hurt you by blaming you and not helping you like they claim to do.Good money and weekends off. it's unfortunate there is such a high turnover in employees, you would think at some point it would be questioned what are we as an agency failing to do. If the agency can't keep employees, how are workers suppose to help customers/families find and keep work, we do not even do this as an agency?

Forward Service in Dane County is a disturbing place to be an employee. 

A typical day is like a tornado. You have your job, the reports that need to be filed (COB) and then you have the managers who are cold, disrespectful  and incorrigible. Their sole role is to increase numbers on dashboards, 0 data on weekly reports, and the  number of jobs or placements on CSJ positions. 

The training is/ was- very poor. When I first started, 1 year and 3 months ago , I did not have training. I was given a computer, a user number and a site to go to do all my training on line. You are expected to complete within 6 weeks. Very archaic system that is still using DOS.  I had no support, was given a phone and told to look on public folders to find out about the business. 
 
During the first 6 months 8 employees were either let go or left on their own for a " flight  for life".  A supervisor was fired and walked out the door with a box , which appears to be the theme song there. They make you leave right away if they find out that you are leaving or if they decide to walk you out with a box ( if you are lucky).  

When I asked for help , there was no one to go to except for the county partners.  If it would not have been for them , I would not have made it through that system. 

My co workers were good people who were trying to survive a bad situation. Most people there are just there until they find their next job for themselves.

The expectations are great of the case manager, however not so much for lead staff.   The management does not follow through with the same expectations for themselves.  They constantly loose important request for participant , make inaccurate statements regarding reports, they are not accountable and reframe mistakes to be the case managers. 

If you are a self starter and can work without training: this is the place for you.  If you  are looking for praise, don't bother there is none. Unless  it is for the managers. 

Observation: poor management, shallow leads, and insidious leaders looking to fill their own pockets.  

The hardest part of my job was going every day, but I needed the money.

Working with people who really need help but have no idea how to request it. I enjoyed helping the customers.

Benefits: Insurance is very poor!   Still paying bills from when I worked there. 

You can not have your vacation days if you quit , leave or are fired. 
No support of CEO, higher up management or leads.

Forward Service in Madison- promotes special rules for regular  employees and no rules for others, and then, of course there are no rules for superiors! 

If you can work under a authoritative structure, like spread sheets, macro merge, dashboards and share point you will do well. 

However if you truly want to help people go to a homeless shelter or other public service agency.

My excitement quickly turned to dread by my second day on the job. The team lead at the time didn't show up for my second day or any day there after, so my training was doomed from the start. The New Worker Training is all computer based, but it didn't do me any good because it was down for 3 weeks & continued to have technical glitches after they got it up & running. Then it was just a rush to get it done on time to meet their deadline so they could give me my caseload. FSC is all about deadlines, & their training is TERRIBLE. After all the problems with their training system, & then having to rush through the rest of it, I was no where close to being ready for a caseload but what choice did I have? I didn't have a choice, & then they wonder why there is such a COMPLETE and TOTAL DISCONNECT between Case Managers & the lack of confidence to believe in themselves to do their jobs well. Maybe if we had proper training from day one, NOT day thirty, that would make a world of difference. Maybe if we had management who was approachable, & didn't make the office environment so uncomfortable & unbearable at times, that would change "team" morale. I'm not the only case manager who feels this way, I'm just the only one who has nothing to lose by voicing these concerns because I no longer work for the company. The demands put on case managers are absolutely ridiculous, they train you on nothing but expect you to be super humans & do everything & then some. However, I have to say that considering I interviewed for a Job Developer position & ended up in the Case Manager position against my better judgement, but in the better judgement of those who interviewed me, I did the best I could with the tools that were provided. Respect is EARNED not GIVEN, & I can't respect management who talks poorly of their own team members, disrespects them, or degrades them in emails to other members of management within the same team. There's no doubt in my mind that management at ALL levels needs some revamping. I've never worked for a company where I have been made to feel so stupid & inadequate, like what I was doing wasn't enough. I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone, so my advice to anyone thinking about working here...DON'T. You can do so much better, & for current employees, document everything & get out while you can. The stress & frustration is NOT worth getting SICK over!!! If it wasn't for my coworkers, I never would have survived as long as I did.

The job itself was rewarding and I was able to connect many people in need with resources that would help them out of poverty.  Working directly with people in need was probably the best part about my job and seeing positive changes in client lives is what motivated me to work there for so long. 

The company's mission statement provided my inspiration and the CEO is brilliantly smart and passionate with tons of good ideas. However, there is a huge disconnect between the mission/CEO and regional middle management. 

