Great company, wish NA was on its own - Cogeneration Specialist Centrica Employee Review

Great company to work for

None if I’m being honest

They offer a decent benefits package

Centrica Business Solutions North America is extremely dysfunctional. Over the past year, the company has lost a substantial number of skilled professionals, creating a leadership vacuum that’s hard to ignore. Most business units are consistently falling short of plan and lacking the momentum and resources needed to recover- indicating financial weakness. The sales teams face extraordinary churn, with nearly 100% turnover year over year—a clear symptom of dysfunction. The culture feels strained, the ethics are questionable, performance expectations are unrealistic, commitment to client satisfaction is nonexistent, and the ever-changing commission structure, 5% of gross margin, is widely regarded as one of the least competitive in the industry. Warning signs are pervasive. Leadership appears focused on short-term, high-margin wins but shows little willingness to invest in long-term market development or project execution. Requests for conference budgets are routinely denied, travel reimbursements are inconsistent, and there’s zero investment opportunities for consultants or partners. With little to zero brand awareness, scant references (many markets have none), and no established sales channels, the expectation falls entirely on account executives to generate leads and opportunities by way of knocking on doors- a tactic that can take years to develop a market presence and does not align with their strategy. For the few projects they’ve completed, nearly all are bad references due to poor project execution and redirecting the financial burdens of messy installations back to the customer. The key performance target for account executives: 2-3 feasibility studies per month, or 24-36 annually—is ambitious to the point of impracticality, especially without infrastructure and a serious lack of resource development. World class AE’s in this industry would struggle to meet such a benchmark, even in well-supported markets. This is a shadow metric that was not disclosed when I took the role. What the current leadership fails to understand is that this performance requirement will lead to unqualified opportunities being developed and result in a waste of resources and incurred costs. Smart leaders know that opportunities must be adequately qualified with established buying criteria, deal drivers, compelling events, etc.. To make matters worse, management conducts *quarterly* performance reviews in an industry where sales cycles typically span 18 months or more. Despite this reality, they evaluate account executives in 3-month increments, placing disproportionate emphasis on unrealistic prelim targets. Even with numerous opportunities in IGA, account execs can still receive poor performance ratings if they fail to consistently produce 6-9 feasibility studies per quarter- an expectation that defies practical timelines. This approach only makes sense as a deliberate strategy to maintain leverage over AE’s, preserving the ability to terminate them at management’s discretion, even as deals near closure. A troubling example questions the ethics of CBSNA. An account executive who secured the largest ESPC in company history—a $77M K-12 deal on the West Coast—was terminated right before the final contract was executed, raising strong suspicions that the move was designed to avoid paying out the commission. The current leadership at Centrica loudly champions a dedication to “Employees and their families” every chance they get across their website, at company retreats, Town Hall meetings, during interviews, and other forums, yet their actions paint a sharply different picture. Behind the facade, Centrica is a dysfunctional machine that is falling apart and unable to retain talent, unable to invest in market development, quick to terminate productive employees to avoid payouts, and resolute in upholding performance targets that are demonstrably unrealistic. For prospective candidates—particularly those anticipating family growth—the implications are clear: support will disappear at the very moment it’s most needed. Centrica’s operations point to an organization under significant financial pressure. I urge careful consideration for anyone prioritizing stability, professionalism, and authentic support for market success.