funeral director

staff associate

embalmer

service advisor

sales

Northstar-Memorial-Group

I was excited to begin my journey at this beautiful establishment but that was all in my head apparently...this place is the worst. There is no team atmosphere even though management says there is. People are awful to one another especially the family service counselors, that environment is down right hostile... they have attitudes with clients, speak in a harsh tones, yell at eachother in the lobby, just very ratchet behavior that no one does anything about so they run a muck. The GM's main concern is appearance and lets the public run train on him, he's a joke. His whole management team talks sh** about him behind his back. The location manager is worse and holes herself in her office all day with hardly any help to you, but says she's available to help. When situations arise, like 2 workers calling out at the same time she makes you figure it out instead of her stepping up to the plate. Oh and you have to do so much admin work because the admin complain and whine so much that you end up doing almost everything, don't complain either because nothing will come out of it but more work for you. The workers who have been there the longest hate it there and it shows. I've never worked for a manager who wasn't ready to help, stating she does not have a license to meet with families and its "not her job" she has other things that's her job, that may be so, then why is she the location manager number 1 and number 2, you don't need a license to make arrangements in the state of CA...
I felt like they were not supportive, I felt like there was way too much pressure.  You end up suffering from too much stress. There were too many families and not enough counselors so you worked all the time but they would come down on you for overtime...no happy medium. So in order to get things done and not have problems with services I didn't log all my hours in, but it didnt matter something would happen and all that work went for nothing most of the time. And do not make 1 mistake with these over demanding families who know how to get everything they want out of this place because management will come down on you. The GM is very micromanagy and hovers over you, like that helps.
The worst mistake I made was working at this establishment. No support, toxic environment, clients are way too demanding...all in all I see why this place always had a bad reputation and continues to do so. There's a very high turn over rate and no one's there to help each other out, its a dog eat dog atmosphere where your coworkers set you up for failure so they could shine. There's no training here, just an awful place to work. Oh and since they pay you decent they expect you to be a workhorse, you have to print all your own material for services with machines that break down and can't handle the load, plus as I touched on you have more and more admin work. Just one huge set up for failure.

There are copious employees that are very intelligent, dedicated, compassionate, loyal, and friendly inwardly towards the employees and outwardly towards their clients.  Our upper management is 1,000,000,000% committed to truly helping employees and helping grieving families. Because of this if you want a participation paycheck or you just want to coast, then you will most likely not be happy.  This will be your own doing not because someone said something to you.  You will just feel it and adjust to being a service to others or continue to be someone that is a service to self and unaware of why you are not happy.  

 I worked here in the beginning when it was basically a start-up - I came back 13 yrs. later and WOW seriously WOW if I started a company this is exactly what I would want it to look like!!!   

The essence of this company...Passion, Accountability, Courage and Transparency (PACT); Care, Comfort, Plan and more. 

Mark my words, this company NorthStar and it's leadership is constantly saying NO to the status quo with improvements for employees, clients and business.  Ok yes every business should do this to stay relevant, but recently NorthStar at least here in central FL made a change regarding individual firms.  I am not going to elaborate, but I know if they fully commit to this they will be, if they are not already, the death care industry model for the World.  

So, if you want to be proud of where you work and you like being acknowledged immediately by other employees and receive personal emails from the top executives recognizing your inputs then apply to NorthStar.  Where everyone knows your name!



This is never anything I thought I would, but now, I can't imagine doing anything different.  This career/industry is full of compassionate people, or maybe it is just the people I work with.  Typical day starts around 8:30 if you are in "rotation".  You help families make funeral and cemetery arrangements for their ones who have passed or helping them make arrangements ahead of time.  It can very draining helping grieving families, there are some tough days.  Mostly though, I find it very rewarding, both emotionally and financially.  You have to care for other people and truly want to make a difference in their lives.  My coworkers are great, yeah,  we fight like family sometimes, but that is because we are close.  The management team is super supportive, maybe a little reactionary at times.  I know that if I need anything to serve a family, they will and have come through for me.   The hardest part of the job is all the paperwork.  There are a lot of forms and everything must be filled out properly.   The thing that I enjoy the most is helping families and knowing that I am making a difference.  Helping them by making pre-arrangements for themselves so their loved ones won't have to be burdened with it or guiding them through the process once a loved has passed away.  It is an awesome responsibility and I have never worked at a place that has cared so much for their customers or their employees.  We frequently get appreciation lunches, gift cards or even hand written thank yous.

Starting the work day off knowing I am going to help someone make difficult decisions and making a lasting imprint on their heart gives me a sense of accomplishment and meaning to my life. I have learned that serving others above all else with an open heart and empathy makes me a better person. 
Working in an environment where everyone comes together from management, sales, operations and maintenance makes it truly a place you want to come to work- sounds corny but when the right team is in place it's fun to work! 
Each location has the ability to work independently, that really sets NorthStar apart from other corporations I have worked at and gives the employees ownership and pride on doing what's right for the company, the location and our families.
The only Con I really have is that the paperwork is redundant and a lot of changes all at once, coming from every department it is often too much too fast, leaving room for confusion.
 The absolute best part of the job is Serving my internal and external families!! 
I worked in the Funeral Home from 2016-2020 then the cemetery from 
2021- Current, there is so much opportunity for advancement, growth and just taking the time to find what role is best for you.

