Misleading role - Account Assistant Crossley Group Employee Review

1.0
Sep 30, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Rochester, the area where the office is based is nice.

Cons

When completing my job search I was looking for something in administration, I was 16 at the time and found an admin apprenticeship with Crossley Group, the job description noted receptionist responsibilites - i.e answering inbound and outbound calls, welcoming clients. On my first day I was put in the property and lettings division and told that I will be helping with the accounts and became an accounts assistant (without any prewarning .) Everyone in the team was very young except the director, after working there I quickly realised how much pressure there was on everyone to meet deadlines daily, workplace was not relaxed at all - management was very malicious and they would indirect people on a regular basis with broadcast emails to the department. I was being paid apprenticeship wage to do all responsibilities that my permeant peers were doing. Training lasted 1 week. Lost an immediate family member to covid during its peak and was not granted any compassionate leave except expected to come back the following working day, was not checked on after my prompt return to work either. Directors and partners of this company hold all the money and their prerogative is to employ apprentices only, for cheap labour and give payrises of £60.00 each 6 months... Also would not advise a person of colour to work for this company as I quickly found out that my white colleague who started after me was given a bigger pay rise although i was working harder than her management also engaged in conversations about races several times which made me feel very uncomfortable and once reported to HR nothing was done about it.

Explore other reviews about Crossley Group

1.0
Oct 31, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working here was positive for a short while. Local firm, within walking distance from my home. Support with training.

Cons

The working environment in every department is very intense, and everyone seems over worked. The ethic of the firm is to employ young, and this leads to havoc when you have a department of 15 unqualified teenagers. The biggest CON is the treatment of AAT students. The firm argue that they pay for AAT, or at least that they receive a grant to put trainees through AAT. This is a lie. Funding is obtained directly by First Intuition, the training provider. Crossley have a clause in trainees contracts that they have to pay back AAT fees to Crossley, if they leave during study, or less than a year after finishing. There have been many people who have had thousands deducted from their pay by Crossley, despite them incurring no cost, and First Intuituon being the funded training provider. More often than not, employees continue trainee at the FI under their new employer. It smells like the partners are profiting significantly by their already under paid trainees who are seeking better training, better pay, and more pleasant working environment elsewhere. Poor room for movement, the same faces will be manager for years. Low pay compared to competitors. Client satisfaction is very low at the moment, which must reflect in how the company is doing. Payrises aren't ever anything to shout about, and rumour has it that management have been told to tone down performance reviews, so that staff don't expect big pay rises.

5
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