Pros
1. Strong pension: While some longstanding members will bemoan the current offer, 13% company contribution is strong but that must be put in to context of low base salary. 2. Job security: Secure employment with little chance of meaningful redundancy and no effective mechanism to challenge poor performance. 3. Nine day fortnight: Long weekend twice a month. 4. Work life balance: Pace is slow and often constrained leading to a relaxed environment. Definitely not an aggressive commercial environment. Ideal if you want to semi-retire.
Cons
The positives aspects of job security and good pension do not outweigh the corrosive behaviours and negative aspects detailed below. 1. Disconnected Senior Management: Senior management appears to be detached from the workforce, consistently communicating with a level of vagueness and bending of the truth which is a deliberate political act to mask wider endemic failings. The lack of transparency and genuine engagement creates an environment that leaves employees feeling downtrodden and undervalued. 2. Poor Management at all Levels: The organisational hierarchy suffers from a clear lack of effective leadership, with poor management practices permeating all levels, directly impacting overall work atmosphere and employee morale. 3. Contradiction in Company Values: Despite the constant preaching of company values by senior leadership, there is a noticeable gap between words and actions. The disconnect between stated values and actual behavior erodes trust and creates scepticism among the staff. 4. Below Average Compensation: AWE's compensation structure falls short when compared to industry standards for similar roles. Moreover, there is a culture of suppressing salaries for permanent staff whilst awarding long term contracts to individual contractors that are often the equivalent of 3 times that of staff members. The disparity in pay affects the motivation and job satisfaction of employees, making it challenging to attract and retain top talent. 5. Nepotism: A notable concern is the consistent lack of transparency regarding career advancement opportunities with the organisation appearing to be plagued by widespread nepotism, with promotions often favouring individuals within a close-knit 'old boys club' or even without advertisement leading to unfair competition and potentially excluding the best candidate for the role. 6. Talent Management: An alarming trend of hiring external contractors at significantly higher salaries, rather than promoting internal candidates leading to a demoralised workforce and raises questions about AWE’s long-term commitment to nurturing and advancing the skills of the workforce from within. 7. Public Servant Workforce Constraints: AWE operates as a public servant workforce, aligning its salary and benefits policies with Civil Service guidelines including adopting a stance of constraining salary and benefits in accordance with these guidelines. Despite this, AWE leadership has opted not to grant the workforce access to some key Civil Servant benefits, notably pension plans leading the workforce to enter the large supply chain that supports AWE locally as this offers greater salary packages, same advantages working patterns and faster career progression. 8. Blame Culture: AWE seems to have fostered a blame culture where accountability is often misplaced or avoided altogether. Instead of fostering an environment that encourages learning from mistakes, there is a tendency to shift blame onto individuals.