Pros
When it comes down to it, there simply aren't any pros to working for this organisation.
Cons
Three years since leaving, and my mind still boggles at what I experienced working for Creative Support. In my time, I witnessed service users being institutionally neglected and left to live in squalid conditions, with no outlook or action plan set in place for how to support them or improve their places in life. Nor were they encouraged to practice their own self care, whether that be to eat healthy meals, practice hygiene or seek emotional wellbeing. Their needs simply were not met, and it was shocking to witness this. Elsewhere, working conditions were vile. With none or their needs being met, the service users would regularly display challenging behaviours and lash out at staff, turning the workplace into a high-anxiety and miserable place. And on top of that, a culture of blame and fear existed as a result of managers and team leaders holding staff accountable whenever incidents (such as service users becoming agitated) would happen, or would play down concerns raised about the wellbeing of our clients. Their needs are willfully disregarded and in all my time I worked there, nothing improved. At all. As a company and an employer, they were terrible. Wages were routinely late and often incorrect, and when HR were contacted they would dismiss the issues and there would be a long wait for backpay. I'd like to point out that this wasn't just one instance, nor was it one employee; this happened to every member of staff in Leicester the week before Christmas, and nobody had an explanation as to why. Simply unacceptable. And on top of all this, the emotional weight of this job is unbearable. Working conditions were already so unpleasant, they were only made worse when simple issues like fixing a light were ignored, so the place was plunged into darkness for several weeks. The shifts require you to sleep over in cold and uncomfortable conditions, the rotas rarely allow you to plan social occasions so you will ultimately miss everything else happening in your life outside of work. And with the wages being so low already, the emotional toll is no longer worth it. For an organisation with the word "support" in their name, Creative Support will do the exact opposite of look after their staff. You will be dismissed, ignored and disempowered, and your wellbeing will be irrelevant. For instance, a coworker of mine was severely physically assaulted by a service user and was signed off work. The response of our manager? "They knew what they signed up for when they took the job". This is the attitudes presented by this group of people. Nor was I offered any support when a similar thing happened to me. Even after incident reports are filed away and management made aware, you'll be safe in the knowledge that the same thing will be happening same time next week. In my time working for them, my mental health took a severe impact and I find myself in a state of stunned disbelief when I look back on what I experienced. And since leaving the place, almost all of my coworkers have done the same. So if you find yourself considering taking a job with Creative Support, I ask you to remember these five words... YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS
