Genivar Reviews

Pros

If you want it, the opportunities exist to take on large and important roles in projects, deal with clients, get field experience, and grow your knowledge and skills.

Cons

cannot retain quality people due to low compensation. Becoming top heavy - too many managers, accountants, and HR. The perception is that senior management get the monetary benefits whereas the designers and engineers who implement and complete the works get no recognition.

Advice to Senior Management

You are becoming top heavy - fix it. Invest in your quality staff. Lose the dead weight.

Pros

flexibility
respect
good work environment
very good team members

Cons

diversity of business units makes it impossible to have a common shared knowledge between employees. The company needs common grounds and procedures to be shared.

Advice to Senior Management

restructure to ensure cohesion between business units and implement an electronic support system, encourage the units to share and develop common strategies

Pros

Great opportunity to direct your own career and be exposed to a variety of projects.
Superiors provide feedback when asked.
Large scale projects are very interesting.

Cons

Anything goes wrong you will be left to yourself with little to no support from others.
Competing departments don’t work well with each other.
Compensation package week and if you ask for a raise you will be strung along for a while until you finally decide to move on.

Advice to Senior Management

Wake up and start keeping the good people rather than being a training ground for other companies.

Pros

- My hard work can help with the new shape of a city
- Professional and supportive senior workers
- Respect from management and colleagues

Cons

- Benefit package can be better
- Should provide reimbursement for training fees
- Resources can be utilized better to avoid occational panic when it comes close to deadline

Advice to Senior Management

In fact, I am very happy with your lead. It is way better than most companies I had worked with. I will definitely recommend my friends working with you.

Pros

Company closes 2 weeks during Christmas Holiday ... but don't necessarily pay you so if you didn't save some extra hours, you'll be short on the payroll.

Cons

Poor management, very bad HR, not the same policies in every offices causing conflicts and jealousy between employees. Staff with great experience and knowledge, just leave after a while. Company expands very fast but in general new added staff just don't last very long.

Advice to Senior Management

They don't listen anyway, why bother.

Pros

Freedom to make your own career path and the ability to use resources outside of the company for project work.

Cons

Lack of communication among businees units due to segmented nature of the company.

Advice to Senior Management

Some financial or other incentive is needed for intermediate staff as they progress with their career. While bonuses are not a likely incentive (they have been proven not to enhance productivity) stock options or an alternate method should be considered to retain high performing employees.

Pros

Entrepreneurial culture (company has expanded through acquisitions but has not enforced a "mould" in new units)

Resources of a large engineering consulting firm (experts, marketing support)

Professional development opportunities

Get more responsibility as you prove yourself

Recognition for a job well done

Work-life balance & benefits (flexible hours, tuition reimbursement, "banking" overtime hours to be exchanged for days off, salary increase if LEED certified)

Team culture (can call or knock on anyone's door at any time for advice or info)

Top management recognizes importance of "fresh blood" and is supporting professional development through project leadership opportunities

Social and charitable participation & leadership opportunities

Markham office is very car-accessible from any direction

Cons

Pay probably below median for industry , but pay scales are being revised

Depending on who your boss is, your experience could vary (some people were "grandfathered" into senior positions due to previously heading smaller shops that were bought out and have used junior staff to do pure grunt work)

Office not very transit-accessible

Advice to Senior Management

I really don't have much advice as the leadership team is doing great in driving expansion, revenues and profits... they are keeping the culture of offices true to their entrepreneurial origins while providing the structure, resources and support of a large firm.

Only advice is to expand the number of internship opportunities as this is a great way to "test drive" a (pretty cheap) employee and determine fit for later on.

Pros

They offer an RRSP plan and benefits.

Cons

No appreciation for developing new clients. Expected to work 60 hours a week. Bonus are given 6 months after the date promised. Upper management to clueless and needs a lesson in law and ethics.

Advice to Senior Management

Follow the values you publish on your website... i.e Respect

Pros

Large, diversified comapany. Many disciplines balance work across the board. Slowness in one sector is counter balanced by another. Many office acros the country all potential for relcoation within the firm. They are continually agressive in aquisitions of other smaller firms to continue sustainabilty.

Cons

Lack of communications form management to employee. Even within departments there are "secrets" This make employee feel unimportant.

Management agrees to employee career path objectives during year end reviews, but fails to support them.

Slaries/bounuses lower than area standards. The older yopu are in this matter, the worse off you'll be.

Much segregation withing office due to lack of vision on how to integrate aquisitions.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to employees. Fullful verbal aprovals, Don't say "yes" to something, then walk away and forget it.