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    BC Hydro Reviews

    Updated 29 June, 2017
    127 reviews

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    Full-timePart-time
    3.6
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
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    Jessica McDonald
    19 Ratings

    127 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • Decision making high in organization with insufficient delegation (in 7 reviews)

    • A lot of red tape, high volume of work, constant competing priorities between departments (in 6 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Excellent Benefits and flexibility - less salary"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Senior Engineer in Vancouver, BC
      Current Employee - Senior Engineer in Vancouver, BC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I have been working at BC Hydro full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      - very flexible work time
      - excellent benefits
      - good av time

      Cons

      - promotion is not easy
      - salary is good but not great
      - sometimes it is very stressful

      Advice to Management

      try to work on removing the salary freeze on engineers. try to create more fair process in hiring and promotions

    2. "BC Hydro"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Construction Manager in Vancouver, BC
      Current Employee - Construction Manager in Vancouver, BC

      I have been working at BC Hydro full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Good work/life balance, work with talented professionals from a variety of fields, fair compensation, great benefits

      Cons

      Significant travel or relocation required, job security varies based on political landscape

    3. "Hydro"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Journeyman Millwright in Campbell River, BC
      Former Employee - Journeyman Millwright in Campbell River, BC
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      Pros

      Good company to work for.

      Cons

      Not hiring at this time.

      4. Is this helpful? The community relies on everyone sharing – Add Anonymous Review

    4. "Marketing and Communications"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Communications, Marketing and Training in Burnaby, BC
      Current Employee - Communications, Marketing and Training in Burnaby, BC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      Pros

      Good benefits and low tolerance for sexual harassment or gender biased decisions.

      Cons

      Easiest to find advancement opportunities for engineers.

      Advice to Management

      .

    5. "Senior Manager"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Senior Manager in Vancouver, BC
      Former Employee - Senior Manager in Vancouver, BC
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at BC Hydro full-time

      Pros

      average training allowances, ample vacation, good dental and health benefits

      Cons

      Management can be very reactionary. A real lack of clear goals in some departments which translates into weak action items. Too many layers of management. Micro-management is prevalent in some areas of the company.

      Advice to Management

      VP and Directors, please start interviewing front-line staff without their direct managers present ...start building a culture of transparency and trust not politics . Don't just manage the "fires" and hope it does not get to your level. You need to scrutinize the decisions of your M3 managers on a regular basis.

    6. Helpful (2)

      "A decent, family oriented organization"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Project Manager in Vancouver, BC
      Current Employee - Project Manager in Vancouver, BC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at BC Hydro full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      High Safety orientation; Technologically a little slow to adapt. Slowly turning around from being understaffed and consultant oriented, to full time staff oriented. Many new opportunities opening weekly. Emphasis on work-life balance. Quite environmentally oriented. Starting to get creative (Seed initiative).

      Cons

      Overly bureaucratic, with duplication of work. Slow to get decisions. Political interference in operations by government and opposition parties. Much of the executive are "too busy". .

      Advice to Management

      Work on becoming more effective by removing duplicate forms. Have executive focus on more strategic items and pushing decision making down to the lowest level possible.

    7. "Great place to work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Engineer in Burnaby, BC
      Current Employee - Engineer in Burnaby, BC
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at BC Hydro full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Work environment, line of work

      Cons

      No bonuses, no salary increases

      Advice to Management

      Fight for better compensation to employees

    8. Helpful (6)

      "OK place to make money - but Al-Qaeda style leadership at the top"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Senior Manager in Burnaby, BC
      Former Employee - Senior Manager in Burnaby, BC
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      Pros

      Great place to make money if you are a smooth talker or enjoy the radical union scene. Of course you also need to have no conscience as they waste 10's of millions on ridiculous political projects that often get shelved because the executives (or those in power) don't like change.

      Cons

      You have no idea who is in charge - there is a cell network that can explode any time. I had the most uneducated, uniformed director who was politically appointed. She was the worst manager I have ever known of. Managed up pretty well I think, but totally out of touch with the business she ran. Dot join if you cant stand seeing stupid decisions based on price and self service. This needs to be privatized. I would have NEVER said that prior to my 5 years at BC hydro. A few great people led by a few that incent the wrong behaviors...

      Advice to Management

      Transformation from the top, clear requirements for senior managers, independent advice on major projects, Utility commission needs more direct input into the spending, Hire professionals in their field, not evaluated admin staff with no people skills, use employee surveys and feedback, Live the values you say you have (believe me, you don't today)

    9. Helpful (5)

      "Business Systems Consultant"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Burnaby, BC
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Burnaby, BC
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      Pros

      Good benefits, lots of vacation time.

      Cons

      Too many consultants & contractors, very stressful & demanding, poor management.

      Advice to Management

      Hire more permanent employees and reduce the workload.

    10. Helpful (1)

      "Administrative Assistant"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Vancouver, BC
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Vancouver, BC
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at BC Hydro full-time

      Pros

      Variety of opportunities go advancement or to get involved in volunteer initiatives. Benefits were great. Good autonomy.

      Cons

      Frequent change = low feeling of stability

      Advice to Management

      Keep encouraging people to grow and ensure managers get involved in the yearly review process.

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