Pros
Large company that has retained the small company, personal perspective that enables quick response to and support of customers. Pay is decent. The Utility Industry is not a career path to choose if you want to get rich. If you want a steady job that has reasonable pay but rarely requires layoffs, even in an economic downturn, this is the industry you want to be in! The management, from the President down to the branch managers seem to be open and responsive to the concerns and needs of the employees. Great overall group of people to work with, again, from the President of the company who started out as a warehouse associate, all the way down to individual employees, it seems more like a large family than a large company. Once a month, employees in the Utility line of business have a change to hear a report on the performance and internal workings of the LOB directly from the President. This is very helpful to help give a more thorough knowledge of the company and how it works to every team member within the organization. It is also exceptional that several time during the calls, the "floor" is opened up to any individual who may have questions, comments, or concerns regarding anything specific to them. Rick McClure does his best to answer each question and make sure that everyone on the call completely understands the answer. It's also nice that if he's not sure about the answer, he tells everyone on the call that he doesn't know. If that should happen, he finds the answer out and on the next call, reports the results to everyone on the call. In other words, he's a personal manager and doesn't want to leave a question hanging unanswered. Another aspect of working for HDS I enjoy is that the safety and security of their employees is considered a high priority. Everyone who may interact with any machinery which might be considered dangerous is thoroughly trained on it's operation. It may be more of a business reason than the care for employees, but it's nice to know I'm not going to get run over or run through by a forklift while walking through the warehouse. The benefits are comparable to good within the company. There are many employees working for other organizations that either do not have benefits or do not have the level of benefits we enjoy. Another great perk is the associate discount program! We get discounts at so many different companies for various reasons, it's just amazing. Personally, I believe the training offered by the Utilities LOB is great. There are various different classes that an employee can take covering many different topics. These topics range from computer software, to developing leadership. It's important to learn and develop new skills for future advancement within the company and its a very nice perk that HDS Utilities offers these classes free of charge.
Cons
The company is very "KPI" (key point indicator) centric. Anything and everything that can be measured is and will continue to be. This includes everything from the number of orders entered in an hour, to the number of items an individual purchasing agent may have on back order. All of these indicators are very important to the operation of a business and are used to calculate many different things, such as customer service levels, cost savings, effectiveness of individual employees, as well as a myriad of other specifics. In fact, the company seems to be so KPI centric that occasionally individuals, as well as management can get bogged down in the reports and neglect to see the person or people behind the report. I've never had an issue with not being recognized for a job well done in this company and I try as hard as possible to pass that practice down to my direct reports. I understand however, other branches or lines of business may not feel it is important to recognize individuals for going above and beyond their job description and actually lending a hand to a customer or fellow employee when needed. This is unfortunate, as there are generally redeeming qualities in every person/employee.
