Pros
The company had good intentions and great "talk tracks" during the the 2014 merger, I mean ACQUISITION. The executive staff said the right things but failed to understand that family companies have a culture and you better weave those cultures together successfully. The pro for this company now is that if you are an executive with landscape experience, there will likely be a mass exodus from the 20-30 high level executives brought in from Aramark, Starbucks and Waste Management, since the CEO who brought them in is now gone.
Cons
It is all a mess. During the Brickman acquisition of ValleyCrest, the company said that BrightView would be an "academy company" and have the best and brightest at the helm. There would be personal development, and training, and room for everyone to have a great job. The truth was that most of this was never implemented, the company spent to much money on consultants and projects that did not help our customers. If you are interviewing at the company, as these questions. What is the current attrition rate for professionals and non-professionals? What is the retention rate for "jobs"? What is the profitability of the branch you are interviewing in? When was the last time the branch hit its' goals and earned a bonus. Oh, and ask for the latest employee survey results. Net-net, the company in 2014 took the approach that all employees were replaceable, often saying to concerned employees "This process and the future company is not for everyone." The company has not retained key employees that were crucial to the landscape maintenance business, operational expertise has taken a huge hit (these people are now working for other companies), the sales roles are told to sell "or else" and the branding has been a huge flop. This was a company of "do what you are told, we don't need you to think." Maybe a new CEO can unravel the mess that has been made and get the company back to an entrepreneurial focus where those people in branches can actually run their businesses.
