SRP Reviews in Phoenix, AZ Area

Pros

The people you get to work with. Alternate work week schedules. Tuition reimbursement. Benefits. Great causes for Volunteer work. A lot of opportunities for growth.

Cons

Somewhat of a good ol boy environment still going on.

Advice to Senior Management

Put lower management or project leaders in refresher courses to hone their communication/people skills. Recognize project leaders that do go above and beyond and who really know their jobs. The control some managers have over some is just that, control. They need to recognize which employees have the potential for development and leadership. It could set a much better tone across the board.

Pros

Good tuition payment program. Alternate work weeks. Good amount of paid time off after being there around five years. Stable business.

Cons

New management is all about crazyness. The customer service group took over the power side and it's awful. Our team meetings involved planning Peeps (the easter candy) olympics. They make us watch cartoons for team building. It's very nepotistic and if you can't drink their new koolaid you'll be forced off the bus.

Advice to Senior Management

All newly promoted managers just need to resign. The company needs to hire real managers that know how to run businesses from the outside.

Pros

Their benefits package is ok, it used to be much, much better. But they have both a pension & a really good 401(k). There are lots of departments here so the variety of work is good. There is a huge opportunity for career growth on the horizon.

Cons

The recession never really hit SRP, but they froze salaries anyway and severely cut the health benefits. Almost half of the workforce is retirement eligible and many are likely retiring soon. It can be difficult to move around, it is a "good ole boys club," it is getting better, but it can be discouraging at times.

Advice to Senior Management

Offer more opportunities in more areas to develop internal employees. If an employee completes their MS or MBA in an appropriate field, there should be almost an "automatic promotion." This would encourage more employees to pursue more education and make those who have accomplished it to feel a bigger sense of pride for their hard work. Give more opportunities for lateral movement or rotational job programs(currently there are only a few of these positions, and they don't cover enough areas). This can help ensure more employees know how to do multiple roles, can reduce complacency, and allow employees the opportunity to understand what other departments do.

Pros

SRP focuses on education and leadership development.

Cons

It's apparent that people get a lot of pull if you have family or church friends working in Management.

Advice to Senior Management

SRP should hire the best qualified despite of family affiliations or religious background.

Pros

Low stress, low production required, kick back ride the wave. Up to date well taken care of vehicles and 10% of the people are a pleasure to work with.

Cons

Narcissistic managers with no training or skill in area they are assigned too. Company nepotism rate is 75% and advancement is based on who you agree with and not your ability or knowledge. Technology advance in non-existent with standards controlled by one engineer who never made it pass 1970. As for safety the company is constantly in wrongful death litigation, with a safety program run like a southern baptish revival meeting. Contractor are treated more like indentured servants than professionals.

Advice to Senior Management

Cut the fat in middle management and try making it one company instead of 25 indvidual ones.

Pros

If you like working for the Post Office you will like it at SRP. A huge percentage of the personnel do essentially nothing all day.

Cons

In IT most of the management is from the business side and has no idea what is going on. IT personnel are of very low quality and have very little experience outside the company. Management tends to be whoever has been around the longest or who knows who. I have never seen a lower quality of technical personnel or management anywhere. Anyone with any drive or skill does not stay long despite the benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

Outsourcing IT is not the answer to your IT woes. Getting real IT management from outside the company is.

Pros

Flexible work hours. Easy-going atmosphere. Great benefits. Nice people. In IT, the ability to work on some cutting-edge technologies in a non-commercial setting.

Cons

As far as IT goes, it is not an "IT shop". IT is not the priority, so bigger projects tend to be fulfilled by third-party vendors. Also, you will not be able to show anyone else what you do as most of the IT just deals with internal apps.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate with your employees more about the negative happenings around SRP. The communication about positive happenings are great, but when something bad happens that we may get asked about outside of work, we have to find out about it through the newspaper like everyone else.

Pros

You won't be working long into the night as the company definitely has a "nine to five" culture. Most work weeks will be 40 hours (nominal) and less than that after you net out your long lunches and ample morning and afternoon breaks. The quality cafeteria is an indication of, and inducement to, the social culture prevalent here.

Additionally, you'll enjoy relative job security so long as you keep yourself positioned in a core business function and ensure good relations with your immediate supervisor.

Cons

Despite a "flattening" of the "spans and layers" several years ago, there continues to be an excessive middle management cadre with little to do. As a result you'll find yourself in meetings with no clear purpose and too many attendees, and probably be subjected to weekly status meetings and/or written status reports. Salary administration is driven by a cumbersome and unhelpful annual performance review process, and the annual raise percentage spread between outstanding, average, and below average performers is such that it will take many years for a meaningful pay delta to emerge. Top performers could earn far more, and be given greater responsibility, elsewhere. Many will nevertheless stay at SRP for the job security and great benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

Trim the fat out of the middle management ranks. Too many managers with little to do but take long lunches with each other on the company expense account. Push responsibility down to the "worker" level and eliminate the time wasted in meetings and reporting to your boss so he can report to his boss, etc.

Pros

Great Benefits, stable company, good bonuses. Municipality, so technically not a "for Profit company" so they are pretty generous with the funds to their employees.

Cons

Militaristic regime, engineering heavy, which can be a burden. Engineers run most of the company, and many are in management positions, which makes things difficult sometimes, especially if you are not an engineer.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your people when they talk to you, don't write everyone who comes to you off as a squeaking wheel.

Pros

SRP is two companies joined at the hip. There is the Power side, which is more corporate and then there is the Water side, which is part of the federal reclamation project as established by the Federal Reclamation Act of 1902. I work on the Power side. It's like working with family. Everyone working at SRP has a keen interest in how SRP is viewed outside of company. Everyone is proud of SRP's accomplishments inside and outside of the company. We are all working toward the same goal... a reliable source of energy for our customers. This is evident throughout the company... from the customer service agents to the people working in the field and everyone in between.

Cons

The pension could be better. I have witnessed a few promotions that were given to "pet employees".

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management should not be so quick to go to contractors. Actual SRP employees are more invested in the company and care more about the company's image. It may be tempting financially to go with contractors but, I feel, it will cost you more (with customers) in the long run.