Big company, small company mentality - Customer Service Agent AJ Bell Employee Review

3.0
Jun 27, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Paid entry to a number of events, runs, triathlon, tough mudder. Gym - when its open Pay day drinks - when its on Xmas Party - when they do one Summer Party - when they do one Nice office

Cons

Customer service teams will hire anyone which means kids and unexperienced staff are in roles who have no idea what they are doing, often cause more harm than good. Staff thrown on phone teams (as well as other teams) to support customers with little to no training of products and how the business actually work. Turn over on phone teams is rediculously high, but when you have micro managers not even letting staff leave their desks to go to the toilet because there are calls in the queue what do you expect! If you shout loudest you get what you want, Managers/TLs have no understanding of priority or whats going on outside of their department! Each department works independently of each other and do not communicate which means issues just get passed from person to person. Issues are just palmed off to the staff who want to do a good job meaning they get over worked and stressed. Lots of knowledge stored in the core staffs brains who have been there a long time, no central location for documentation of how things works, as staff turn over is high it means knowledge is continually lost or those that have been at the business a while end up having to pickup issues and there is little to no knowledge sharing Staff promoted to TL or Manager roles based on who you know, if your face fits, who you are sleeping with/head of fancies you or if you are in the "boys" club. Subsequently this means there are managers running entire depatments when they have no idea how their teams processes work. Teams are over worked and underpaid. Record profits reported and splashed all over the intranet only to be told there is no money for pay rises while the Heads of/Directors and Board reap the benefits of the dividends they pay themselves. No Christmas party/Summer social or pay day drinks due to covid, No other options offered! not even a bottle of wine/voucher/couple of beers to each member of staff at christmas. Best company survey is linked to TL/Mgr bonus so they are forced to continually hound you to put in favorable reviews. HR are a joke, they will not make any decisions themselves (especially if it involves giving bad news) even where there is a policy in place, standard response of its up to the manager to make the decision and deliver the bad news to staff. Pace of change is relentless and often causes issues, as all teams in the business are ran at bare minimum numbers it means everyone is always playing catch up and just about keeping heads above water. For a pensions firm 3% matched pension is a joke! especially when you are making money hand over fist! Another year of record profits, how about stop paying the shareholders all the profits and give some back to the staff who are the people who are making you the profit! Anything you tell HR will not stay private, lots of talk about mental health but if you do raise anything HR expect you to talk to staff within the business first who are not trained mental health care people so its all just a facade!

avatar
AJ Bell Response
5y
Thanks for your feedback - there was a lot you wanted to say. It was good to note that you value the social events - they’ve certainly been missed during Covid. Regarding the rest of your points, I would encourage you to raise your concerns - there is a dedicated confidential helpline ‘SeeHearSpeakUp’ to discuss any issues that you haven’t felt comfortable raising with your manager or HR. T: 0800 988 6818 or E: report@seehearspeakup.co.uk.

Explore other reviews about AJ Bell

5.0
Jan 18, 2024
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CEO approval
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Pros

Amazing people and a supportive environment

Cons

I don’t have any I can think of at the moment

2
5.0
Nov 1, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I never thought I would say this about a job but I genuinely love what I do. The role itself suits me perfectly and I love tbe atmosphere around the building. Since moving to AJ Bell, I have been shown great training, leadership and a shared common goal. I feel apart of the team and not just a cog. Management are all approachable and my colleagues are great.

Cons

Just wish the office was closer to ny house!

4
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