Never work here if you value mental welfare!
I worked with PMO (Project Management Office) and it was the worst place of work I have ever had the dissatisfaction of working at. I started my time here loving the work I was doing, being passionate about the cause, the vision and wanting to make a real difference to the lives of the end users. However, that soon changed when I realised my job description had changed from what was originally agreed upon and sold at my interview. Infact, Blatchford has demonstrated that they are unable to define roles of employees (with job descriptors all missing) yet expected employees (as part of their annual appraisals) to discharge their duties perfectly. You cannot feel passionate about something if employer continually changes the goalpost and doesn't hold up their end of the bargain. Old school ways of working are commonplace and the norm. A large majority of the workforce is elderly and that naturally means a lack of vision/insight/foresigh as well as resistant to change (which R&D hoped). Blatchford has an excessively politically-charged and highly bureaucratic environment which makes discharging your role that much more difficult. You may almost need to be in a clique to ensure you get an easier ride. Promotions occur as a result of time-served rather than the employees own value contribution to the organisation. I may have heard from ex-employees who were Design Engineers that a new layer of middle management within engineering was formed but none of these individuals had any experience of managing budget AND people in the past. Middle management need re-training. In my experience and opinion, certain managers will command you to do things even when those same things are out of your control. During my time those same individuals failed to demonstrate any real competency, courage, conviction and charisma. As a result of middle management being placed in such positions, they lack all the necessary skills and competencies to be classed as a real manager of people. If you enjoy doing EXACTLY what you're told and when to do it, this is definitely the place for you. God forbid you ever care for the products or the end users because then you'd be tarnished as a troublemaker and squeezed out via the numerous and highly beauracratic 'processes'. My fellow PMO's just enjoyed hounding teams for times/dates and when things will be finished and do not possess any real technical (and frankly, necessary) knowledge of the products. If I was an end user I would not be comfortable wearing a blatchford prosthetic or orthotic device; just my personal preference. If you are a yes-man, then you may fit in well otherwise you will be forgotten. Also, the organisation operates a very dated 'flexible' working arrangement which is anything but. Being told to come to site at least 3 days per week showed how employees are deemed as numbers and not trusted to perform their work. Every other business I've worked at has always value integrity. Unfortunately it seems to be lost here. Also if the CTO can leave abruptly leaving everyone absent of his vision, only to return a few months later, that is telling you how great retention rates are. There is a very steady number of people leaving blatchford not because the work is not stimulating or challenging, but because management and HR are out to get you if you do not fit the mould. Be careful of working here because eventually it affect your mental welfare and by that time you'd have been squeezed out. Don't say I didn't warn you.
31 December 2024
Unprompted review
