Guide Dogs has changed beyond recognition. No longer the family it once was, now a corporate juggernaut, filled with middle management who don’t care about the end goal or weak senior management just clinging on waiting for retirement.
Too many business schoolesque managers with 0 technical prowess, feathering their own caps with little genuine care for service users, volunteers or dog welfare, making decisions which are crippling a once fantastic organisation.
Several accounts of bullying which are always swept under the carpet and never dealt with by weak senior managers.
An extremely poor HR department who offer no support when dealing with sensitive issues.
Breeding too many puppies with not enough volunteers to take them on.
Begging for adolescent dogs from breeders they’ve shunned in the past & despite being one of the richest charities in England.
The training of the dogs through puppy walking to training is now following a training pathway with tragically low pass rates, again being swept under the carpet or being blamed on COVID. Staff under pressure to complete training methodology being made up as they go along which is both confusing and unrealistic. Puppy walkers walking away from the role due to the red tape around the new training methods. Trainees not being prepared adequately for the job in hand by inexperienced tutors with a lack of knowledge or common sense.
“Behaviour specialists” leaving Dogs with behavioural issues for DCW to solve.
Senior Management don’t care about the staff - everyone is very very replaceable. Guide dogs are haemorrhaging experienced staff left right and centre. And management are letting it happen.
Service users not being seen or avoided due to difficult decisions around their dogs. A ridiculously high percentage of service users that won’t get another dog due to the blanket treatment changes in criteria needed to get a dog, ruling more than capable service users out of a chance of independence again.
Preferential treatment for some service users and blatant abuse of others that have personality clashes with managers or GDMI’s.
Poor communication.
Poor leadership.
Unmotivated co-workers.
No acknowledgement.
Managers rewarding certain individuals (often the more cut-throat, Machiavellian types) for doing whatever it takes to get results, regardless of the human consequences of their actions.
The direction the organisation is heading in is unsustainable. Thankfully, I’ll retire soon.