There's people in this profession that have a call to funeral service at a young age, and there's others, like me, that found this profession later in life.  I changed my career 8 years ago to come work at NorthStar because of the dedicated professionals I have the privilege of working with everyday.  This is a place where people came to work when no one else would during COVID to carry out our mission to Care for the deceased, Comfort the living, and help families Plan for the future. It is not an easy job, but it is a rewarding career - one where you can make a big difference in another humans' life - helping them through one of the worst things they've ever gone through.  I love working for this company.  What separates NorthStar from others in this business is a dedication to our people, and a true entrepreneurial spirit.  It's the closest you will get as a General Manager, Location Manager, or Sales Manager to running your own business.  The Sales Manager and General Manager are partners in running the business which creates healthy conflict for the betterment of the location, and that structure is emulated up the chain.  This is a place where people with passion who are willing to hold themselves and those around them accountable to high expectations thrive.  

I worked at NorthStar for almost 4 years from 2017 to 2021. There is some truth to the negative IT department reviews, but over the last 4 years there has been a lot of improvement.

There is still a need to improve further, and I am not sure if the root cause of several issues is a leader, the department, or a larger company culture issue. From experience, I can tell you that NorthStar cares and if you report/escalate an issue they will address it to improve or resolve the issue.

With that said, I think NorthStar is a great place to work, provides many opportunities to learn and grow, promotes internally when possible, and most importantly acknowledges and rewards hard work. As a company, it cares about its' employees and treats them as "family". 

I am grateful for the opportunity and do not regret working there. If you want to work in the IT department, you will be most successful if you like being challenged, have high stress tolerance, and have a lot of patience/persistence. This is because of the workload, because everything seems to be given top priority, and because of varying degrees of micromanagement (although this has improved a lot recently).

I learned that the people who have been working there for years will not leave. I also found out that they hire people from time to time to get fresh leads.
If you don't figure out how to make appointments,  and make sells, and obtain leads you won't stay very long. Managers are rude.
The new people get all of the problems left behind from other members of the group. 
I enjoyed hearing family and friends talk about their loved ones.
The group is on rotation to receive the customers walking in, and calling in.
You must figure out how sell plots and funeral services. People get upset when we call them to try to schedule them to come in for a tour in order to get them to buy packages. 
Some have had the police called "claiming that Flora Haven is harassing them over the phone.
You must call the same phone numbers everyday unless you figure out how to get new leads...
This is why Northstar Memorial Garden group hires new people to use them to get new leads.
After that you are disposed. 
Managers, and trainers are mean, rude, and very aggressive. 
They don't know how to train properly,  nor do they care, because they know they won't keep you.


Over all pleased with the type of work that i did for 14 years.

I appreciated and honored the time that i spent assisting my clients and their family members. My job allowed me to display compassion and professionalism while dealing with families during some of the most difficult times of their lives. A typical day at work involved setting up sales appointments, followup calls. I engaged in incoming calls or walkins from persons who had just experienced the death of a loved one so exhibiting compassion, professionalist and patience was extremely critical..
I also educated persons who walked up to the counter or called in seeking information about pre-arranging for themselves or other family members. Being patient, concise, friendly yet keeping a businesslike manner in the workplace ensured my success in making  appointments to close the sale.

Serving my clients was the most satisfying and enjoyable part of my career

Start work before 8 am is a typical duty day.  Meeting client families at need and pre-need arrangements. The days is suppose to end at 5 pm but while there are client families to be serve of course we will have to stay and finish the arrangement.

Management is not a supportive of their staff.  Not caring to both classified, sales and administration staff.  In the last two years I was with the company they had 'fired" about 18 or more employees.
I was not fired but I did resign due to obvious reasons I have to withheld for now.

Most employees are friendly.  It is just sad that when someone speaks up or say something directly to management that is not something that they want to hear.  They would not do anything about it.

It was hard for me to leave this job, as I  enjoyed doing this job and had been doing this for several years.  I had enjoyed helping and serving my client families. And this  was a  very rewarding and fulfilling for me.

The Restland location is a HR nightmare. There is always an investigation of some sort that is never properly handled. Good people leave because of the incompetent General Manager who uses the people below him to blame all problems on. Even though HR and the COO know this, they do nothing. It is hard to work for a company who doesn't care about its people. They "reward" you with insulting gift cards and "package bonuses" that you earn by tricking families into that they don't really need,  instead of properly paying you for your skills. 
When families complain, management immediately bashes the employee and hardly ever supports the employee even after knowing some families have been caught in lies. 
They are not fair with compensation and wages. Lazy people are ignored and hard workers get more work. 
The fact that funerals cost so much makes it embarrassing because the services offered are so behind the times. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Funeral director 3 salaries reported	$23.50 per hour
Staff associate 2 salaries reported	$21.00 per hour
Embalmer 2 salaries reported	$31.00 per hour
Service advisor 1 salary reported	$71,619 per year
Sales 1 salary reported	$87,500 per year

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