Never, never, never forget that WSP sees you as a number on a balance sheet. You are there to generate profit. You are there to generate profit, nothing more. Your technical team may desire to do high-quality work (as they should), but no one on the business side cares about that. There is an enormous emphasis (even at the lower management levels) on financial 'metrics' and 'Key Performance Indicators' with little emphasis on training, technical quality, job satisfaction, burnout, high workloads, or professional development. Project budgets are often underbid, and therefore too small to allow high-quality in-depth work, resulting in sub-par work on very tight deadlines. Your technical leaders will care, but management will not. There is a lot of 'corporate speak' that uses warm and fuzzy buzz words that are designed to encourage and motivate you. Don't fall for it - you are there to generate profit. Benefits continue to be cut, but are repackaged as good news stories to employees using flashy 'town hall' meetings and slick emails that will make you cringe with awkwardness. Do your homework. Don't fall for it - you are there to generate profit. Time sheets - your 'target' for chargeable work is a MINIMUM. Even if you always meet your target, you will still be asked to justify every bit of non-chargeable time. If you are not at (or above!) 100% chargeable time, your business leader will make you aware that you are not doing enough. You will be treated as a child rather than a professional (often with many more years of experience than the "manager" that is berating you). Advice to new employees: Work hard, gain as much experience as you can, network with your peers, and use that to springboard to a different company or organization. Remember: Don't fall for it - you are there to generate profit.
