Pros
- Good junior staff, my experience of my team/directorate was that they were friendly, positive and would go out of their way to support you. They are also incredibly hard working and had a strong sense of justice. - Flexible working options including ‘4 day working week’ (will expand on that in cons…) - A clearly important mission and I agree with the approach of treating the problem whilst also trying to attack its root causes - Does aim to involve lived experience supporters with a growing emphasis on co-production during my time there -
Cons
- ‘4 day working week’ a bit of a con as you have to squash more hours into a short period of time. Would be better to frame it differently so that people aren’t disillusioned, as the reduction in working hours (34 down from 37.5, I think? is a good move - Some serious problems with organisational culture trickling down from senior management. Staff felt not only ignored when sharing concerns and patronised, but even actively discouraged from giving critical feedback and I heard stories (note, didn’t witness) of punitive action for making complaints. A lot of rhetoric from management about people ‘bringing others down’ or ‘creating a negative atmosphere’ when they had legitimate concerns about the way the charity is run and impacting them. This attitude (alongside other problematic viewpoints) was heavily endorsed by the CEO. - Lack of support in day-to-day of role - imagine this varies per department but was the case for me and I see it in other reviews on here - Some campaigns work felt poorly strategised which was demotivating for campaigners but also sad as the potential to, as a leading ED charity, help so many people affected was significantly hampered by this and it felt little progress was made - Very hierarchical - Pay not very good (and not well-matched to the responsibility and expectations of the role)