British Heart Foundation Employee Reviews
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Really nice place to work and lovely people to work with good team morale flexibility on hours it is a brilliant company to volunteer for would recommend to anyone who's got free time to volunteer
The British heart foundation was very helpful to me because they helped me gain confidence and to gain experience in those three years I was there. I learned a lot when I was there the hardest thing was that I was always on the which kept me determined and hardheaded the typical day for was when I would be on the go by helping as many people as I could
Pros
Great experience
Cons
I could choose my own time to start and what time I could finish
You’re a number. No one wants to listen especially if you have a problem. You can very often be left grossly understaffed. SOME area managers are incompetent and looking for an easy ride, they don’t want to put the hard work and the effort in and are more than happy to slag off their subordinates in order to make themselves look good... or at least try to. People are promoted by how well they’re liked not their skills or experience or ability. If you have an idea you’re often shot down. The company itself is going backwards with technology. New tech makes store manager roles obsolete because they can’t access info they need to run the business. It’s a very clique culture... your face fits... or it doesn’t... Worst thing is health and safety... 60+ year old volunteers expected to carry heavy furniture up multiple flights of stairs. Warehouses insufficient in size and regularly overstocked but you’re told to get more stock all the time. Physically demanding would be ok but this can be brutal... as one person said it’s the heart foundations heart patient farm!
Pros
Reasonable work life balance but don’t ask for a weekend off
Cons
Health and safety is none existent...
Official response from British Heart Foundation
12 February 2021Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and experience working in one of our stores. We are really disappointed to hear the points you raise about management, staff and technological development. If you are keen for this to be investigated further, or feel that you have not been given the sufficient support, please contact us on careers@bhf.org.uk. Recruitment Team
I really enjoyed working in retail at the BHF charity shop. It is for a very good cause. Some of my family have had heart failure. I operated a computerised till, chip and pin arranged collections and stock taking. I hope to further my career.
Official response from British Heart Foundation
12 February 2021Thank you for taking the time to leave such a positive review. We are pleased to read that you were able to explore various parts of our shop roles and developed your own skills and experience. Thank you for sharing our journey to beat heartbreak forever. We wish you all the best in your future adventures. BHF Recruitment Team
I work as a volunteer and my manager has really helped me succeed, she is very patient in teaching me all the skills I need and all of my colleagues are very friendly and supportive. It's a really nice community to be a part of.
Official response from British Heart Foundation
17 February 2021Many thanks for taking the time to leave us your feedback and sharing your positive experience! Our shops and stores couldn't run without our hardworking volunteers - THANK YOUClare - Volunteering Team
I loved working as a designate manager unfortunately due to personal reasons I had to leave but I would go back in a heartbeat, lovely company and great staff.
Pros
Friendly relaxed atmosphere
Cons
None
Official response from British Heart Foundation
5 February 2021Thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely review. We often get comments about how great our staff is and that the working atmosphere is relaxed. This is something we actively encourage by ensuring that all staff feel welcome and appreciated and enjoy coming to work. Thank you for sharing our journey to beat heartbreak forever. Good luck for your future!
The team at the BHF at WGC is excellent, very customer based, hard working and very focussed on sales. I really enjoyed learning and working with the team. I have enjoyed working at this outlet, helping and serving the customers, increasing the books sales by 50%, stock and inventory management, replenishing and rotating stock in all departments, checking items on EBay,
Pros
Flexibility, friendliness and professionalism
Cons
None
Official response from British Heart Foundation
17 February 2021Thanks so much for your kind comments and praise for our shop team in WGC. I'm so pleased you enjoyed your time there & helped to boost sales so considerable - THANK YOUClare - Volunteering Team
I volunteeredGained valuable experience which helped me secure a full time jobYou can learn helpful transferable skills, which are good for your c.v.
Pros
Travelling expences for volunteers
Cons
I didnt have any
Good to recycle items and raise money for a very important and worthwhile cause Good to refurbish and test electrical items ready for saleManager has really good people skills and cares for staff and volunteers equally.
Pros
Tea staff discount
Cons
Temperamental colleagues no uniform
Official response from British Heart Foundation
12 February 2021Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We're pleased to see that you are finding working in our store in Stafford rewarding by helping a worthwhile cause and your praise for the Store Manager. If you would like to raise any further points in confidence, please contact us at careers@bhf.org.uk. BHF Recruitment Team
Just a great place to work mixing with people from all walks of life and ability helping people develop themselves whilst supporting a wonderful charity
Official response from British Heart Foundation
20 January 2021Hi, thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely review for us. It's great to hear that you enjoyed your Assistant Manager position with us. Our people and working environment often comes up as a positive comment in our colleague reviews. Internal progression and development is a key part of our people experience so it is great to hear that you were able to take advantage of the opportunities available. Wishing you all the best for the future! BHF Recruitment team
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I was in a paid position and absolutely loved the job and the work BHF do, but sadly the shop I was in was very poorly managed and the staff were overworked due to staff shortages and increasing deliveries. Volunteers and paid staff were quitting left right and centre due to the openly hostile manager and again, higher ups did nothing.
Pros
The people, the work.
Cons
Higher ups flat out do not care about wellbeing of staff
Official response from British Heart Foundation
20 January 2021Hi there, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. It is positive to hear that you enjoyed your role and the engagement with colleagues. Our people and their passion for the cause often comes up as a positive comment in our reviews. We take all feedback serious and your other comments will be shared with the relevant teams and dealt with accordingly. Well being is a key part of our people experience and we empower our teams and managers to look after and promote health and wellbeing. If you would like to share more details with us then please reach out via careers@bhf.org.uk for a confidential conversation. Wishing you all the best for the future. BHF recruitment team
When working for the British Heart foundation I had found it ,that my time was going well and doing productive building which gives a good sense of fun and good satisfaction out of the job and a stricter to my week.
