NRECA Reviews

Pros

If you are a person who wants a career and not just a job, you'll love NRECA. There is on-site Microsoft Training opportunities for all Office Products and SharePoint. You are encouraged to continue training opportunities, persue professional certifications and secondary education. (They offer up to $8,000/year for college!)

There are no clear career paths, but in my short experience - if you show iniciative, you will advance either by applying for another open position or a rewrite of your current responsibilities.

The benefits are truely about as high as you can find anywhere, with the exception of huge bonuses. They do offer smaller incentives in the form of gift certificates, but you won't get rich. What you will have is a place that never gets dull, great benefits, work life balance, and a comfortable salary with great retirement benefits.

Cons

A little slow to get rid of bad managers and tolerance for unkind management behaviors.

Advice to Senior Management

Consistent accountablility of all mid level management

Pros

Association pension plan
Ability to telework
Business casual attire on Fridays and in the summer
Working for a good cause
Good location (near Metro and not in DC)

Cons

Culture is changing so employees are treated to new cubicles with very tiny workspaces and hardly any storage space
Senior management looking for ways to save money but they are in turn negatively effecting employee morale
Attitude is if an employee does not like it, they can get a new job

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your employees far better than you have been treating them with this restacking project

Pros

The benefits are great. The people I work with and the members are great. Training that is offered to staff is good.

Cons

The Prima donnas that work here. The can't get off there duff to xerox something or call a cab. Rediculous! Management is slow to get rid of low-performing employees which is frustrating. There seems to be favoritism in how certain people are promoted and treated.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire managers that have management training or get them professional training.

Pros

NRECA has a great mission (safe, reliable, and affordable energy for rural electric cooperative consumer-members) and everyone rallies behind it. It's a small company (trade association) but is extremely complex in its service offerings (from lobbying to member education to having its own mutual fund family). The culture is very customer-service oriented and there is a strong customer service program (called "Listen, Understand, Communicate, the Deliver). The company also clearly cares about its employees (employee engagement surveys, alternate work arrangements, on-the-spot cash awards, etc.) and encourages / supports employees to become professionals in their areas of expertise (such as advanced degrees, professional certifications). The members of NRECA are absolutely great to work with. P.S. NRECA has a pension plan!

Cons

Limited career potential, but that's because NRECA typically needs talent at the top of their game and because employees tend to stay at NRECA until retirement because it's a great place to work. Some departments do have job ladders that span a career and hire entry-level staff.

Advice to Senior Management

The current CEO (Glenn English) has announced his plans for retirement. He has been an inspirational and transformational leader. NRECA is on very solid footing and the CEO has developed a strong management team. NRECA needs to be very, very prudent and thoughtful in searching for a replacement.

Pros

Nice offices, if you like granite and marble--and the sort of decor that looks like an interior designer's idea of down-home midwest.

Cons

Politics, bullying, bad behavior all abound. And for such expensive offices, this can be a very uncomfortable place to work.

Advice to Senior Management

Be honest with people. While the organization wraps itself in the whole aura of helping others, the reality is most of the organization's revenues derive from its for-profit activities.

Pros

Amazing opportunities to partner with other professionals throughout the Association, working together to make a difference for the member-owners of electric cooperatives nationwide. Innovation and creativity are not only supported, but encouraged. The NRECA work ethic is almost legendary. Interdepartmental projects with work teams are frequently formed with great results.

Cons

The workload can be heavy yet good managers are aware and do what they can to minimize the load. Business casual is only on Fridays and in the summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day). Some of the less engaged employees are somehow allowed to remain.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees and do not intimidate them when they suggest that some deadlines may be unrealistic. Treat your employees as the true resources that they are.

Pros

Good sense of community in the asociation. People are nice to work with and there isn't a lot of competition, there is a team work environment.

Cons

Lack of promotion opportunities. We just had our first lay off and the association is cutting on a few benefits (including tuition reimbursement). They are now showing that they are like any other company out there. It's all about money and we cut from those who it will hurt the most. Oh also forgot to mention no casual dress.

Advice to Senior Management

People are your most important asset.

Pros

NRECA offers great benefits, a nice physical environment, and it has a great mission of bringing low-cost electricity to large swaths of the US. And some departments, like HR and IT, are absolutely great places to work.

Cons

The politics, the politics, the politics. Certain parts of the organization are wildly disfunctional, with people getting let go for no reason, some made up reason, the phase of the moon--who knows? The epicenter of problems is around insurance services, with the marketing department also having its share of issues. Beware, too, bullying supervisors--there are quite a few in this organization, and HR will not do anything to help you. Check out the various discrimination complaints and wrongful termination issues floating around out there--NRECA has more than its fair share. So disappointing for an organization with so much potential, and so much good that it brings to the communities it serves.

Advice to Senior Management

There needs to be a top-down commitment to fair employment practices, with supervisors held accountable for the treatment of their employees. Too often, people who are perceived as high-performers are allowed to mistreat their direct reports and internal business partners. That is morally wrong and undercuts NRECA's business mission at every level.

Pros

1. You will get good balance between work and life.
2. You will have good job security, especially in the difficult economic.
3. NRECA provides good benefit package, with good pension, 401K, multiple insurance, and PTO's.
4. NRECA respects their employees.
5. The office in Arlington is conveniently located right next to the Ballston Metro Station and I-66.
6. NRECA provides flexible work schedule.

Cons

1. Since this is a non-profit org, there is not much pressure on the job so you might lost the competitveness.
2. The salary is not as competitive as other private companies, and there are no bonuses.

Advice to Senior Management

Reviews and promotions should be based on the profermance, not experience.

Pros

Flexible work arrangements, great technology, great mission and wonderful co-workers. New employees receive a great orientation that continues during the first six months of employment. Senior staff in many departments are true professionals who could easily earn more with other employers but are dedicated to NRECA's mission and members. NRECA is very progressive with its benefits and compensation program and regularly bench marks its salaries against comparable positions. Recently when commuting expenses rose due to higher prices NRECA quickly adjusted its transportation subsidy. The majority of NRECA employees are truly engaged and look forward to coming to work each day.

Cons

Business casual attire is only approved in the summer. Telecommuting is allowed but some managers are still reluctant to fully embrace full time telecommuters. The organization is still somewhat smoke stacked by departments. There is very little movement of personnel and talent between departments and the synergies that could develop from those types of assignments do not occur. NRECA management is reluctant to deal with non performers. Consequently when mistakes are made in hiring or work performance of long time employees deteriorates it is years before the problem is addressed. As a result morale suffers in those departments with the non-performers sucking the energy from those who are totally engaged.

Advice to Senior Management

Remain focused on our members. Deal with performance problems quickly.