Rocky Mountaineer Reviews

Pros

At the station I work at, we have a very flexible schedule. I have never had a hard time getting a day off work, or getting vacation time. We have a great team environment, because we all get along very well, I think a great deal of thought is involved in getting respectful employees.

Cons

Working my position, the maximum hours I can get in one week is 26, which is not nearly enough to pay food in shelter. So I must always have another job. Being a seasonal worker, althought I already completed 3 seasons, I have had no raise, although I have been given many more responsibilitiues. No benefits, or optional medical insurance is offered to seasonal employees.

Advice to Senior Management

It woul be nice to have performance reviews, so we know wheather we do a good job or not. Also, it would be great to get a raise when returning for another season, especially when we are given more responsibilities.

Pros

My own manager is very good in that he gives people constructive feedback however he is maybe one of only seven good managers. I continue working this job because he treats us well, makes my job fun. In my job I work w/the public, and I love the people that work with me in that cappacity. Fun work environment.

Cons

My department is great, we work in an isolated place, don't have to deal w/head office types too often so its cool tho I cant say the same for other departments. In head office, there isnt another place that is so negative. The worse are the managres. Its cutthroat, managers fight for there jobs so there is loads of backstabbing & theft. I think this company has potential, bc my own boss is the best I have had, he and his assistant know what there doing, treat us respectfully, mentor us, and never fail to thank us if we did a good job. The company needs more bosses like him. COmpaints to HR about being treated badly by managers arent taken seriously. Poor pay for what we do,no benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

Please get rid of the bad managers. HR is useless, that needs to be revamped. Give us higher pay.

Pros

A handful of the employees are genuinely nice people. I think that Rocky Mountaineer Vacations could be popular with students, maybe even retired people, because so many fulltime jobs got cut to parttime jobs, in the summertime. We got nice nametags.

Cons

1: Pay is very low, if you are a CGA you are still paid only 60% of the wage you earn elsewhere as an accountant.

2: Managers don't have communication skills. I'm told by my manager what tasks to do and how, but, if the instructions are wrong, or the manager misses some important step to tell me and then I mess up, the manager denies everything, then blames me in front of the director and other managers.

3: So many layoffs, directors think that they can put more work on the employees still left but dont get the resentment, and accuse employees of being lazy and also not loyal to them or the company if they complain about having to work 14 hour days even though they are only paid for 8.

4: Lunch breaks are discouraged, managers say we should be able to eat at our desks so we can work at the same time we eat.

5: People are angry because salaries are cut for everybody, but not any directors, plus jobs aren't secure, there is tonnes of stress. Nobody gets a two week notice, they are called in at 4:29 and told to pack up and leave by 4:31. The directors and managers call it 'downsizing' or 'laying off employees' but, we know it means firing.

6: Directors and presidents are in their own world, I see things like company branded binders and pens and shirts thrown into the garbage because they have outdated company logos, when they could easily be given to some inner city school or some charity that helps the less fortunate.

7: Entry level employees got burdened w/work of managers, supervisors, even directors when they were laid off or fired. Its no fair, that entry level employees are forced to do executive decisions.

8: Managers snoop through thier subordinate emails, and get mad at employees who use email to send emails home, or harmless funny jokes or lunch plans wtih other employees, but then managers many times use email to send out personal emails and things not related to work.

9: The company pledges to go out of the way to keep visitors happy, manytimes its passengers who are nicer to the employees than the managers themselves, and I'm talking about passengers who are complaining about something.

10: We never got any sorts of recognition for anything positive, we did get lots of recognition for negativity, bosses seemed to like humiliating their subordinates in front of everybody.

11. Lots of managers people reported to dont work in the same place, There were employees in Calgary with bosses in Kamloops for an example, and because of that managers dont know a thing about their employees or the job they are doing. Also, managers think that is is also good to call their employees on off days anytime for updates on their jobs.

