Job Title: Senior Manager - Finance
Location: Omaha, NE
Submitted on: 19-Jan-05
|
|
Job Title |
Workplace
Survey |
| Senior Manager - Finance |
Dress code is business casual. This can mean different things depending
on the level you are with the company (the higher the level or the
higher you want to be, means dressing more towards business dress than
business casual).
Corporate culture is a bit rigid. There tends to be a lot of finger
pointing if something happens. Typically, if something goes wrong, the
question is "who did this" versus "why did this happen". UP tries to be
progressive, but there is still a strong 'old boys' network throughout
the ranks and often 'who you know' will get you farther than 'what you
know'.
UP struggles with diversity at the headquarters levels. I'm not sure
about diversity in the field, but I believe there is quite a lot of
diversity in the ranks. Because UP struggles with diversity in its
Omaha headquarters (and within some groups very specifically - like
finance), diversity candidates are given more priority over other
candidates. This doesn't matter much because there are not many
diversity candidates to begin with.
The hours vary by group. With my experience (finance), it depends on
the vice president. One group always seems to be busy and working late
and on Saturdays is the norm. Another group seems to maintain a pretty
solid 8-5, 40 hours per week core.
Opportunities for advancement? Not sure. With the aging ranks, there
seems to be a lot of opportunities. There are certainly a lot of
opportunities to make lateral moves and move into different areas within
UP (operations, marketing, HR, etc.).
UP tries to promote it's family friendliness (Working Mothers Top 100
list and all), but ultimately, it comes down to who you work for. I had
a friend in the marketing group who was not allowed to take vacation
days after her mother died (she got her bereavement leave, but when she
asked to take additional time, they would not let her). They told her
to ask again a month later. They company does a great job of
making 'options' available, but they are always subject to approval by
the head of your department. For example, flex time or part time is
available if approved, but most positions are not considered 'part-time'
positions and therefore would not be approved.
UP promotes that it is progressive and using leading edge technology in
its operations. However, back in the office, its computer systems are
old and outdated. Its general ledger system is over 30 years old and
has been pieced together with bandaids for years. The current
controller will not go to bat for a new system because the thought is
that UP would rather spend its money on a new locomotive rather than a
new general ledger.
Overall, there are a lot of good people that work here, but also a lot
of frustrated people whose skills are not recognized or who are not
challenged. The bureaucracy can be a bit frustrating as people are not
allowed to make decisions, but must run everything up the chain. I
guess that also provides a safety net for the fingerpointing (so & so
approved it or reviewed it).
As a final thought - UP just completed its relocation to the new Union
Pacific Center during 2004. Employees from across Omaha and from St.
Louis were relocated to the new building. It is a very nice building.
|
|
Union Pacific Corporation Interview Surveys
