Wished I'd never joined - Sales Operations Manager Igloo Books Employee Review

Great NYC team and A+ corporate culture

No cons to report at this time

The location is a massive plus! The office & warehouse are based in the Northamptonshire countryside, which does put a smile on your face coming into work in the mornings, lunchtimes can be spent taking a walk through the fields or sat on the picnic benches watching the wildlife or planes from the local aerodrome which is a great way to unwind (English weather permitting). The main office buildings were refurbed 5ish years ago, modernising the look and making the whole layout flow much better for an office environment. There have also been huge improvements over the last few years with management where the focus is now about sustaining the business and making decisions for the right reasons rather than just focusing on sales figures - the current CEO has been a brilliant addition IMHO because of the push to change the culture. There used to be a massive blame culture and a very reactive rather than proactive ethos with no drive to improve processes or ways of working. It's starting to turn around and communication has been improving, though there is still work to do. Also worth noting that Paul (CEO) takes the time to learn all employees names & faces and genuinely wants to make new starters feel welcome and get to know all the staff, regardless of the hierarchy. The work is fast-paced, but that's to be expected. The people are what make or break a job though - and everyone I worked closely with were wonderful! Leaving was hard because it meant saying goodbye to a lot of good friends and kind-hearted people. Obviously can't vouch for all employees as I didn't know everyone, but it's not uncommon to be sat in the kitchen eating lunch and strike up a conversation with someone you've never spoken to before. I always knew that if I had an issue or needed help I there were a variety of different people that I could contact. Previous management was a problem which I won't go in to as things have changed and current management are very approachable; I didn't have issues emailing or popping over to their offices/desks to ask questions and was treated with respect - which is invaluable! They also host an annual sports/fun day and an annual rounders tournament (played over a series of lunchtimes) which are brilliant fun whether you're participating or spectating!

A car is a must really, due to the location. There is still a way to go with the culture shift and changing some attitudes (blame culture, etc), but it seems to be heading in the right direction...fingers crossed! Pay is not brilliant and depending on the job role, there may not be room for progression, but they do offer vacancies internally so some employees have switched departments instead of finding new jobs elsewhere. There isn't much in the way of formal training, it's mainly learning on the job with the person training you having to juggle a full workload alongside training. A lot of processes aren't 'standardised' and change as the jobs evolve so unless you make an effort to write process documents and make sure everyone involved is doing things the same way there is a lack of consistency where some have developed their own way of doing things.