I worked as a TS account manager between early 2019 - mid 2020. I am only getting round to writing this now as at the time I didn’t want to appear I was posting anything irrationally, and I still believe this should be public just so anyone who applies for a job here is aware of what it’s really like. Whilst I worked here, 3 phrases to really sum it up would be, bullied, micro managed, discriminated.
I can’t mention names on here, but the sales manager (who still at westcoast) was without doubt the worst manager I have ever had.
I can hand on heart say, I put a lot of effort into this job, I worked extra hours and I picked up extra skills(such as use of pre-sales tools) to streamline my work.
Dispute this, the sales manager tried to bully the team, particularly me because i challenged him, he used aggressive language, slammed his fists into the desks, used unreasonable punishment such as trying to make us stop talking at the desk or pulling us into meeting rooms and using unprofessional techniques. There was also clear discrimination in team with those he was friends with on the outside and those who wouldn’t challenge anything he said. Even though the majority of the time his sales management was poor and his methods / techniques were so backwards.
The worst part, and this is where westcoast as a company is equally responsible, he outright lied in a redundancy review which cost me my job. At the time of finding this out, I had proof/ evidence and I obviously made HR aware as well as the team director and managing director. All of whom just dismissed the grievance I had raised or just ignored it entirely and ultimately it cost me my job.
Looking back on this today, I feel that westcoast as a company should not have got away with this and I encourage anyone who applies for a job here to keep this is mind as this is the reality of the management there.
It’s also worth noting the salary i was on was really poor and actually well below what other company’s in the channel would pay. Also as an employer, they don’t have the best reputation as a workplace in the channel. Still you hear of micromanagement and poor employee treatment (another reason as to why I’m writing this now). Not to mention absolutely zero flexibility when it comes to working from home. It’s 5 days in the office. I know the response will be “employees work harder/better in the office, just look at our revenue number!” but surely it’s down to the employee where they work best, rather than management trying to tell them where they work best? Profits over people clearly! Its another great example of poor management and I would imagine the real reason is actually lack of trust / and ironically they probably don’t want to spend the extra money on IT to get everyone properly set up for home working.
