2y
I was very saddened to see your review today - our aim is for everyone to be happy with their experience at Time etc and we care deeply and personally about having an environment and culture that is different from other companies and allows people to thrive.
It’s really disappointing to see our company culture described as toxic because there is an entire team of people, including your ex-colleagues, who work very hard here to create a friendly environment, live by our company values and support each other.
We can't get everything right for everyone, all of the time, but I believe we get a lot right most of the time for most of our team which is reflected in us being awarded the great accolade of a Great Place To Work certification this month. This award is entirely based on confidential voting from our team and is designed to test their day-to-day experience working for our company.
I would like to address and provide a response to your points of view:
Micro-management
As a company and team, we dislike micro-management - which is why we set and agree on clear goals with each team member and then support them in achieving their goals, rather than focusing on their day-to-day activities.
We don’t actually have managers but instead have coaches looking after our team - coaching them on how to hit their goals rather than telling them what to do. Our approach to coaching is unique and has actually been widely covered by the press because it's quite different from a lot of companies.
The only situation in which a team member should ever feel “Micro-managed” is if they were not able to organise themselves or deliver quality work consistently on their own - thankfully this is incredibly rare.
Management following values
You said: “Management do not follow the values they stand for only when suits them”
I don’t think this is a fair comment or reflective of how our team feels - we work hard every day to follow our values and I have not seen, or been told about, anyone not following our values in their decision-making and leadership.
Pay rises
You said: “Unrealistic targets so you can’t get a pay rise Only pay rise given would be in region of £250-£500 per year”
This is not factually correct. Individuals across all teams regularly hit their goals and achieve pay rises that far exceed those you’ve mentioned in your review.
The figure you’ve quoted in your review is a standard minimum pay increase available to everyone, regardless of whether or not they hit their goals. Our aim is always for people to exceed this but we feel it’s fair to increase everyone's pay, even if they don’t hit their goals. This policy goes above and beyond many small businesses.
There are additional pay rises available for those moving into coaching roles and others available based on length of service, experience, and seniority.
Time etc also offers bonuses to celebrate 5,10 and 15-year work anniversaries and benefits worth thousands of pounds per year including covering the cost of child care, funded therapy, pension contributions, and free chef-prepared lunches twice a week.
During the last year we also voluntarily paid two 'cost of living' bonuses to every member of our team in order to step-in and help everyone on the team cope with the rapidly rising cost of living.
Work, hours and flexibility
You said “Pressured into extra work out of job description without any compensation Not flexible on hours Have to work bank holidays”
I do not believe we ask individuals to work additional hours without compensation and have never been given this feedback during my regular conversations with all levels of team members within the company. Perhaps you could email me at barnaby@timeetc.com with details so that I can clarify this with you?
We are flexible on hours worked. We allow our team to work from home on 4 out of the 5 days of the week and have always gone out of our way to accommodate requests for flexible hours. Where we are able to accommodate a request for flexible hours, we do so - and have multiple team members working custom hours or days per week to allow them to fit in their other responsibilities. I am unsure as to why you would feel this isn't the case.
We do ask our team to work one or two bank holidays per year. To be clear we certainly don’t require our team to work all or even many bank holidays each year and everyone that works from home on a bank holiday is given an additional day off.
Ultimately we want everyone that works with us to have a great time and be happy with their role and the company - so it's very sad we weren't able to achieve this with you.
I would invite you to reach out to me at barnaby@timeetc.com to discuss your experience further - I would be really happy to talk things through with you in person.
Thanks,
Barnaby
Founder and CEO
Time etc
