Good services, but a toxic and morally bankrupt management. Avoid at all costs. - Communications Manager Brainkind Employee Review

2.0
21 Jul 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The services the charity provides to people with a range of disabilities are generally excellent. There are also some really good, committed people working here.

Cons

There is a culture of bullying and picking people off one-by-one by senior management, supported by HR. Supposed ‘restructuring’ and fabricated allegations are used to push people out and staff turnover is huge. In the six months I was there, I had 3 managers, with my last boss resigning before I could! With no explanation, the workforce has been silently reduced by over 450 people in the last 3 years. There is no transparency whatsoever, neither is it clear what the company strategy is or what progress is being made. The good people leave, or are forced out, while the toxic minority rule the roost. A weak CEO who you rarely hear from, is easily manipulated and does nothing to try and change the culture. A regressive office working culture was also introduced while I was there: Strict 9-5pm, with no home working without good reason - simply archaic, distrusting of staff and unnecessary.

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Brainkind Response
6y
Thank you for your feedback. We’re pleased to see that you rate our service provision and staff highly. We have an open culture and have recently launched and rolled out our new values to all Our People. These values include resourcefulness, courage, agility – all of which we feel are important to embrace in today’s world where we strive to deliver high quality services to as many individuals as possible. Our Communications Team use numerous internal communication methods which are generated and distributed to all staff. Different ways of communicating with Our People, to improve their access to interesting, helpful and/or important information, are being developed. These methods are formal and informal, and individually and by team/group. There are policies and systems in place which individuals can use if they feel they or a colleague are being treated unfairly and these are dealt with promptly. We are proud of Our People and aim to create and maintain positive relationships Trust-wide.

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3.0
20 Mar 2026
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CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good atmosphere, growth opportunities for skilled worker,

Cons

Have some issues to considering the migrant worker

3.0
12 Nov 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There were positives of the job too. Primarily being the floor staff and the service users themselves being great to work with. It is a rewarding role, and some SU's made great progress which was a joy to witness and feel apart of. I feel, if brainkind gave more funding to GAH itself, the vast majority of the aforementioned issues would resolve themselves.

Cons

As time bore on, I was left waiting for something to happen. In the sense, there was a sheer lack of activities to keep residents occupied, despite talk of an activities co-ordinator position needing filled. The onus became increasingly placed on the support workers ourselves to keep everyone safe, entertained and productive. While in-theory this sounds typical of a support work role -and the permanent floor-staff were all very passionate and caring individuals trying their best for SUs- when staffing is so poor (and it became increasingly so throughout my time there) permanent staff were required for observations, and the challenging behaviour ward, leaving agency (who were not covered to take residents into the community and also generally lacked the therapeutic relationship permanent staff had with SU) to manage the floor. Again, had this been a temporary arrangement it would be more understandable. However, it became a case of being permanently fixed on observation roles, with minimal resources to incentivise co-operation. While this took a toll on staff, with many leaving after becoming frustrated with their incapacity to have their skills and care harnessed or properly nurtured, the real disservice was of course to the SU's, who were quite simply extremely bored. Boredom causes behaviours that challenge too. So while there was a lack of stimulation, the flip side was behaviours got worse, so more observations for permanent staff, and therefore less engagement for SU's.

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