First of all, there are way too many layers of supervision in this company that create a sense of alienation for an employee and which also gives the feeling of micromanagement.  It's not uncommon for the chain of command for one employee to look like the following:  team lead, assistant program manager, program manager, regional manager, director of programs and then CEO.  Concerns or complaints from employees never reach the CEO and are usually lost somewhere in the middle of that chain of command. Middle management assigns massive amounts of work with short deadlines and little direction and use fear as their motivator. When an employee voices why an assigned objective may not be able to be met, the management belittles employees instead of helping them.  "I don't want to hear excuses, only solutions" is a common middle management exclamation and they are quick to pass to buck to employees when something goes wrong and always take the credit when things go right.  

Did you ever work for a company where middle management had such little trust in their remote workers that they would call their employees at 8:01 or 4:29 to ask a non-urgent question just to see if they were working their full shift?  Lower management not only does this frequently but they are encouraged by management to do so.

I'm sure there is going to be a counter response to this review stating middle management is good, middle management has great intentions....but remember this: there is no excuse for them making fun of their workers behind closed doors and saying disrespectful statements about workers such as "oh my god, she's crazy!"  This behavior was reported to upper management but somehow never made it up the chain of command to the CEO. And that is how I lost my passion working for the mission, left this company and found a better job.

Forward Service is a very poor place to work.  The turn over rate is astounding. They have found a way to make the "numbers look good" on "reports" by having case managers manipulate data and clients so they can keep their contract with the state, however, the picture they have painted is a false one.  In addition, the pressure that is put on the employees is unbelievable.  And the case managers are given no support whatsoever by neither the team lead or the program coordinator.  They operate their program (at least the W2 program and it's leadership) like a prison camp, and this is no exaggeration whatsoever.  There is no flexibility, no ability to work outside your 40 hour work week (even unpaid!) in order to keep up with the very high work load and demands that are placed on you.  You are unable to flex any time off from work, you will NEVER get breaks, will barely get a lunch, will be micromanaged beyond what you can imagine, will be written up if you bring up any issues that you know are wrong, unlawful, or even just unfair.  There is a reason that in the past year the W2 program has lost 10 case managers in Dane County alone, and just prior to that the entire W2 case manager team quit.  The leadership likes to now say that the program is not the same as it was a year ago.  However, it is exactly the same, only they have forced the case managers to take on extreme pressure and unethical work practices in order to make leadership look good.  Case managers for W2 cry weekly if not daily from the pressure, work load, NO SUPPORT whatsoever, and cruel and inhumane supervisory treatment they are put under.  Most everyone is looking for a new job and for good reason.  The program itself is a good one, and the case managers in general are very good and hard working people who care deeply for their clients.  Leadership on the other hand cares nothing for their employees or clients and care about the bottom line - claims, looking good on reports, and money.  They seriously need to lose their contract because despite the numerous complaints to the regional director and human resources, nothing is being done in Dane county to correct the problem.

W2 is a GREAT program. However based on the agencies that have contracts FORWARD SERVICE IS NOT A COMPANY YOU SHOULD WORK FOR. Top managers need to take a look at who they hire because the lack of support from them and the mistreatment you are given are the reasons workers are fired or leave. In the last 15 months we have had 3 full time FEPS and none are there any longer.  W2 is to help individuals in the community reach their employment goals. How can CUSTOMERS IN THE COMMUNITY BE ON W2 for years and still not be working? How is it that the FEP job  has been posted 3 or more times in 15 months and no one from W2 has been trained to fill that position? Forward Service is contracted to help customers reach their employments goals, yet not one customer can be a FEP? Not all regions are bad or ran poorly, but there is a significant amount of issues across the board. Training is REALLY poor and your given to many cases to be on your own with little to no training. Typical day at work is being stressed and worried about messing up because of the lack of training. I learned that the STATE OF WISCONSIN established this program with the right ideas to help people, but the agencies who have these contracts need more monitoring and FSC needs to hold the RIGHT people accountable. Co-workers who you train with are nice and wanting to make a difference in the lives of others. Hardest part was lack of support and keeping my mouth shut when my managers acted as if they were wonderful and did so much for me. I was drowning in a mess left from the previous worker and it looked as if that person was left in the same way.  Most enjoyable day was the day I was called and offered the position. I thought this was going to be my career, but unfortunately my thoughts of helping others quickly changed after seeing what was given for training and what the expectations on me were.

