Granite Construction Reviews

Pros

Granite was a great (if "old time") company when I joined. Good history, respectful of employees, and really cared about its people and reputation.

Cons

As the economy has hurt them, they have been slow to react, far too isolated, relying only on old timers and not listening or respecting new ideas, that could save them. New leadership is really the old guard and very afraid to be challenged.

Advice to Senior Management

I hope you survive and listen to outside ideas, rather than use excuses for your failures.

Pros

Everyone i worked with was always very nice and helpful in teaching me new skills. I wish i could have stayed with the company, but unfortunetly they went where the work was and i had to finish school. I still talk to one of my old coworkers. Plus the things i learned with them look great on a resume now that im about to graduate.

Cons

Not so much of a con as much as a fact of the trade, but be prepared to work 55+ hours a week.

Advice to Senior Management

I really am greatful for allowing me to work with your company. Thank you for making a degree in civil engineer an easy decision for me.

Pros

Granite is a great place to work for self-motivated, curious, male-engineers. If you are driven and capable of understanding how to build, you should not have a problem succeeding.

Cons

The "good 'ol boys" attitude at some cost centers is still very prevalent. Also, the amount of hours you are expected to work with little to no rewards.

Advice to Senior Management

Even in this crappy economy, don't use it as an excuse to not permit raises to the same people you claim to honor. Especially when you still distribute a quarterly dividend to the share holders.

Pros

Even though Granite Construction is a very large company, it was nice getting to know the people thru the interview processes.

Cons

Granite Construction is a very large company that is hard to work your way up in. In talking to others in the company, they said it is not worth it if you are trying to stay with the company for many years.

Advice to Senior Management

As such a large company that Granite is, I felt as if I could see my self working for this company for a few years.

Pros

Broad company - wide range of jobs and good upward career possibilities given the fact that the bulk of management is very old.

Cons

Old minds, old ways of thinking...they are very slow to change. Many great ideas are lost due to favoritism to old methods and peoples resistance to try anything new.

Advice to Senior Management

Allow some younger individuals to climb the ranks and do things a little differently. Many should retire and also, I believe the company needs to be more focused on its individual projects

Pros

I never had a check bounce which is nice they had a good HMO plan when i worked there that cost a lot before taxes but covered everything that i needed for the family. I was given a company truck to use for all work related projects. I enjoyed my boss from my former company but had a hard time with true granite made managers

Cons

You have to work a lot of non traditional hours with no overtime or compensation for the work. They tell you that it all works out in the end but it does not . Truck was not to be used for non work project even though i had to park it in front of my house with their billboard on the side i could not haul leaves to the dump or pick up an large items at the store had to borrow a friends truck for that. When they laid me off i was the most knowledgeable person in my position and was replaced by the engineer i had been training. Layoffs were not based on work ethics or project completed they never let us know why they let us go even if it had been unlucky lotto i was never notified a total bummer.

Advice to Senior Management

Felt like upper management had their heads in the clouds when it came to estimating project purchasing equipment or any large impact items. They didn't know the condition of equipment or the true capacities of it made it hard to build projects on budget or be competitive at bid time. They seemed slow to adapt to the changing market and even remember them hiring after they had installed a wage freeze due to high overhead. Need to work on remolding management instead of firing/laying off workers who tried as hard as possible to make money for company on the front line. They are not fixing the problems

Pros

It had a real family feel until the restructuring
Opportunity to move around and grow w/in the company
Respectful environment
Good set of core values that were followed from the top down

Cons

Cliquey
Poor communication from the top down
The company is trying to hard to grow into a monolith and the changes that are taking place right now are ruining what made it such a cool place to work.

Advice to Senior Management

You're trying to grow a low margin, cash intensive business into something bigger than you can reasonably manage. I think you should refocus on "slow and steady wins the race."

Pros

Granite Construction stands by it's code of conduct and is well known and respected in the industry. Employees are generally treated fairly. Employment for salaried employees is fairly secure and stable. A typical Granite employee is a great person to work with.

Cons

The company has had trouble landing work in a tough economy due in part to a conservative business model and group managers that are out of touch with reality and slow to react to changing market conditions.
The IT system is a joke. The estimating software and job cost software are at least 10 years outdated.

Advice to Senior Management

Group and regional managers need to get in touch with reality, take a few risks and stop being so conservative with bids. The company needs to reevaluate its multiple profit center business model in tough times.

Pros

Good place to start out of college to learn Transportation construction engineering skills. Good benefit packages for single employees. Granite has a great code of conduct with core values. Solid capital reserve when needed for new equipment support, acquisitions, etc. Nevada has 25% to 30% unemployment in the construction industry; therefore remaining employed is a big plus. Granite is working hard to be lean and efficient.

Cons

Cutting costs and employees to improve operating income can only go so far. Company terminated 150 people last Fall. Vehicle audio surveillance monitoring of employees by managers. Personal surveillance information is shared between managers and other employees, which is disturbing. Company vehicles have Everyone doing their best while feeling the pressure to perform exceptionally well in this poor economy. Work-life balance message is inconsistent. Be ready to work 12 to 18+ hour days in the busy season and some Saturdays to be an acceptable construction engineer. Low say to do ratio. Not much accountability and follow-through on achieving career goals. Must have a strong frat-boy mentality and strong balance sheet for social acceptance in the engineering department. Senior managers send mixed messages and keep secrets. Not sure how intentional it is, but competition is created between employees by managers, which is negative to team building. Code of conduct adherence crosses the line on occasion. Access to estimating collaboration not always consistent. Not much fun if you haven't made your mark after three or four years of experience. Blame game is hard to avoid here and it will get you sooner than later.

Advice to Senior Management

Walk your talk and improve integrity. Transparency and honesty in language and action would go a long way to creating trust. Main corporate strategies and actions do not get acceptance at the branch office level. Creating accountability needs to be a larger priority. Treat others like you want to be treated. There is a lack of respect received and respect given.

Pros

Benefits are good if your single. The HSA plan works well for families if the employee can avoid visiting the doctor for two years. Decent emphasis on training with management and communciation classes available. Company has good cash flow and strong financial performance despite bad economy. Bill Dorey is a good person challenged with direct reports who don't follow his message.

Cons

Vague messages from top level management regarding when layoffs will occur. 150 employees were laid off last October. This came as a complete shock to anyone outside of corporate headquarters in Watsonville. Things have become progessively worse regarding scrutiny of costs and safety. It seems like even 15 dollar purchases need to be reviewed by management these days. The latest reorg has not worked at all. Most administrative employees have two bosses, one at their region who is the functional boss while their direct line manager resides in Watsonville. This results with conflicting directives between the two managers with the administrative employee caught in the middle. The new CFO, CIO, and COO come across cold and uncaring about the workers on the front lines.

Advice to Senior Management

Top management is far removed from reality. I would strongly advise visiting regional locations and viewing how things are done on the front lines where the actual money is made. Stop sending out propaganda about valueing employees when your actions don't back up your message.