My manager was the worst manager I ever had! Simple. Since I've started managing people myself, I use this person as the example I don't want to be, so I suppose I can turn that positively around. At the time I was probably a bit naive and may have thought that this was the right management approach as I didn't have that much work experience, which is why I never raised it with either their manager or the HR team. Looking back I should have raised my concerns though.
This was a manager who was abrupt, judging when they were meant to listen. It was so obvious that this person didn't like me on a personal level and rather than trying to be neutral and workplace professional, they let their emotions get involved with the working relationship which eventually broke it down, as I lost all trust in this person and they had already decided they didn't like me. I was actually going through some serious personal issues during the last 5-6 months of my employment, but this person's management approach meant that I didn't feel confident speaking to them about this, as every conversation with them felt like an interrogation. It also meant that I had very little chance of considering my career even if I would probably have liked to stay on longer.
In the end I saw no other option than leaving. Rather than showing any type of support, I feel like this manager was always working against me.
The move from SLH to Fountain Street made it a less fun place to work although a lot of improvement still happened around that time. It was just a lot less corporate and more departments were on the same floor and it made you feel like you were part of something and everyone was a big team. A lot of the fun, after we moved and the most massive changes happened, was all very 'staged'.
The sick pay was a joke and I hope it's changed as it created a lot of presenteism in the office, as people couldn't afford being off ill from work and would instead stay and pass their illnessess on to the team.
They used to make you think that this was the only company in the world to work for and make it seem as if there's nothing after Rentalcars. Not sure if this was the intention, but would probably think of how this gets worded.
I left the company with a completely broken confidence and it has taken me a long time to build a trustful relationship with my manager because of my experience at Rentalcars.
I don't know if there's still massive letting go off call centre employees after peak, but if this is the case, it's embarrasing and not worthy of a company trying to be a fair and amazing employer.
