innocent Reviews

Given that Innocent is supposedly a strong-valued based organisation, it really exploits its employees from the outset. Many people join Innocent because it’s Innocent and they agree with the values, the company recognises this and therefore knows that most people aren’t motivated largely by the pay package and therefore offer them less. The pay is well below the industry standard, and the hours (9-6) are longer than usual (9-5/5.30). Even if you consider 10% of profits go to charity and take that off your pay package, you will be well below other places. Innocent treats itself as if it is a charity but the job satisfaction of ‘making smoothies’ doesn’t match that of actually working for a charity. You’d be better off working somewhere else, earning more and giving more to a charity of your choice if that’s what motivates you. At the end of 2013, the CEO stood up and gave an update on the pay rises – he introduced the 1% pension contribution as part of the pay rise - this was required by law and was only introduced from April 2014 (so wasn’t even 1% over the year), and they waited until the last possible minute to do it (i.e. when it became a legal requirement). I imagine given that they are currently giving the lowest they can give, they have to build it up to 4% as per government requirements over the next few years and they will introduce it as a pay rise every time! Managers recruit their juniors, and give them performance ratings (and pay rise) – your experience at Innocent will largely depend on your manager; if your manager changes, your entire experience changes. If your manager is proactive and asks everyone you work with about your performance, you may end up with a more balanced rating compared to a manager who asks who you want feedback from where you can just pick the good people so you get a good rating. This system is open to abuse and has been abused by certain managers. In one case, management changed and the new manager didn’t like certain people on their team, not only were they called abusive names behind their back and told that they wouldn’t have hired them, but three people were essentially bullied out of the business. The manager then went on to hire friends (who they paid more than the original employees who had more relevant experience). I am surprised that senior management have not spotted this. On the other hand, teams are generally very defensive, there is a big no-blame culture which hinders improvements. Managers are often reluctant to admit that people they have hired are underperforming, and the opposite to the above also happens. Because managers hire people that are similar to them, teams tend to have personalities. This means that although there is an option to move sideways, it may be difficult to fit into another team who has a completely different work ethic. It also feels like an uphill battle to achieve company objectives, when there seems to be little alignment between teams or senior management.

A particular challenge was the outright favouritism - particularly when it came to promotions, pay rises, recognition. It’s so blatant and quite frankly totally demotivating - performance ratings are moderated but even that is done with a bias on how well liked you are. An issue relating to this is hugely ineffective peer level line management. This does not work and does not lead to you being enormously developed - especially if the person managing you hasn’t a clue about your role, what you do and the contribution you’re making. So it’s very easy to get passed over for recognition, especially if you aren’t “best buds” with them. I found this incredibly challenging and had a dreadful time with an incompetent, immature and fake manager - I didn’t stand a chance at review time, and I know my performance was excellent from feedback with collaborations with other teams. The third issue, is the People team. Intensely cliquey, untrustworthy and egotistical - lots of people just wont go to them due to one particular member of the team who they know is unfriendly and a massive gossip.