Alion Reviews

Pros

Extremely flexible work schedule,

remote work that is actually effective and painless no real difficulties involved by being a remote employee

Interesting projects

Cons

Lacking in benefits for half time workers

As this is a government contracting agency can be difficult to secure funding

Advice to Senior Management

The orientation for remote workers kind of throws you to the wolves, as HR assumes you are going to be tied into a local group, it's not horrific but it takes some getting used to

Pros

I worked for Alion for 7 years and I was truly nurtured from entry level into a senior level analyst.
-Great opportunities, when paired with the right manager
-Great pay and benefits

Cons

When working on client sites, employees are not a priority.
Clients needs seem to prevail, and your voice is limited.

Pros

Some of the best reasons to work at Alion include a great culture of teamwork, focus on data-based practices, and value of solid research capabilities.

Cons

In my own experience with Alion, most of the communication was done virtually, which can be both a benefit and a challenge at times.

Pros

-brilliant people within the organization that inspire you to learn more and continuously improve
-employees, for the most part, are responsive and supportive, working hard together in order to keep things moving
-operational growth presented some meaningful and challenging work with good visibility and potential for upward mobility
-online classes and training

Cons

-quality of life suffers when you're always playing catchinig up
-managment is out of touch, under pressure or simply doesn't have the mechanisms (budget) to properly deal with work overflow. instead they reserve to being pushy and rude to get results.
-administrative procedures are often outdated or not communicated adding to overall confusion
-outdated use of technology

Advice to Senior Management

-hire entry level staff to handle overflow or busy work, interns can be a good fit for some support/research or admin roles
-have an internal assessment (anonymus surveys on the intranet?) to identify productivity hurdles and leverage skills and capacity
-provide staff with access to better technology. 2010 MS Office Suite is standard for today's workplace and has a lot of advanced tools- using 2007 email is counterproductive.
-boost morale with team activities, involvment from senior managment is important
-there's a lot of promise and interesting work- but the company will continue to struggle with structural strength if employees' loyalty and satisfaction are overlooked

Pros

- Great workplace camaraderie
- Emphasis on workplace and contractual ethics
- Support and recognition from supervisors

Cons

- No clearly defined path to advancement
- Senior leadership may be too aggressive in acquisition and growth instead of focusing on reputation and performance as an engineering and R&D source.

Advice to Senior Management

- More transparency in plans for path forward
- Cut back on perks and expenses for senior corporate positions

Pros

Alion is involved in a variety of technical consulting opportunities, mostly in the defense industries. It grew rapidly by acquisition, and has a large set of services for the Navy and other government agencies. As with most consulting companies, the management is hierarchical, but has some employee owned features. The company is typically organized in relation to projects associated with longer-term government contracts. As a technical consultant there may be limited opportunities to rise in the management hierarchy. But technical consulting competence and relationships with clients is well recognized. There is a good esprit de corps among the consultants and a good deal of attention to employee welfare. Alion does emphasize skills development and pays for educational opportunities and development that may enhance technical and managerial skills.

Cons

The company is highly distributed in relation to its different locations and projects. There is relatively little communication across managerial divisions in relation to the ordinary levels of consulting support. Because of its rapid growth and related expensive acquisitions, line is under some financial pressure to meet predicted revenue and profit targets. Possible constraints on defense industry growth amay have effects on Alion's growth, hiring, and promotional opportunities.

Advice to Senior Management

There seems to be little strategic analysis of the existing competencies, which can and need to be leveraged across divisions. While the emphasis on business development in terms of contract wins is important, the future of any consulting organization depends upon developing and leveraging specialized skills and capabilities that differentiate it from the competition. Alion needs to do more in terms of identifying these existing high-value competencies, and growing these capabilities in terms of skills development and hiring strategies.

Pros

Great co-workers who were working hard to support each other, generate work, satisfy customers, live up to the code of ethics, and meet the goals of employee-owners

Cons

Alion was so poorly run that earlier this year when forced to refinance the only option was to sell junk bonds at 12% interest. The net result is almost $60M per year in interest payments, required principal repayment of $600M at the end of 2014, and 20% loss in stock price. Nonetheless, the executives continued to take millions in bonuses and other perks, and not once answered any questions directed to them.

Advice to Senior Management

Only a wholesale change in the board and top management will suffice. The fact that you have willfully ignored very specific questions about the companies financial condition and the unfairness of the bonuses and other top management perks is clear indication you do not deserve your positions of responsibility.

Pros

People you work with are part of a small team

Cons

Not a colaborative environment, lack of collaboration

Advice to Senior Management

Restructure to focus on skills

Pros

decent place to start I guess

Cons

low pay compared to other companies

Advice to Senior Management

they were ok, could be better

Pros

Company allows workers to telecommute for part of their work week, with manager approval (although I am not sure if this is still available).

Cons

I didn't feel that it was a very respectful, positive environment. And, as far as my type of work, I felt like I went back in time, that they were not on the cutting edge. Also, I didn't feel that they had very good benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

You need to emphasize fairness and respect. Also, it's 2010! When I worked there I felt like I was in a 20-year time warp as far as practices and procedures.