Pros
Burns & McDonnell has a reputation in KC for being one of, if not the best company to work for. Maybe for a few it is, but for most people it is not. I considered leaving for around a year, and I always contemplated on what type of review I would leave the company or what I would say if anyone asked why I left. I recently resigned and it was hard to leave such a reputable company, but now, I am very glad I did. There were days I wanted to burn it to the ground, and days I thought I was fortunate to work for such a diverse company. Burns & McDonnell has some great people, exciting projects, and in all different types of industries as you can see when you visit their website. What makes it not a great place to work is some of the leadership is terrible and run a dictatorship. They are considered executives because they have the most experience, but have minimal leadership skills. People don’t necessarily like them, they are afraid of them. The work culture is poor, no life/work balance, HR has near the highest turnover in the entire organization because they realize the “unwritten expectations” that employees are required to follow if they want to be successful. Salaries are below average, and they talk you into it because the potential benefits of the ESOP and Bonus structure. If someone could suffer through 25 years of this place, you would for sure be a millionaire if the company continues to perform the way it is now. If you want to sit at a desk for 10-12 hours a day and deal with leadership that treats you like a peasant than it is probably the best place for retirement in the nation. Pros: - Some great people work there - Very diverse range of projects throughout the nation - Very involved in community service and recognition - Stick around for a long time and you will be swimming in ESOP cash - Some that have been there a long time receive a bonus 60-100% of salary (typically those directly involved with clients and managing projects). Keep in mind this is taxed 45%.
Cons
Cons: - Bonus $ is not decided upon performance, but rather time spent with the company. - Salary increases are small and rare, even with a promotion. They say you should see an increase in bonus instead. The problem with this is taxes on bonuses, and also your deciding factor on how much ESOP cash you get at the end of the year is your salary level (not including bonuses). Not giving raises, keeps your ESOP cash % contribution the same year after year. - The company operates as different Global Practices and Regional Offices, which often times try to accomplish the same thing but using a different path. Which leads to repeating discussions, re-training, changing process for the same end result and is confusing and non-productive for many. - You get a lot of “this is the expectation!” but no guidance or leadership on how to get there. A lot of times I think this is because they aren’t really sure either. - I would see employees slightly mess up or do something incorrect, and rather than a manger discussing it with them and giving corrective coaching for improvement next time, it was talked behind his back to others. Management got involved and talked more about it and how the person was not meeting expectations. They never really helped the person become better. Just continued to let him do the wrong thing. - They wouldn’t pay for my Master’s Degree because the Division President didn’t see the value in each class, and how it would benefit Burns & Mac. The Master’s program was in the field I directly worked in. It was not unrelated by any means. I could go down the road to work at a fast food store and receive at least some credit for continuing education and this place is supposedly the 14th best place to work in the nation. Continuing education is in the corporate policy that we were expected to follow, but it was still denied. - With projects being all over the place, you are expected to be as well. Most of the time it is not on your schedule, it is based on the support the project needs. You may get a call on Sunday to say to fly out to Minnesota tomorrow and we aren't sure how long you have to be there. Could be 1 week, could be 3 months. This isn’t a typical scenario, but it does happen. In some divisions more than others. - They do give back to the community, local and national charities (united way, Ronald McDonald House, etc) but if you don’t participate it will be noted and you could see a result of this in your bonus. - Company is growing at such a fast rate they are having trouble supporting projects with quality management. This also causes an increase in non-typical work or requests due to rush requests with very little notice. A couple quotes I was told when I was at Burns & Mac I will never forget eacg said by one of my supervisors/managers… “I don’t know why people still try to have a life outside of work; work should be your life.” “It is not about performance, but the perception of others around us” - was referring to division executives. I think Burns & Mac can be a good place to work for some, and a lot of my experiences were due directly to the department I worked in and the management I interacted with. I know there are some other divisions that are ran similar, but others that are a little more relaxed. There is a lot of people that leave Burns & Mac, then come back with a higher salary. This is the smartest thing to do if you are in it for the long term, because it will dramatically affect the % of ESOP and other retirement contributions you receive. It will also put you into a different bill level with a higher typical bonus range. Overall I’m glad I worked there, I did learn a lot (good and bad) and met some really smart/nice people.