I have worked at Hollis for a number of years. Having reviewed some of the previous comments on this forum, I would be sceptical about their source. Perhaps I am a cynic, but the company has a large BD/ HR team and if it was a ‘Great place to work’ I doubt the more disparaging reviews would exist. I would be more than a little dubious about the source of such comments and it seems odd that such extremes of opinion exist. Such comments certainly do not represent my view, the view of the large number of people I speak at the company and I most definitely do not consider the company to be a great or enjoyable place to work. Over the course of the last three years the culture within the company has drastically changed. There is no question, in the past it had a strong track record. This has systematically been destroyed by a management team, and members brought into the company, who are inexperienced, not suited to the organisation and incompetent. Growth of a company is completely understandable and desirable, but it needs to be managed properly. This has not been done. The company has changed and is now a company where fee earning surveyors are undervalued and overworked. There is a clear policy of favouritism for a minority of employees lucky enough to be in a necessary small knit cliques. There is no clear direction from management, staff do not have the necessary support or expertise and team-working and positive working conditions simply do not exist. The company have claimed a number of times on this forum that such views should be expressed and flagged to management. This is laughable. I know of a large number of people who have flagged the ineptitude of management and the unhealthy working environment or have been called in to discuss such issues by management. The fact of the matter is that such views have been utterly ignored. This has resulted in a large number of people leaving. I am not referring to one or two isolated incidents, but swathes of valuable surveyors with many years’ experience from a variety of locations at a variety of levels – if such views had been taken seriously and acted upon, I doubt the steady drain of talent from the company would be occurring at such a rapid pace. Management level staff talk the talk, but then do nothing or pin blame on someone else. This is not my isolated, personal view. I would consider a large number of employees (and ex employees) friends and have had several discussions on a private and personal level whereby people have confirmed they have also flagged the same issues repeatedly but nothing has been done. For those of us left here, the environment is thoroughly disheartening. People who I am in contact with who have left have nothing positive to say. I am personally looking elsewhere for employment as are the vast majority of people I speak with who are of a similar level. Ultimately, the people in charge of this company are out of touch with the people who work here. Their focus is on marketing the brand (as evidenced by the comments to employees on this forum), rather than taking on board comments and resolving issues. Actions speak louder than words, and the words of the Hollis PR machine are not reflected in the actions of the numerous employees jumping ship on a worryingly regular basis. I hate to be so blunt about a company I have worked for, but ultimately management have ruined this company. My advice would be for anyone who is a surveyor looking at this company, read the above and ask yourself: why would you want to work here.
PS: Hollis, there is no need for your standard disingenuous response from a non-fee earning BD/ HR/ Partner member who does not fully understand the role of a fee earner.
