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PCL Construction Reviews
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    PCL Construction Reviews

    Updated 26 June, 2017
    285 reviews

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    Full-time Part-time
    3.9
    Star Star Star Star Star
    Rating Trends Rating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    PCL Construction President and CEO Dave Filipchuk
    Dave Filipchuk
    37 Ratings

    285 Employee Reviews

    Sort: Popular Rating Date
    Pros
    Cons

    • Work/life balance can be a challenge but this is the industry - not PCL (in 29 reviews)

    • role for someone who is not comfortable working on a jobsite or unwilling to work long hours if needed on a project (in 29 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. Helpful (1)

      "Project Coordinator"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Project Coordinator in Fort McMurray, AB
      Former Employee - Project Coordinator in Fort McMurray, AB

      I worked at PCL Construction full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Great passion for construction
      Knowledgeable and professional team

      Cons

      Sometime work is very repetitive

      Advice to Management

      None

    2. Helpful (1)

      "Wofking safe"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Skilled Labourer in Edmonton, AB
      Former Employee - Skilled Labourer in Edmonton, AB
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at PCL Construction (More than a year)

      Pros

      Great safety practices and programs are available .

      Cons

      Safety can become.e a pain in the foot.

      Advice to Management

      Don't talk to management to give advice or you could end up fire

      PCL Construction Response

      7 Jun, 2017 – HR Specialist

      Thank you for your review. We take great pride in our safety program and use it as a standard to ensure that our employees go home in the same or better condition than when they come to work. One of ... More

    3. "Great Company to work for!"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Professional Development in Edmonton, AB
      Former Employee - Professional Development in Edmonton, AB
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      Pros

      Amazing company culture. Everyone is welcoming and dedicated to helping you grow. Management gives you tons of opportunities and autonomy.

      Cons

      Perhaps the wages could have been more competitive.

      PCL Construction Response

      25 May, 2017 – HR Specialist

      Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. Since you were on our professional development team, you probably know that they play a significant part in creating and delivering resources to ... More

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

    4. Helpful (1)

      "Great Place to Work"

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

      I have been working at PCL Construction full-time

      Pros

      Tight knit team environment.
      Strong focus on employee development.
      Exciting projects.
      Lots of responsibility given at a young age.
      Employee ownership gives everyone skin in the game.

      Cons

      Due to the size of the company, the amount of processes and procedures can feel like a burden a times.

      Advice to Management

      Encourage employees to challenge the process and continuously strive for improvement.
      Encourage a mix of veteran employees with new hires on all projects.

    5. "Great Place to Work"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Manager in Edmonton, AB
      Current Employee - Manager in Edmonton, AB
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at PCL Construction full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Focus on learning on development
      Focus on challenging and meaningful work
      Employee owned company, everyone behaves like an owner and takes pride in their work
      Great teams
      We work hard and we play hard

      Cons

      Fast-paced environment can make it difficult to keep work out of your personal life at times

      Advice to Management

      Keep pushing us forward and recognizing our individual efforts and accomplishments!

    6. Helpful (1)

      "Great Opportunities"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Edmonton, AB
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Edmonton, AB
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at PCL Construction full-time

      Pros

      Employee Ownership! Challenging and rewarding work. Lots of pride in the projects that we build and the contribution to the community.

      Cons

      It takes hard work and dedication to be successful at PCL.

      Advice to Management

      Keep changing, adapting and listening!

      PCL Construction Response

      24 Apr, 2017 – HR Specialist

      Thank you for your feedback! I hope you continue to feel this pride throughout your career because, as you said, our people put in a lot of hard work and dedication to make our projects a success. We ... More

    7. Helpful (1)

      "Project Accountant"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Project Accountant in Nisku, AB
      Current Employee - Project Accountant in Nisku, AB
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      Pros

      - Personal experience with my district finance manger has been good.
      - Good medical benefits.
      - Opportunity to work with a variety of clientele and in multiple geographic areas.
      - Friendly staff in general.

