If so, why? Curious is all!

Yes, I’ve worked for some crap compnies and this is the complete opposite.
The products do their bit for the environment, which is a good start.
The people are great, from the MD down, everyone is at the end of a phone. The MD sits in the main open plan office and everyone there is approachable.
We all work to the same objectives and all get along. No one thinks their role is any more important than anyone elses.

I work in the public sector for a local authority.
Generally, I like it.
I have a good work/life balance (compressed hours and agile working). A good manager who appreciates how hard I work.
As PS organisations go, I think the execs are pretty forward thinking and pushing us on as an organisation.
Things I don’t like are the fact that it takes so long to get something done. Having to pander to political whims from officials who know very little about the day to day business and make ridiculous requests to further their own popularity.
Things are changing but there are still quite a few work shy people here who wouldn’t survive in the private sector. Discipline and professionalism can be pretty poor at times.

But in terms of my position and job satisfaction, i’m happy.

Yes. But if I didn’t I’d have some pretty deep seated issues as the company only has one shareholder and one director and one employee and they’re all me.

Yes, I have the almost perfect job(for me),work with lovely people,have an idyllic bike commute ,and a flexability in working hours that has allowed me to be a big part in looking after my family.

Yes. Great mentoring, great leadership, good investment and we’re all aiming for the same goals. It’s not always been like that, but the last 2 years or so have just got exponentially better.

Yes, started from nothing by the current owner 30 years ago, now a multi-national company with over £400m turnover, owner gives millions to charity, was knighted, now a lord. Still say say ‘hi xx’ when I pass him in the buildings and he always takes the time to say hello.

Interesting responses so far, all pretty much saying similar things to what I had been thinking about in terms of the company I worked in that was good. ie no hierarchy, friendly approachable at all levels etc etc.

The only thing that I would add is that the best company I worked at really did reward success. That was through quarterly objective setting (sounds bad but worked really well) and promotion for those who proved their success (it wasn’t a small company)

Yes, I have the almost perfect job(for me),work with lovely people,have an idyllic bike commute ,and a flexability in working hours

Pretty much sums up my job!

Yep, recently taken over by a very large American company turning over a few billion a year and it’s only got better since.

Well looked after both financially and in terms of contract and work expectations.
There is a culture of learning and development of people.
I’m working with a bunch of people who all have similar work ethics and drive to get it right as opposed to being the only one willing to do the extra hours etc.

Not especially. It’s not the root of all evil, nor is it something I feel passionate about. I do a job, they pay me, I leave it all at the office door when I head home. Mostly.

Yes. It’s a company more or less uniformly loathed by all due to past transgressions (there’s often a sharp intake of breath when I say who it is), but I believe in the leadership, I like the people, I enjoy the working environment, the work is interesting and they pay me well. Commute’s shit, but what you gonna do.

I’m working with a bunch of people who all have similar work ethics and drive to get it right as opposed to being the only one willing to do the extra hours etc.

So you like working for free then?

That is one thing that I liked about where I worked. If you worked much over normal hours, senior staff would notice it and send you home. If additional work was required they look at why and tried to resolve it. The culture was very much you work hard while here, but you have a life too.

Yes, it’ my own.

A good manager who appreciates how hard I work.

Only your mother cares how HARD you work 😉

On the whole yes, I work directly with some very proactive, incredibly capable, funny and sweary people. Unfortunately we work for very reactive managers who sometimes scupper our plans and projects.
Our managers do treat us with respect though and appreciate that we know our stuff and don’t need micro-managing

Yes, absolutely – we do some truly great work on a global scale.

Nope. Hate it.
Its a good company with a decent work ethic and they look after you wages wise but the Manager is poison. One of those unpleasant people who never has a good word to say and goes out of his way to make issues and problems where there are none. Which is laughable as the work force is very good, competent and dedicated. We all just get on with the job and there’s little for him to actually manage.
Many, many concerns brought up over the years to the Director of the company who buries her head in the sand.
Totally lost faith with the company 18 months ago and would walk out tomorrow and never look back if it was viable to do so. Kids to look after and all that…

Yes.

Work for myself / my company so yes 😀

Some clients are a PITA though 😉

Yes. It’s a company more or less uniformly loathed by all due to past transgressions (there’s often a sharp intake of breath when I say who it is), but I believe in the leadership, I like the people, I enjoy the working environment, the work is interesting and they pay me well. Commute’s shit, but what you gonna do.

