Shop Direct is a brutal place to work at! - Section Manager The Very Group Employee Review

1.0
28 Feb 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice car park, exterior, canteen and loos. Tea making facilities and fridges for own stuff. Senior manager communicate well at monthly briefings except for the fact the keep telling us how great it is to work there etc etc

Cons

Dont come here! There is an undercurrent of nastiness. (This review will be undermined massively by HR and staff they order to do so) Comparative performance reviews six monthly where your manager has to grade you against your peers, not everyone can do well! Some have to get a lowly "1" or a "2" which means you arent doing well and may get no pay rise or bonus. Managers then have to "fight" for their favourite staff to receive the higher "3" or "4" grades in Consistency Forums run by HR. At these, forums employees are criticised and pilloried aby other managers trying to win the higher grades for their favoured staff. Good people are put down to "2" and "1" and they dont deserve it! There is NO appeal procedure at all. Part of this whole process is staff stabbing each other in the back to look good or working many hours overtime unpaid to be working above the call of duty. There are "Your Shout" online feedback sessions to management. However although claimed to be anonymous most staff dont believe it as you are asked so many details its easy peasy to id you. If you arent wanted, they get rid and you arent allowed to say this, they say "x" is pursuing interests elsewhere etc. All part of the "happy happy" culture. Its all happy falseness where you cannot and must not criticise the state of play. Could go on and on. Its like a cult! Oh, if there IS bonus, the low paid staff get an average of 0 to 8% of say 15 to 34k. The higher up you go the percentage bounus paid increases massively to a naximum 40% for those bosses on 90 to 500K (estimate) Certainly aint fair! Forced fun all the time! We all dont want to wear pink or bring a cake to work!

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The Very Group Response
10y
Thank you for taking the time to write this review; we really do appreciate your feedback. Our people engagement survey ‘Your Shout’ is totally anonymous. We believe the way we assess performance and reward our people is fair and transparent, but we know we’re not perfect and we’re constantly looking for ways to make it even better. We would welcome the opportunity to talk to you further about the points you’ve raised. If you’d like to, please contact People Services in the first instance and we can arrange to discuss your feedback.

Explore other reviews about The Very Group

5.0
25 May 2022
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The people at Very are all ambitious which creates a great culture! The hybrid working model allows flexibility so you can split your time across the office and working from home.

Cons

I can't think of any!

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The Very Group Response
3y
Thanks for leaving such a positive review on your time with us so far. We're so pleased to hear about the hybrid working model being a Pro for you
2.0
2 Jul 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

No extra hours for work

Cons

All perfect no cons all good

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The Very Group Response
1y
Hi there, we don't have any colleagues (including freelance) based in the US. Therefore we think you've left this review here in error.
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