A Dwindling UK Operation - Architect IBI Group Employee Review

1.0
Oct 4, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Monthly Team Gathering Legacy Knowledge of Great UK Brands (Taylor Young and Nightingale) Determined Toronto-led Marketing Team Lots of Space In Office As Head Count Has Reduced

Cons

Poor Pay Increases Little Accountability (Three heads of UK within a year, no personal interaction) Poor Brand Recognition (compared to former UK brands Taylor Young and Nightingale) Awful Website and very Centralised Canadian Marketing Team which doesn't understand the UK market and brand presence of competitors Very Few Opportunities to Integrate as One Team Slowly Dying Operation (Closed Liverpool Office, Mothballing Manchester Operations, Work Winners Gone to Competitors, Office Lead left, No Creative Vision) Colleagues had 'promotions' without increases in pay! Large overheads compared to fee earning staff (an inefficient corporate beast) A Canadian Finance-Led operation which is short term (fill your timesheet now with next week/month/year's earnings), leading to project overruns Antiquated IT systems, which replaced efficient UK systems in use by previous operations High utilisation rates discourage work-winning/finding next year's projects Poor office morale and high staff turnover Large numbers of staff hanging on waiting for redundancy Staff survey results so bad they aren't published Focus on future technology as core brand, which confuses architecture/landscape/design clients, who don't know who IBI are (remember we're competing with ARUP, MottMac, WYG, WSP, AECOM - who are still international but tell a great UK multi-disciplinary story) High charge rates meaning short-term shareholder gain but Directors can't win work Disinterested colleagues who seem to be waiting for redundancy Dwindling experience for bids (very little relevant staff experience and ageing UK project examples) - poor in comparison to competitors

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IBI Group Response
6y
We appreciate the time and effort that our staff take in all forms of feedback, both formal and informally. As you are aware we launched our IBI Group UK Survey 2019 in the summer to engage across the country. We are using the survey platform to analyse the data we collected from the questions and comments, and will shortly communicate our results back; taking a moment to celebrate our strengths before we focus on the scores and themes in our areas of opportunity. The end goal of this exercise is to facilitate healthy discussions that make us stronger. It is an exciting time for us across the whole of IBI Group, to pioneer industry leading and unique skill mixes across the full breadth of our capability, in response to the changing balance of priorities our clients are facing in a world where lines between the built environment and technology are increasingly blurred. Taking steps to listen is critical to becoming an effective organisation. Thank you for playing a part in our efforts to continually improve the experience of working at IBI Group.

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