Good culture, lovely people and management. Processing customer transactions, dealing with enquiries and complaints and bereavement notifications.vet busy contact centre.

Pros

Decent pension

Cons

Long call queues

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The worst job I have ever had

Customer Service Advocate (Former Employee) - Manchester - 14 December 2022

I went into this role very enthusiastic to start however this quite quickly evaporated. The training for this role is abysmal considering the amount of knowledge on banking you will require and their ‘academy’ system is absolute lies, you will be thrown in the deep end and either sink or swim. They promise more training after this in their “foundation” however you’re completely left to your own devices with no support. The systems the bank uses are also absolutely ancient and they won’t invest in newer systems. The staff turnover is unlike anything I’ve ever known and there’s a reason they are constantly recruiting. You will be sold a dream by the recruitment team however I would avoid this company at all costs - Aside from the actual role being terrible you are measured on ridiculous KPI’s down to being timed on toilet breaks etc.

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Insights into The Co-Operative Bank

Based on 37 survey responses

Areas for improvement

General feeling of work happiness
Energising work tasks
Overall satisfaction

The road to failure is paved with good intentions

Manager (Former Employee) - Manchester - 5 December 2022

Well intentioned ethics are no match for sound management. There is too much of the former and not enough of the latter. The organisation is not commercial enough in it's outlook.Sadly, I also found examples of many costly decisions that were, ostensibly, to benefit the customer (but due to lack of insight and competence) did not achieve this. So had a double-whammy effect of damaging both the business and the customers. They are trying to recover from years of neglecting their systems and processes, having gotten rid of many of the staff with the requisite knowledge to unpick all of this. Like trudging through mud.

Pros

Well intentioned colleagues

Cons

Not commercially focused

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A genuine values driven organisation

Head of Fraud Operations (Former Employee) - Skelmersdale - 21 November 2022

Having worked for the bank for 30 years I’ve seen the good times and the bad. Regardless of the organisations financial position or external profile, the bank continued to be a values driven organisation, for both its colleagues and customers. Career progression is there should you want it.

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Not the best

Customer Advocate (Current Employee) - Manchester - 14 November 2022

The company prides itself on its ethics however they treat their staff horribly. Getting penalised for taking toilet breaks, spending too much time on a call helping a customer (which sometimes is the case because the systems are SO outdated and the company won’t put money into updating these to make it easier for staff and customers). The culture of the bank for staff and customers is appalling, the customers are only nasty when the bank is genuinely at fault - I feel sorry for these customers. There is no room for progression unless you’re friends with someone in the company and you will constantly be micro managed, probably from someone who is 5/10 years younger than you. The salary is okay, but the constant calls just aren’t worth the money.

Pros

Okay salary

Cons

Constant monitoring, micromanagement

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Well-being & Culture requires improvement

Area Manager (Former Employee) - West Midlands - 10 November 2022

More focus needed on employee well-being. To much focus on selling and hitting targets. No career progression, unless you live in Manchester. Real shame, how downhill the company went

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No development

Customer Service Advocate (Former Employee) - Manchester - 21 October 2022

No development opportunities if you are part time. Opportunities always given to full timers. Was good in the beginning but you soon realise not many opportunities

Pros

None

Cons

Never ending calls

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Good balance, bad for mental health

Business Banking Advisor (Former Employee) - Manchester - 10 October 2022

It is generally a good place to work, but the work can be stressful and so can the constant monitoring.You get told at the beginning that we don't work to targets but then when you start the job fully you end up being constantly monitored on your stats and how often you use the bathroom and how long you put someone on hold for ect.If you don't meet the 'targets' set by management, you get penalised for it, so essentially you're being punished for your humanity.It's still the best place I've worked so far but looking at my job history I'm not really setting a very high bar so take that as you will.

Pros

Long breaks, good work life balance, great colleagues

Cons

No humanity allowed

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Worst job ever

Customer Advocate (Former Employee) - Skelmersdale, Lancashire - 5 October 2022

No support from managers. No respect for staff. Do not care about mental health. Really old systems which they won’t upgrade. Recruitment lied about hours.

Pros

None

Cons

Long hours, no support from management. Do not care about mental health

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Good

Assistant Manager (Former Employee) - London, Greater London - 24 August 2022

Very great place to work for great management and people who work there and lots of good benefits for offer. Good flexibility in your life with this job

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Jobs at The Co-Operative Bank

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A Poor excuse for a Bank

Customer Advocate (Current Employee) - Skelmersdale - 10 August 2022

The Co-Operative Bank is really outdated. The systems are ancient and often crash and so many customers call up with issues caused by the bans incompetence, if the bank maybe put more time into fixing the systems and taking notes from other banks it would do much better. Yet it’s more focused on it’s ethics which just ends up causing more work and effort for the barely trained staff .

Pros

Decent holiday time

Cons

Outdated systems, Aggressive customers, Busy Managers, Long Hours, Unpaid Lunch, Weekend shifts

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Started off great…

Customer Advocate (Former Employee) - Manchester - 11 June 2022

…went downhill very quickly.The first week of training was pretty much filled with reasons why the coop is great. It was all very positive and exciting. We were made to feel valued, that we’d be taken care of and this was the start of an amazing journey/career. My group and I were enthusiastic to get started! Then the second week happened…Long periods sat doing nothing whilst trying to tackle secure messages, something which wasn’t even part of our job role and should have been a two day taster of getting a feel for the system in a safe environment. Not enough trainers to give the support that was required. Pretty much a waste of time.Week three, back in the classroom! Loads and loads and LOADS of information thrown at us the entire week in preparation for the following week where the fun and games would begin on the telephones. Week four Monday morning and it was like, ok, off you go. Good luck! Change of trainers who were clueless how to help and support, who had never met us before and therefore had no idea of our strengths and weaknesses. With added learning thrown into the day just to confuse matters more and add to the work load:High expectations, little reward. You either sink or swim.I swam. Very quickly. Far, far away.

