Avoid - you will be micromanaged & underpaid - Anonymous employee ICS-digital Employee Review

1.0
27 Jan 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Nice offices and some good perks (Perkbox, free breakfast etc) - Majority of the staff are lovely to work with

Cons

Echoing what other reviews have mentioned, there is an unprecedented amount of micromanagement involved in every single aspect of your role. You do very little of what is included in your job description, instead spending that time doing admin or attending meetings, many of which are totally unrelated to your role but remain compulsory. Staff turnover levels are almost comical, the number of people who joined and left during recent months exemplifies the culture that has been fostered. What's worse is that clients have picked up on this and have made a point of mentioning it, which reflects poorly on ICS - one reason of many they should try much harder to make their staff happy and retain their talent. The company makes a big deal about its yearly profit / EBITDA. Employees across the board are expected to pull together and contribute their thoughts and ideas to how more money can be made, something that is far from your mind when you have daily responsibilities and tasks you can hardly find the time to achieve due to the overloading of work and high expectations. You will be working to KPIs that are often completely unrealistic, and any achievement other than hitting the exact KPI is ignored entirely. To top it off the pay is woeful, not a single person I knew was being paid a salary they deserved.

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ICS-digital Response
1y
Thank you for sharing this feedback. We’re always keen to understand our employees’ experiences with us and identify areas for improvement. Just to clarify a few of the points you have raised; we conduct annual salary benchmarking, and have put in place clear progression and salary transparency frameworks to ensure that everyone is on an equal footing when it comes to salary potential. KPIs are designed to be fair, achievable and aligned with business needs and, while we are always keen to recognise those who have achieved KPIs, we understand that this is not the only measure of success. In our recent employee survey, 76% of staff felt they were rewarded and recognised for great work and positive behaviours at ICS, though we acknowledge there is always room for improvement. You’ve highlighted some really interesting points around teamwork, collaboration and how the team can contribute to company goals. We’re proud to have created an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas - we welcome diverse viewpoints and believe this makes for a stronger and more inclusive workplace. Collaboration forms one of our core values at ICS, and ‘pulling together’, supporting one another is a key part of this. That said, we want to ensure this never comes at the expense of employee wellbeing, so we appreciate and take onboard your feedback regarding workloads. We also hear your concerns about micro-management. Striking the right balance between providing support and autonomy is a key focus for us this year, and we are committed to ensuring our staff feel both guided and empowered in their roles. Finally, we’re really glad that you’ve highlighted our office space and employee perks as positives. We’ve invested a lot into our office space over the past few years; creating quieter areas, breakout spaces with comfy sofas and a steady supply of snacks to make sure that being in the office is an enjoyable experience for our staff.

Explore other reviews about ICS-digital

5.0
1 Feb 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Everyone's very polite, friendly, and forthcoming with help and advice in a line of work that rarely promotes feedback as it should. - Can often be relied upon to supply plenty of work days in advance. - Efforts to meet to new requirements or changes to original briefs seem to be genuinely appreciated. - Very good communication with remote collaborators. - Those who assign work stick to topics that you're good at and check in if they think it's a bit beyond your stated set of interests. - Flexibility is embraced and allows for you to prioritise work elsewhere if and when it's necessary to do so.

Cons

- Path to better rates exists but is opaque. - Requests for feedback on methods of improvement seem to have gone unheard. - Dry spells for work being assigned aren't too uncommon and, from this side, seem to come out of nowhere without much by way of warning or attempts to cover the dips. - Changes to requirements can appear as sudden without notification, such as through a blast email or newsletter, and come across as editorial inconsistencies, which can make it difficult to know the approach when different editors want different things from the work without forewarning.

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ICS-digital Response
1y
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're really pleased you've had a good experience working with us and we appreciate your contributions. It's also helpful for us to understand the challenges facing our collaborators and where we can make improvements. If you are open to discussing your feedback in more detail, please feel free to reach out to a member of the Global Resourcing team. Finally, keep your eyes peeled for our revamped newsletter in the coming weeks!
5.0
2 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fantastic modern approach to the workplace with flexible working hours, working from home days, and even working from aboard. A diverse culture, with many backgrounds and skillsets working towards the same goals. Clear values and training evident from the start.

Cons

Not experienced anything negative yet.

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