Ascend Performance Materials Reviews

Pros

* Ascend is a start up in an established business, which means the potential to shape and mold the company at all levels is endless. I come to work, make suggestions, am told to implement my ideas and go home feeling satisfied with my contribution.
* Great people - the culture is fledgling and not 100% consistent yet, but it's getting there. The people are collaborative, easy to work with, direct and open. Very few political games here!
* The sky is the limit. I feel I can create my own role. I'm not siloed into a small hole and told to stay there - not territorial!
* Pay is competitive.

Cons

* Don't pay for parking.
* No flexible work schedule.
* Can't cover my spouse on my benefits if he/she is eligible for his/her employer benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

You trust us and empower us to do great things in our roles. Thank you.

Pros

Pay only good thing at this place

Cons

management is a joke, especially all the middle-managers! employees' suggestions to management are usually ignored, unless it is about saving cash. That is all this place is about. They are going to continue building this company up to make it worth more capital, then dump it on the next big buyer! Already happend twice in my 11years employed there. BEWARE!!

Pros

The owners know how to make money and don't mind spending money in order to make more money. Great process to determine where to spend money.

Cons

No real time off. The more time you spend to meet dates the more dates you have to meet with a shorter time period. One person is expected to do the job of 2.5 to 3 people.

Advice to Senior Management

Allow the employees to better enjoy doing the work and understand the new mindset. Allow employees to learn and advance within the company.

Pros

Growth rate - this company is growing very fast in the last several years.
New market and business - there are growing opportunities inside the company.

Cons

Long term goal is not clear at all.
No company culture after spin-off and sell off.
Employee turnover rate is high.
Please expect heavy workload.

Pros

Most people at my location were very smart and capable. Excellent teamwork.

Cons

Recently established, privately held company is establishing a large (and expensive) bureaucracy also know as corporate HQ. These very political execs create a lot of non-value added work for staff as they jockey for position. All hat, no cattle ...

Advice to Senior Management

Shrink the bloated HQ and recognize and support the people at "ground level" in the company who actually do the work. And most importantly, recognize that leading by fear and intimidation are only good for short-term results; you will drive away your best people.

Pros

- New owners are very business savvy so the company is making a lot of money
- Company is expanding
- Initial pay when you hire on
- Plant personnel are a good group of people
- Annual bonus is competitive

Cons

- New owners are a private equity group and have cut 401k match in half (from 7% to 3.5%)
- Management canceled 9x80's alternative work schedule (every other Friday off)
- Extremely high expectations
      + Expect to work a 50 to 60 hr work week to be an average performer.
      + New owners are requiring EVERYONE to work on large team cost savings projects as well as perform normal job duties.
- Extremely high turnover rate
      + 7 out of 10 production engineers have left the company in the last 12 months
      + Almost half of the all the engineers in the plant have quit.
- Inability to attract new engineers. In the last two years the plant has been unable to hire more than a couple of new engineers.
- As time goes by pay is not competitive as HR doesn't follow an organized pay structure. Pay increases above the rate of inflation are rare except if you are a top performer (top 5%).
- Extremely low moral
- Plant is a long drive from Houston and is in the middle of nowhere

Advice to Senior Management

Reinstate alternative work schedule and improve pay structure and maybe more people will stay.

Pros

Great group of people at this site

Cons

Alternating work schedule was taken away and is not coming back

Advice to Senior Management

Understand that the alternating work schedule is a bigger moral issue then just a few people complaining and being brushed off.

Pros

excellent communications between management and general employees through frequent "ascend broadcasts;" solid benefits program; good team of people

Cons

parking is expensive; not enough office space at Houston location (although they are working on this)

Pros

1. Overall Ascend is a safe place to work]
2. Company is doing very well financially.
3. Sales Team has done a great job to keep product lines sold out and Plant has done well to keep
    equipment running.
4. Overall considering economy company has done well.
5. Company is continually making improvements and is building new plants.

Cons

1. Company misses the easy things to repair:
2. Creating a team environment is sometimes a challenge.
3. Leadership is slow to make decisions.
4. Overall this could be a great place. It is a good place and the leadership is trying to make it a great place.
5. While company has done very well financially reduced benefits are still in place.
6. Standard work week.

Advice to Senior Management

Demand that middle management step up and show more leadership.
Value your people.
Restore some of the benefits that were lost.
Make it fun. You just say "have fun”, but do not do anything to make it fun.
The single thing that you could do with relatively no major cost impact is create a 4-10 work week. No one would be quitting Ascend and people would want to come and work for us. This would be a big morale booster.