Unbelievable for all the wrong reasons - Anonymous employee NCFE Employee Review

2.0
1 Oct 2021
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote/flexible working offered now as standard which can be seen as a benefit, although requests to work in the office don’t follow a consistent process - whatever they feel like on the day! Makes the relevant approvers feel important I suppose, but work/life balance and flexibility should be for all, not just for some! The company has expanded at a rate that it’s completely possible to sit with your feet up for days (if that’s your thing) as most people are unsure what you, or they, are meant to be doing. If senior management make any decisions about what should be done there’s a 99% chance it hasn’t been thought through at all and any work you have done will have been a waste of time as they will completely backtrack (most likely at the 11th hour). You’ll be able to use the absurd goings on as some great anecdotes for friends and family. Now lockdowns have lifted and we’re able to socialise more this will definitely come in handy! Honestly, even the most talented and creative writers couldn’t come up with this stuff. Some genuinely good people work here, however don’t mix them up with the sycophants who you will see incessantly posting and commenting on channels such as LinkedIn etc. Take your time and get to know people before you trust them as unfortunately the many incompetent decision makers in the business will need to put the blame somewhere, and it won’t be on themselves.

Cons

CEO David Gallagher– where to start?! Dave is not equipped for this role in the slightest, however if you like your corporate CEO plucked out of a Friday night sesh in Wetherspoons then you might disagree. His “lads, lads, lads” culture is inappropriate and actually concerning for an organisation that promotes diversity and inclusion (what does he really think?). It really is a case of the Emperor’s new clothes, and if you don’t want to take part, leave – that’s what he told all staff during a webinar in December 2020 – before logging off abruptly leaving his colleagues to continue without him – wow! After this, he took to LinkedIn to complain about colleagues leaving for similar organisations – strange actually, they were just following his instructions? Following a recent Glassdoor review, which included many facts about the company and the CEO, he took to LinkedIn again claiming to have been trolled – many of his connections (unaware of the situation) showed lots of support to him, believing he had truly been a victim of trolling – again, wow! He will no doubt take to social media to talk about how he has been trolled again by this post, but the truth is, leadership is tough and he hasn’t got the “thick skin” and “resilience” he insists his employees have.

Explore other reviews about NCFE

2.0
19 Jul 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

This is an amazing place to work if you are a junior manager (Team Leader) or below. You could learn loads. The flexibility and benefits are good and the volunteering opportunities are fabulous

Cons

If you want to progress to senior management, avoid this place like the plague. There is no support for senior managers and the atmosphere is ‘look after yourself’ and cut throat. Senior managers are left to fend for themselves and at worst pitted amongst one another with limited resources and the culture is blaming and hostile. Take the learning opportunities and progress to a mid management level - then, in the words of the previous CEO (they’ve been through a few C-suite) - ‘find your happy elsewhere’

8
4.0
15 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Inclusive, supportive, friendly, strategic, values-based

Cons

Budgets can be limited, development opportunities

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