Leadership is Untrustworthy - Anonymous employee Black & Veatch Employee Review

2.0
Jul 23, 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- The people - 9/80 schedule

Cons

New information! We've all known that Mario was never planning to allow us to stay hybrid, but he confirmed it today in his townhall. "I've talked to other CEOs...we need to see if the hybrid model works, you all need to make the hybrid model work or we will go to 4 and 5 days in-office". So, we all know that magically in a few months we'll be told it "isn't working" with no supporting data other than comparing us to Google and JP Morgan, and then say it was our fault it happened. They claim we're a "top-talent desination". My question is - where?? None of the benefits are particularly exciting compared to other firms. In fact, some of the benefits are actively worse than other similar firms, INCLUDING the potential removal of a hybrid workspace. He said another unhinged thing in his meeting today, that we should "give the company AT LEAST 40 hours... I think as employee owners we should give the company MORE than 40 hours of our week" . This is a HUGE red flag. How long until they turn into a traditional design firm where you're paid for 40 hours but judged and disciplined if you don't work 50-60? They like to claim we're special because we're employee owned, but that means nothing when the employees don't get ANY input in major decisions that affect our lives.

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5.0
Jun 3, 2026
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Pros

Great team to work with in SCADA

Cons

Nothing to specify.. so far everything is good

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Black & Veatch Response
1mo
Thank you for leaving a review! We appreciate the feedback!
1.0
Jul 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Fair starting compensation, the team I lead is very dedicated, the onboarding process is very smooth, there are opportunities to mentor and be mentored.

Cons

The current performance management process is deeply flawed. Leaders collect ratings from managers and supervisors, then gather in a room with peers to “calibrate.” During this meeting, a predetermined percentage of employees must receive low ratings. At one point, someone referred to this as “forced ratings,” and the IT leader became visibly upset, insisting that it was not. However, I was present for the discussion: we lowered ratings, checked the spreadsheet, lowered more ratings, checked the spreadsheet again, and repeated this cycle until we hit the percentage the IT leader said had to be met. From conversations with peers outside of IT, this appears to be a common practice across the organization. Unfortunately, the approach often results in employees receiving ratings that do not accurately reflect their actual performance. These artificially lowered ratings directly affect merit increases and bonuses—even if the bonuses are relatively small—creating consequences that feel at best unfair. Regardless of what label is used, the experience felt undeniably forced.

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