Look Ahead Care And Support Employee Reviews
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I’ve worked at Look Ahead for almost 2 years, during this time I’ve had lots of training and opportunities to learn on the job too. There is also a lot of opportunity to move up the ladder. I started off as a support worker, then specialist and now a team leader. My advice to those thinking of joining would be, make sure you’re resilient! It’s a hard but very rewarding job.
Pros
Training
Cons
Salary
Staff work really hard- sadly it's not reflect in their salary.Burn out and turnover is extremely high in this organization.The company very much runs like a business, and the people at the top don't seem to understand the challenges most services face- they try to make changes but without understanding the support workers roles and the needs of clients- their changes are half-hearted, impulsive temporary attempts to fix. A real shame, the organization seemed to start to only acknowledge a tiny bit staff's work on the front line when the pandemic started. The organization could learn a lot from it's competitors including managing COVID-19 in services. Heavy reliance based on managers of services to know what to do during the pandemic.
Pros
the team and the clients we support
Cons
Lack of staff development and essential training opportunities for their roles
Filled with management that are egocentric and only out for themselves. They don't appreciate hard work of their staff and practice a massive blame culture rather than learning from their mistakes instead take people down the capabilities/disciplinary process, taking no responsibility for what part they played in the situation. Some people are lovely and supportive. The customers are often forgotten and its all about money and keeping commissioners happy.
Pros
Progression
Cons
Management, Head Office and money orientated
Housing, support and care. None of the hats fit that your expected to wear on a daily basis. Rat infestation was constant. Abuse from customers constant because of poor management. No staff provision whatsoever. No incentive for doing 15 lots of medication on your own. PSAs were useless and avoided all responsibility. Utter chaos and a buck passing mentality throughout all management and most of the staff. With shifts going to family members.
Pros
None
Cons
Unsocial hours. Unpaid responsibility. Terrible management.
Training is provided but knowledge of the job was mostly from other staff who also hard very little experience as well. Sometimes training can be discussed but it never actually happens .
Pros
Free food staff outings manager sometimes buys staff lunvh
Cons
Alot of the time you get yelled at or insulted for things that have nothing to do with yiu
So much politics, lack of career progression, over worked, lack of flexibility, immature managers and much more where I've witnessed bullying. This company's high turnover of staff is shocking.
I worked for LACS for a total of 8 years and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I started as a support worker, then specialist, then team leader and then manager in a variety of different services across London.
I had some fantastic colleagues and some staff who went over and beyond, who really did work exceptionally hard, while I inherited some poor staff. A big issue is that you end up stuck with poor performers because the HR process was so difficult to get rid of them.
Pros
‘Some’ wonderful staff
Cons
Working 60+ hours due to complexes of service.
Been with this company for many years and IM very disheartened over the years and have had some very supportive managers, however, am disgusted with new management who were unsupportive , unprofessional bullies who treated staff like rubbish, if anything goes wrong, staff are always blamed and they’re quick to put you on capability or disciplinary!! Pay is disgusting considering they work you so hard!!
Look Ahead is a very good company when promoting people. However, the pay is low for what you are expected to do. It is a good charity that cares a lot about its workers. However, there are areas of improvement which is why the turnover for staff is extremely high leaving services understaffed
During my employ the whole process was Very good including My induction..which included thorough DBS checks..and Screening...Excellent training in all areas..of support for vulnerable persons..with the emphasis on a personal care approach (PCA) Peer support and advocacy in a Sometimes forensic setting toenable
Jobs at Look Ahead Care And Support
My team and the management were extremely supportive, however, some colleagues were successfully avoiding doing their job.
The safety of the staff and the residents was very well maintained and all the procedures were clear, all the accidents/incidents were properly dealt with and recorded without hiding anything. The clients were verbally abusive time to time, do not expect gratitude, the support is taken as granted.
I did not enjoy the work pattern as almost every day I worked different shifts (there were MANY possible shifts).
You never feel bored as there is no the same day.
I enjoyed the job, thought I felt hopeless to change the situation of the clients as their problems were too complex....
The training opportunities were great and the staff was encouraged to take it. The staff were listened and their opinion was important, however, it may differ from the current situation and my review is only about the project I worked for.
