A-SAFE reviews

I wasted 2 years of my life working for this company. Right from the start I knew I may as well throw my job description out the window. The owners micro manage every part of the workforce and show zero trust in any employee, no matter what their skills or experience. Communication from management is abysmal - with the most laughable 'open door' policy I've come across in 30 years. If you do make it through their so-called 'open door' you might as well talk to the walls - and have no doubt you'll leave ANY conversation with the directors much more confused (and often with a heavier workload) than you were in the first place. Morale on all sides of the company is spectacularly low. The workforce are under paid, overworked and under-valued - this despite lots of lip service about looking after their staff and being a good place to work. The owners simply regard most staff as dogsbodies who are lucky to be in their roles. Bonuses are pathetic. Meetings are stressful and unproductive. Departments seem to work in isolation for each other. In fact, the only thing the company do well (apart from selling lots of safety barriers, despite themselves) is win dumb awards from organisations who should have much more rigorous vetting procedures - and then displaying the awards in a trophy cabinet so their utterly downbeaten and disenfranchised workforce can look at them and feel like killing themselves.

Unfortunately the company’s success is very much despite of - rather than because of - its culture. Inter-departmental relationships are grounded in the umbrella message of CYA (cover your a...). So long as blame can be apportioned somewhere else then you and your department will live to work another day. Run in to help pull another department out of a hole and - unless it represents one of your very pigeon-holed KPIs (which may or may not have been communicated to you anyway) - then you’re taken to task, overall good of the company be forgotten. Once you’re through the induction, expect all communication to disappear into the ether. The rumour mill is rife - both personally and professionally - as it seems to be the only way to learn anything. Much is conducted on a need to know basis and, unless you are part of the blatant inner circle of the preferred, accept that you are too far down the food chain and inconsequential to need to know. The aforementioned perks also show their true colours. A big seller for many is flexible hours, however the pervasive culture of presenteeism makes taking advantage something of a no-no. Depending on your department, don’t expect to be looked upon favourably if you’re ready to start work for 7.30am then expect to walk out just after 4.00pm when your boss has rolled in for 9.30am (best idea is to mirror your boss' hours if you want to be "flexible". No sick pay, statutory maternity/paternity and minimum holiday for many but not all new starters puts the business well below the ‘big boys’ it purports to be in the same league as. The constant need for even the tiniest inconsequential decision or project to be approved leads to bottlenecks at management level. And if the manager’s face fits better than yours then expect you’ll be the one falling on your sword when work isn't deemed to be being completed at the required pace.