Kimley-Horn and Associates Reviews

I have been working at Kimley-Horn and Associates full-time for more than a year

Pros – Kimley-Horn is focused on profit and sharing that profit in a rewarding way. The benefits + bonus program + profit sharing make the hard work mostly worth it. I feel that I receive the recognition I feel I deserve. I've gotten involved in a lot of marketing and office management which I really enjoy and get to learn a lot from. I respect the KHA culture, but find that it sometimes lacks "legs" in that it is not always implemented everywhere all the time. There are lots of great, knowledgeable folks at KHA and many that are focused on growing and helping junior staff. Those are the people with which I focus on building relationships. I really enjoy my job because of the culture in my office and relationships I've formed with my colleagues.

Cons – By far, the worst part about KHA is the long hours and seemingly non-existant work-life balance. It seems that in the beginning stages of one's tenure at KHA, you spend very long hours in the office while the senior staff does much less. I think it's a form of "paying your dues." UT (%age of your time billable to a client) can drive you crazy, but if you have plan and follow through it is not hard to make that goal without completely sacrificing your life. I think the key is taking ownership of your role and schedule and making it work before it gets out of hand. I do find that there is some secretive-ness at times, but that is not true of all senior staff, offices, or regions. I wish that KHA would spend more time growing their staff through training instead of their "throw you in the water and see if you swim" approach. I believe that is why so many young staff leave KHA, because they don't have good role models and they are expected to do too much too quickly for too little recognition and with too little tools.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus on building a good foundation with your entry-level and junior staff. Training is important. Listen to us because we are telling you what we need.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Kimley-Horn and Associates full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great people. People are nice.

Cons – Not enough work. To go around.

Advice to Senior Management – Seek out more work.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Kimley-Horn and Associates full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Profit sharing and bonuses, and that's it.

Cons – Base pay is substandard with the promise that if you work hard you "may" receive a bonus to make up for it at the end of the year. Employees grind through a MINIMUM of 46 hours per week (many times 50+ hrs) with the thought of the gold at the end of the rainbow. As I've experienced over my 10 years with the company, after the higher-ups take their share there many times is little left for those who actually do the work.

Like I said, it is a KHA WRITTEN POLICY that you must work a MINIMUM of 46 hrs per week! Believe it!

I fit into the KHA mold and excelled, until I got married and had a child. Once I cut my hours back from 55-60 to 46 the system no longer worked for me. This is a VERY common problem here for employees with young families.

Health insurance is terrible. It was one of the first things that went down hill in the recession. I don't go to the doctor anymore because it's too expensive. Another example of management not willing to put their profits where they're needed the most.

Advice to Senior Management – Profitability can be a very good thing, but not at the expense of a vast majority of your employees' happiness. You will be losing a large number of your best employees this year and next due to the fact that upper management is not willing to make a compromise.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Kimley-Horn and Associates full-time for less than a year

Pros – I have been very satisfied with KHA. They are very willing to support students right out of school to integrate into the team quickly and always willing to teach new things and give more responsibility. The benefits are very good; the 401k plan matches 4% like everyone else, but they also do profit sharing which can be as much as 16% of your salary. On top of that you get an annual bonus, plus a mid year cost of living bonus! This company is going to take care of you, but you do have to work hard as well.,,,give to the company and it will give back.

Also, for young people the leadership opportunities are endless if you show an interest in it. I am so happy I choose Kimley-Horn!

Cons – You are going to spend a lot of late nights and a lot of emphasis put on "UT" which is utilization...percent of time you are billable to a client. If you have a family it can be tough to balance your work and home life, but its certainly possible.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep up with the employee recognition through profit sharing bonus programs!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Kimley-Horn and Associates

Pros – Good benefits and good people.

Cons – Ethics and Quality service to the client should still be the number one priority. Don't let it slip away.
Advancement should be made according to experience and not according to license or diploma.

Advice to Senior Management – Know your pieces' strength and use them wisely. People have their own strength and weakness.

