RRI Energy, Inc Reviews

Pros

Work/Life Balance, Senior Management communicates to employees often

Cons

No Career advancement opportunities for everyone

Advice to Senior Management

Develop succession planning for talent cultivation

Pros

The pay is decent. Good 401K. Health care is average. Big improvement in safety over last few years.(still needs some work but way better) Bonus programs.

Cons

Way understaffed. Management doesn't want to hire cause they say it doesn't improve their bottom line but don't care if employees go months without a day off. Upper management is not able to be trusted. Company can be wasteful in their spending.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to bring the work week closer to 40 hours. Get ready for the 58+ crowd retiring in the next couple years. Try spending money were needed instead of wasting it.

Pros

Exciting industry with a lot of changes
Good compensation
Not deep in talent so you have a chance to shine

Cons

Terrible senior management
Weakly positioned to compete in industry
Lack of clear direction from the top
Too much emphasis on painting a rosey picture, rather than dealing with reality

Advice to Senior Management

Trust the people who report to you to make decisions
Learn more about the business
Stop hiring consultants to tell you how to run the business

Pros

flexible working hours, worklife balance

Cons

not fair in promotions, not possible to work from home

Advice to Senior Management

career encouragement

Pros

Compensation appears to in line with other companies in the energy industry. Location - if you enjoy working downtown.

Cons

Hard to get promoted. During my time at the company I have yet to see someone get promoted on my team and more senior positions are almost always filled externally. Although I was hired into the company at a fair compensation level, raises of more than 1 to 2.5% are hard to come by. Since NRG acquired the retail business in early 2009, Reliant has lost many of the perks that once made it a great place to work. Upper management is very out of touch with the rest of the organization and employee morale seems to be at an old time low -- making it a very challenging place to work day in and day out.

Advice to Senior Management

Respect your employees and treat them like adults. There are many talented people capable of great work if given the opportunity.

Pros

Salaries at Reliant still appear to be competitive with other employers.

Cons

Since being purchased by NRG, Reliant Energy has lost all the advantages that kept employees coming back: scheduling flexibility, rewards program, generous sickleave. I think many people have been staying put due to the down economy, but that's changing quickly and as jobs appear, valuable people will begin leaving.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your people instead of just each other. I think many people have been staying put due to the down economy, but that's changing quickly and as jobs appear, valuable people will begin leaving.

Pros

Health care benefits and 401K is the only good thing.

Cons

New phone system implemented, firing 50+ productive individuals for allegedly "hanging up" on customers.

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to recognize agents that are actually working and holding up to the values of the company instead of trying to over work them in a very stressful evironment.

Pros

Good employees, travel opportunities, lots of hands on experience for those wjho don't mind going out to the plant and getting their hands dirty. There are also lots of office jobs for cubicle engineers. They seem to make na effort to ensure that you like what you are doing. They also reward employees with bonuses and incentive packages when goals are met within your department. These goals are also very realistic.

Cons

Ony have fossil fuel generation assets which may hurt them down the line. I would like to see them become more diversified which woudl in turn lead to employees being more diversified. There is definatly an attitude that global warming is not a big concern except for the public opinion leading to tougher regulations.

Advice to Senior Management

Rethink your furture generation stragety. Fossil fuel is indeed an important part of the energy mix, but it will become more of a mix in the yeards ahead. Put yourself in a better position to take advantage of that.

Pros

Very good benefits: 6% 401K match, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (purchase stock at 85% of market value), good Health plan, affordable dental and vision, target bonuses for some roles.

The gym at the 1000 Main location is excellent and a free trainer is available.

Reliant has a very collegial and respectful work environment.

Cons

Senior positions are often filled externally rather than internally. Post-Enron, the company invested much less in employee training. However, fewer training classes were partially offset by the availability of internet "self-training" resources.

Advice to Senior Management

Joel Staff, the CEO when I worked at Reliant, did a good job communicating with employees in his weekly voice mail. Also, giving away points (redeemable for merchandise) to recognize people for living company values was a good program.

I would like to see a culture of greater accountability and more promotions given internally. Delivering high quality training will facilitate more internal promotions. Reliant should reinstate the rotation program they had for high potential employees during the energy boom.

Last, Reliant still has some brilliant senior managers, many from McKinsey. However, their intellectual strength doesn't necessarily translate to superior managerial skill. Human resources should ensure the are rewarding the right behaviors.