Vantaggi
Initial salaries high, however limited potential to increase (a rumoured 5% limit on salary increases with any promotion). High quality product & interesting place to work Strong focus on safety although can hinder other things Flexible working, convoluted system but getting better High degree of autonomy in most roles, few unnecessary meetings Staff retention high. Good apprentice program & varied experience for early career. If you want to keep your head down & a steady job for life, it’s the ideal environment.
Svantaggi
Responsibility for making mistakes is non existent & people are complacent. Accountability is low. Development is mostly ignored and there is a centralised “training budget” controlled by HR i.e. very limited training. Managers have limited ability to advocate for “essential training” for their teams & can’t pay using their own budget. Performance reviews (PDR) are payed lip service, issues/goals are irreverent and there’s no benefit to completing targets for most staff. Near impossible to get a salary increase, it’s generally accepted by staff as better to leave the business & return on a higher initial salary. It’s been known that some experienced staff have been on interview panels for junior roles with higher starting salaries then their own… Some layers of management act as “buffers” for senior managers; employees need to develop their own “matrix” reporting systems to bypass weak links in the chain of command. A bloated HR department which isolates itself from the rest of the business & has no idea of operational issues. HR are friendly but patronising because they are so disconnected. Some members can demand instant solutions to mistakes they have personally made due to their incompetence (i.e. not wanting to understand & assuming they know everything). The company relies on high retention of staff but this assumption prevents investment in employees. Any employee with ambition would use it as a stepping stone, get the experience & move. This forces less skills members into the management positions & issues are brushed under the rug. Morale has been decimated during Covid, staff are very disillusioned & management need to recognise this because it’s already causing problems.