Unexpected Pluses and Minuses
Pros
Since the company is an aggregate of acquisitions, there is a lot of intra-office pride and friendly inter-office competition outside of corporate financials, e.g. health/fitness and sustainability. Stantec does a decent job integrating its acquisitions to feel loyal to the company, although many of the policies are difficult to find or understand. At 14,000 employees (as of Summer 2015), Stantec has varied resources in both operations and support roles. Stantec also has a $1 million research & development budget, for projects whose sponsors apply for funding. Stantec, being ISO 9001 certified, has a strong commitment and set of policies for project quality and procedures, resulting in polished work processes that positively impact the ultimate work products.
Cons
The nature of a big company is that it may be slow to process administrative tasks. What is special about this company is that the org. chart is extremely confusing. There are many technical administrative titles, and each Business Center (financial operating unit) reports to both a Geographic leadership structure and a Business/Practice/Sector leadership structure. While the nature of A&E consulting is low margins, an impersonal demand for profits and focus on minutiae often discourage employees who put forth their best efforts.
