Highly dysfunctional work environment. - Anonymous employee Puget Sound Energy Employee Review

Employees, more often than not, are not respected, listened to, or cared about at PSE. Furthermore, there is an overwhelming presence of fear in the PSE workplace, due to employees not feeling stable at their jobs. As an FTE at PSE, I've worked and developed work 'friendships' with employees in most departments. In this respect, I've been witness to multiple reports of dept managers and supervisors resorting to bullying management tactics with their employees during normal daily work times. I've witnessed and have experienced the utter terror that endures when one is constantly aware that they can lose their jobs at any minute, due to an untrained and unlearned manager's whims, The great majority of employees at PSE are acutely aware of this (and they are terrified) that their employment could end at any minute. This type of awareness promotes an environment of social paranoia. An environment that causes employees to view other employees as probable threats to their continuing existence. It has caused an environment at PSE where each person keeps a leash on their tongues in distrust, when dialoguing with other employees. This is in great part to management not being structural or professional. It is also due to employees being encouraged by management to gossip about other employees. I have personally witnessed on multiple occasions, management willingly participating in these gossip sessions. I've also witnessed management responding to these gossip sessions by penalizing, in one way or another, the employee who has been gossipped about. I'm embarrassed to say that I worked for an enployer that allows such unprofessionalism. Employees at PSE are completely powerless to advocate for themselves. There are multiple cases of management abuse cases reported to HR by employees. Unfortunately for the employee. HR is very adept at lip service. The PSE employee knows or soon finds out that in the end, the employee circumstances are not considered or listened to by HR. It is the manager .. whether they are utilizing abusive tactics or not .. who is always backed up and supported in any PSE HR process. Also, when HR has been informed the manager has been unprofessional, there are no training plans that are embarked on. Which leaves that manager to their own devices.. as it was before the complaint. This type of common work practice at PSE makes it absolutely evident that PSE management does not have the time to be concerned about their employees. Lower level management; ie, supervisors, etc. provide no direction to staff members whatsoever. The PSE departmental employee is left to their own devices to learn and master the job without training of any structural type. (Of course this isn't true for the trade vocations, ie; lineman, etc). Many times, I've witnessed supervisors employing their staff members to create and gather staff data for management reports. These reports consist of individual peer performance issues. To allow peer team members to pull this data is unprofessional management practice. This type of practice causes seperations between and within the staff, which in turn, results in low work performance and a toxic workplace environment. This is a direct confirmation that upper and lower level management are not receiving leadership training. The fact is, upper management leaves too much responsibility for the employees worklives in the hands of lower level management, who have NO leadership or management training. HR performs workplace surveys with outside agencies to determine what their work environment is.. but changes are never made to the work environment. Employees view these surveys as a waste of their work time.. nothing ever changes.. dysfunction still runs rampant. Management and HR at PSE uses the At Will status of our state to fire employees. And they do practice on a continuing basis, firing their employees without notice and at HR and management's own whim. As well as without explanation. HR supports managers who fire their employees in this manner. HR provides no support for the employee. All in all. PSE is one of the worse employers in the Puget Sound region. You would be better off working anywhere else. Also, Beware, if they don't care about those that they employ.. how much can we rely on them to care about the energy situation in the Puget Sound. Think about it.