Barnardo's Employee Reviews

Great place. Everyday is different with its usual challenges however very rewarding. Training and cpd could be better but still good. Team are manager are very friendly

Was this review helpful?

Fun and interesting

Retail Assistant (Former Employee) - London, Greater London - 9 June 2023

Tasks are repetitive It did help having different things to sort through though Friendly customers Pay ok No progression Staff are nice but a lot of turnover

Was this review helpful?

Insights into Barnardo's

Based on 300 survey responses

What people like

Supportive environment
Inclusive work environment
Clear sense of purpose

Areas for improvement

Fair pay for job

Good for CV

Retail Volunteer (Former Employee) - Gravesend, Kent - 2 June 2023

Friendly and supportive staff. Opportunity to get experience in a wide range of things from the tills to merchandising. Freedom to design displays and work on face to face customer skills.

Was this review helpful?

Bad management

Retail Assistant (Former Employee) - Altrincham, Greater Manchester - 29 May 2023

Back room was always a mess, workers were lovely though. Cute little shop, easy to manage, customers are lovely. Find a few little gems for yourself too!

Was this review helpful?

Good training and work

Project Worker (Current Employee) - Northern Ireland - 21 May 2023

Great training courses once on the job but very poor induction. Good team and generally supportive. Pay not quite reflective of role but ok. Good annual leave

Was this review helpful?

Rate your recent company

Share your experience to help others

Good

Head Chef (Former Employee) - Lancaster, Lancashire - 20 May 2023

It isn't a place to work I enjoy my breaks coffee outside on the bench watching the trains go by day by day I like to watch the aircrafts in the sky overall good place to work for

Was this review helpful?

Poor communication all round

Store Manager (Current Employee) - United Kingdom - 20 May 2023

Cliquey and full of gossips. ABMs don't like being challenged on anything and display very poor communication. Colleagues seem to think they know your decisions before you've even made them. I would go so far as to say the culture is quite toxic.

Was this review helpful?

Make sure when you apply that the store has a strong number of team members!

Store Associate (Current Employee) - Hemel Hempstead - 17 May 2023

In my experience working with Barnardos, I have learnt and excelled a lot in 2 years, including learning shop and team management. However, paid management team numbers are sparse and there is not much cover for when things go wrong! Between September 2022 - February 2023 I hadn't had a free weekend day off, and we were without a shop manager for 6 months, all of us paid Store Associates having to manage the shop between ourselves. Our Overtime pay for Christmas was delayed for Winter 2022 and it took Head Office far too long to resolve our issues. Requires Lone Working on one day of the week - in a 2 storey shop with a warehouse upstairs!!...I don't regret my time at Barnardos, they do a lot of good as a charity, they have been some positives and the team atmosphere is mostly a great environment. I would say anybody who wants to work with Barnardos: it is a good TEMPORARY job to have if you want to learn Team Leading or Youth Working -- but don't make it long-term. Also, make sure the Barnardos store you are applying for is in a modest sized single storey shop!! Make sure there is a strong number of team numbers through the week before you make your application.

Pros

Experience being a keyholder member of staff, learning shop management, team leading, youth working, Pleasant work environment, meet variety of people.

Cons

Shops run on very little members of paid staff through the week, a lot of Lone working, no weekend days off for long periods of time, no bank holidays off, no work/life balance

Was this review helpful?

fun place

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Kensington and Fairfield - 17 May 2023

good and fun to work , friendly environment makes you feel like you are truly part on a family, good pay.

Was this review helpful?

Stressful but fun staff

Door to door sales (Former Employee) - Manchester, Greater Manchester - 9 May 2023

Loved working with the team. But stressful not meeting targets and having management putting pressure on you to do well. While doors are not appreciative of you knocking at their door.

Was this review helpful?

Jobs at Barnardo's

Amazing place to work, great management lovely staff

Leaving care worker (Current Employee) - Lincoln - 29 April 2023

I started as agency felt very welcomed and part of the team so passionate about the work we do, I have now been here nearly a year and ill am permanent.

