Q&A With NW Natural Employees

Very generous. 3-4 weeks vacation per year, 3 floating holidays, all major holidays off.

Generous and fair

Right now .. nothing! They really botched planning for my retirement.

My work ethic

Too many ... I'm a believer that work and personal life should be seperate.

A few after work get togethers, usually around holidays.

Ability to work from home (if your job can be done remotely)

It was a "pension" and 401k … But the pension has been eliminated for anyone hired after 2001.

That most management decisions are driven by company politics.

That most middle managers are 'back stabbers" and will gang up on managers that "think out of the box'

Not as easy as it should be, at least in the IT department. Whenever the CIO is replaced (this seems to happen often too) that new person usually brings in his own middle managers instead of promoting from within.

Extremely difficult. NW Natural has had many, many CIO's over the last few years and each one seems to bring in their "own" people from outside the organization, to fill middle management positions, therefore limiting internal promotion opportunities.

Very fair

Excellent.

Yearly. The overall compensation package at NWN is excellent.

yearly ... Not to big of raises in the last few years because of the overall sluggish economic environment, but the incentive bonuses have been fantastic. I received a 23% incentive bonus this year and a 3% raise.

As nice as any "cube farm" can be …

No problems, especially since we are working toward a move to a new building in a couple of years

Being allowed to perform my technical job with minimal interferance.

The technical challenges.

Very... it takes an act of god to be fired at NWN.

Very... They can't live without me .... LOL

Know a manager

Have maketable skills.

People who know people in charge...

All kinds. People on the move and people who are happy to just do what they do day in and day out.

Standard... They circulate questioners yearly and produce a graph with the results.

Excellent. HR encourages feedback and is engaged with workers at NW Natural.

For me... Very easy. I don't mix the two.

No problem at all. I personally chose to keep my work life and private life separate though.

Technically ... Just the right amount.

Very! I have a technical job in the IT department. I am constantly challenged...

Poor due to the regular turnover of IT management and the poor management skills that result from that.

Good. NW Natural makes it an important a point to check on and assess workplace morale and general workplace conditions often.

They try to be diverse... The head of HR is also referred to as the "diversity officer" …

Good diversity. Management in my department has an equal number of women and men supervisors/directors ... The upper management on the 13th floor, is a bit weighted toward white men though.

Typical "cube farm" … NWN is moving into a new building next year though and the plans that have been shared show a much more open office environment.

Cubicles ... Nothing special. However, a new OPEN OFFICE environment will be implemented when the company moves to a new building in 2020.

Nothing that special, except their compensation and benefit packages is excellent. At lease they are for the NBU (non-union) group.

Fantastic 401k match and a very good incentive bonus program.

an hour

an hour

Prove that you embrace an environment of diversity and are a team player.

Be honest and confident.

Times up ... I can't answer anymore questions .. time to get back to work !

Diversity questions / Technical Questions

My interview was 20 years ago. Things were different. I spoke with the manager of my department for 45 minutes on the phone and was hired on the spot. That doesn't happen today though. All interviews are "team" interviews that follow a script prepared by the HR department.

I swear, they must flip a coin !