engineer

manufacturing engineer

cashier

production engineer

process engineer

Ascend Performance Materials

ASCEND CHOCOLATE BAYOU FACILITY IS A HORRIBLE PLACE TO WORK.  THE BENEFITS ARE PAR FOR THE INDUSTRY, BUT OUR INSURANCE (BCBS)  AND DENTAL (DELTA DENTAL) ARE STEADILY LOSING PROVIDERS BECAUSE THEY DON'T PAY THEIR BILLS.  THE MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES OUT HERE ARE TERRIBLE. THEY LOOK OUT FOR THEMSELVES AND COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN OPERATIONS. THE PLANT IS OLD AND RUN DOWN. THE COMPANY IS OWNED BY AN INVESTMENT FIRM (S&K CAPITAL) SO MONEY FOR IMPROVEMENTS IS FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL IS ONLY 15 CENTS AN HOUR, WELL BELOW INDUSTRY STANDARD.  IF WANT TO ADVANCE IN COMPANY YOU HAVE TO BE BUDDY BUDDY WITH SOMEONE AND BE A "YES" MAN.  IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING IN COMMON WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR AND AREN'T A "BROWN NOSER" YOUR'RE PRETTY MUCH GOING TO BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST AND BLACKBALLED.  IF YOU DO GET HIRED ON HERE AND GET PUT IN AN2&3 RUN!!! THAT UNIT IS A JOKE. THE MANAGEMENT (SHIFT LEADS, SPECIALISTS, PTECH, AND UNIT MANAGER) HAVE FORMED A "KLIQUE" AND IF YOU CROSS THEM THEY WILL FIND A WAY TO GET RID OF YOU, JUSTIFIED OR NOT.  THE SCO'S (SHIFT COORDINATORS) ARE A GROUP OF GOOD 'OLE BOYS THAT BAND TOGETHER AND THINK THEY ARE UNTOUCHABLE, ONLY ONE OF THEM IS WORTH KEEPING AROUND.  YOU CAN'T TAKE ANYTHING HR SAYS SERIOUSLY, THEY PROVIDE A BUNCH OF FALSE PROMISED JUST TO PACIFY YOU TO STAY. THE EXIT INTERVIEW WHEN YOU LEAVE ARE A JOKE. THE REASONS YOU GIVE FOR LEAVING ARE TOSSED IN THE TRASH AND NEVER TAKEN SERIOUSLY. THE PLANT MANGAGER'S POSITION ON MORALE AS STATED IN A MEETING " IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, LEAVE! THERE ARE PEOPLE LINED UP AT THE GATE FOR YOUR JOB." LIKE I SAID, THEY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOU.

The area I was in had a horrible training process. The best advice I was given during the years it took to get qualified was not to disagree or ask to many questions while I was training. There was a total lack of policies and procedures in place. The procedures they did have were out of date by years.
 The best way to progress in the area I worked was to get preferential treatment by befriending trainers, supervisors, and upper managment.There is a total lack of morals and integrity with managment. You dont have to be best friends with someone to work with each other.
 The few policies they do have are wrote in a way to show favortisim when they want. If you ask to many questions you will be labled as a trouble maker.
 They don't give employee yearly reviews. I would think without having reviews it would be hard to justify why decisions would be made on employees for shift moves or open positions. Reviews also give employees positive criticsm which allows them to work on things and become a better employee. They say seniority does not mean anything which allows them to show favortism to certain employees for shift positions and job openings. Supervision makes it very clear that they can do what they want when they want with no explanation.
 There is no work life balance. They cant keep people employed long enough to get fully qualified so there is alot of overtime. 
 Anywhere from 500 to over 1000 hours of overtime a year.

I wouldn't recommend the Decatur site for people of color. You can count how many there are on both hands as big as that site is and its obvious that its gone stay that way. The work force is older and established and DO NOT want change and will do whatever they can to avoid it including making it harder on those who don't mind change, and they ain't caring how it affects others. For years it was somebody always helping a son or other family member or other close friend to get on. The site is top heavy.The are too many chiefs and not enough Indians. You wear too any different hats (responsibilities). You work and almost feel as if you are going in circles because you don't understand what they (upper management) want. Almost feels like they want robots. Don't ask questions just do what they say. You are expected to work tons of OT for the benefit of the site and upper management shows no appreciation. If they call you better answer or call back if you missed the call. If there were more people there wouldn't be a need for so much OT. The family atmosphere is gone. They used to say "you matter" not true. You don't even see upper management at family funerals or visitation like you used to.

