Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Northenden, England
Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Northenden, England
Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
No opinion of CEO
I have been working at Verastar full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
permanent positions available with regular hours of work and annual salary
Cons
1. Salary is very low against industry standard 2. QA/Sales Support/Partner support senior management bully me daily, very unsupportive and demeaning 3. Previous staff have left the teams because managers pushed them out or because there were threats of violence toward them which management did not resolve 4. One staff member was ill and was getting stressed in role so got pushed to another team so management didn't have to deal with her instead of actual management and support 5. The office act like children and slander brokers/partners until they're in the office then everyone's nice to their faces but laugh about them behind closed doors 6. Asked to breach internal policies daily to get ahead even if this means putting the team at a disadvantage or breaching confidentiality
Advice to Management
Please review the SS/QA/PS department, we're all being forced to write positive reviews and getting bullied, it's not nice working here and many of us are looking for new jobs
We are very concerned regarding the issues you have raised, as they go against a number of our company policies and procedures. Namely , our Anti-Harassment and Bullying policy, and our Equal Opportunities. We would like to assure you that any allegations of bullying, harassment, threats of violence, breach of policy are taken very, very seriously.
As such, we would like to investigate all the issues you have raised as a matter of urgency. All matters will be dealt with privately and confidentially – please contact HR@verastar.co.uk as soon as possible.
I have been working at Verastar full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
friendly atmosphere, the employees are very welcoming and have friendly and helpful approach to the development of an individual. Diversified environment and people are open to ideas and innovation. welcoming to new thoughts and push their employees for progression.
Training is taken seriously, An employee starts with an in-depth overview of the company and a run through of the departments and what they do. Employees are made aware of regulations and expectations. The training sessions are very adaptable and the trainers are very knowledgable. when you start in your role you are made to feel capable. After that, you are put through continuous training sessions to either refresh or keep you up to date on any new regulation that you need to be made aware of.
Good transparency on what is happening across the organisation, this is down to the relevance of the department you are in.
Cons
outdated infrastructure and lack of communication between departments. it is going through growing pains but have plans to accommodate growth.
due to the growth, there is a lot of on-the-spot amendments and needs more organising.
Advice to Management
look into more internal development through better communication and infrastructure. expand away from a customer centric view, the product is there, but it needs an internal overhaul in order to achieve the full potential that Versatstar is able to achieve.
We really appreciate you taking the time to leave such a positive and constructive review!
Maintaining our fun environment, as well as focusing on the development, training and progression of staff is always at the forefront of our minds!
It's great to hear that the in-depth training we provide is being recognised and received so positively! - We've recently been highly commended in the Call North West Contact Centre Awards.
We understand your comments regarding communication, and this is an area we are actively trying to improve as we grow . If you have any ideas on how we can best improve our current communication channels we would love to hear from you - HRSalesOffice@verastar.co.uk
Thanks again for your feedback - Keep up the great work :)... MoreLess
Former Employee - Partner Support Advisor in Northenden, England
Former Employee - Partner Support Advisor in Northenden, England
Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
No opinion of CEO
I worked at Verastar full-time (More than a year)
Pros
-No weekend work -Free pizza once a month
Cons
- Senior management doesn't care about the team or their rights, I handed in my 2 week notice so management sacked me - Senior management constantly talking about confidential issues in front of entire team and mocking peoples mental health issues - I hadn't known anything of working within office politics until i worked here. If you're not liked, you wont get anywhere. Career opportunities only exist for those willing to play the game and stand on the shoulders of others - very poor culture. - Got told I "am not paid to think" by a sales manager and upon hearing this, my own management agreed that this was right, talk about job satisfaction! - Constant daily emails (practically hourly) from senior management telling teams they're not hitting figures (e.g. missing 2 calls in 3 hours) but they refuse to pick up the phone themselves (because they haven't taken the time to learn how we do our jobs and how technical and difficult they are, instead they've gone straight to telling us we're doing them wrong. Never any offer of help- criticism means much less from someone who doesn't understand what they're criticising.)
Advice to Management
- If the company wanted to, it would really not be that difficult to see through management swaying figures and making themselves look better. It's easy to hit targets if you move the goal posts daily and even easier to better your own image if you write your own reviews. - Stop sacking people for handing in their notice (and then boasting about it to the rest of the team)
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
We are disappointed to hear of your negative experience as we endeavour to ensure all our representatives have a positive experience when working at Verastar.
We are always looking at way to improve for both current and existing staff.