12. CEO said the company is on a strict budget, but then, the company owner spent lots of company money to rent a restaurant to celebrate the olympics, and the CEO spends company money on expensive pastries and also catered food for the directors, then gives the office employees the leftovers. Usually theres not much.

Advice to Senior Management

Loosen up the pursestrings, hire more people because extra work burned out so many people,, get rid of the awful office climate, it was so negative and stressful, nobody wanted to come to work. Managers need serious courses to communicate, also in treating employees better.

Pros

Staff discount on train vacations, IATA discount to travel.

Cons

I have worked in tourism for 10 years and RMV has a high standing in the industry. After two interviews I was hired, and have seen more negatives than positives. The office culture is abysmal. Hurtful gossip is the norm and, what's disgusting, is that most of it goes on between management and team leaders. Managers often take credit for the work their administrative and entry-level staff have done. Leaders who have been at the company for many years are inflexible, and ignore, dismiss and are rude to younger staff who have fresh, new ideas and, having recently graduated from tourism school, are tuned into the industry.

What galls me is the lack of training, and, the worse culprits are the longtime managers and team leaders. Their work is so embedded in their heads, that they don't know how to train new staff, and throw newbies into the proverbial lion's den. And, if you ask them for help, they talk down to you like you're some imbecile and tell you that you need to fix your boo-boos. When the new staff bring this issue up, they are reprimanded and told that they should consider themselves lucky to have a job in the current economic climate. Favouritism runs rampant in the office.

Years ago I would have written a favourable review of RMV, however with so many layoffs and cutbacks people are overworked and underpaid. The managers and team leaders threaten stressed staff (often because they are undertrained, their ideas are overlooked, or they bust their butts and aren't recognized for their contribution) to fire them if they're not happy because there are probably tonnes of unemployed vacation consultants, front desk agents, customer service reps, accountants, etc. who would jump at the chance to work again. This comes after a massive layoff in September, when those who were axed didn't receive much notice.

I come home in tears so often, when I'm privy to the gossip about me and my co-workers, that I hapen to like. I also can't deal with management and team leads who abuse their power. If I were to be fired, my bank account wouldn't be that great but my mental state would.

Advice to Senior Management

Shut your mouths and quit gossiping, and quit pushing your power and threatening your staff.

Pros

The staff are fabulous. Management and supervisors are serious about hiring only the friendliest, bright, outgoing and people-oriented folks they can, and if people not willing to put in 100% get the boot (unless the manager is seriously desperate and can't find anyone to work that position). The vast majority of the staff are seasoned veterans of the tourism industry and it is a great learning experience working with them, whether you have been in tourism for 20+ years or are starting out.

Managers and supervisors have an open door policy and they are all very friendly towards their staff, and many are happy to listen to any suggestions about what is and what does not work. They don't make you feel stupid for suggesting 2-ply toilet paper for the bathrooms instead of the 1-ply stuff (true story for my co-worker with the royal butt).

The company has a generous benefits package for staff who work full-time - the few that do, that is. But bosses are very flexible with staff who cannot commit to certain days or times, and it is easy to take a few days off under the company's dedication to a work/life-balance.

Many companies emphasize technical skills, ex. using Excel proficiently, but RMV recognizes soft skills and managers are more than happy to take time out of their schedules and train someone who is a perfect hire except they have trouble making Excel tables. Speaking of soft skills, laughing and joking around is encouraged in the office, at the train station, and with guests - this company is all for having fun on the job.

Cons

The vast majority of the jobs are seasonal and part-time, which means no benefits package and the hassle of finding work for the other 6.5 months of the year.

We wear butt ugly train conductor uniforms that flatter nobody - not even David Beckham or Cindy Crawford could make them look good.

Given the hiring environment in Vancouver where there aren't enough qualified workers, this year is slipping a bit due to how some new hires don't fit into the Rocky Mountaineer vision but are being kept on just to someone is there to do the job, even if it is half-assed.

RMV is so reliant on the state of the economy that bookings fluctuate. There aren't many tourists this year due to the strong Canadian dollar and high gas prices, so hours get cut back.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work!