Pros

Flexible, supportive appreciation

Cons

I dont have any

Was this review helpful?

Fun place really nice people

General Store Assistant (Former Employee) - Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff - 24 April 2023

As it was a volunteer job I didn’t get paid but it was a good experience and the people are amazing and nice quiet place to learn new skills before getting a proper paid job

Pros

Short shifts, lovely people

Cons

Too many volunteers so had nothing to do

Was this review helpful?

No life/work balance

Charity Shop Manager (Current Employee) - Grantham - 23 April 2023

There is no work/life balance all workYou have to cover store or meetings even when you are on annual leave. You are expected to cover store on your day off. You don't get a weekend off unless you are on holiday.All higher management and other departments stick together so if you have a problem there is nobody to go to for support.

Pros

The job is rewarding.

Cons

Higher management are not supportive.

Was this review helpful?

Worse emploer ever

Store Associate (Former Employee) - Exeter - 22 April 2023

Taking advantage of people and their good hearts. Not paying for extra time and always required to do an overtime of course not being paid for it either. They make money out of hard work of people working on the shop floors.

Pros

None

Cons

Long hours, not paid for overtime

Was this review helpful?

Work hard, be nice to people and get supported by management.

Sales Associate (Current Employee) - Bradford Forster Square - 19 April 2023

I've worked at Barnardos Forster Square since they opened and we currently have an excellent team. Fortunately for the team, our former manager failed her probation period and we can all work professionally and competently now with the guidance of knowledgeable management . We work really hard to support the charity and we have a good laugh along the way and every day is fulfilling. Barnardos are a fantastic company to work for and they are totally clued up about how to run a successful shop. Only apply to work here if you are willing to work hard and be nice to people.

Pros

Knowing that your hard work benefits the lives of vulnerable children and the local community.

Cons

Tidying up after messy customers.

Was this review helpful?

Great people

Finance Officer (Former Employee) - Glasgow - 19 April 2023

Although a great Organisation with regards to the work and help provided to children and families, a lot more support and care needs to be given to staff, especially lower tiered employees e.g. salaries, workload, training need to be better.

Pros

Rewarding work; flexible working; caring environment

Cons

Stressful; long hours; large workload

Was this review helpful?

Toxic

General dogsbody or Manager (Current Employee) - Shop - 15 April 2023

Absolutely dire, toxic workplace, unsupported, forced to Lone work during a pandemic. Ridiculous targets that were unattainable, constant badgering from line manager, no thanks given despite giving your all.

Pros

Great team

Cons

Awful support from uppers

Was this review helpful?

What a joke!

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Carlisle, Cumbria - 14 April 2023

Colleges were catty even management would gossip to me about my colleagues... so unprofessional! On top of your job that's hard because you're on your feet all day and it's heavy work, there is not enough staff on and you're basically a support worker as some volunteers are abusive and violent. When I brought this up with management the volunteers are valued more because they're working for free. You don't get paid your breaks yet peer pressured to not take them. No time to do training at work so you're working at home. A what's App group means you're getting pestered at home. When a new employee or volunteer starts the rest of the team gets sent there details including there address when I brought this up with management I was told that's how they do things.

Was this review helpful?

Wiltshire short breaks

Play Organiser (Current Employee) - Wiltshire - 12 April 2023

The company employs people who are dedicated to their work and passionate about children. Difficult work /life balance. Short breaks are often understaffed.

Pros

Can chose the hours

Cons

Often understaffed

Was this review helpful?

Productive and fun workplace

Shop Floor Assistant (Former Employee) - Swadlincote, Derbyshire - 10 April 2023

Great job good team . Working on the till and shop floor ,pricing goods. Varied throughout the day .Great place to work and meet lots of different people .

Was this review helpful?

productive and fun workplace

Retail Assistant (Former Employee) - Nottingham - 4 April 2023

A typical day of work consists of three breaks such as lunch and dinner breaks. You have to do a shift there so that you know what to do.I learned how to engage with customers. The management is very helpful as the managers were not strict at all. The hardest part of the job was dealing with arguments.The most enjoyable part was meeting new customers.