BBC Reviews

Pros

Strangers tell you how wonderful the BBC is.
You are making the world a better place.
Great people work here.
It looks great on the CV.

Cons

You will get poorer every year.
The organisation is too complicated.
No-one makes decisions.
Too many meetings.
Its a really bad time for the BBC.

Advice to Senior Management

Lead, inspire, make the engineers know you know they are talent too. Replace approval committees with individual authority. Make staff feel wanted.

Pros

THis is a great company it has many great opportunities. I feel that you should apply here. That is my thought.

Cons

It has long hours. You have to do a lot of the work independently. Also you have to work a lot given the pay. Another downside is that the commute was long.

Advice to Senior Management

You are a great company. Keep up the good work. I would get a better HR department though because it is very annoying.

Pros

- Exposure to the industry
- Prestige on the CV
- Low pressure atmosphere (no bottom line)
- Some cutting edge technologies & creative ideas

Cons

- You'll take a paycut for the chance to work here
- Many people in the org have spent their entire careers at the BBC, straight from uni, so there's a general lack of real world experience

Advice to Senior Management

- Consider offering better compensation to all levels of staff (the disparity between the bottom layer and top level management is apalling)
- Rather than simply announcing sweeping new strategies and how great they'll be, actually offer a plan for how the organisational change will be executed

Pros

Really great team of people to work for, everyday is totally different and incredibly rewarding to see the final product of my work on TV.

Cons

The team leaders are not always as clear and helpful as I might like but this is to be expected in any company I would imagine.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more prompt at answering questions and less demanding of your staff!

Pros

Good camaraderie and a feeling of belonging, some great editorial pieces coupled with connecting with the community. Feedback was always a positive, whether good or bad.

Cons

Confusing direction and people not knowing what to expect next due to constant change. Music policy was honed too much by beliefs that narrowcasting would achieve greater audience, when this is not necessarily the case.

Advice to Senior Management

Better feedback on programme quality, building on the strengths of people. Continuity will keep the audience strong, not constant change which is proven to be a negative factor in things.

Pros

It's a good cause, and we make high-quality stuff. What's more, when we do well the public notices and is pleased.

Cons

Cliquey atmosphere, awful wages, bad interdepartmental relationships. We don't get paid much, and senior management take the credit for what we do. People's wages aren't performance-related, and we don't get bonuses: pay increases in recent years have been below inflation and junior staff really don't earn much at all. The worst thing is, everyone assumes we get paid loads.

Advice to Senior Management

Consider paying staff industry-standard wages please. My wages don't cover my cost of living, and that shouldn't be the case in the world's best-known broadcaster.

Pros

good brand, high calibre colleagues

Cons

very political and people can be very nasty

Advice to Senior Management

n/a

Pros

- good benefits
- good work life balance
- some interesting projects
- some good training options
- big company so interesting exposure

Cons

- pay dreadful
- no opps for progression
- too many temp roles covering maternity leave
- management insular and often poor exposure to commercial market
- managers afraid of making decisions

Advice to Senior Management

spend some time in commercial market to understand how media world really works
make some decisions
stop overpaying yourselves
try and market the positive sides of the bbc better

Pros

Generally good, good teamwork, mamangement

Cons

stress, long hours and no food at lunch

Advice to Senior Management

None

Pros

Everyone seems to really enjoy their work and is enthusiastic. There's a genuine sense of wanting to make good things, at least on the floor level.

Cons

* Management seem to be confused about what they're trying to achieve, so goals constantly shift and there seems to be no long-term commitment to anything.

* The pay is low. There's little opportunity for movement around the company or promotion and I think middle-management and line-managers hide behind this rather wishy-washy "red tape" and excuses of the licence fee to not pay their staff properly.

* Suspect they are biased against women. Especially in the technical world. No women seem to get promoted or good projects to run. Could just be bad luck.

* Developers seem to be treated like cattle. Bartered for and shunted about. Also, don't think technical opinions are listened to. It's almost as if developers are the lowest rung and are to be treated like kids.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat the staff better - pay them the average wages, rather than below. The BBC being a "cool place to work" isn't enough to put food on the table.