P.S. the communication with HR was horrible, they did not reply to some my emails, were rude over the phone. I had to contact them as they supposed to order my DBS. It took them over one month and the whole employment process took over 2 months.
As I am working with young at risk adults, who have either been in care or been declared homeless, it can be stressful when supporting them in finding accommodation, employment or education. I have developed my skills in finding the appropriate benefits available to my customer's and I have been successful in helping some of them find the own accommodation and employment. Also within 6 months of being employed i have been promoted to a Specialist Support Worker.
I’ve had a £300 pay rise since starting, contracts manager is not supportive to staff. The work life balance is not very good, we work 6 and 7 straight shifts in a week as part of the rolling rota.
Great work environment, there is a lot to do but it helps prepare staff for better opportunity. There is a lot to learn in short space of time. There is also training opportunity to develop
Pros
Opportunity for promotion
Cons
So much paper work
Learnt administrative skills and aspects of mental health.
The most enjoyable part is working with people from different cultures and backgrounds - seeing them achieve their goals.
Just awful . Met some nice friends but the place is dysfunctional . Management were bias and contradictory. Flexible working non existent. Just dont work here.
I have been working with lookahead since2018 ,I would like to recommend this company, the management is professional and help staff during time of crisis. Lookahead give staff chance to growing up
This is a company that loves to tick boxes especially when there is a external audit looming. Look Ahead carry out staff surveys and are perplexed as to why they fare so poorly every time. The simple reason is that the leadership do not listen to staff and carry on regardless of the feedback received. There are 2 directorates affectionally known as the Bullying (Care) and Dull (Support) directorates - self explanatory. The directorates are supported by a Heads of Operations Team that really are glorified secretaries to separate the Directors from the lower ranks of unhappy staff The Heads of operations Team look completely lost, contribute nothing and are petrified to challenge their superiors even though their direct reports suffer in the process. The HR team are clueless and CM's have to deal with most HR issues whilst the Business Partners support the directors. The Senior Team separate themselves from the lower classes in a separate part of the building with the best facilities, technology and furniture whilst bleating on about us all being valued the same. The Heads of Departments at Head Office are aloof and removed from front line staff and you are lucky to get a response to your queries unless of course you cc their manager in then they get back to you very quickly. The staff turnover in this place is shocking mostly caused by low salaries for front line staff and adding to staff stress and anxiety which results in massive levels of sickness. The senior teams strategic response to this is to award a 1.5% increase to the lowest paid staff WHO ARE ON £19000 AND - more...
Pros
Salary is always paid on 25th (even if not correct)
Cons
Senior Leadership & Management Teams
Anything I have learnt, I have learnt myself and from my contract manager.
There is no significant training available for support workers or managers around important front line experiences such as ; de-escalation, finances, managing teams, conflict resolution, not even around drug and alcohol awareness, extremely concerning I could go on.
The same trainings are regurgitated every year.
This company lacks vision, creativity, understanding, compassion and innovation.
Look Ahead (well the Seniors sitting in HQ) doesn't understand or doesn't seem to actually care about the impact staff turnover has on the overall running of services, and most importantly, the impact this has on our clients. This issue has been going on for years, no active interest from seniors at Head Office who can push to make something happen. Clearly don't care due to their lovely salaries.
Support workers roughly spend one year and a half, in services, and often recognize the grass is greener else where and leave where there are much more development opportunities, higher salaries and where there is more investment in staff, who can blame them, I can't.
There is never any support from HQ around serious incidents in services, they don't even seem to have an independent team who investigate matters arising in services, let alone a support team, unbelievable, considering how big the organization is.
Myself and the staff are directly involved in the production line of Look Ahead Care and support and this is a business need and something that should be carefully considered.
It gets tiring - more...
Pros
My staff and clients
Cons
Long Hours, clueless Head Office, gaps in training provision
Really good organisation with good career progress for those who have work ethics and the drive and passion to succeed. Exceptional support for staff and training opportunities for those who want to develop their career
Pros
Development
Cons
Needs passionate workers as day to day is unpredictable
I really enjoy to work there. My team is brilliant, and my manager is very supportive. Head office is great. If you are good, you’ve got a chance to make a career and they will give you this opportunity. Work is very interesting, and you’ve got good work/life balance. Also money is okay.
Pros
Great team and management
Cons
None
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