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Lied to

Customer Service Advisor (Former Employee) - Manchester, Greater Manchester - 25 May 2022

The company advertise themselves as 'ethical' and 'fair' on how they treat their employees, this is a lie. When I applied for my role they advertised "working an occasional Saturday" however, around 2 weeks into my training it was announced that we now have to work a full weekend every other week - only having one day off in the week when doing so. Also, when calling in sick I had questions asked such as "what is actually wrong with you" "if you are well enough you need to come in work", making me feel alot worse than I already was about not being able to attend work due to illness. I would not recommend working here.

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Call centre

Call Centre Agent (Former Employee) - Leek, Staffordshire - 23 March 2022

Good managers and training , however there is a big turn over of staff as with many call centres. Some customers are really rude but there are also a lot of nice ones to talk too

Pros

Compressed working

Cons

Strictly monitored

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Very stressful

Leadership Coach Manager (Former Employee) - Skelmersdale, Lancashire - 4 March 2022

Most people find ut very stressful for the money with strict difficult targets most very difficult to achieve month on month. Lots of selling and upwelling to achieve targets. Performance improvement foe anyone who doesn't achieve targets

Pros

Pay

Cons

Long hours Not much motivation

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Culture and management needs a lot of work but work life balance and colleagues were great

Delivery Lead (Former Employee) - Manchester, Greater Manchester - 26 February 2022

It's true that the work life balance at the Bank is great, and you've got lots of very nice people there wanting to do the right thing with customers in mind, but unfortunately that is all squashed when the management is not good, which was my experience and that of the colleagues I worked with. With poor management, came a blame culture that saw many people leave. Get this right, and improve the processes across the silo teams, and I imagine it will be a better place to work. I'll personally not go back though, it wasn't for me. I need a place where I can speak freely. Not where managers get away with barking at you and others, in front of everyone.

Pros

Good work life balance Able to work from home Lots of nice colleagues

Cons

No clear management, Poor processes means approvals can take weeks, Blame culture shifting issues away from management

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n/a

cashier (Current Employee) - Sunderland, Tyne and Wear - 25 February 2022

n/a targets have staff stressed and pressured into booking appointments. role is actually a sales role not a customer service as is originally advertised

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A blip on my professional radar.

Business Banking Advisor (Former Employee) - Manchester City Centre, Greater Manchester - 21 February 2022

For me, it was one of the least pleasing work experiences I've had. Felt deflated day after day, constantly being monitored and some of the call marking was ludicrous. The tendency to nit-pick on anything and class it as a 'fail', ensures you are on a disciplinary very very quickly and this only compounds the stress and gives you nowhere to go. It's only one way then... the 'managers' get you in a room and terminate you. It's all very Guantanamo Bay style too. You'll be treated like dirt, disrespected in the fact that nothing you say matters, it's already decided by the 'committee'. It's just a show, but one the managers love, because of that power they feel. It is at least, the only process in the bank that works. A genuinely oppressive experience and one I regret ever making. It's amazing really, as since then, I've worked at another company, no problems whatsoever, even promoted twice - and have met former Co-op employees along the way and they all tell the same story. 'They ruined my mental health. I had to leave, or they would sack me anyway!'So I guess it wasn't just me, as the bank managers would have you believe?My experience was dreadful and in the end, glad to be out. Will never consider the Co-Op as an employer again. The culture was shocking.

Pros

Absolutely none.

Cons

You are the focal point of every enquiry, No other team takes ownership of their mess, Everything is left to the lowest paid doing this shambolic role, Oppressive Call Marking. Constantly exasperated & devoid of confidence, Constantly failing calls when in reality it wasn't your job in the first place, They can burden you with all this for just above minimum wage, You will start at the bottom of pay threshold and will stay there

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Mismanaged and Boring

Customer service ADVOCATE (Current Employee) - Skelmersdale, Lancashire - 15 February 2022

Firstly, the work hours are horrific. You work on 6 days 1 week, then 4 days the next. Therefore, you work every other weekend. They don’t mention this when applying or even in the training! It was a shock. Secondly team leaders are not very helpful. You’re really thrown into the deep end W/o much knowledge on banking queries. You’re left making things up to customers as sometimes there are no managers around to help. And that’s a big one really, as you need a team leader to authorise certain things. Finally, your last call often goes past the end of you’re shift and you’re never reimbursed for that time.

Pros

Lovely Colleagues

Cons

Work Weekends and Middle management sucks

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So much room for improvement

Customer Advocate (Former Employee) - Manchester, Greater Manchester - 26 January 2022

My overall experience wasn't great and feel the higher ups need to look into every department! Everything is going downhill. I feel sorry for the management that have to deal with the mess the company has made for them and their teams to deal with! 80% of the time nobody knows what's going on, systems keep crashing, policies are out dated and the call waiting times and complaints are unbearable!

Pros

Break Times 1 hour lunch and 20 mins break

Cons

Understaffed and overworked

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Worst job I've ever had - my mental health is still next-to-non-existent

Customer Service Advocate (Former Employee) - Skelmersdale - 22 January 2022

The call centre made my mental health decline so much I legitimately debated jumping off the building twice a day. Management and customers were awful

Pros

Supportive, friendly team-colleagues

Cons

Irregular hours, Don't get paid enough for the amount of abuse you get from customers and higher-ups, Most of the people in training are horrible and unsupportive, People higher than your team leader are always making excuses for why call times are so bad, Absolutely no support for people with mental illnesses

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