I was one of a number of IT/website developers who have the displeasure of working at the Bradley Stoke office. A few personal highlights:
- No on-boarding process whatsoever. No real site orientation, no basic (and legally required) fire/health and safety orientation. A computer (obvious key tool of the job) was not even provided for over two weeks from my initial starting period. During this time I was left to occupy myself. Upon questioning this with management I was informed that I should bring in my own personal computer to use during this time(!) This was frequently repeated with not only new permanent staff but also contractors.
- No internal team or personal management. During the twelve months plus of employment I did not have any performance reviews.
- No goals or career progression opportunities were set and work was never reviewed.
- No professional relationship with the team management whatsoever. This was the same for the whole development team.
- New team members were never formally introduced to the team – adding to the lack of team mentality in the office. I never felt part of a team – a feeling shared by other developers who joined and left during the time I was employed there.
- IT procedures were outdated and convoluted. A lack of code maintenance and a large amount of technical debt resulting in a bloated and frustrating development environment (several gigs of data per branch), which frequently crashed. Relatively simple overnight releases took several hours, much due to the technical debt that hasn't been addressed. Some effort was being made to address this by the time of departure.
This is not a department for any IT professional who wishes to progress in their career. A culture of being left to work in silos exists. Communication generally within the RAC was dire; the management changing sprint scopes during the sprint itself (moving project goalposts) and no internal reviewing of team management.
Also a side note:
• Parking is also an issue at The Bradley Stoke office. A lack of spaces means that a “double parking system” has been utilised - however the reality of this is it is frequently difficult to contact those who have parked behind you if you are blocked in.
