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Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We are sorry to read that this has been your experience, particularly if you have felt excluded or that our culture has not matched the standards we aim to uphold.
We take all feedback seriously, whether it comes through Glassdoor, internal channels, engagement surveys, direct conversations or our regular 1-2-1 meetings. We want to be an open and transparent company where people feel able to speak up, and where we listen, reflect and improve where needed.
At the same time, we do think it is important to provide some context. Within the department, formal team activities and events are communicated openly through shared channels so that everyone has the opportunity to be involved. Recent department lunches and upcoming team events have been arranged in advance, with dates discussed openly and team members encouraged to attend. Dietary requirements have also been considered.
In a larger department, it is natural that smaller teams or groups of colleagues will sometimes organise informal arrangements between themselves, such as ordering coffees, breakfast or arranging social plans. These are not business-organised events and are usually paid for personally by those taking part. We do not believe there is any intention to exclude others; often it is simply a case of individual teams or colleagues making informal plans within their own working area.
We also think it is important to distinguish between bullying or deliberate exclusion, which we would take extremely seriously, and the reality that people are human, doing their best and may sometimes make mistakes, or unintentionally overlook how something could be perceived by others. That does not mean feelings of exclusion should be dismissed, but it does mean they should be understood fairly and in context.
We will continue to encourage colleagues to be thoughtful and inclusive.
We are also disappointed to hear that anyone may feel left out, as this has not been raised with department leads or managers, and it is not reflected in our recent anonymous Great Place to Work survey feedback.
That said, we do not dismiss individual feedback simply because it differs from wider survey results. One person’s experience still matters, and we would encourage you to contact your (ex) manager or our HR team so that we can properly understand and address any specific concerns, and learn from them.
We are proud of the positive culture many of our people help create every day, but we also know that no workplace is perfect. We will continue to listen, challenge ourselves and act where we can improve.
Equally, we encourage open, constructive dialogue so that concerns can be understood in context and addressed fairly. We can only address concerns fully when they are raised with us directly.
