Unfair hiring practices - Anonymous employee Vancity Employee Review

1.0
Jan 5, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

unionized locations that allow for fair hiring practices in non-management positions

Cons

Education, experience and work results have zero value in my region. I surmise from my experience here and what I have heard from others that this rings true for all the regions. There are three ways to get a chance to be a manager here: 1. You have worked with the director in the past and have a personal relationship 2. You are personal friends with the director 3. Suck up, suck up, suck up to the director I am not 1 and 2 and for my own self worth won’t do 3. Buying coffees and lunches and manipulating insecure directors is the ticket to success. Everyone see that the manager that sucks up the most is able to do as he pleases. Recent hires have less than 6 months lending experience and no education or proven work record. It’s hard to sit here knowing I have a degree and years of lending experience but I am given zero opportunity for management positions. I’m just fed 1 excuse after the other. I may look different and I don’t fit into the social group that’s been created BUT in a fair organization I should have equal opportunities. Where is the professionalism in this company? How does one become a branch manager without any level of significant education or management experience? Then how does that person get their friends and family promoted to management positions. I am sick and tired of feeling like an outsider and I have no avenue to vent my concerns as the personal connections at the top level are too strong. Vancit is run like a social club where friends and family are promoted and people like myself are made to feel like an outsider. This company has taken my education and experience and marginalized it.

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Vancity Response
7y
Thank you for providing this feedback and sharing your concerns. Hiring and promoting great people is very important to us, as is making sure we follow recruitment practices that are fair and transparent. Of equal importance to us is always promoting and maintaining an inclusive and welcoming work environment for all of our employees. Some of the things we do to achieve this in the hiring process is by using a consistent interview guide for all candidates. To mitigate bias, we also often use a panel of interviewers who bring different experiences and points of view to the selection process. We are always looking for ways to improve our processes in this area, and want to make sure that anyone who participates in the hiring process feels they have been treated fairly, and with respect. It’s clear that you are frustrated with your experience, and we are sorry to hear that. We are continually enhancing our training for managers with feedback from across the organization. If you’d like to build on your comments, and are comfortable reaching out, please email learning_development@vancity.com. Thanks again for taking the time to provide your feedback

Explore other reviews about Vancity

5.0
Jun 12, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice staff and training for early career

Cons

Non out of my minds

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Vancity Response
2y
Thanks for your review. At Vancity, we take pride in our friendly staff and the valuable learning and development opportunities we offer. Your feedback and kind words are much appreciated!
1.0
Aug 17, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

As others have said, Vancity employs some of the best people. Everyday you will go to work with some of the most engaged, motivated, and brilliant people in the financial sector. They care about their work, their impact, and their legacy. However, these people all eventually burn out and move on to other places where their values and worth are going to be rewarded, because Vancity just isn't that place.

Cons

Glassdoor reviews are indicative of how many people at Vancity feels. For over a year between 2016 to 2017 a slew of honest and heartfelt reviews flooded the site. These reviews were often brutal in their assessments, and probably took courage for the employees to write. However, in the past month or so, there are suddenly multiple 5-star reviews with little content or message. Here's what's wrong: Yes, we had a brutal launch of the new banking software. It was not well-planned, despite having close to a decade to do it. It cost a lot of money. We employed and fired a bunch of people. We promoted folks who in hindsight probably should've stayed as call centre agents or analysts. We spread ourselves thin across multiple markets that we have no experience in. Everyday we come up with new phrases or acronyms. Yes, all that happened. But now let's move on from that. Has much changed in the past couple of months? No. What you have is a company in search of a new identity. The market conditions are changing, and so are people's habits and needs in financial institutions. This means that results are not coming through, and staff continues to see restructures and packages. We also still employ a number of consultants who are billing top rates everyday for barely any work. I feel that people who speak the truth are getting frustrated that their words don't register. There are a ton of people who want Vancity to do better, to become engaged, but they're not getting the opportunity to do so for fear of retribution. That's wrong, isn't it?

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Vancity Response
8y
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Couldn't agree more with your suggestion to move on from the negativity, to focus on engagement of our staff who, by and large, want better things for Vancity. We have listened to the heartfelt feedback from our organization, and are committing to act upon it. I too hope we can listen to disenfranchised employees and motivate them to see ways out of the rut they feel that they are in. I truly believe there is much to motivate and excite people right now at Vancity, I think some of the 5 star reviewers you are a bit suspicious of, probably agree.
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