I worked at Kimley-Horn and Associates full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great retirement package. Colleagues were great to work with

Cons – Poor business practice. Outdated culture and discriminatory practices

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your HR staff, discipline those who need it (such as unethical behavior) regardless of their years of service.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Kimley-Horn and Associates full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great career opportunities if you put in the effort. It was obvious what you needed to do to move up within the company. I like the structure of a more corporate company, but still felt that I got the family feel of a smaller company within my office.

Cons – Don't have an open door policy. I felt that some things were very secretive when they shouldn't have been. I didn't like that you typically had one project manager and didn't get very many opportunities to work with other project managers/teams.

While there were many career opportunities, they often involved long working hours. It was hard to achieve a great work/life balance there.

Advice to Senior Management – Give younger staff more opportunities to work with multiple project managers and teams.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Kimley-Horn and Associates full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – I have the opportunity to see the way that some of our competitors operate as well as the firm I was with before KHA and I constantly count my blessings at the quality of the people here. In addition, there's much more of an atmosphere of open dialogue here than I see elsewhere. Senior people are encouraged to develop their staff and then treat them like partners rather than subordinates.

Some of the other reviews on here talk about the emphasis on utilization or the amount of time people are expected to work. I talk to peers in other firms and they work as many or more hours than what I and many others at KHA do. At my old firm, the younger folks were never aware of UT but that didn't mean that it wasn't important nor that they had goals that they needed to be making in order for the firm to make money. In addition, what you see at many firms is a mix of people who put in extra effort when needed and others who are pretty much punching the clock. Here, due to the quality of the people and the fact that we don't hide the UT issue, the load is more evenly spread we don't have that imbalance.

Finally, I can't say enough about the benefits. Yes, bonuses are wonderful, but so is the retirement program. The firm puts so much money into the 401k, that it not only is insuring that my wife and I will be in good shape whenever I retire, but it's meant that I don’t have to take as much out of my paycheck each month to contribute as I would have at almost any other firm.

Cons – KHA has a good corporate philosophy that minimizes management and focuses on rewarding and growing staff. The challenge as a firm grows and has multiple locations, with new mid-and-senior folks coming in is that it can be difficult to make sure that the philosophy gets consistently implemented. In reading some of the reviews on here, some of the specific comments or examples cited where 180 degreed from what I've experienced or from what would be considered acceptable by the firm. We don't have a top-down management approach and we allow our Practice Builders a lot of freedom which is a big positive. That same freedom however, can be problematic if you have a Practice Builder who isn't 100% bought in or following the firm's philosophy. That can sometimes sour the experience for those working with him and they can view his philosophy or approach as that of the firm's.

Advice to Senior Management – As noted above, the firm needs to find a way to merge the openness and freedom with making sure that we understand when we have PM's or PB's who aren't providing a KHA experience for their staff. It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does it can create a negative experience.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Kimley-Horn and Associates for more than 3 years

Pros – You can market as much as you want.

Cons – Silo organization. Regional Teams are an absolute joke. 90% of them add no real value.

Advice to Senior Management – Fire the regional team

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Kimley-Horn and Associates full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – KHA has the mindset of rewarding those that perform. The company is run as a business that provides professional services. Because of the business based approach, the benefits KHA provides are outstanding and beyond what most of this industry provides. KHA looks out for the long term financial stability of its employees. They match the 401K at 4% and add profit sharing on top of the match. The KHA retirement program allows all employees to enter retirement with a great nest egg. Advancement is quick for those that perform. KHA rewards the performers with great promotions, bonuses, and advancements. Overall, a great place to work if you want to work.

Cons – KHA is not for everyone. KHA is an "extra effort" firm. It is expected that you put in the effort that is required to meet the high expectations of clients. Sometimes this means that you will need to work 40 hours in a week when things are running at a normal pace and sometimes you will need to work more when a client deadline is approaching. If you desire a steady 40hr/week job then KHA is not for you. If you want to be rewarded for being exceptional, KHA is a great place to work.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue to be willing to make exceptions to the promotion "policies" for the exceptional employees that should advance quickly.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company