I spent a few months at Wipac and, unfortunately, my experience was not what I expected. I didn’t receive a formal induction until my second month, and even then, I had to push for it myself after raising the concern. Basic Health & Safety and fire procedures were never shown to me until a fire drill happened, where I had to follow everyone else without any prior briefing.
There seemed to be confusion between HR and my department about who was responsible for my onboarding, resulting in neither taking ownership. Industry-specific acronyms and terms were not explained, so I had to create my own checklist just to keep up. The recurring excuse I heard was, "We’re only a small business"—however, I have worked for genuinely small businesses that operated much more effectively and professionally.
There was no documented orientation or structured training plan provided. On top of this, all Teams calls were done in the middle of an open-plan office, making it difficult to concentrate or communicate properly. Nobody turned their camera on in these meetings either, which—combined with the lack of onboarding—meant I had no idea who anyone was, making it harder to build relationships or integrate into the team.
I am an autonomous person with plenty of grit, so the fact that I left after just a few months really says a lot. The turning point was when I had an onboarding session with a colleague, and when I asked how long they had been there (expecting they were new like me), they told me they had been there seven months. That’s when I realised the situation wasn’t going to improve any time soon.
Wipac has potential, but without proper onboarding, structured processes, and a commitment to continuous improvement, new starters are left to fend for themselves.