ARCADIS US Reviews

Pros

Good benefits including a great employee stock purchase program Pretty flexible with work scheduling and time off, and the option of purchasing additional time off. I was satisfied with my salary and benefits.

Cons

Being billable to a project is EVERYTHING at Arcadis, little else matters. Each year you must complete on-line Harassment Training and Safe Driving programs (even if you don't drive a vehicle for company duties) which, of course, are non-billable tasks.
 In the years I worked there I NEVER ONCE heard the word "Teamwork", or heard anyone mention doing quality work. Arcadis cultivates an environment of "you against them", and rewards backstabbing and lying. I was told that I failed to understand that everyone there was an "Internal Client", not co-workers.

Advice to Senior Management

The benefits are good, but the working culture and environment are awful.

Pros

Nice people to work with, good work environment, good family-life balance

Cons

Management consistently overlooks hard workers, promotes dead wood and non-contributors; needs to expand vacation to employees, too many burnouts from overwork/40 hr+ work weeks.

Advice to Senior Management

The lower ranks of the company are what keep it moving - pay more attention and reward more of the lower ranks rather than those within the higher ranks - they make enough money and have more time off availabile.

Pros

Opportunities to grow are good. We are a strong company, and I think we have a pretty good business model. I think the organization does allow for innovative approaches to be tried, but with a pretty short leash. I have worked at companies that are FAR less amenable to change and think progressively. Comparatively, I think we focus less on Wall Street than other consulting firms - maybe the Dutch influence, but we seem to have more long term thinking that just "what will the stock price do at end the month" that I have seen elsewhere among senior management.

Cons

With all the acquisitions, we are becoming much more bureaucratic. Too many mundane decisions are pushed too far up the ladder - more local authority (and responsibility) would allow us to be more nimble.

Advice to Senior Management

push decisions and responsibility down more.

Pros

Excellent salary and benefit package. Ability to work anywhere in the country.

Cons

Too driven to the immediate bottom line regardless if it is not the best long term solution. This is proven with their loss of market share in many of their locations. Lack of entrepreneurship mentality limits the truly driven employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Balance the focus of the business on long term and short term. Build relationships with your clients as once was a strength of the company.

Pros

The company is always growing, so lots of oppertunity to get involved in new areas. We have outstanding benefits, and a great working environment.

Cons

Because we are always expanding, there is a lot of change each year.

Advice to Senior Management

I love the fact that we are growing and acquiring other companies, but don't lose sight of the ARCADIS employees during and acquisition. Often leadership focuses their attention on the needs of the staff being acquired, and can sometimes forgets about the impact to the staff already here. Other than that, ARCADIS has a very talented senior leadership team!!

Pros

Large firm. Numerous work opportunities if willing to relocate occasionally or make the drive. Very well diversified in its skill set.

Cons

The priority is to fill positions to get the revenue going before realizing the position is right for the person. There's nothing worse than landing on an assignment you dread going to every day because it isn't the right fit.

Advice to Senior Management

Try not to let the behemoth org chart evaporate the small firm qualities that were present at the dozens of small companies purchased over the decades.

Pros

Lots of very smart people

Cons

U need to be in the right group and office to access good projects. If you don't have a boss that promotes you, you will get nowhere

Advice to Senior Management

none

Pros

The company has some great and talented people and some great clients and projects. This is a good place for someone with less experience to gain a wide breadth of experience, as long as they are willing to work long hours and be on the road a lot. The company is pretty well-managed and has many talented professionals that help win high-margin work. They are proud of being an "aggressive" consulting business.

Cons

The company has a lot of older, highly educated and experienced professionals that makes the organization top heavy and requires high billing rates and depends on the higher margin staff to be highly utilized and work a lot of overtime to support the structure. The company also needs to win BIG projects to sustain this internal structure. The company is very internally competitive. Lack of cooperation and to some extent back-stabbing is tolerated. Information is hoarded amongst management and creates a strange culture of unease amongst the staff, especially in an uncertain economic climate. There have been a lot of new acquisitions by ARCADIS and how those companies assimilate into the culture will be a challenge.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't continue to bid projects at a loss as a strategy to get more profitable work with new clients and sustain unprofitable offices. It does not work, drives prices down, and hurts shareholders.

Pros

Arcadis is a good place for an entry level staffer to get their feet wet and learn the ways of the coroporate world.

Cons

Arcadis does not pay the best salaries of environmental consulting firms, management's hands are often tied due to "corporate policy" and the billable hours are difficult to maintain.

Advice to Senior Management

It is important for management to remember some of the aspects of BBL from before Arcadis bought out the firm. Remember the BBL Way and what it meant.

Pros

Management are solid "engineering business people" who understand that sustainability requires solid buinsee principals be applied to the company. Yes, you must be profitable in order to be a sustainable organization.

Cons

Dealing with the realities of a very agressively managed company. Not much time to relax and take a breather.

Advice to Senior Management

Company is overly focused on internal communications and it should focus more energy communiating with the markets it is serving