Toxic management, lack of support, poor bereavement handling and high turnover - Anonymous employee Benenden Health Employee Review

Looking at some of the recent reviews, I feel I may be one of the lucky ones because I genuinely can’t fault my manager. They have been nothing but supportive throughout my time at Benenden. I have struggled with my mental health during my employment, and felt well supported during that time. While there are some small cliques within the business, I have generally found colleagues to be friendly and approachable. Personally, I have not witnessed any workplace bullying. However, I would hope that if such issues did arise, they would be taken seriously and addressed appropriately by the organisation.

There is a lot of encouragement at the start of employment around career progression and moving within the business. While these opportunities do exist, I think expectations could be managed more realistically, as it simply isn’t possible to accommodate everyone who wants to progress or move departments. Although there are development pathways in place, it can sometimes feel as though opportunities are not accessible to all employees equally. This can create perceptions of favouritism or leave some people feeling overlooked, even if that is not the intention. With many employees interested in moving to different departments, competition for vacancies can be high, and when multiple people apply for the same role, it can leave those who are unsuccessful feeling discouraged. Calls are monitored regularly, which I understand is important for quality assurance, training and compliance. However, the process can sometimes feel overly intense and intimidating. At times, feedback can come across as quite harsh, particularly when advisors are already performing well and working hard to deliver a good service. The contact centre team is at the heart of the business, and the workload can feel relentless, almost like being on a hamster wheel. Burnout is a genuine concern, and I believe greater recognition and appreciation for the work advisors would have a positive impact on morale and wellbeing.

Nothing, In and out within 7 months.

Spent just over 6 months at Benenden, I felt bullied, lonely and like constantly judged. Certain managers have there favourites and there own little groups, more bothered about making sure there McDonalds order with there 'pals' are correct, rather than dealing with issues or concerns of staff. Whatever you do, don't struggling with personal issues or be ill because that would mean being judged even more. There are some good people in the office environment, but non (bar one or two) are management, also make sure you dont need the toilet because that is monitored, unless you're in a certain circle then you can go out vaping whenever you wish.