American Water reviews

My love for this company has turned to hatred. I have been a proud American Water employee for many years and have poured my heart out for this company, as did many of my fallen colleagues. This company is it's own worst enemy. What started years ago as a “family-oriented” company, a fun and rewarding place to work, has truly deteriorated into a selfish evil empire. Top level executives seem to have zero to minimum knowledge of what the incompetent middle and low level management is doing in the destruction of this once proud company. Human Resources is just as much at fault as they are to blame, and provide the back up power necessary to successfully humiliate, patronize, and belittle it's employees to no end. I don't know who is to blame, the new all-powerful regime or the greedy stockholders. My bet would be the latter oppressing the prior. Bi-yearly employee reviews are one huge game to management and HR, and are rated on unnecessary and sometimes unrealistic goals that accompany the employee, or “set the employee up for failure”, so to speak. Goal oriented ideas that are just plain nonsense and/or just a waste of time and resources are assigned to each employee. Management and HR sit back and laugh while employees struggle, providing little guidance or direction. Some years employees were rated against each other. This created opponents rather than team players, forcing instances of sabotage amongst each other. Buddies and family of management received preferential treatment and special training that was not otherwise offered or available to the average employee. Sometimes an “ivy league” employee would be “molded” for a promotion or have a job created just for them. I personally have been shown by a manager a set plan that in effect will set up an individual for termination. This “skill set” has been used numerous times during my employment to “remove” a certain employee or “job title” to move another person in it's place, usually a friend or relative of a manager. I still have the instruction book. Some employees, for minute reasons, were placed on employee performance probation. This is a 90 day period in which employees are required to enhance their performance. Working closely with HR members, management would strategically plan the employee's performance probation time-frame, often allowing the 90 day period to conveniently end one day prior to the employee's scheduled lay-off date. Under fictitious company policies this would allow the employee less than one day to secure a new position within the company. In most cases the new job posting would be the same job the employee held prior with minor changes to job title itself or minor job requirement or skill set changes that the employee already had or currently possesses. Highly skillful talent has been replaced with plain ignorance. Most departments have had staff reduction by 50%, leaving the remaining members to do double or sometimes triple the work. Employees that were able to reapplied and secure jobs have done so with a 25% pay cut in their new (old) job role. Some employees were robbed of their yearly bonus, given notice on Christmas Eve morning. Merry Christmas! Oh wait, American Water is a “politically correct” company, “Happy Festivus!” Remember, stay positive. In closing, I've seen bright-eyed and chipper people start with all good intentions only to age 10 years in the first 2 years of their employment. This company will work you like a dog. When you are at the end of your rope, full of stress and feeling overwhelmed, it will toss you to the curb like a worn-out sofa. When you can prove to the world you are a rude, crude, ignorant, and a pompous tool and no one can tolerate even the very thought of you, that is when this company will promote you. When you sit down at the end of the day and reflect upon the day's events, and you feel as though you done right to yourself, your customers, and mighty God above, and can honestly look at yourself and see your sole shinning within, it is then that this company will beat you down like a bad man's girlfriend and leave your bleeding heart to die a slow and sad death. Good luck to all of my brothers and sisters. Godspeed!!!