The company is way behind the times in terms of Information Technology. Sure they are trying to implement Building Information Modeling and are working on implementing new comprehensive management software company-wide, but the roll out has been slow and painstaking (granted, they do want to get it right before it goes live). Data entry and management continues to be performed in double or triplicate across different software platforms. Companies with 1/5 the workforce have more developed and sophisticated technology, but WT is slowly catching up.
Requirements for advancement are rarely clear cut. Promotion rates will vary from office to office and will depend on the level of responsibility one is tasked with. If the responsibilities or "opportunities" aren't presented to one, they you're probably going to be stuck in neutral. If one is lucky enough to develop a good repertoire with a client and "gets" a couple of projects with said client, you will probably get promoted regularly and often. It all depends on the hand you are dealt. Cold calling never works and is discouraged. Repeat business is a good portion of the work (this is good for the company overall). If you're lucky enough to get a steady stream of projects and you complete them on time, on budget and please the owner, you'll go far. Yearly reviews tend to be a little bit too rosy. If you're stuck on the promotional ladder and have no idea why while your reviews have been mostly positive, this doesn't provide one any direction to improve the situation. Vice Presidents rarely engage with lower level managers and engineers. You could go many years having said only a hand full of words to your VP; this creates a disconnect and makes building a working relationship difficult. The level of pay for employees is way below industry standard. If you've read the other reviews, you will see this as a common thread. The company does "give out" private stock (who and how much gets it is very subjective), has yearly profit sharing (also subjective) and a full pension all of which are designed to be the golden handcuffs to keep long term employees. It makes leaving all that much more difficult after 10-15 years.
People are expected to travel long distances and the reimbursement policy provides very little additional compensation. It would be great if the distance to jobsites was taken into consideration before considering forcing people to commute over 100 miles each way on a daily basis or to relocate completely. There are over 25 offices around the country and many times it makes very little sense when offices are competing against each other simply because the company is following a client. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to the client to put a single key person on the project and use personnel from a local office to save on travel and living expenses? In general, employees would be staying closer to home which would allow them more time with family. The crazy hours this industry demands are one thing, but then to force people to live out of town for extended periods of time and miss everything in their personal lives is insane. Who wants to put in 60, 70 or 80 hours a week and miss birthdays, soccer games and get-togethers? What's the point in having a golden parachute when you retire if you're completely burned out and broken by the time you get there and can't even enjoy it?
