Pros
The people continue to be the best part of the department and I consider a lot of people here friends; despite increasing pressure, the team remains supportive, knowledgeable and genuinely committed to doing the right thing for clients and each other. There are many experienced employees who care deeply about the company and want to see it succeed.
Cons
Over the last year, Client Services has become an increasingly difficult department to work within. What was once a department built around collaboration, experience and supporting one another has gradually become one driven almost entirely by metrics, constant change and uncertainty. There has been a huge change in the operational structure and it’s changed for the worse. The biggest concern for many of us is job security. For months there has been ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of roles within the department, with very little reassurance from senior leadership. We continue to be asked to perform at a high level while not knowing what the future of our positions looks like. It's difficult to remain engaged when you constantly feel your role could change or disappear with little notice. We are constantly criticised based on expectations that change frequently, being given an unrealistic framework to adhere to when our bases were too high and we were inheriting poor work from individuals moving to other departments. This uncertainty is made worse by the fact that targets never seem to stand still. KPIs and performance measures change regularly, making it difficult to know what success actually looks like and our pay is being impacted by this. Every month feels like a different target, a different focus and a different way of being measured. Rather than creating stability, it creates frustration and makes us feel like we are constantly chasing moving goalposts. The introduction of the current trial has only added to these concerns. Rather than reducing pressure, it has blurred responsibilities between departments and is asking employees to carry out work they never applied to do. Concerns around pressure, workload, capacity, and security have been raised repeatedly by both departments being impacted, yet they have had little impact on the direction being taken. Collaboration is now non-existent and an atmosphere of us vs. them is now the prevailing culture across the department. Perhaps the biggest disappointment has been becoming an Employee Owned Trust. We were told this would give us more of a voice and greater involvement in decisions affecting the business. In reality, we are further away from decision making than ever before. Significant changes continue to be implemented with little meaningful consultation, leaving the employee ownership model feeling more like a slogan than something reflected in everyday working life. What makes all of this particularly frustrating is the contrast with the messaging from leadership. At the company conference in January, accountability and ownership were presented as core values that employees were expected to demonstrate. Yet those same principles don't appear to apply to the decisions being made at a senior level. Departments continue to be restructured, expectations continue to change, and we are simply expected to adapt without clear explanations or reassurance. Accountability should exist at every level of the organisation, not just among those on the front line. We don't object to change. We object to feeling unheard, undervalued and uncertain. There are still many talented, dedicated employees who want PHMG to succeed, but that becomes increasingly difficult when trust, transparency and stability continue to decline.