23 Feb 2022
Atlas Cloud Response
4yThanks for your review, we have considered all of the issues raised and feel the need to address some of these directly given the nature of some of the allegations. Whilst some of the points raised could be considered legitimate and disappointing from our perspective, there are several which are patently false, specifically:
• Overtime is paid where agreed and appropriate. There is no reason why an employee would be requested or required to work several hours of overtime on a regular basis.
• No communications have ever been circulated asking for positive reviews, false or otherwise.
• All promotions and pay rises are awarded on individual merit, and suggested promotions by managers are subject to peer review.
• The suggestion that employees have lied, committed fraud or serious criminal offences is an entirely unfounded and serious allegation. All employees are subject to standard pre-employment checks before joining the business.
• The business provides an official Employee Assistance Programme which includes support for mental health difficulties. This programme and other support tools are regularly communicated to all employees. We also try to be a supportive and understanding employer, providing flexibility and support wherever possible. This is evidenced in other reviews.
• Complaints always go through our formal complaints procedure, and are escalated to the CEO as a final stage. In the instance referred to in this review, the complaint was reviewed in great detail by senior management and discussed with the complainant over the course of several days to the point of resolution. To suggest that complaints are disregarded or that specific employees are protected for any reason is false.
• The accusation of racist behaviour being considered acceptable or a “joke” is unsubstantiated and if this were the case it would be considered entirely unacceptable and dealt with under our disciplinary procedure. We are not aware of any instances of such behaviour.
More generally, we know that as an employer there are always improvements that we can make, and therefore we have a focus on continuous improvement across the business. We have implemented several initiatives to improve areas such as knowledge management, recognition and rewards, and wellbeing (particularly since the change to remote/hybrid working during the pandemic). Our updated career development and progression plan is live, and has been well received as evidenced by other reviews.
As can be seen from other reviews between October 2021 and February 2022 from ex-employees on the Service Desk, it is clear that there were some problems that needed to be addressed in this team and its management. These changes in management personnel and process were made at the end of 2021, and the positive impact of these changes is already being seen. This has increased employee satisfaction as well as improving service levels for our customers.