Not the worst place to work, but moving in that direction
Pros
- Most front line staff are lovely, friendly people who genuinely want to help customers and each other. - For the most part, customers are pleasant to deal with and are health and charity workers, so supporting them through salary packaging is a rewarding job. - High turnover means that there are opportunities to move into team management roles every 3-4 months, but prospects beyond this are somewhat limited. - Onboarding was fantastic for such a complicated product, but it's been a long time since I went through it so it has changed since I enjoyed it.
Cons
- I was told when I first started "You'll never get rich working here, but you'll also be treated like a real human, rather than an employee number." The first part is true, you'll never get rich working for Maxxia, but front line and support staff are increasingly seen as disposable units of production these days. This is unfortunate as a huge number of experienced and knowledgeable employees have been lost in the last year or two. - An overwhelming focus on sales means that customer service, once a hallmark, is now no more than a second thought. - Pay is well below market rates and unpaid overtime is, if not outright demanded, then certainly an expectation. - Of the three main systems used by front line staff, one was built in 1998, the other 2009 and a third in 2012 (which has never worked correctly). None of them are reliable, bug fixes are glacial and there is no prospect of any system upgrade in the next 2-3 years. - Management are obsessed with meeting KPIs, but the reward for exceeding them is generally an annual pay rise which is below inflation. Along with a twisted fascination with stamping out any sick leave and strict adherence to breaks, it creates a general atmosphere of resentment towards management and a total lack of any form of motivation. - The operations department appears to be completely devoid of direction. There are no grand targets set, no inspirational vision shared, no celebration of achievements beyond a hastily thrown together template email. - The Support and Client Services divisions are looked upon as a cost-center to be mercilessly squeezed. You will find 1 person doing between 3 and 8 peoples' worth of work for below average wage and, ironically enough, without support. - In my entire time with the company, they have never implemented a major project successfully. ANY change is accompanied by total chaos, timeline blow outs, communication which is more often than not late and incorrect, haphazard training and extremely angry customers who are suffering financial loss. - The busy period of the year, between February and July, is known by everyone in the company, and yet each year it finds itself woefully understaffed and unprepared for it. Despite a 3-6 month blackout period for taking leave and hiring policy, it seems that operations and sales are taken by surprise every single time this predictable surge in work occurs.