Pros
Having a break for about an hour, then getting fired up to get going again.
Cons
Not worried about any cons.
Official response from British Heart Foundation
5 February 2021Thank you for leaving such a lovely review. We are happy that you found your time volunteering with us fun and also beneficial. Thank you for your time! Good luck for your future adventures. BHF Recruitment Team
Sadly I have left the foundation but it will certainly stay close to my heart. Incredible people & wealth of incredible knowledge to learn across all the various departments. I highly recommend the company, and believe you will be a different person walking away if you go in with the right commitment & enthusiasm.
Pros
Wide range of knowledge & skills available to learn
Official response from British Heart Foundation
5 February 2021Thank you for taking the time to leave such a wonderful review. We're really happy that you enjoyed your time at BHF. We're striving to give our staff options to progress and develop their skills and it is great when this is recognised. Thank you for playing a vital role on our journey to beat heartbreak forever. We wish you all the best for your future journey. BHF Recruitment Team
There is extremely little that I can say that is good about BHF. At first I was so enthused and excited to work there; I had a great interview and was offered the position soon after. My training period was very enjoyable; the manager knowledgeable and the the training thorough. However once I moved to my permanent store it deteriorated quickly. There began much more interference from the Area Manager, firstly under the guise of support and maintaining standards; but this quickly changed. I was not given a fair chance in difficult situations in a very new role, was almost solely blamed for temporary profit loss and expected to cope with much more than was humanly possible; to the detriment of my mental health and health and safety standards. Shops are not allowed to turn away stock even when there is no space for it - they are told to pile it in the stockroom even when this is a massive trip/fire hazard. If we had had a health and safety inspection we would have failed on the spot. The shop staff are doing the best they can under tyrannical upper management. Those with medical conditions (however easily managed) are made to feel like it is their fault they have them, and are blamed for lack of staffing. If I had known what this "charity" was like to work for I would never have left my previous job to start what I thought was a great opportunity. Avoid this company like covid.
Pros
Supportive colleagues, good cause
Cons
Almost everything else
Official response from British Heart Foundation
5 February 2021Thanks for taking time to leave a review. We are really disappointed to hear of your experience with us as. Charity retail relies on donations from our supporters, but we emphasis that all donations need to be accepted and stored in a way compliant to our strict H&S standards. If you are keen to discuss these issues confidentially please do reach out to us at careers@bhf.org.uk.Recruitment Team
I only worked there part time just for two weeks but it was a pleasant experience. Work is work after all. Communication could be improved as I felt that managers were unsure about basic questions about my temporary employment. Got paid through an agency. It was all good, nice people.
Pros
Nice modern cafeteria, Very Covid compliant, Hour long break, nice people
Cons
Communication issues, management could be better
Official response from British Heart Foundation
8 February 2021Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review about your time at BHF. We are happy that you found the work environment good and our people nice. We always look at ways to ensure that all our staff have all information they might need to hand and are sorry to hear that you found this was not always the case. We will revisit this. We wish you all the best in your future adventures.
Learnt a lot of things helped boost my confidenceFelt appreciated was very flexible with hours helped me with problems made me appreciate what I had
Pros
Flexible
Cons
None
Overall, the experience was pretty bad. I was placed on the shop floor with no training, and you would be left on the shop floor on your own to run the floor, having been shown nothing. Some of the management were nice, but never were on the floor to help. There was a lot to do, which made the time go quickly.Awful experience, don't put yourself through it, there are plenty of other great companies out there to work for, this just isn't one of them.
Pros
Large workload making the time go quickly
Cons
No help from management
Official response from British Heart Foundation
5 February 2021Thanks for taking time to leave a review. We are very disappointed to hear of your experience with us as. Charity retail is very fast paced and relies on all members of staff being able to take on their roles responsibly. We do run induction and training courses for all staff (new and existing) and are very sorry to hear that your training seems to have fallen short before you were given your responsibilities. If you are keen to discuss these issues confidentially please contact us at careers@bhf.org.uk.Recruitment Team
The team is very nice and helpful. Although it can get boring in none busy days, there’s always something to do. I learnt a lot so far and i can’t wait to learn more!
Pros
Free tea and biscuits
Cons
Nothing!
Official response from British Heart Foundation
5 February 2021Thank you for taking the time to leave such a nice review. We are pleased to hear that you are made to feel welcome and incorporated in our shop team. Thank you for giving your time to share our journey to beat heartbreak forever. BHF Recruitment Team
Good place to work quite abit of heavy lifting but you get used to it good environment ,health and safety training given lots of help if needed not too fast paced either
Official response from British Heart Foundation
5 February 2021Thanks for leaving such a nice comment about your time when working at BHF Exeter. We are happy that you found the environment and health & safety training good. This is something we focus on and it's good to see that you found it beneficial. Thank you for sharing part of our journey to beat heartbreak forever. Good luck for your future! BHF Recruitment Team
I liked working at the British heart foundation iworked there for about a year the staff were ok there is only one small problem I had they never sorted out my bus fares
Pros
Lovely staff
Cons
Not very good at sorting out bus fares
All the bhf want is money does not care who they mug over as long as the money is in the till, staff , customers , volunteers, as long as daily budget hit they are happy . Very wasteful with furniture which hasn't sold within 6 weeks (tip) After working for them for over 2 years the way it works is a discrace I would never work for this charity again and wouldn't advice it to anyone else
Pros
None
Cons
Everything
Official response from British Heart Foundation
5 February 2021Thanks for taking time to leave a review. We are really disappointed to hear of your experience with us as. If you are keen to discuss these issues confidentially please contact us at careers@bhf.org.uk.Recruitment Team
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