Incompetent Senior Leadership - Project Manager Interactive Pharma Solutions Employee Review

Great location in central Oxford, wfh available, promotions possible

Working at IPS started very well. The team I worked with were brilliant and extremely intelligent. Unfortunately, due to total incompetence in senior management I’m aware that no one in that brilliant team is left working there. Everyone left due to sheer frustration at the management team who are totally incompetent. IPS make bold claims of their capabilities however the ‘in house team’ they describe to clients is not in house at all. All resources are freelance contractors and that makes delivery of projects big and small extremely painful. Budgets are always pushed to the limit and often overburn due to the MD being totally incapable of selling in projects for what they’re worth. Flag all you like, the MD will make budgets appear as though everything is fine to the client, however internally you’ll be in very hot water despite numerous attempts to try and avoid the situation ever happening. On a positive note, if a client asks for a discount, you can be sure they’ll definitely receive one. Huge discounts which totally undervalue the work that goes into such projects. The MD shows no care or compassion to their employees which is demotivating when they’re working extremely hard. The MD could be considered a bully and will make you feel a shell of yourself within months of working there.

Because there are no staff hired with the level of knowledge needed you learn/gain a lot of experience quickly If the MD likes you, you can get better opportunities/put on different work (is a con if you are not one of her favorites) Small company so you get to know everyone employed quickly

Promises of pay rises /promotions that never happen (particularly if hiring someone new) You are expected to work overtime with no remuneration, would be fine if every now and again, but it is expected constantly The MD has no idea what work is done on most accounts, which is very apparent in interviews or when talking with clients. This means wahen it comes to the training the MD has no idea of any of the day-to-day knowledge needed You ask for support and it is not given, when something goes wrong it is your fault and you are asked why you did not ask for help. This was one of the biggest cons as the MD does not provide the support needed (most probably due to lack of knowledge) or hire people in this position to help, and then turns it on the employees as their fault Unfair pay, staff at the same level get variations of pay. New staff with less experience (e.g. straight out of university) end up getting paid more than those that have been there for longer which is not fair There are not equal opportunities between staff, favoritism, and not competency plays a role. This can often be at a detriment with less experienced staff leading on projects they should not No senior management at a high enough level to challenge MD treatment of staff