RNLI Employee Reviews

Great team spirit and work life balance. However, there are a lot of overpaid managers and this needs sorting otherwise they will continue to lose good people. Overpaid seat warmers stay forever and progressive, proactive and undervalued staff members leave eventually unfortunately

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Fun but changing

Trainee (Former Employee) - Poole, Dorset - 31 August 2023

Was a fun job, but changed for the worse as time went on, team were a bit clicky at times. I would say on a whole I enjoyed my time, just felt like the organisation stopped caring about the team

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Insights into RNLI

Based on 47 survey responses

What people like

Sense of belonging
Ability to meet personal goals
Clear sense of purpose

The best summer job

Lifeguard (Former Employee) - Cornwall - 17 August 2023

Surly the best seasonal job in the uk. Great active job, especially if you love being down the beach and in the sea. Brilliant training from the rnli, very rewarding.

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Very flexible hours

Face to Face Fundraiser (Former Employee) - Wales - 12 August 2023

Had a great time working as a Face to Face fundraiser. Great culture. Management was very good and helpful in terms of training . Hardest part of the job - working outside when it’s raining.

Pros

Great work culture

Cons

Rain

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A very different role than that which I was used to in working life

Paid Face to Face Fundraiser (Former Employee) - Brixham - 1 August 2023

Typical day, set up the pod and try and encourage people to sign up for membership,learned that people are really short of money and dependent on demographic too. Some amazing conversations with people passing-learnt a lot about life and others too. Management was supportive and fair, spent a lot of my short time as a f-2-f fundraiser as solo working, just circumstance, usually team of two. Most enjoyable part, being outdoors, different locations -local. Just wasn't the right job role for me-that's all.

Pros

Outdoor life, even in the rain. No two days are the same

Cons

Like the vast majority of jobs these days -target driven.

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Overall Positive, poor people management

Coxswain Mechanic (Former Employee) - Scotland - 18 July 2023

The RNLI is full of good people who are working towards a good end goal, unfortunately poor people management and a convulated operating system mean staff are often frsutrated and management powerless to support them properly.

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Great place to work

Boat Builder (Current Employee) - Poole, Dorset - 17 July 2023

Great place Great benefits. Good home work life balance. Laid back company with no one on your back all the time. Unlike the place over the road. Free hot drinks.

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Great organisation, with many amazing positives to working there, but with some negatives that could be addressed.

Product Coordinator (Former Employee) - Poole - 30 June 2023

On the whole, an amazing organisation & a good employer. There's a reason there's a lot of "lifers" that work there & have done for decades...Sometimes there can however be a revolving door in certain roles, & a simultaneous struggle with "we've always done it this way" mentality due to the old dogs.Not enough development & promotion internally offered in some instances, seemingly preferring to hire someone with an impressive looking CV who doesn't actually know the role, department or charity, but comes in & takes charge (badly) of those who feel ignored & then eventually leave. Just a wasted potential when it happens.

Pros

A phenomenally worthy cause that seems to give most a drive & passion in their work, Great pension, Good flexibility & work life balance (depends on department though).

Cons

Can be too big an organisation, The left hand often doesn't know what the right is doing, Internal communications need improving to encourage interdepartmental interaction, Lack of support from line management regarding development & progression.

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Poorly managed company.

Project Manager (Current Employee) - Poole, Dorset - 27 June 2023

Company no longer looks after staff or assets. Too much empire building and cost cutting. Speaking out is seen as negative and ends up with poor performance reviews. Staff turnover is highest its ever been. Staff stripped of all benefits including final salary pension, disturbance allowance. Staff are left out of pocket when working away from home.

Pros

No pros left

Cons

Wage, stress, time away, no health care, top heavy management structure.

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Enjoyed all aspects of job

Kitchen Porter/Assistant (Former Employee) - Poole - 22 May 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Team working good when organised What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Staff not turning up, full booking What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Good generally kept busy, new people training for rnliWhat is a typical day like for you at the company?Very busy breakfast and weekends

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Jobs at RNLI

Technical Contracts Manager

Fantastic Job

Beach Lifeguard (Current Employee) - North Devon - 1 May 2023

The job itself can't be beaten really. It's very exciting and you're always doing interesting things. Can be very intense one day and very relaxed the next. Sometimes higher ups in management can be difficult, and sometimes feel that we could be treated better, but given how good the job itself is you tend to ignore that.

