Pros
• Nice office space. • There are some genuinely talented people in the business, but they are the exception rather than the rule. • If you're personal friends with a Director or someone in Senior management, you'll most likely be well rewarded.
Cons
• You will be worked (flogged, really), but not rewarded in line with the market. • As one management figure puts it “the reward for doing a good job is that you get to keep your job” • Basic salaries are lower than competitors. You will be better off at most other agencies or RPO outfit. • Incentives (commission and bonus schemes) are poor in comparison with the market. The goalposts were moved on a fairly regular basis. • There is no real focus on training and development. This means that some of the middle management lack both the skills and experience to lead people. • Senior Leadership can come across as cold and untrustworthy, which for a ‘people-centric’ business is alarming. • Progression routes are almost non-existent unless you want to become a “Senior” with a marginal salary increase, or you’re in the ‘inner circle’ of senior management. • The overall benefits package is extremely light in comparison with the market. “Well-being Days don’t make up for that. • High achievers trips were done away with, allegedly because some senior figures got themselves into serious legal issues overseas and ruined it for everyone else. Of course, they didn’t lose their jobs. • A lot of the above might be because the business isn’t doing very well and the investors want cash, so employees get no bells or whistles. Whilst the culture of the business has changed over the past few years, the reality for most staff is that you will never be more than a number. The pandemic highlighted this in several ways; • One of the main offices was closed with many staff being laid off. The business used money from the governments Job Retention Scheme to fund redundancy payments. Shady stuff. • They’ve now rehired a lot of those positions in another region where they can pay people even less. • Meanwhile, Senior Management remained safe in their jobs.