I haven't worked at Mott MacDonald for almost 3 years now and it has taken me that long (and on going) to emotionally and mentally recover from how traumatising the experience was. I was hired as a graduate and excited about this role because of the reputation of the company, the graduate scheme, and the benefits. When I started, I was given the cold shoulder by my mentor which I tried to reason at the time was her being so busy and not wanting the added responsibility of guiding me through onboarding things. The manager I was assigned went on maternity leave (planned) within 1 week of me starting so I am still to this day confused as to why she was assigned me if it was known she wouldn't be able to fulfil that duty. I was then assigned a manager totally without empathy. It became clear to me that he was self absorbed and threatened by me. He bullied me and psychologically tortured me. I was mocked for my not knowing things (I was a graduate, of course I wouldn't know the intricacies of the environment agency), and told I was not good enough. Time and time again. My mother had cancer and within 2 months of my employment, her condition became terminal. I took all of 3 days compassionate leave, used sick leave, annual leave, and unpaid leave to attend to her deathbed and funeral. I returned only 4 weeks from her death. Within weeks of my return my manager took me to the cafe on the ground floor of the building and told me in this crowded public space how inadequate I was, how my days in the job were numbered until I could show some real turn around. I burst into tears in the cafe and I'm usually capable of holding it all together. But you know my mum has just died, an absolute shell of herself. A few weeks later, COVID happened and I was blessedly furloughed. I thought I wouldn't have to deal with him for a while. He still would Skype me (which caused extreme anxiety, the Skype jingle alone would cause my heart rate to speed up and for me to sweat), then I would still be doing work which would again be deemed as unsatisfactory despite the final reviewer being satisfied and signing off. This man bullied me and gaslit me. I reached out to fellow colleagues for help but the team wide fear of him stopped anyone helping me. I spoke to the mental health counselor who didn't offer any solutions but at least allowed me to cry in her office. I eventually handed in my notice as he threatened a formal hearing with HR in which he would sack me unless I could prove I was adequate. With a recently dead mother, and being away from my family and without the anchor of my life, I did not have the strength to face this "meeting". Not even a minute after sending my resignation to him in an email he responded with "yes, happy to accept your resignation". He had got what he wanted. I wrote a letter to HR and the CEO outlining everything he did and was told by HR that he would no longer be a manager to graduates and would be recieving training. A couple years later I met a Mott MacDonald graduate who told me he was her manager. This tells me that Mott MacDonald do not take the wellness of their staff seriously or anti-bullying. I was unable to grieve my mother's death properly because my self esteem had collapsed and the trauma of her death was tangled up with anger with how I had been treated. As far as I can tell, this man is still in the company and is now a TD. Meanwhile, I have worked in various companies and gained my confidence back. I am a very very good hydrogeologist and am extremely adept at abstraction licence permitting processes, pumping test analysis, dewatering schemes, tendering, billing, drilling borehole supervision and design. I am an asset to any company and Mott MacDonald have suffered a loss. The fact that he has been retained despite the horror I was subjected to, tells you all you need to know about Mott MacDonald.
