Nationwide Building Society Compensation FAQ

Pros

Good facilities, good salary compared to cost of living and the area, relatively good work life balance, good pension

Cons

Recognition, people in higher positions get comfortable which makes progression very hard, cost cutting, bad decisions at the top (investment in business/commercial which went to waste), shared bonus pool

Advice to Management

Have a clear cost cutting plan, cutting jobs and bonuses is understandable but when you waste the money you save both on internal and external programmes and strategies that are a waste of time or don’t work, it just reduces morale and makes you question the people at the top of the firm

Pros

Mutual, owned by our members Staff are valued Able to speak up freely Good overall remuneration package Promotion opportunities

Cons

Resourcing levels can be a challenge

Pros

Good job security. Flexible working arrangements available. Free uniform. Good benefits- generous pension contributions, option to buy and sell holidays, generous maternity/paternity leave, annual bonus.

Cons

The job is sales based as much as the company would pretend that it is not. There is weekend work involved, as a new starter you may be told a condition of working there is that you have to work every Saturday. You may earn less than your peers doing the same role who knew someone who worked there prior to getting the job, or people who worked there prior to pay caps being implemented on roles. Limited opportunities to progress if you don't work in a head office site. Some of the managers aren't nice to work with, you'll become a target if they don't like you. The pay doesn't reflect the stress associated with the work.

Advice to Management

Offer more opportunities for progression and accredited training to branch staff. Don't expect new employees to work every weekend. Improve the pay structure to make sure it's fair.

Pros

Generally my colleagues were good people and management were usually supportive and approachable. Life insurance and sick pay benefits were helpful. Pay is ok when compared to similar roles at other Building Societies/Banks.

Cons

Unfair advantages given to certain people when applying for promotions. Not paid for working Saturdays (given lieu instead). Not allowed targets so no commission - difficult to motivate colleagues to refer. Outdated role now that Nationwide have are moving to what they refer to as "The Digital World". Branches are remaining open, except some smaller ones that have closed already. Getting a job at the Swindon head office is a better idea than applying for a branch role - there are far more opportunities for progression. Perhaps this would be the case for the offices in Northampton and Bournemouth as well. There was also a slight nasty, two faced culture in a lot of the branches which could be uncomfortable. Technology in branches is terribly outdated and you have to work between 5+ systems.

Advice to Management

Be honest with employees about the future of the society in terms of branches. Those who use branches are not the future of banking unfortunately. When interviewing employees for promotions don't give an unfair advantage to those who have flirted/lied their way to get the job.

Pros

Annual bonus of about 7% of your salary, Generous sick pay allowance, Good pension, The internal training provided for roles is of a high quality.

Cons

Salaries are so low the bonus and pension are meaningless, with no opportunity to increase it outside of the annual inflation bump, The worst bullying culture I've seen in a workplace, and unfortunately this is rewarded, Complete lack of ownership across the business, No direction from the business, for instance they've removed targets for sales roles but still act like they are there during 1-2-1's, There is a consistent level of incompetence in all areas across the business, and a huge separation between the retail network and head office.

Advice to Management

Get rid of the majority of your staff (including upper management) to remove both the cosmic levels of incompetence and the rotten culture that sits at the businesses core, and perhaps incentivise the few brilliant people I met to stay? Nationwide does one thing very well, and that is it's marketing (both internal and external), however in reality it is all farcical. It is nothing more than a high street bank, and as much as it would like to portray otherwise this will always be the case. In all honesty nothing can be done to turn this business around, and the sooner modern financial businesses such as Monzo and Starling Bank put them (and the other major banks) out of business the better. To summarise, don't work here, it really isn't worth the hassle.