Where do I begin:
The minute I arrived I was treated extremely inappropriately for a large organisation.
• There was no training at all and was thrown in the deep end literally.
• I was told by a team member (on the first day) that I must never speak to higher management.
• The systems are so outdated. They use a system called JDE from the 1970s. For anyone unfamiliar with JDE it’s MSDOS based which means training on all the F functions is required if you want to access any menus. This is not like an intuitive windows based or WYSIWYG system which anyone with good I.T. skills will figure out. The people with the knowledge on this system will not help you. It’s as though they want to keep you in the dark so you look incompetent by having to constantly ask for help. Be prepared to teach yourself everything. What should be a simple task takes a long time to complete. This further highlights the deplorable lack of training.
• All processes are extremely dragged out and not efficient for a Pharmaceutical company. Completing your own work and others work can be very upsetting and frustrating at times.
• In the interview the job I was told I would be doing was a customer based, administration role but in reality I did work I consider it was more the function of a finance controller.
• You want to have a good knowledge of mathematics and be an excel whiz. The outdated system meant every department just created their own excel sheets for everything. The shared network was a nightmare to navigate and you could spend a week searching for a folder. Instead of instinctively knowing where to search as is the case in a well organised company, you would email stakeholders with a hyperlink to every file path for this reason.
• There are too many chiefs not enough Indians. Everyone is a manager and many of them are not held to task as their managers are U.K based.
• They are not open to new ideas. Most of the staff are lifers and are resistant to change. They are happy doing things inefficiently because that’s just the way it is and done in this large company. If you thrive on progress this company with kill your enthusiasm and hope.
• Frequent sick days by a number of permanent staff who were consistently and noticeably out sick. No flexibility with certain members of management.
• While a good social life is important in any work environment, I found the level of fraternising inappropriate on one team. This lead to an unpleasant working environment for anyone outside of this inner circle. Bullying was rampant.
• A number of people left within a very short space of commencing a new job because they couldn't work in such an unprofessional and unreasonably demanding environment.
• Even though I was only there a short time a number of new starts were required due to restructure and I would have conducted more training of new starts than the permanent staff, many of whom had been promoted. Their cosiness with management created an air of entitlement and laziness. While I could admire ability and talent in one or two of these staff members, the culture at GSK meant bad habits were learned and passed on to the next generation of ‘leaders’.
• Certain members of management didn't get to know you. They would listen to tales being told out of context rather than opening their eyes to what was actually going on around them.
• GSK do not give out references. On leaving I was not thanked for the work I had done and a management comments parting comment to me was “I hope you learnt something” and walked away. I would class myself open and friendly and felt this behavior was not necessary.
There is an air of bragging about working outside normal hours and weekends and is praised by certain management and then work is lacking during the week as these people are overtired/drained.
• Communication between teams e.g. marketing and sales is appalling and key departments should be united on their objectives for the selling cycles.
I am a consummate professional and I take pride in my work. The culture at this company does not value this and any hint of ability or progress is seen as a threat. I never had a problem getting on with colleagues previous to joining this company. If you’re a shut up and put up kind of person who likes to collect a pay cheque regardless of how unfulfilling the work is, then this place would be a great place to work. You get a global brand on your CV which will help getting your next job no doubt. If, like me, you like working and enjoy a pleasant work environment, steer well clear.
• On a positive note I did take away something from the experience, hold your guard up and always make sure you get a second interview where you can meet the other staff and ensure it is the environment for you.
