Pros

It's a great place for a first job- they have been hiring many recent graduates and are eager to promote younger employees if you stay long enough. Some people have been able to jump up the chain very quickly, and many of the workforce is near retirement, so there are many opportunities for growth.

For the energy efficiency part of the company, it is a great place to get a grasp of how the energy efficiency programs work and work on large scale projects and macro level programs.

Cons

Much of the work tends to be administrative and entrenched in internal policies. The company is way behind the times when it comes to technological innovation. It also tends to be a lawyer-based company, where everything said to the public goes through endless reviews. Processes are very complex and slow in general.

They are currently making a lot of changes very quickly. Many employees are taking voluntary severance packages or in some cases there are layoffs. Change is happening so quickly that customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and knowledge transfer are not given the attention they need.

Promotions seem to be based on who has the best connections rather than people who have skills that would make them good supervisors / managers.

Advice to Senior Management

Find better ways to engage the new employees you hire. Many of them tend to get thrown into jobs where they are either entrenched in administrative work, or are quickly overloaded as everyone else hands things down to them. You have added a lot of young talent, but most of these people will leave if they are not given opportunities to make change and take leadership positions within the company.

There are a lot of changes going on right now, and a lack of confidence in the managers. Most of the managers and supervisors are very poor at leading strategic teams, planning, and employee development. Hire supervisors and managers who have leadership ability.