      Cons

      - The salary is far below market average for the position and the value I personally add compared to market data.
      - The amount of shares offered don't make up for the above.
      - The company is extremely heavily skewed towards favoring those with an engineering and/or trades background with respect to pay and share offerings, as well as fringe benefits such as trucks and gas cards.
      - The finance group in general is extremely underpaid.
      - Extremely slow to improve processes, even in light of the size of the company.
      - Lackluster performance review process; very few, if any, individuals place value on PCL's performance management processes. On a personal level I cannot tie my performance or achievements to salary or bonus or share performance as there has been next to no recognition of such.
      - Recognition of achievements in general mostly come in the form of lip service and very little in the form of compensation or material anything for the employee.
      - Salary payroll - for staff working on site - is very confusing. Most employees don't understand their pay cheques. Many don't bother checking them anymore because they rarely make any sense.
      - Some senior management are just outright not the right fit; however, PCL is very slow to make personnel changes at the management level - even when faced with blatant lack of ability, effort, or care.
      - Archaic data management processes at the "trench" levels with respect to payroll administration and general reporting.

      Advice to Management

      - Revisit and rebuild performance management; it isn't worth much, if anything, at the moment.
      - Improve your finance/admin compensation. It's just not worth staying at PCL as a high performing finance professional at the moment. Even with the shares.
      - Get the guts to punt people that aren't performing. It makes no sense for the company or for the individuals themselves to let them flounder around in positions they are neither competent for or care enough to become so.
      - Start properly rewarding individual achievements.
      - Fix salary payroll. It's a mess.
      - Stop coming down on salary fringe benefits in general (overtime due to holidays, etc. - see recent changes in Industrial salary payroll policies) that account for infinitesimally little in actual cost to the company. And if you're going to do it anyway, stop using the excuse of "the economy" or "competitive advantage". The cost impact is so small with these changes that to consider them competitive improvements is cringe-worthy.
      - Start recognizing and promoting individuals who are hungry and stop promoting based on God-forsaken seniority. You are actively discouraging high performers by doing this and giving power and credence to sitting around and just showing up for a cheque.
      - Start listening and acting on the advice of senior financial management. The policy choices on share valuations and share offerings are a major reason this company is hurting. Blaming it on profitability is a bad joke, and the "find your 1%" corporate push is completely off the mark. The issues are too many shares, too many shareholders, and too many high-revenue low-profitaiblity (or negative profitability) jobs - as well as extremely under-performing districts.

      PCL Construction Response

      9 May, 2017

      I appreciate hearing honest and candid feedback from our employees. I am disappointed to hear about some of your experiences and concerns as this does not reflect what we strive for. Please feel free ... More

    8. "Workers are just numbers on a spreadsheet"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Journeyman Electrician in Edmonton, AB
      Former Employee - Journeyman Electrician in Edmonton, AB
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook

      Pros

      Good to work for when you are anonymous

      Cons

      You are anonymous - a number - large conglomerate that rewards its middle management in singling out and getting rid of employees.

      Advice to Management

      Middle Management is ground level - not corporate whipping boys

      PCL Construction Response

      25 May, 2017 – HR Specialist

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We view our PCL family members as more than just numbers so I am disappointed to see that you feel this way. I invite you to share more details with us at ... More

    9. "No opportunities"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Ottawa, ON
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Ottawa, ON
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at PCL Construction full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      PCL chooses its star employees from the day they are hired and put all of their effort and support in making these individuals shine.

      Cons

      If you are not one of these stars, nothing will happen for you in terms of advancement and recognition. It doesn't matter that you are the best person for the job or the most experienced. They want a young, arrogant, inexperienced "yes" guy.

      Advice to Management

      Open your eyes. Reward the people who deserve it.

      PCL Construction Response

      24 Apr, 2017 – HR Specialist

      Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that this is your perception of career advancement within our company. Please know that we strive to develop our employees by utilizing a combination ... More

    10. Helpful (5)

      "Was a great company, but seems a little lost now. Lots of layoffs and terminations. Bonuses are down or non-existent."

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

      I worked at PCL Construction full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      The people--the ones who built the company and who care about it. The expertise of the builders is phenomenal.

      Cons

      Long hours without OT. Too much work to complete in an 8hr day. Pressure to get work done, no matter the quality. Lots of backstabbing, distrust within teams. Disconnected management. Talk about work/life balance is just that...talk.

      Advice to Management

      Watch out for empire builders who only care for themselves. Get back to the Poole and Stollery family values. Care about the people who invest in your company.

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