HomeServe

1.0

21 Mar 2018

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

The team of people I worked with, they are good people, and HomeServe doesn't deserve them. The face of the company is the nicest part of it really.

Cons

Behind a shining facade of buzz words, hashtags, and rictus grins, is a suffering work force, the only people in any amount of comfort, false though it is, are those that drink the koolaid that is the initiatives of this company. Endless pits to fritter away money and concerns into at best, I have seen entire departments declare something is broken only to be told that a shiny new system will replace it.... release date to be pushed back at some point. When such initiatives fail it is never considered that maybe the late, over budget project should be scrapped because it isn't a good investment, instead other departments get slammed with budget and people reductions to make up for the shortfall like it is their fault. It is telling that the Engineers at this company needed a page on the internal media server to go and vent their frustrations, and extremely telling that no where else in the company was afforded a similar venting space following the initial response - that is to say, there is a lot of frustration to vent, most of it constructive, none of it wanted, and most of it ignored by those that could do something about it. To me, the upper management seem to have blinded themselves to their own company and see only numbers. The communiques sent out are cutouts of feelings slapped over the smug smiles of those who have become so disassociated from the core of the business that we only know who the upper management is through their name being attached to the front. Hell, even Glassdoor still thinks Martin Bennett is the CEO. HomeServe has become an echo chamber of incompetency and shortsightedness, my direct managers have always been great people, people that understand what the business needs, and what it's people need. The directors (whoever they are) remain blissfully unaware of the house of touchpaper they have built for themselves. HomeServe is just waiting for someone to light the match to bring it burning to the ground.

HomeServe Response

This is a really interesting review, thank you for taking the time to put so much effort into it. I'll try to answer what I can. Yes, we are getting new systems. Yes, we think they will make life easier for our People to keep our Customers' lives moving. Has it all been plain sailing getting the systems put in place? No it hasn't but that comes with the territory. We are a complex business. As you know, we undertake over 2 million jobs a year co-ordinating 1,000-plus of our own engineers and the contractor-partners we work with. When we make the systems changes, we have to get it right and if it takes a bit longer to do this then that is important. We're proud that there is an engineers' forum on yammer where they can express their views and concerns openly and constructively. For the avoidance of doubt, this was a group that the engineers set up for themselves, which is the case with most of the groups on yammer (including the Preston group). It's not a private group either, you can see what is being discussed in there if you want to. Have you been in lately? The discussion is awesome - and a lot of it is actually about the things that the new systems will address. You seem to suggest that there has been an issue in you expressing concerns or raising feedback. Please tell me when exactly this was and what your concerns were. If I know, then I can address it. Is one of your points that you don't think the leaders of the company are visible and accessible? I'm not trying to put words into your mouth if this isn't he case but if it is, then we'll have to agree to disagree. I've never worked in a business where the leaders are connected and accesible to People and to Customers in the way that they are at HomeServe. Again, a question - have you ever not been able to make a point on yammer, have a one-to-one, attend a Big Conversation or ask a question (either verbally or written down) at a Cascade? Last point, Martin is listed as the CEO because he is the CEO. Without any more specific points, that is the best I can do I'm afraid. I'd love to address your point about budgets for example but would need some more detail. Why don't you come and see me for a chat? My door, genuinely, is always open to you. Cheers Gareth

The Cons and Cons of working at HomeServe - Anonymous employee HomeServe Employee Review

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