This company is great in terms of compensation/benefits. In terms of work/life, there is great room for improvement. You have to make the decision whether or not to sacrifice your personal life for work. You choose. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? I believe it can be the right job for the right person. There are some GREAT people that work there! I believe you have the potential of fostering lasting friendships. A lot goes on at once and there are erratic changes which indicates poor vision and potential job instability. The hardest part of the job for me was not having time to follow through with tasks since I was overworked. I would work well over 60 hour work weeks and did not enjoy the job. The culture is unprofessional and somewhat 'lax'. This may work for some people, but not for me. Some departments do not care about your personal life and may overwhelm you with work without care. Enter cautiously.

Operations and maintenance are some of the greatest people you will ever work with. There is a drive to get things done, no matter what it takes. However, management does a poor job strategizing annual goals across the house. This results in many conflicting objectives that are difficult to complete due to lack of dedicated resourcing. When there is a plant trip, the people who work there will drop everything and move mountains to get things back online ASAP, which is both good and bad. It is good because it means less production downtime and better potential to meet bonus targets. However, it is bad because the plant is constantly operating in chaos mode, rarely fixes the root cause of the problem (poor infrastructure and auxiliaries), and does not focus enough to develop effective long term improvement plans.

Some middle management at this facility will throw you under the bus to make themselves look better; constantly trying to catch people doing something wrong; very poor review process with no feedback during the entire year followed by a performance review that will come as a complete surprise. 

Corporate managers want all projects to be cheaper than the estimates and faster than the schedule, for no other reason than that's just what they want.  Then they want a bridge document to tell them why it cost what it does.  You spend more time justifying your work than actually doing your work.

For one positive, the overall site leader at Pensacola is a good man. Respectable, friendly and treats everyone the same - the way it should be.

Cons : Frequent organizational changes, compartmentalization over the past 5 years, poor interdepartmental communication, underdeveloped talent, inadequate training in some departments, lackluster safety performance. Pros: They like to promote internally,very community oriented, giving employees.Fair benefits, recent improvements to vacation and holiday package, now offer better maternity leave and started a paternity leave benefit. 
If getting paid 100% of the annual bonus is high on your list of factors, don't work here, you will be disappointed. Annual salary increases do not keep pace with increased cost of living.
They provide all the technology to work remotely but discourage using it.

Ascend Performance is highly paced work environment in which employees and contract workers have to make safety their primary focus. For the most part, the work environment at Ascend is a clean ,friendly work environment. An employee who is wiling to work hard and move up will have many opportunities to advance throughout the company. By working for Ascend Performance Materials, I have learned the value of producing a quality products, practicing safety, and being dependable. The most enjoyable part of working at Ascend Performance Materials is that the company reward their employees on doing a great job every other quarter. The hardest part of the job would be staging material that comes off the production line in the warehouse where there is a limited amount of space.

It really depends upon the job position and area you work in.  Also, your supervisor can make it a pleasure to go to work (or not).  Some are great - some are more interested in making themselves look better at the employees expense.  Job security isn't generally based on work performance.

Management and HR are very lacking.  Management doesn't really concern themselves with the needs of their employees and most can't be counted on to keep their word at times.  When a really good HR employee comes along, sadly, they don't stay long.  As for the employees in general, as a whole, they're a fantastic group of people to work with and can be great friends.

If its any indication of how the management in this company is just look at the job postings. All are labeled Decatur, IL they don't even have a facility there its Decatur AL, HR cant even get the right state for the listings.
You will be micro managed by management that has no experience. You will be asked to work 24/7 there is no work life balance. Management sits in meetings all day, orders out then ask you what you been doing. So if your in Administration you better be a female millennial chem engineer  or your not going anywhere in that company. By the way they promise everyone they have growth potential during the interview which is not true. I have never seen such a high turnover rate in a company in all my years. NO ACCOUNTABILITY what so every.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Engineer 4 salaries reported	$114,250 per year
Manufacturing engineer 3 salaries reported	$96,000 per year
Cashier 2 salaries reported	$130,000 per year
Production engineer 3 salaries reported	$100,828 per year
Process engineer 3 salaries reported	$113,667 per year

Working at Ascend Performance Materials: Company Overview and Reviews

Ascend Performance Materials

Ascend Performance Materials Ratings

Popular jobs at Ascend Performance Materials

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected