Where to start? - Anonymous employee EC English Language Centers Employee Review

I worked for EC for a long time, between 5-10 years. Initially it seemed a good place to work. The CD in the school had control over budgets, staffing levels etc. However as a people manager, the CD was awful. For example, a member of staff would talk to them about a personal issue in confidence, and within minutes that private information would have been shared 1:1 with every other member of the team. Or going into a class full of students and shouting at them and then the teacher for having coffee in class. Not very professional. These are just a couple of examples, it gets worse..... With the industry struggling, instead of actually focusing on customer service, staff were cut and any mention of spending money came with a look of shock and horror. Students dont want an orange pen and a notepad. They want their shower fixed in their ensuite room that they spend £250 a week on. They don't want to wait two weeks for this when it could be done in a day. Staffing levels were 'standardised' depending on the number of student weeks a school had per year. Sounds good on paper but is ridiculous in reality. One school out sources all its accommodation to external agencies. Has residences managed by another company and doesn't take school groups. Another school with the same number of staff has to manage all of its own residential accommodation. Place students in families, audit families and hit BC & ISI criteria; and have up to 200 extra students a week in school groups. It is crazy. There is so much more but my fingers are tired....