Therefore, we would like to look into the issues you have raised, if you could please provide further details to our HR Department (HR@verastar.co.uk)
Verastar
"You don't work weekends or bank holidays" (in 6 reviews)
"Great place to work where they really care about their staff" (in 5 reviews)
"long hours that are not flexible" (in 13 reviews)
"9-6 (40 hour week) quite long hours for office work" (in 5 reviews)
Employee Review
Employee Review
Helpful (4)
"Bullied by Management"
I have been working at Verastar full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
permanent positions available with regular hours of work and annual salary
Cons
1. Salary is very low against industry standard
2. QA/Sales Support/Partner support senior management bully me daily, very unsupportive and demeaning
3. Previous staff have left the teams because managers pushed them out or because there were threats of violence toward them which management did not resolve
4. One staff member was ill and was getting stressed in role so got pushed to another team so management didn't have to deal with her instead of actual management and support
5. The office act like children and slander brokers/partners until they're in the office then everyone's nice to their faces but laugh about them behind closed doors
6. Asked to breach internal policies daily to get ahead even if this means putting the team at a disadvantage or breaching confidentiality
Advice to Management
Please review the SS/QA/PS department, we're all being forced to write positive reviews and getting bullied, it's not nice working here and many of us are looking for new jobs
Verastar Response
3 Dec 2018 – Assistant HR Advisor
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
We are very concerned regarding the issues you have raised, as they go against a number of our company policies and procedures. Namely , our Anti-Harassment and Bullying policy, and our Equal Opportunities. We would like to assure you that any allegations of bullying, harassment, threats of violence, breach of policy are taken very, very seriously.
As such, we would like to investigate all the issues you have raised as a matter of urgency. All matters will be dealt with privately and confidentially – please contact HR@verastar.co.uk as soon as possible.
Kind Regards,
Verastar Team.... MoreLess
Other Employee Reviews
Other Employee Reviews
"First impression"
I have been working at Verastar full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
friendly atmosphere, the employees are very welcoming and have friendly and helpful approach to the development of an individual. Diversified environment and people are open to ideas and innovation. welcoming to new thoughts and push their employees for progression.
Training is taken seriously, An employee starts with an in-depth overview of the company and a run through of the departments and what they do. Employees are made aware of regulations and expectations. The training sessions are very adaptable and the trainers are very knowledgable. when you start in your role you are made to feel capable. After that, you are put through continuous training sessions to either refresh or keep you up to date on any new regulation that you need to be made aware of.
Good transparency on what is happening across the organisation, this is down to the relevance of the department you are in.
Cons
outdated infrastructure and lack of communication between departments. it is going through growing pains but have plans to accommodate growth.
due to the growth, there is a lot of on-the-spot amendments and needs more organising.
Advice to Management
look into more internal development through better communication and infrastructure. expand away from a customer centric view, the product is there, but it needs an internal overhaul in order to achieve the full potential that Versatstar is able to achieve.
Verastar Response
24 Oct 2018 – Assistant HR Advisor
Hi,
We really appreciate you taking the time to leave such a positive and constructive review!
Maintaining our fun environment, as well as focusing on the development, training and progression of staff is always at the forefront of our minds!
It's great to hear that the in-depth training we provide is being recognised and received so positively! - We've recently been highly commended in the Call North West Contact Centre Awards.
We understand your comments regarding communication, and this is an area we are actively trying to improve as we grow . If you have any ideas on how we can best improve our current communication channels we would love to hear from you - HRSalesOffice@verastar.co.uk
Thanks again for your feedback - Keep up the great work :)... MoreLess
Helpful (4)
"Partner Support, Sales Support, QA"
I worked at Verastar full-time (More than a year)
Pros
-No weekend work
-Free pizza once a month
Cons
- Senior management doesn't care about the team or their rights, I handed in my 2 week notice so management sacked me
- Senior management constantly talking about confidential issues in front of entire team and mocking peoples mental health issues
- I hadn't known anything of working within office politics until i worked here. If you're not liked, you wont get anywhere. Career opportunities only exist for those willing to play the game and stand on the shoulders of others - very poor culture.
- Got told I "am not paid to think" by a sales manager and upon hearing this, my own management agreed that this was right, talk about job satisfaction!
- Constant daily emails (practically hourly) from senior management telling teams they're not hitting figures (e.g. missing 2 calls in 3 hours) but they refuse to pick up the phone themselves (because they haven't taken the time to learn how we do our jobs and how technical and difficult they are, instead they've gone straight to telling us we're doing them wrong. Never any offer of help- criticism means much less from someone who doesn't understand what they're criticising.)
Advice to Management
- If the company wanted to, it would really not be that difficult to see through management swaying figures and making themselves look better. It's easy to hit targets if you move the goal posts daily and even easier to better your own image if you write your own reviews.
- Stop sacking people for handing in their notice (and then boasting about it to the rest of the team)
Verastar Response
10 Dec 2018 – Human Resources Manager
Hi,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
We are disappointed to hear of your negative experience as we endeavour to ensure all our representatives have a positive experience when working at Verastar.
We are always looking at way to improve for both current and existing staff.
Therefore, we would like to look into the issues you have raised, if you could please provide further details to our HR Department (HR@verastar.co.uk)
Kind Regards,
Verastar... MoreLess
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