Pros
People mostly good Work generally interesting
Cons
Cost cutting mentality, especially for Edinburgh is top of the agenda. Things definitely gone downhill. Moved from central refurbished office to peripheral B-grade building with insufficient space. London based management very keen to move us in to effectively a construction site with insufficient toilets, no canteen, barely any meeting rooms. My team only has enough desks for 1/3 to come in on any given day. Meaning can't all come in on same day as other teams in similar situation book out desks weeks ahead of time. Collaboration and morale have taken a real hit. Office space itself is dark, soulless and depressing; building location not good. Seems a top down diktat without listening to Edinburgh staff - London staff being moved to brand new, premium City of London office with roof terrace, more space, light etc by comparison. For a business that is supposedly growing, seems short sighted to move in to an undersized building that staff didn't want to move to. The office is bad. You'd think a mutual would at least promote progressive, people oriented policies. Alas things are slipping as the focus is on cost. A decade ago they were proud to be market leading in terms of people policies. They're now content being market laggards on things like death in service benefit, unequal parental leave policy, inflexible working. They know they're behind the curve but not really moving. Perhaps moving policies in line with larger PLC's would help address the underrepresentation of females in key roles. Some new managers hired externally also don't gel with what used to be the mutual mindset - abrasive, lack EQ and overly demanding. Has meant some quality staff have left. Sad to think how things were not so long ago. Why work here if they've lost what it means to be a modern mutual and don't get paid better than PLCs? Probably a qu many will be asking...