RBS?

So you like working for free then?

If we have to work over we just don’t come in the next day as early or similar. The issue has to be resolved and the quicker the better so we will all strive to do that even if it means making personal sacrifice for a time. The company is happy we can manage our own time and the managers don’t pester us about it.

Yes and no. I like those I work with, my immediate managers and I do something wortwhile dealing with society’s more horrific margins. I can also have a reasonable work / life balance

However if I wasn’t in my current work stream I would probably be looking for a way out. I don’t like frustations deriving from an over-beaureaucratic organisation, creaking IT and a lack of training to do the job. It must be a bad sign when employees are hacked off because they can’t do their job well let alone gripes about pay, etc.

Pay rises don’t exist and career progression is a joke, last year I was volunteered to do something that was adjudged to pose a significant risk to my personal safety /life and may still do even now, I did exceptionally well but in terms of reward, recognition or even a simple thanks I might as well not have bothered.

Yes,

We’re a small outfit, but we’ve doubled in size in 2-3 years, this has been good in a lot of ways, more money and ‘things’ for one, the downside has been we’ve had to become a tiny bit more corporate, but only really to the level of normal businesses.

For the most part I’m given a goal and allowed to go it any way I see fit, but sometimes I get ‘guidance’ from above – be they’re open to debate at least.

We do good work, there’s no spin, or bullshit, we do good work for fair prices – I hate lying or spinning the truth to get business.

We have one rule for clothing – if you wear shorts to work, you have to bring jeans to change into to go on a client site. That’s it.

We don’t have to deal with arseholes if we don’t want to – if we don’t like clients, we can get rid of them.

I work for a small civil/structural engineering consultancy. The bloke who owns the company is a hands on engineer and there is no pretense or hierarchy. The other directors are not shy when it comes to buying drinks on nights out and they put us up in a hotel inc Breakfast when it comes to xmas do time!

Basically a bloody decent set of people.

The industry however? I might have had my fill………

Not really, although reading some people’s experiences with their employers I don’t really have much to complain about. What bothers me most is how cost trumps everything yet they make a big deal about them putting employees first. I’d rather honesty along the lines of “we do care about you, just not as much as we care about our stock options”, I’d respect them a lot more.

I do now I’m in the right job. Good pay, good work, self directing but with good bosses if I need support. Increasing amount of respect from other teams due to what we’re delivering. Stupid long commute but they are flexible on that too.

Yes, I work for a startup in the Healthcare sector. I like the ethics of the business and there’s some genuine innovation going on. As the company is so small I get to do a whole host of different tasks that have nothing to do with my job description. I work closely with the CEO and his family which is ace in understanding his vision, influencing his thoughts and helping to shape the path of the business. Taking a new product/service to market with such a small team is a real insight. I’m given a lot of free reign and get to outsource certain work which is also fun.

It’s OK, far from the worst place I’ve been but I’m not in love with it either. I’ve had a slightly crap job in a good company before and I’m happier where I am now in a good job in a slightly crap company.

FuzzyWuzzy – Member

Not really, although reading some people’s experiences with their employers I don’t really have much to complain about. What bothers me most is how cost trumps everything yet they make a big deal about them putting employees first. I’d rather honesty along the lines of “we do care about you, just not as much as we care about our stock options”, I’d respect them a lot more.

I can’t stand all that cynical staff relations crap.

An office has just opened in Cardiff, it’s another call-centre, they’ve made a big fuss about this big open space for their staff, with a tree house and games machines – they want to emulate Google and such – I’ll bet that the shine wears off after about 2 days, Managers will be giving out stern warnings about time away from desks etc – this is an industry that sets time limits on toilet breaks, some people might take their lunch there, but pretty soon it’ll sit empty and unused – until they need more floor space and it’ll go.

Too many times in my life I’ve fallen for the old “stick with me Kid, Riches are just around the corner” line.

They’ll convince their staff to work a couple of hours a day for free, come in at the weekends, work themselves to the bone for them – all because ‘we’re all in it together’.

Some places famously have made good on their promises – Microsoft in the US, Admiral in the UK and many more – but most don’t, 5 years down the line when the Boss is parking their Range Rover in their reserved space and flicking through pictures of holiday homes for sale someone might ask when their reward will come – then it’s suddenly “you’re lucky to have a job” and “how dare you think you can squeeze me for money” “I built this company” and worst still they believe it themselves.