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Great sense of achievement through work

RNLI Beach Lifeguard (Current Employee) - Gwithian - 21 February 2023

The RNLI are fantastic to work for. Great training provided. Supervisors are supportive. Great team morale. Time off is sometimes an issue, but management will help you in anyway they can.

Pros

Outdoor work

Cons

Can be put in stressful situations

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Productive and good work place

Laminator technician (Current Employee) - Poole - 4 February 2023

Very good place to work with a sense of achievement. Reasonable pay and work with a good team. Treated with dignity and respect. Good pension and all round good charity

Pros

Pay and pension

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Organised, fun and excellent management!

Face to Face Fundraiser (Current Employee) - Bideford, Devon - 11 January 2023

A great organization that truly cares about its employees! A very good system of management looks after people. A lot of opportunities for progression.Great locations and great communication- every day looks different depending on the weather and event!

Pros

Locations, Events, Bonuses, Flexibility

Cons

there isn't any

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Great job

Face to Face Fundraiser (Former Employee) - Wales - 2 December 2022

Role was challenging at times e.g fundraising during the cost of living crisis and in bad weather but overall rewarding. If you care about the charity and want to make a difference then this is definately the role for you. Just remember on those soggy days that you are supporting an amazing charity that saves lives !

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Could be such a nice place to work but isn't.

Finance Manager (Former Employee) - Poole, Dorset - 28 November 2022

Senior management at Director level are very poor and unable to lead effectively. Organisation is too focused on being politically correct to operate well. Management look down on both middle class supporters and blue collar crew.

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Looks slick and shiny from the outside

Estates Engineer (Former Employee) - Poole, Dorset & Coastal - 24 November 2022

The RNLI volunteers are an amazing and dedicated group of people. Being a paid member of staff is a different kettle of fish. A level of guilt exists that you are never quite doing enough and this is exploited by the SLT. Some departments, in particular engineering, are 40% understaffed. A backlog of work exists and stress levels are high although you rarely see people off with stress - it’s just not the done thing to do within a charity environment. Burnout is common and 10-12 years seems to be an average level of service before you feel you’ve given your pound of flesh and it’s time to move on. Sadly when you leave you find that the skill set you arrived with has been somewhat diluted. It’s a job you take home with you; at first this feels great but it’s not a sustainable nor healthy work / life balance.

Pros

Good cause, interesting, nice people

Cons

Disorganised, lack of focus, long hours, worrying about workload.

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Top heavy

Boatbuilder (Current Employee) - Poole, Dorset - 6 November 2022

Top heavy with management that don't care about the guys on the shop floor. Lots of talk about care but no action just a tick box exercise. Prepare to be bullied if you don't have a strong character by team leaders

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Need work

Office work (Former Employee) - Poole - 31 October 2022

Staff very welcoming and friendly, will do all they can to help. Management need to see and listen to staff. They pile on more work without listening to the people doing it, how much more it is what's involved. They say they care about mental health, take holidays, recharge, then in same sentence say to work harder, with less resources. Resources not there to cover work while away so it piles up for when your back.

Pros

Friendly people, charity where you do feel you help

Cons

Management expect lots but give little

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Productive and fun,nice place to work enjoyed the position

Production Operative (Former Employee) - Poole - 15 August 2022

Enjoyed this position, liked working for the charity.Good fellow workers, interesting place to work, every day was different and learnt a lot during my time there.

Pros

All

Cons

None

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Systems Technician

Systems Technician (Current Employee) - North West - 9 August 2022

Good job at a steady pace (most of the time), mainly spent doing planned maintenance on boats/tractors along with repairs. Good meeting volunteers and a lot of the stations are in really lovely places. The coastal maintenance department as a whole is generally a close knit well ran department, its the upside down pyramid of mangers that lets the job down. Communication outside of your team is generally very poor with no one seemingly able to make decisions or answer their phone.Progression is non existent unless you know somebody who is willing to share the interview structure as nothing you've already achieved in the organisation is counted for. Roles designed to help technicians move up the ladder have been hidden behind pay budgets for years and only given to a select few who end up doing the same role for more money. Pay has fallen way short of the external market in recent years despite the introduction of manager after manager. For me its a job for now, not the future, its a shame as there is so much potential if they were more willing to acknowledge the level of skill and cost savings technicians bring to the coast.

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