26 Jul 2024
Fat Beehive Response
1yI understand that people get angry when dismissed. However, I don’t understand the need to come on here and make stuff up to hurt the colleagues they once worked with. It is very sad.
Just by going through the reviews, it is clear that the positive reviews are from a range of employees - some new, some who have been with the company for a while. Three were from this year, seven last year, and two from 2021. If people were forced to write positive reviews, why weren't you forced to do so? With 50 current staff, why aren't there more positive reviews if I force people to write them?
But let's put this in perspective—we have probably employed over 100 people over the last few years. 21 people have left a review on Glassdoor. It is usually only the very angry (people who have been dismissed) who are motivated enough to leave a review, but even so, 67% would recommend Fat Beehive and the CEO has an 84% approval rating.
The difference between the positive and negative reviews is simple—the positive reviews are from people currently working at Fat Beehive, and the negative ones are mostly from people we have dismissed for poor performance, dishonesty, or some other substantive failure. I suspect the positive reviews are from employees who are fed up with underperforming colleagues who get dismissed and then come here and lie about the company, undermining their excellent work and wanting to put the record straight.
No company dismisses people lightly, as recruitment and training are expensive and disruptive, and so is onboarding new people. However, when it is clear that people are not up to the task or abuse our flexible work culture, we have no option but to dismiss them. Everyone who has been dismissed has either worked their notice or been paid in lieu of notice - employees would have recourse to remedial action if we were to do anything that wasn't legal.
However, we have had employees who have tried to abuse our ethical culture by claiming to be too sick to work but then attend the pub for drinks with colleagues or are prepared to lie to get more than they are entitled to.
The company is doing very well, and we have significantly improved our operations over the last six months. We have a solid and experienced senior management team responsible for their departments, including hiring and, if necessary, dismissing team members. Poor project managers have caused issues for the company, our clients, and their colleagues, so the appropriate Head reviewed this.
Two senior managers assessed the project managers and scored everyone based on the skills, abilities needed, and client feedback. They determined that we did not have enough work for all our Project Managers; therefore, redundant and underperforming Project managers were let go. Your line manager would have given you your score and reasons for dismissal, and you had a right of appeal if you thought we got anything wrong.
I can understand why you don’t like ‘hire and fire’, but good employees are fed up when one or two people take advantage of the relaxed work culture and don’t do their hours, or their work is of such poor quality that other people have to pick up the slack. We are committed to fair practices and ensuring our employees are treated respectfully. This unwavering commitment guides our actions - but that doesn't mean we will put up with poor performance or dishonest behaviour.
The office environment is enjoyable, and many people now work full-time from the office. We are proud of our hybrid policy (three days of office attendance a week), and the number of people choosing to work five days from the office has increased over the last six months. Nearly 50% of the London staff now spend five days in the office because it is more enjoyable than at home. If you had spent more time in the office, you would have realised how ridiculous your ‘pervasive fear’ statement is.
I'm unsure how to respond to your other comments, which are blatantly untrue. You start by saying that the work (of a project manager) is not that hard, and then, within a couple of sentences, claim that it is so challenging that people leave within hours of starting. The truth is that being a good project manager is quite complex, which is why our project managers only have four or five projects to manage. No project manager has ever left the same day, and only one left within six months, and that was because she had applied for another role before joining us. It is absurd to suggest someone was ‘burned out’ after one day; for a start, no one does any actual work for at least a week after joining. We now have two professional and experienced project managers, and they are perfectly happy with their workload.
As I said, I don't understand the need to make stuff up. Also, why did we have to dismiss you? Indeed, if it were so terrible, why didn't you leave of your own accord, and why are you so angry that you were dismissed? Surely, we have done you a favour if you hated working here? According to you and some other reviewers, it is a terrible workplace - but not so awful that people leave of their own accord.
We recently recruited some very good people, especially in the PM, account manager, and sales departments. However, 45% of our London employees have been with the company for over a year, 32% over two years and 22% over five years. Three staff members have a combined total of 55 years with the company. I'm also very proud that we have an excellent record on diversity—with less than 25% of our staff identifying as White British.
I am sorry we had to dismiss you, but jobs are, in many ways, like relationships—sometimes they work out, and sometimes they don't. It was not my decision, and it wasn't personal—but it was made in the best interest of the company, clients, and work colleagues. Instead of lashing out, take some time to reflect on your mistakes so you are more successful in your next role. My advice is always the same: move forward and focus on the future; don't get consumed with anger and bitterness.