project manager

quality analyst

engineer

customer service representative

senior production specialist

Sydney Water

I regret to say that my experience working at Sydney Water has been overwhelmingly negative. It is crucial for potential employees to be aware of the issues within this organisation before considering any employment opportunities.

One of the most glaring problems is the lack of cultural diversity within the leadership unit. This not only fails to represent the diverse community served by Sydney Water but also impedes the organization's ability to effectively address the needs of its employees and customers.

Furthermore, the behavior of certain managers within the leadership team is deeply concerning. Instead of fostering a supportive and inclusive environment, these individuals resort to bullying tactics and favoritism. It is clear that they prioritize protecting their own interests and those of their inner circle over the well-being of the team.

Nepotism and cronyism are rampant within Sydney Water, with managers blatantly favoring their family and friends for promotions and opportunities. This undermines morale and creates a sense of unfairness among employees who work hard and deserve recognition.

Despite attempts to present a positive work culture during the recruitment process, the reality is far from it. Once the probation period is over, employees are subjected to micromanagement and treated as though they are incapable of making decisions independently.

I strongly advise against considering employment at Sydney Water. The high turnover rate speaks volumes about the toxic environment within the organization. It is clear that significant changes need to be made, including thorough interviews and investigations into the conduct of managers to address conflicts of interest.

In conclusion, prospective employees are better off seeking opportunities elsewhere, as Sydney Water's workplace culture is far from conducive to professional growth and well-being.

Work involved a mix of office and field, with broad range of engineering application including water, sewerage, water and sewage treatment, construction, maintenance, property and building management.

Sydney Water is a state owned corporation, requiring financial and business responsibility and accountability.  They are a large organisation with opportunities to establish and run programs that would not be feasible in small business.

There is strong focus on community and business clients.

Co-workers are highly qualified and there is opportunity for training in-house and externally.

There are some opportunities to be able to move to other businesses within Sydney Water to broaden experience work.

Hardest part of the job is adjusting to size of the organisation and the bureaucracy that is essential for a business of this size.

The enjoyable part were opportunities to undertake projects and work  that was challenging and could achieve results and make a significant contribution to life quality and businesses across all of Sydney, lower Blue Mountains and Illawarra areas.

Sydney Water has one of the worst cultures I've worked in, especially in the Customer Service Division. The area is entrenched with bullying, with the senior leader known across the business for her bullying and harassment of staff. Remuneration is high for the outputs of employees but there is little progression; promotions are limited to those favored by this one leader, who for whatever reason is supported by upper management despite constant complaints about her treatment of people. Many have raised complaints formally, as well as through the union (who admit to having no power to change these issues) but the common issues will always exist as long as the same leadership team are in these roles. Sadly, HR policies are not followed and EEO & WHS, while discussed, are not a priority for the business. Flexibility and good working conditions is not what you can expect from SW or at the very least this part of the business unit. The business has some really great people at grass roots level but upper management are not strong leaders who seem to lack emotional intelligence, which results in employees either ending up staying for the money and becoming miserable or seeing the light and moving on to greener pastures.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I believe great place to work here as compared to private or multi national construction contractors.

As long as you know what you are delivering for the assets owned by the public organisation, it’s a great place to be.

We are servants of public of NSW, we do our best to maintain and run the water/ waste water system.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Less stress than wild Australia based or foreign contractors. 
Problems do exist everywhere but our purpose is to serve the community in all circumstances and that’s the biggest motivation here.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Friendly and supportive, inclusive multicultural 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy and super busy 
Sometimes full of new challenges and sometimes solving problems at site and working with contractors.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It was great to work here prior to the layoffs in 2020, the new management was toxic, one individual in particular got rid of the whole marketing department by mid 21, hired her friends and wasted copious amounts of tax payers money by scrapping the current campaign and embarked on new campaigns with friends from non panel agencies. So much corruption with this individual.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
New management that would gaslight you and treat you with such disrespect and aggression. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture became toxic, aggressive. The opposite of what it use to be.

Great organisation to progress and gain valuable life skills and work skills. Safety is above that of Australian standards and pay scales are very competitive. Timing leaves a lot to be desired in terms of comms between departments. What would take a day regarding collaborations or interdepartmental help in a privatised company takes anywhere from a week up to months and middle management are bent over a barrel with high expectations placed on them from higher management to ensure it justifies the pay scale. At times there was a lot of red tape to cut through. Over the top in some aspects when it comes to planning and safety. Sometimes bureaucracy takes precedence over common sense.

- have been working here for a decade and struggled to move around even though Sydney Water is mostly made up of people with mismatched qualifications for their role (if they even have qualifications…)
- no training opportunities and very little is spent on employees from stingy kitchens and events to outdated or convoluted IT software
- nonconstructive, risk averse, mistrustful, secretive red-tape culture created by management who are mostly just good talkers but can’t actually manage people to work collaboratively and productively 
- HR who don’t add any value and don’t seem to recognise loyal employees who are willing to learn quickly on the job in new roles over externals who never stay on for long once they see how bad it is here

Sydney Water is a great business with interesting work and great perks, pay and a 9 day fortnight. Unfortunately the culture spoils it. Many of the leaders bully staff with 75% of survey respondents claiming to have been bullied or witnessed it by a leader. There are a few leaders renowned for this and unfortunately those at the top don’t do anything about it. There have been many complaints over the years about one particular leader who is now working here in Parramtta. Friends are looked after and promoted and others are often ignored. Not a great place to be for your mental health, definitely wouldn’t recommend. Many staff are now looking for roles to get out.

In all the companies I have represented over the past 30 years, my experience with Sydney Water was indeed the worst.  Middle management attempts to bully their way into forcing employees to do what they want them to do and not what is best for the customer or the employees.  

They will, without hesitation, lie and cheat to manipulate the work place to operate to their way with no regard for any of the policies or procedures in place.  Working here you need to be part of a "click" or you simply will be micro managed out.  Truly the worst experience I have had the opportunity to experience.

The organisation suffers from a lot of internal politics, where decisions are often influenced by who you know rather than what you achieve.
A lot of confusion and frustration across teams. Leadership often fails to address legitimate staff concerns, leaving employees feeling unsupported and undervalued.
Some employees are treated differently or overlooked for opportunities due to internal biases. It’s disheartening to see capable and hardworking people discouraged by a system that rewards office politics instead of performance.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Project manager 4 salaries reported	$149,593 per year
Quality analyst 8 salaries reported	$87,420 per year
Engineer 3 salaries reported	$98,333 per year
Customer service representative 4 salaries reported	$80,265 per year
Senior production specialist 4 salaries reported	$110,396 per year

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