Pros
Serving the local community feels fantastic. During the best of times, you felt like you were making a difference and doing something worthwhile. I saved a couple of lives, one on the telephone and one on a community engagement day.
Cons
The worst management I've ever experienced. Management by fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) with a culture of bullying and victimisation. Stress, pressure and scrutiny were part of some very uncomfortable working practices. Scrutiny panel meetings for a junior manager was not what I expected from a supposedly caring community orientated public service organisation. I was very disappointed in the standard of leadership and management. Senior managers did not care about staff welfare until it was too late and staff were experiencing mental health breakdowns. Mouse and keyboard workload was exceptionally high, resulting in RSI / WRULD for several staff. Some uniformed officers were lifers just waiting for their pension. Senior managers would be promoted twice within 3 years to boost their final salary pension pots. Projects would be started then managers promoted or moved around, so very little was actually achieved compared with the private sector. I left after 5 years and 4 months service with RSI / WRULD and cumulative work related stress and anxiety, borderline PTSD experiencing flashbacks and nightmares from some absolutely horrendous and shocking management working practices. Total cost to repair damage to my upper limbs and mental health and well being was £10,000 - paid for by Occupational Health, the NHS and funded by charitable organisations. It could have all been avoided if management had actually listened and understood the workload involved.