Reviews on indeed are accurate of how the case managers/feps are treated. The majority of complaints are from the case manager/feps who were fired or left on their own do to the mistreatment they received from their team leads and program coordinators. Majority of employees needed are case managers/feps. I see that the director of ops posted their delight of FSC so that means they also read the previous post. I hope that individual takes it serious that many former/current employees have been verbally assaulted by these people and upper management has allowed this to happen. You may not condone this but it's happening just like work that is taken home by employees so they do not lose their jobs because they have no time during the work week to complete their work even after not taking lunch or breaks. Individuals hired are good employees and they work harder than they ever had to before trying to prove themselves, but once your team lead and pc have it out for you, your fired for poor performance. You shouldn't trust your co-workers even when you are friendly outside of work because team leads and program coordinators have their favorite employees turn you in for everything basically they are personal spies. You literally walk on eggs shells and you will at some point need medicated to work there because of the stress your put under. You keep hearing how management wants to work with you, if that was true there wouldn't be so many negative reviews. It's like being in high school working there. My suggestion to anyone working there now is to document everything and if your thinking about working there ask them about there culture and employee turn over rate or how many times your job has been posted in the last year an why people are being fired or leave.

The name of the game in FSC is to work there for the experience and then get the heck out before two years.  After two years you will aquire a target on your back.  The job is great the first year.  After the first year you will be the "experienced" worker there.  This last November FSC did a purge for their loyal workers, so beware to those who apply.  
After year one you will be asked to do two jobs at once with no hope of advancement.  You will then notice that you will be asked to do things that will reflect on you personally.  For example I was asked to lie to Partner Agencies and go behind their back.  Way to keep it classy! 
 I also had an incident with a job site, a client, and the police.  Management would not even look at me when I asked for help.  I actually got wrote up for asking too many questions to management about this matter.   This was placed on my six month report as something I needed to fix!  Good Times!  I actually had to solve the matter myself.  I was later told to concel the incident by not using the worksite.  
For all people applying please enjoy your first year.  I did.  I loved the clients and I loved the co-workers.  It really is a team-building enviroment when you have to keep guessing who is next and how to stay ahead of the game.  I challenge anyone who is reading this to contact FSC and ask what the turnover is like!  Just see if they can look you in the eye.

Job Work /Life Balance------There isn't any, no flexibility. There is no life, all you will do is work and probably even bring your work home to do on your days off due to no time in office to complete.
Compensation/Benefits------Pay sounds good, but once you see how much stress, lack of support and work you do on work time and off time your not making to much money. BENEFITS are average.
Job Security/Advancement---There is opportunity here. You need to keep your mouth shut about anything negative or you will lose your job. They say tell us how you feel or your concerns, but if you do your fired. You want to get promoted do not complain and pretend you love it and when you are mistreated by your boss just take it and do not stand up for yourself. This is no joke you complain you are out. Basically be an uncaring cut throat and you will be promoted.
Management-------POOR, they will cover their behinds at all cost. always good at saying the right things, but not fixing anything. The problems have been going on for years as you can see by the reviews.
Job Culture------Make FSC money even though you really are not helping the customers. They provide a quick fix, such as a minimum wage job supporting a family of 3 so FSC get paid for your working. 
-----All management needs to be changed. I personally like the CEO, but she isn't management material when these issues have been brought to her attention and HR attentions and NOTHING changes. It starts at the top and trickles down. they all cover for eachother.

Forward Service is hands down the worst company I've ever been an employee of...I currently review state law and review agency's to see that they are in compliance. FSC does not reflect the values or morales I have and I'm glad to no longer be employed by them. I would tell people who work there to leave and anyone considering a job there to look elsewhere. Training is extremely poor and you do not get the support you need for the heavy caseload you will be given. Although management provides lip service to you as if they care they do not. The managers will keep track of what you ask, how you ask and when they are ready to fire you they will bring it all up toward your poor performance. Managers only know what you tell them, so best advice share no negativity to your team lead or your program coordinator regarding your training, your job or frustration because when you do you are fired. All employees I've encountered who have quit or are fired are really good people and wanted to work at forward service, but because they discussed their concerns were labeled as not liking forward service, but reality is managers are worthless. They micro manage you and you will not get or take breaks and you will work after hours with no pay because you can't meet expectations and you want your job.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Case manager 6 salaries reported	$24.06 per hour
Career counselor 4 salaries reported	$1,038 per week
Developer 10 salaries reported	$22.10 per hour
Instructor 2 salaries reported	$53,000 per year
Infrastructure engineer 38 salaries reported	$86,150 per year

Working at Forward Service Corporation: Company Overview and Reviews

Forward Service Corporation

Forward Service Corporation Ratings

Popular jobs at Forward Service Corporation

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected