It is difficult to know where to start:
1. This company encourages having a bad work-life balance. Employees are expected to work long out of contracted hours for no additional pay (my manager told me that this was apparently made up for when we hit our targets and got a bonus...clearly missing the point of a 'bonus'). You are met with a sense of extreme judgement and disapproval if you even consider leaving your desk at 6pm.
Working at home, late into the evening is the only way to hit completely un-achievable targets. So, for the majority of employees who don't want to kill themselves for their clients, bonuses are generally non-existent.
2. Clients are treated as though they are Gods. Despite being treated like actual dirt by these people who are rude, miss calls and are also rude to the experts, it is expected that Third Bridge employees simply roll over and do the clients will (even if it strictly goes against company policy). It seems that middle-senior management are so desperate not to lose some clients they will literally do anything to keep them happy - so much for being a "research partner".
3. Management is appalling. The senior leadership team is so far removed from anything that happens on the ground in this company. They should not be allowed to make decisions when they don't even know what the employees do - there is no transparency and important decisions and changes are kept from employees until they end up being awkwardly 'leaked' through gossip.
Middle-Management are entirely made up of people who have joined and waited long enough to be promoted - none have any formal management training and the majority are about 25 years old. The age isn't a problem in itself, but, how can you expect someone to be able to manage a team of 10 people when they have only ever had one job? in the same company? with no training? It makes no sense.
4. Following on from the above, as well as management promotions, there is an awful culture of favouritism. Work is allocated based on favourites and who sucks up to their manager the most. There is no system for allocating projects, it is entirely up to team leaders.
In line with this, employees recently gained significant pay increases for no reason that also varied greatly in amounts based on manager approval not performance or merit.
5. HR at this company is absolutely appalling. Myself and a number of other employees have had terrible experiences with one particular member of the London team. Company policy is not made clear, questions have to be repeated numerous times and often escalated to get any real answers and communication is often unclear and unhelpful.
I came to this company with great enthusiasm and high hopes for starting a career here - I was bitterly disappointed with how things turned out. The company has great potential and yet somehow has a toxic culture that is extremely damaging.
I would never recommend to anyone to work here.
If you are looking for good work-life balance, equal opportunities & job security, this is not the place for you.