People have tried to sell that sort of thing to me in the past – vague promises of “paying your mortgage off” “Porsches for all” and that BS, these days I politely ask with an air of naivety for the sake of self-preservation how the mechanics of this incentive scheme works, is it based on turnover or profits, at what level it kicks it and for how much – how long you have needed to work their etc – it usually dissolves away before your eyes.

I guess I’ve been on the same management staff relations courses as them, I know it’s a skill to motivate people to do stuff for free, because they feel empowered, because they feel part of the ‘family’ more work for less money equals more profit.

I’ve yet to meet a single soul who’s delivered on their promises without laying it out in writing first in a binding agreement.

My current place doesn’t do that, their have been a few words around pay-rises when we do x or y, but it’s vague so I chose not to believe them – otherwise I’ll become bitter if they can’t or won’t come through and I like working here.

Yes. It’s a company more or less uniformly loathed by all due to past transgressions (there’s often a sharp intake of breath when I say who it is),

Dow? Those people should avoid the breathing in two sharply if thats the case though 🙂

I work for the same university I studied at. Love it tbh- not going to say I love everything about working here but the organisation and the place, absolutely. Fresher’s week just now, it’s a total pain in the arse and it’s brilliant.

Self employed. There are issues but I can’t say too much on social media.

Yes; the company is cash-rich, we all have shares, we are well paid, we never have meetings, we have good managers, I’m free to do my job as I wish, I travel overseas on the company and nobody ever questions my expenses, I get a decent car. What’s not to like?

I work in academia, as a research tech in a molecular biology lab. I feel like I haven’t done a proper day’s work since I quit my job as a welder and went to college, then on to Uni in the early 90’s.

I’m excited to come into the lab in the mornings to see if my experiments have worked! The pay is awful mind you, but I don’t care as I’m perfectly happy where I am.

🙂

I like my company – well, the part of it in which I work, anyway. Go to customers, sort their shit out for them, teach them the right way to do things, earn their respect, help them help themselves and generally make happy customers.

Those are the good projects anyway. The bad ones are where they client (or other parts of our own company) have already decided how to do things without asking us, but they’ve got it wrong, and they get us to implement it which we can’t easily do, then they make me or us the scapegoat to their bosses or the end client.

But that doesn’t happen often, and when it does I don’t much mind because a) I know I’ve done my best b) the fall-out isn’t my problem and c) I’m getting quite good at fixing that situation now so it’s a good opportunity to turn it into the good kind as above 🙂

Yes.

I work from home for an office in Seattle. I get paid to go into the Maidenhead office once a week. I work for and with people I genuinely like, and think the company is genuinely trying to do good things. I also like it because it takes risks, is actively innovating and challenges accepted norms, both commercially and socially.

However working as an inhouse designer means it can sometimes get dull and monotonous. However the plusses outweigh the negatives substantially.

It has its moments. I like the people I work with in my immediate team, but some others around the company can be a right pain to deal with, usually remotely. The local people are generally nice.

It pays well enough, has flexible working, decent benefits, but sometimes I think it’s trying too hard to be something it is not. Possibly the reason I have been looking at other things for the last couple of years. This is the easy option though and right now, with the divorce, easy is good.

No but I’m looking to move on.

Problem is I’ve no idea what I want to do. If anyone knows of anything that’s train commutable from Loughborough and is suitable for a Materials engineer with a smattering of test & validation work I’d love to hear about it!

Yes, though the shine is going a little.

Company is a household name, but doesn’t have a great PR reputation. I’m not about to get all corporate and try to defend it, but we have also done some good to drive down the cost of what is now considered to be a utility commodity.

On the whole I’m well paid and I’m senior enough for life to be pretty flexible without being too senior to have the axe hovering above my neck all the time.

But I need more, so I’m thinking more about my next move. It’s not you, it’s me.

Yes. It’s a company more or less uniformly loathed by all due to past transgressions (there’s often a sharp intake of breath when I say who it is), but I believe in the leadership, I like the people, I enjoy the working environment, the work is interesting and they pay me well. Commute’s shit, but what you gonna do.

RBS? [/quote]

Not a million miles off, but no!

Dow?

Nah, Ben was much closer.

Company is a household name, but doesn’t have a great PR reputation. I’m not about to get all corporate and try to defend it, but we have also done some good to drive down the cost of what is now considered to be a utility commodity.

This is fun! You’ve talked about being in insurance before… Hmmm… Fairly sure it’s not Moreth>n. Admiral?