British Red Cross Reviews

Former Employee – worked at British Red Cross full-time for more than a year

Pros – Background - I worked at the BRC Head Office in London for a year, initially as an expenses-only intern and then on a fixed term contract in an administrative role within a fundraising team.

- Great work life balance
- Great training opportunities
- If you're interested in the charity sector, lots of opportunities to learn about/move into other departments
- Generally speaking, the people working at the Red Cross are really nice
- Pay distribution is quite flat and pay levels are competitive to others in the charity sector. The CEO's salary was only 7-8 times mine (an entry level employee).

Cons – - SOMEONE PLEASE DESIGN A SIMPLER EXPENSES SYSTEM FOR VOLUNTEERS/INTERNS, HOW HARD CAN IT BE?!
- In general, people working at SSC (at least the ones who attend to calls) need to learn the basics of customer service.
- Someone needs to come up with a green policy for paper, printing and electricity. People print waaaay more than they should, waste waaay too much paper and most people leave their computers powered on overnight(!).

Advice to Senior Management – Please see cons above.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at British Red Cross full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Values and principles lead activity.
Strong sense of community.
Output orientated.

Cons – Resistance to change at times.
Decision making can be slow

Advice to Senior Management – Do not fear greater transparency and openness.
Identify yourself with the work you are responsible for - do not expect others to front for your ideas

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at British Red Cross full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Pride, passion, dynamic, innovative and challenging.

Cons – Hierarchical structure and a lot of stakeholders can make decision making an obstacle.

Advice to Senior Management – Flatten the structure.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at British Red Cross part-time for more than a year

Pros – Pro is they do occasionally hire and offer paid work

Cons – Bad company to work for, one of the worst for pressure and the are supposed to be a charity not a high end business

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at British Red Cross part-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Gave me the ability to use my skills and help the local community.

Cons – The IT services were appalling; I was waiting for my expenses to be paid for months. We also had very bad connectivity in our office which hindered our job specially when competing for bids. Some offices had top of the line PCs sitting there in empty rooms while we were struggling. I do not think the funders would be happy to see this waste.

They claim that they want to care for their volunteers but my experience was bad. We would have loved to hear more from management and Sir Nick.

Advice to Senior Management – Talk the talk and walk the walk.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at British Red Cross

Pros – Pay & benefits: good for a charity.
Reputation: does great work in the community and people respect that, feel proud to be part of it. Good place to be associated with and put on your CV.
Colleagues: passionate about what they do and want to make a difference.
Management: good teams in the field with somewhat effective strategies and policies.
Policy and Process: seems to work well for profit generating divisions and in times of crisis aiding the other government agencies.

Cons – Pay: a big gap between HO and field, it is much lower in field offices. Also the numbers of volunteers to paid employees is 10:1 and staff are getting paid for doing management jobs while the important field work is being done by unpaid volunteers - a bit unfair and can be frustrating.
Reputation: once you work there you know its not all great as the brand suggests.
Colleagues: not as efficient as in other charities. Field teams are more competent than HO. The inequality leads to frustration.
Management: the overall structure, direction/communication, and follow-up seems to be lost. Everyone (mainly directors) get very-good or excellent performance ratings although they actually do mediocre work. No accountability for responsibilities and this leniency leads to field mangers working to achieve own targets, which may actually be more beneficial to the communities, but can be frustrating at times. You can see frustration on the faces of people.
Policy and Process: no consistency between different geographical areas and also HO, leads to ineffectual enforcing of policy which leads to inefficient management over time and complaints from beneficiaries when it doesn't work.

Advice to Senior Management – Invest more in better recruitment/HR and policy people. PS: CEO is currently Nick Young and not as mentioned.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at British Red Cross

Pros – Everyone is passionate about their jobs and what they're working to achieve. Friendly, open company where it is easy to talk to managers about issues, as well as generally employing truly 'nice' people. A (generally) relaxed company to work for.

Cons – Very low pay, although it is a charity. IT service provision is appalling. Expenses claims, frankly, confusing and it is seemingly difficult to be reimbursed. Some long-service workers seem poorly treated, although this is absolutely not my own experience.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at British Red Cross

Pros – Plenty of training opportunities, support for personal projects. Knowing that every day we all pull together to help people in crisis wherever they are and whoever they are is a great motivator. There are so many talented and dedicated members of staff and volunteers, it's inspiring to talk to people and see our work.

Cons – Pay levels low, so staff retention not good. A shame to waste such talent.
Extra hours the norm - especially as we are a volunteer-led organisation, but extra hours is true for senior staff too.

Advice to Senior Management – The flat structure is great to work in, with easy access to senior management and even Trustees. We attract some amazing volunteers and staff. Sad that pay levels are not competitive and many staff leave for better pay.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at British Red Cross

Pros – A feeling of doing something useful for the community. You make friends and learn to take an interest in the local community. People are grateful for the work you do. We ensure that patients obtain the correct equipment during a difficult time in their lives, and then they return equipment and are grateful for the use that has been made by them. Being a voluntary job, there is no commercial pressure, and being a part time job, one's work/life balance is truly maintained. I can truly recommend working in the voluntary sector and especially in the red cross as it gives one the chance to make a contribution and to make friends.

Cons – None - the job has flexible hours, and a feeling of doing something useful

Advice to Senior Management – Keep it up!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend