Cruel, bullying culture values money over everything - Anonymous employee QA Employee Review

1.0
Apr 30, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This box states I must leave 20 words. I don't have 20 positive words. QA Apprenticeships took me on in a graduate scheme, what an absolute waste of time.

Cons

I was taken on as part of a graduate scheme. 24 graduates, promised mentoring, training and a "consultative" sales environment where the client comes first. Working to place young people into apprenticeship roles, we were told that we would make a real difference to their futures and would be given the time and space to do the right thing for both apprentice and client. What absolute lies. All you really need to know is that, 6 months after the start of the graduate scheme only 8 of the 24 graduates were left working there. Several were actually fired in public - I assume to deliberately scare us. We spent all our time cold-calling, having our calls listened to and criticised. Constant public put-downs were made and we were subjected to content notices from higher management saying that we were lazy and not working hard enough or criticising the fact that we were "letting the employers make the decisions on the sales process" - even though we were working incredibly hard. Several times, when an employer felt a young person wasn't right for them, my manager said, "make them take that person: I need my commission" This was the whole outlook of the company - money before integrity. But they had lured us in on a false promise. As graduates, we were not entitled to sick pay, and were told that we were "expected" to work through lunch breaks and stay late every day. We had targets that were much higher than non-graduate colleagues and for the privilege, we were paid several thousand pounds a year less. I was consistently blamed for mistakes made by colleagues and told they were my fault (when they weren't) or that I was 'over-reacting' (but then publically told off for the consequences) This company is fundamentally dishonest. If you have no morals it's the right place for you.

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QA Response
9y
Thank you for taking the time to share your comments. As with any feedback, we must assure you that the points you make will be addressed and brought to the attention of leadership teams so that this is followed up directly. We would however like to address some of the comments you make as we deem these outside of our expectations. As with any leaver process, whether the decision of the employee or for performance issues, this must and does always follow a process to ensure that those that leave us do so in the most positive way. We have a performance management and appraisal process in place which must be followed, and the situation you mention would not have happened without prior warning, performance reviews and regular feedback - and also conducted in privacy. As part of Graduate training, it may be the case that calls are initially listened into and we do encourage constructive feedback to ensure we are developing the skills of our Graduates as well as ensuring the consistent high quality services to our clients. Placements with employers must meet the criteria of their entry requirements, and under no circumstances would we or our partnering employers accept candidates who are not suitable or do not meet these. Work/Life balance is encouraged from all levels of the business, and every employee should ensure they proactively take up their breaks and leave at a suitable time. There may be periods, as with any role, where work load is higher at some times however given the nature of your role it is unlikely that working late would be encouraged due to employers and candidates not being contactable out of standard working hours. Entry level roles are generally paid slightly lower than those with experience, due to ongoing training and the number of responsibilities an employee has at this stage of your career. However, we would encourage you to always take ownership of your own development and highlight early how you would like to progress further - your line manager will always support you in achieving this. Much like any role you will be or have moved on to we would always encourage you to speak to your HR advisor should you have any concerns. We wish you success in your career

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