Not a good place to work - Anonymous employee Michael Page Employee Review

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. It’s good to see your positive comment regarding our comprehensive training. However, I can see there are a number of negative points which I would like to address. I’d like to emphasize that management fully recognize that our teams are fundamental to the success of PageGroup, and we more than respect the hard work and dedication they put in, at all levels. As I’ve mentioned before, we are working on a number of initiatives to address work-life balance and support our teams throughout their careers here. These include our Women@Page and Parents@Page initiatives which look to provide women and parents with encouragement and support, a generous vacation policy allowing for up to five weeks paid time off, and finally we promote a culture of ‘choice’, not hours. The job is about delivering excellent results – how you achieve that is up to you. We also have a Career Journey program which ensures that our best performers are offered the career progression that they deserve. Specific targets are established by level and discipline in order to provide a clear path to promotion. As you will be aware, we have introduced our internal communications platform in order to improve communications across our global business. This is proving to be a success and is enabling all of our teams to work better together. Our support teams work hard to provide support to all areas of our business. They strive to provide a high level of service, and often have to follow essential processes which can take time. You’ll also be aware that we have invested in a new CRM system which is being rolled out globally, but of course with any new system there will be a learning curve and we are working hard to make sure all employees are fully trained on how to utilise it. I’d also like to emphasize that our training team are one of the best in the industry, and are responsible for developing our industry leading training programme that you refer to. We often encourage ex-recruiters into this role because more than anyone else, they understand what the role involves and are the most qualified to ensure that our recruiters are fully trained and prepared for the task ahead. Additionally, I’d like to highlight that our discretionary bonuses are based solely on personal and company performance. On top of this we also offer highly competitive base salaries and pride ourselves on offering some of the best rewards in the industry; including comprehensive benefit programs, ‘High Flyers’ trips abroad for high achievers and regular team social events. Our values and culture are an important part of working for Page; they are reflected in everything we do, in all of our offices. We have five values that have always contributed to our success; take pride, be passionate, never give up, work as a ream and make it fun. Finally, our HR teams provide excellent support to our staff and ensure that our employees are happy during their careers at PageGroup. The bi-annual appraisals are there to give our teams the opportunity to discuss, among other things, their long-term career plans and are in no way a ‘check box exercise’. We recognize that recruitment isn’t for everyone, it’s fast-paced and often challenging and you must be prepared to push yourself in a sales environment if you want to reap the rewards. Your career will progress within PageGroup based on the results that you achieve – 87% of our directors were promoted from within. I’d also like to invite you to talk to your manager or myself, to further resolve any issues or suggestions you have as we’d like to make sure you are getting the most out of your career at PageGroup. I would like to thank you again for your review and allowing me the opportunity to address your concerns. Thanks, Richard.