Arch Coal Reviews

Pros

Good Benefits, health care, and good salary

Cons

worked 12 days in a row and off two days for 18 years!! And there were three times in my 18 years there where i worked over 50 days in a row without a day off

Advice to Senior Management

Need to listen to the front line supervisors

Pros

Safety is always top priority with this company. The upper management is very qualified and capable to lead this company into the future. The benefit package is as good as any in the industry and the future looks good for the company.

Cons

Difficult at times being a supervisor working with a union workforce.

Advice to Senior Management

Needs to offer higher wages in certain job postions to attact a better quality workforce.

Pros

Senior management is honest, sincere and cares about safety, the environment and return to shareholders. The safest coal company in the world. Much better than the retail industry on safety stats.

Cons

Mines are located near small communities. Corporate office is in St. Louis. This can be a problem for some. Others like the small town life.

Pros

Focuse on Safety.
Clear direction as a business.
Good oppertunities and the ability to move as high as you are willing to work toward.
Very good response by management to address employees special and personal needs.

Cons

Some first line supervisors still not onboard with new management direction.
Some employee concerns still not addressed in the transportation area. ( Buses to distant operations )

Advice to Senior Management

Keep moving to bring all business units into the twenty first century and maintain the focuse on keeping Arch Coal the leader in Safety for our industry.

Pros

safety record , wages , insurance, great people to work with

Cons

12 hr shifts grave yard shifts long commute

Advice to Senior Management

how about a merret raise

Pros

The pay and benifits and the ability to make a beter Life for your self . That is all i can realy say that is good about black thunder

Cons

All thay think about is There numbers not about the worker we get in trube if we go to the bathroom and the boss is not the sharpest tool in the shed

Advice to Senior Management

How about thay just stop and think about more then them self and try to talk to the staff and ask them one on one

Pros

Arch pays its employees very well, and there are opportunities to advance. The best place to work is in St. Louis. The company is highly centralized, so unless you get a top position at a coal mine, most of the responsible postions are in St. Louis. Most of the career advancement opportunities are also there. The middle to lower level employees and managers are intelligent, helpful and easy to work with. This is also true of some of the higher level employees and executives.

Cons

Arch is a very policical environment and is not necessarily open to new ways of doing your work. For example, the operations personnel rely on their extensive experience instead of engineering plans at the mines. The top management is a close net group that has worked together for their entire careers, and it is tough to work your way into the higher positions or to even get your point across. Because of this tight net group, decisions usually do not always flow through the chain of command; and therefore, information is not shared very well. Some positions are left with the responsibility, but not the authority to recognize success, failure or to fire, hire or promote employees. Many of the upper level managers are difficult to work with, and on the flip side are not fair. The corporate HR department is the worst I have ever had to work with; and when dealing with them, you should get everything in writing with all reasonable questions answered, or you may be very disappointed.

Advice to Senior Management

The culture needs to be changed. I believe that less centralization is a good thing. Even at the mining operations, one or two people tend to rule with an iron fist, and they want to make all the decisions. If they were hit by a car, the people left who have been excluded from making decisions probably will be incapable of doing so. These one of two people do not have brains big enough to be involved in every decision, and to try only makes the organization worse by delaying important decisions. People learn by making decisions, making mistakes and learning from their mistakes. The company needs to let middle management and above do their jobs. I think upper management might be surprised how the organization improves, and how much better the employees enjoy their jobs. It is cheaper in the long run to retain good employees than to constantly retrain new ones.