Unum have their guiding "Unum principles" which are very laudable. All Unum employees supposedly abide by them.
Unum's stated aim is to be "the most inclusive, diverse and socially responsible company in the employee benefits market".
Sadly this appears little more than hollow rhetoric....
The whole recruitment process was very badly handled.
From the off there was a blame culture.
Reportedly, issues were due to unprocessed applications... due to a rogue 'male' ex-colleague, who hadn't completed work before "leaving the business", but no responsibility taken by anyone, just blame attributed to another...
There is firstly a chat about why you want to work for Unum, one of the interviewers (both female) used this to big themselves up declaring that they had completed a Level 7 qualification in Human Resources without having done lower level programmes... it appears you have to be vain to work for Unum.....
The interviewers appeared 'cold' and indeed gave an "opt out" before even asking any scenario questions.
The interviewers were very secretive as regards of hours of work and remuneration., no job description sent - again the theme of blaming others was very evident.
The three scenarios were straightforward, but there was a lack of warmth and interest and were not shown onscreen but read out aloud and could not be read out more than once.
Every interviewee's needs are different but Unum, or hiring managers, seem unable/unwilling to accept the need for individual adjustments, especially hidden disabilities, claiming the need of rigidity of everyone receiving the same - but ignoring reasonable adjustments.
The experience left me feeling cold but perhaps thankful that I had a lucky escape.
If an organisation could be both inept as well as incompetent, and hiring managers so brusque and so willing to "blame" colleagues/ex-colleagues in the recruitment process, what would Unum be like as an employer?
Feedback was delivered via a third party - again, lack of ownership by the hiring managers very much in evidence.
Again a poor knowledge of hidden disabilities and a blame culture. Prior to the interview I was asked to disclose my specific disabilities/health conditions - supposed, in an effort to support them, but this information appeared not to have passed that information on. I was told by the person giving feedback "but you didn't say you needed XYZ, if you had done so we would have done it".
As one of the interviewers advised they had a Level 7 qualification in Human Resources and knowing the candidate had a disability they perhaps should have actually done, as claimed by the person giving feedback, "bent over backwards", to assist the candidate when they asked for the text of the scenario to be put on the screen.
When an interview process is unfamiliar to a candidate how do they know what "reasonable adjustments" to ask for before experiencing the interview?
Ignoring hidden disabilities is like expecting a wheelchair user to climb up the stair because the lift to interview room is temporarily broken. Or inviting someone to a formal reception but not going through the dress code and then being surprised when they don't function as expected. An inability to be able to be flexible and adept to changing circumstances shows up the organisation rather than the candidate as being inept.
Despite their background , and indeed stated desire to be:
"the most inclusive, diverse and socially responsible company in the employee benefits market";
it seems some Unum UK employees don't understand hidden disabilities, or may be it would be too much hassle to employ people with these disabilities?
From my experience I could not recommend Unum as a potential employer.