Toxic culture and low pay hinder career growth
Pros
New office is a nice space.
Cons
My experience at this organisation was unfortunately very disappointing and had a significant negative impact on my confidence. A key issue was the culture within the operations team and wider head office. Communication from senior management - CEO, COO, Operations Directors, including regional leadership, was often dismissive and at times unprofessional, creating an environment where individuals did not feel respected or valued. Surprised they don't have more HR complaints against them given their views, thoughts and the things that come out of their mouths on a daily basis. While there is an apparent focus on diversity, particularly with regards to hiring women, this is not reflected in how female employees are treated in practice (it is a tick box exercise). The culture does not feel aligned with modern, inclusive workplace standards. From a career perspective, pay was very low with little to no clear pathway for progression. Within the bid team, there was a lack of subject matter expertise — with one experienced individual whose input was frequently disregarded despite having significantly more relevant experience than the operations team. They don't realise how fortunate they are to have that one subject matter expert within the team. The wider team was often expected to develop solutions for complex, large-scale contracts without sufficient industry knowledge or support. When these solutions were challenged, feedback was often overly critical rather than constructive, which made it difficult to learn or improve. It was constantly 'who decided this' and pointing fingers when the responsibility sits with them to come up with a technical solution. There also appeared to be a lack of understanding of the bid function and the requirements of a structured bid process. Deadlines were not effectively managed across teams, and operations stakeholders did not always recognise their role in meeting those deadlines. Overall, the organisation felt resistant to change, with limited openness to new ideas or alternative approaches.