Southland Industries Reviews

Pros

Many opportunities to train and grow. Perks onsite. Pleasant employees and management.

Advice to Management

none

Pros

Entrepreneurial environment with minimal bureaucracy. The company runs a lean organization focused on results. Employees are empowered and treated with respect. Senior leadership is accessible and fully supportive of it's business leaders.

Good work / life balance and employees are rewarded for strong performance.

Pros

Union shop. Pay according to apprenticeship with great Benifits

Pros

good company, friendly environment, open management

Pros

I've worked at a bunch of engineering firms, and yes, Southland isn't perfect - but in my opinion they work hard to make it one of the best. I think you'll search for years to find a better firm to work for, and I'd bet that the folks who aren't happy with minor things haven't worked at very many firms. Trust me when I say, Southland is a great firm to work for. Perfect? No... but none are. Pros?

*Great benefits.

*Decent work life balance (anybody who complains about occasional OT hasn't worked in engineering very long).

*Great people.

*Fun office environment.

*The firm cares about you,

*Lots of Team building/Social activities available.

*Management holds company-wide meetings in Phoenix, and I think they do a pretty good job of keeping staff informed as to what's going on, what the firms plans are, etc.

Advice to Management

I guess if I could suggest one thing it would be to start getting the word out locally that we're here and we're open for business. It's incredible how many people in the industry still don't know who we are.

Ok maybe 2 things... Culture. I went to boot camp in SoCal. Absolutely hated the thought, like I'd have rather had kidney stones than gone hated it - until I got there. The boot camp and the culture at SoCal absolutely blew me away! Everyone was motivated to do their best, the Southland culture was palpable, it was an awesome experience! Then I came home. I suggested to several managers that as a start we get some of the same posters that I saw in SoCal for the office here as a start, and 2+ years later I think we have one propped against a wall somewhere. What I experienced there was motivating and infectious, and we need to get that in Phoenix - but to be frank I'm not very hopeful when a few standard posters takes 3 years.

Pros

Cutting edge technology working on the big name projects around the nation

Pros

The benefits package a mixed bag. The 401k is outstanding at 50% match, but the medical HSA is a big turn off for most employees. They do some HSA contributions to help with the sting along with a wellness incentive for the family. There is also accidental injury which is great for when you have kids!

The wealth of knowledge is vast throughout the company and you can find experts easily. Between engineering and construction, a better solution with a higher ROI can be found.

Technology is near the forefront of the industry. There are some of the top BIM minds in the industry at Southland and are always pushing innovation and efficiency.

Leaders of the Lean Construction Institute and try to add LEAN principles in their work.

Promote from within for most positions.

11 holidays and 3 combined weeks off is nice for the work/life balance.

Accommodating with personal issues so you can tend what you need to take care of.

Advice to Management

For corporate:

Make sure all of the offices are on the same level and receive the same support with ALL services. Not all offices are treated equally and that hurts production of the overall company.

For the Phoenix office:

You have talented staff, empower and assist them to accomplish their goals set forth in their reviews.

Be more grateful of your employees, and let them know they are appreciated. A "good job" to employees during projects goes a long way. If an employee is leaving on good terms, rather than ostracizing them, give them a simple "thank you" to show that what they did while they were there was of value, especially to some of the more tenured employees.

Be more engaging with all employees, rather than being stuck behind a computer all day.

Listen to your production staff about issues and do it without rank and an open and generous ear. Many of the complaints voiced seem to go on deaf ears and unnoticed. This is a morale killer and leaves the staff untrusted.

Be more transparent with your staff about the future and do not gloss over things on the horizon. This causes concern with staff and makes them uneasy about the futures.

Practice what you preach. As LEAN champions, there is a lot of wasteful practices going. Project Management needs to engage the discipline leads [from ALL disciplines] more to have a more refined process and outlook.

Get back to doing more community involvement and get your employees to do so as well. There has been a growing sense of empathy towards this in the past few years.

Pay more competitively within the market. Salaries offered are at or lower than market value for most positions. If you want to get or keep top employees, reputation and sales pitch isn't going to do it alone.

Pros

Get to work on interesting projects. I like the people I work with.

Pros

Company offers great opportunities. Recognizes and awards hard work. Senior management always aims to do the right thing.

Pros

Strong safety culture and emphasis on training. Total support from upper management and great team environment.

Advice to Management

Promote from within whenever possible