So much potential, now left out to dry. A crying shame.
Pros
- Knowing that more often than not you are helping those with struggles in society, giving people an opportunity to empower themselves and make better with their lives through employment and support. - Also working with some of the most talented, committed and friendly people you could wish to meet - I was/am fortunate to have made some great friends at Ingeus through different roles at the organisation, most of whom now deserve a lot better I hasten to add. - (Some) managers. I was fortunate to have worked under some really enthusiastic, intelligent and very personable line managers who were always supportive, honest and had my best interests at heart as an employee. Other colleagues may not have been so fortunate, however (having read other reviews).
Cons
There's plenty, which is a real shame as Ingeus was a fantastic place to work when I first joined, but has really hit the wall where people now are desperate to leave, and morale and job satisfaction are probably at their lowest ebb. Some examples below: - US takeover of a few years ago has only served to tighten budgets and the company has definitely lost some of its identity and its best people as a result. Workload has increased as headcount has diminished, and salaries have remained stagnant for circa 3 years at the time of departure (with not even an acknowledgment from senior management that these were even being reviewed/frozen, such is the environment that has been created). These are salaries which, despite being relatively high for the sector - and the company are keen to tell you this -, come within a sector that is renowned for derisory pay. - Too paternalistic and inflexible. Even things such as turning up 2 minutes late can be viewed as an extreme negative, yet having worked across different teams during my time there this was not always enforced in the same way, showing that there isn't really a consistent approach taken by all managers/departments, which isn't fair. There is an inflexible element, too. Lack of options available to staff such as home-working/flexi-time are really holding the company back as it attempts to diversify into new sectors, again this comes down to the organisation's paternalistic approach. Fairness is a real issue, and staff sometimes don't feel they are being treated and trusted like adults. - Favouritism. Some staff simply get the rub of the green with senior managers/execs, and are seemingly jettisoned into new roles/placements/teams without consultation with other colleagues who are keen to progress their careers, and are also better at their jobs. A 'jobs for the boys' culture if you like had developed, with a lack of openness and honesty which is what a lot of current staff are craving. - Out of touch senior staff. Do they really know what a lot of their team are doing on a day-to-day basis? - Contractors: people leaving the organisation only to suddenly re-appear on a whopping day-rate 3 weeks later does not do wonders for staff morale, especially when cutbacks are in the pipeline and long-serving, loyal employees are told that they are no longer required by the company and can't be kept on due to headcount reasons. Disgraceful. - Career opportunities. This has been covered a lot in previous reviews, but there is certainly a glass ceiling for a lot of front-line staff. I was fortunate to have moved roles in my time with the organisation, but there are many who are stuck in a dead-end rut and the organisation does little to change this.
