Worst builder I have ever worked for - Sales Executive Crest Nicholson Employee Review

Crest Nicholson is by far the worst builder I have ever worked for. I resigned after 6 weeks and requested I forgo my notice period and leave straight away. That’s how bad it was. There were other sales staff resigning without having another job lined up. To do that during a pandemic shows you how poorly you are treated at this company. In my opinion it is a very toxic place to work. Management is very poor and clearly inexperienced. It lacks the necessary skills and knowledge to be effective and do the job properly. There is a definite blame culture and lots of finger pointing when things don’t go to plan. There’s no induction, no training, no real input, no weekly/bi-weekly reviews or catchups to see how you are getting on. You are put at a site and left to sink or swim. You are then persecuted if things aren’t done the ‘Crest’ way (the way that they have neglected to show you). Cuts have meant sales staff do a lot more for less money. As I understand it Crest were really struggling financially in 2019/2020. Due to this, new senior staff were brought in and cut everything to the bone. The new commission structure has clearly been implemented to stop sales execs making decent money. The targets you need to hit are unrealistic which means not only do you not receive a bonus but you don’t get your full plot commission either. I liken it to being punched and knocked to the ground and then spat on whilst on the floor. The customer services department has been pretty much abolished. Sales execs not only have to do their own job, but they also must do the job of a Customer services Manager; all snagging etc for the first 14 weeks (3 and ½ months) post completion is dealt with by the sales and site team. You are the contact for customers to report their snags and issues to. This means a large part of your day is spent taking calls or reading emails from angry or disappointed customers who have snagging issues. It is your job to ensure those snags are rectified without delay and get the NHBC survey back. That is a full-time job in itself but Crest have tagged it onto the sales role. The cuts have also meant the specification of the houses/flats has been dramatically effected. They used to include flooring and Bosch appliances. Now you have to pay for flooring and you don’t get all the appliances. The ones you do get are now Indesit or something of similar quality. This can amount to several thousand pounds. This makes the plots harder to sell and you don’t get any commission/bonus if you do sell the flooring and appliances. I don’t think the quality and spec merit the price tag. Your hours of work equate to 38 hours and 45 minutes per week but your contracted hours are 37. This means working an extra 11.7 days a year that you don’t get paid for. They are the least Covid conscious builder I have worked for. The only change I could really see is that, now masks are worn, there are screens on the desks and hand gel dispensers that don’t really work. They still have several people in the office at one time and still complete reservations face to face. Other builders do reservations remotely and only allow one household in the office at a time which is far safer for staff and customers.