Honestly, it was a great place to work until a shift in program management which occurred in October 2022. When this occurred, the workplace culture slowly deteriorated to the point where no body wanted to be there. It is a shame as the program itself is a great however, this leadership and management style ruined the flexibility and relational nature of the work with most of those working on the frontline burnt out and frustrated with the micromanaged toxic workplace. The good things- Great colleagues and strong relationships developed
- Great Office location
- Organisationally the trainings provided were great
The challenges- Micromanagement approach in place, with myself and many colleagues experiencing this on a daily basis. Case Manager's who have been in the role for many years being questioned on their work ethic and approaches without valid reasoning or rationale.
- Blocked communication channels leaving those who are not in management feeling undervalued. Program manager was so disconnected from the team, whilst the organisation sings praise to the importance of building and fostering relationships; this did not occur.
- Management would not take ownership of actions and was not collaborative with the team. When a change was introduced for example, a meeting would be held however any suggestions provided by staff were dismissed, with management already had made a decision indicating the meeting to get 'feedback' was a tokenistic measure.
- Staff wellbeing was dismissed and when it was raised as an issue to leadership and management (including the Executive Leadership team) it was dismissed and overlooked. I seen the program manager physically roll her eyes when a colleague raised challenges with the workplace culture and impacts this has been having on wellbeing of staff. This appears to have been a huge reason as to why there has been many resignations in this program with many ex-colleagues resigning from this workplace without another job to go to.
- Management don't seem to care about retaining staff, my program had nearly 30 resignations in under 12 months placing pressure on staff to meet program deadlines and holding more responsibility and tasks outside of their scope within their role. Management would often keep shifting the goal post and refer back to the funding body being the issue.
- Toxic workplace culture, with management shutting down most suggestions to build and foster positive relationships between staff and leadership. There is a huge divide between leadership/management and those working on the frontline.
- As an organisation there is a 'Flexible Working Arrangement' Policy but good luck getting one approved. Better yet, if you do get one approved the whole process is that stressful it isn't even worth pursuing. Management seem to information gather about staff and then use this information negatively towards them in an unsupportive and cruel manner.
I wish it wasn't as bad as this reads, but it was - I am glad I resigned.