GMB’s survey of our members in British Gas shows that morale is at rock bottom, employees feel bullied and pressurised, and are angry at the direction the company is being taken by senior management.
GMB gives British Gas employees a voice.
As GMB members in British Gas know, your workplace organisers came up with the idea for the Union to conduct an employee opinion survey. Senior management make great play about the results of the company's employee engagement survey, which they say shows that British Gas is a great place to work.
However, your workplace organisers didn’t believe that the company's employee engagement process properly reflected the feelings of the British Gas workforce. One common complaint was that some managers stand over employees whilst they are completing the company survey, and question anybody whose responses they aren’t happy with.
So GMB issued every one of our members working for the company with a confidential questionnaire, to give you the freedom and opportunity to have your say about what it’s really like at British Gas.
The British Gas workforce responded with a clear message
You sent back over 3000 responses to the questionnaire. By any standards, this is a very high response rate for a postal survey. The feedback shows, beyond doubt, that your workplace organisers were absolutely right to be sceptical about the integrity of the company employee engagement survey.
It‘s very clear that all is not well at British Gas:
- Over 85% of respondents said they thought there is a bullying management culture in British Gas.
- The response to the question “Do you believe that One British Gas is a great place to work?” was an overwhelming NO by a massive 9 to 1 majority. A very high number of members wrote underneath this question "It used to be".
- Where members were asked if they believed morale is good amongst British Gas employees, the vast majority circled either 1 = Not at all, or 2 = Not very.
Bullied, under constant scrutiny and intolerable pressure
A huge number of members also took the time to respond in great detail to the invitation to make other comments. The number of members who wrote at length about their experiences working for British Gas and how this affected them was astonishing for a survey of this nature.
A very large number of those who responded expressed the opinion that British Gas management has completely lost touch with it's employees and see them as just a number in the business, or a robot working in the interests of profit.
- “I feel that management are only interested in managing figures, rather than any kind of man-management of us as engineers”.
All staff - whether they are Engineers, Sales or Service Centre - said they felt under continuous pressure on a day-to-day basis due to the performance management system that is used as a stick by senior management to bully and pressurise employees.
- “Day-by-day the company is getting worse and worse to work for. The pressure is always on and they make you feel as though you are never doing enough for the company. There is absolutely no trust whatsoever. A big issue is made out of trivial things and it feels like managers are waiting for you to make a mistake so they can pounce on you”.
In particular, a high number of Engineers said they felt that the specialist role which they had trained for, and were qualified to best carry out, was being consistently undermined by the constant pressure that was applied for them by management to act as Sales Representatives. Skilled engineers with technical knowledge and expertise are simply not comfortable with the management pressure to sell to customers rather than focus on providing them with a quality service. Time and again, the constant pressure to prioritise selling to customers was identified by Engineers as the biggest source of discontent with the current British Gas management regime.
- “I used to love working for British Gas, but I haven’t felt like that for a long time. They don’t value an engineer who can repair a boiler, although they value an engineer who can sell a boiler. Now, it’s all profit and no customer service”.
Another issue that was frequently highlighted was that of work-life balance. A very high number of employees reported that there appears to be no understanding amongst senior management that they have families and are entitled to a life outside of work.
- “The company pushes engineers to the point of mental breakdown. Too many jobs are dumped on engineers with not enough time to complete them within the normal working day. The company treats engineers like machines that don’t have social lives and can work whenever, and for however long, the company sees fit”.
The pressure from the performance management system and the constant scrutiny was also identified as a cause of stress that affected employees even when they were away from work. Employees care first about customer service and safety Of huge significance was the high number of engineers who voiced their specific concern at the safety implications of the new culture of performance management and the close monitoring of the time taken to complete jobs. It was quite clear that engineers feel forced to cut corners in fear of reprisals, under the performance management system, for not meeting unreasonable targets. Many engineers are convinced that, working under conditions of constant pressure, British Gas employees and their customers are being put at risk.
- “There is a very one-sided approach to poor performance. Reasons for so-called poor performance are rarely listened to by management. When safety is given as a reason for not completing a job quickly enough, it is completely ignored, thus encouraging unsafe working practices”.
There were some very strongly worded warnings about the implications of the corner-cutting culture for safety. Many of you expressed concern about the prospect of employees and customers being injured, or worse, and the damage this would do to the good reputation of British Gas. It was pointed out that there had always been a strong safety culture within the company, but with important safety standards being compromised by corner-cutting, British Gas is in danger of losing its place as the flagship company in the industry.
- “I feel we are now putting our customers in danger. The engineers are put under great pressure day-in, day-out. There’s not enough time to complete jobs and corners are being cut. It’s the customer that doesn’t get the service. Our jobs are not safe. All this will result in someone getting hurt or worse”.
What also shone through from the responses was how strongly British Gas employees care about the customers. You care about how the pressure being heaped on you by management is affecting the service you provide to customers. Many of you commented on the need to put customers first, and how this does not seem to a priority shared by British Gas management.
- “I’ve always approached my work aiming to give quality workmanship to the customer. Now, due to the recent cuts in job times I feel increasingly under pressure to get to the next job, which will inevitably affect both safety and workmanship”.
- “I have just about had enough and am looking for a new job. I don’t like the way that British Gas operates, through dishonesty and greed, both with customers and its staff. The volume of work we are expected to get through in a day and the impossible targets we have to try and achieve are ridiculous. It’s high time British Gas management took a long hard look at themselves.” GMB members believe that Phil Bentley could destroy British Gas
There is strong evidence that GMB members believe that things have got a lot worse since Phil Bentley took over as Managing Director. His aggressive style is seemingly permeating throughout the business.
- “Phil Bentley is the problem. Management attitudes are: if you can’t do any more work you will be sacked; if you don’t like it, then leave. British Gas is not a nice place to work. Increasing the profits matters more than anything – even safety”.
The excellent reputation that British Gas has for looking after customers and safety has been built up because of the hard work and commitment of the employees. Phil Bentley's behaviour is not only damaging employees but it threatens the very reputation of British Gas.
It is apparent that GMB members working for British Gas believe there needs to be a radical re-think of management styles and an end to the empty rhetoric from Phil Bentley about caring for employees. This needs to be replaced with a commitment from Phil Bentley that he will listen and respond to the legitimate concerns of the workforce.
- I feel I am treated with contempt by management and regarded as the lowest of the low. My safety and welfare is of no concern at all to them. British Gas is now a company whose primary motivation is profit above all else.”
GMB members spell out the way forward for British Gas
GMB members have told the company that they want their concerns addressed now. In order to make progress, GMB National Secretary Gary Smith has written to British Gas outlining the first steps that need to be taken:
- To take steps in trying to rebuild trust, an agreed independent third party must be brought in to review what has gone wrong with industrial relations.
- Any negotiations over the future role of industrial employees, including pay and conditions, must involve an agreed independent third party. This is to ensure any agreement is adhered to by the company. A framework for any negotiations should be agreed by all parties in advance of any talks.
- As part of negotiations about the future there must be a specific agreement on the process of performance management. Any system of performance management must be supportive and not simply a stick to beat employees.
- Where any negotiations consider the issues around availability or flexibility, there needs to be an acceptance by the business from the outset that our members have a right to a decent work life balance. Industrial staff do have a life outside the company and it is not unreasonable to demand that senior management recognise this fact, and for adequate and appropriate safeguards to be put in place.
- The negotiations must also reach agreement about future industrial relations structures and we demand revisions which protect the right to collective organisation and bargaining.
GMB members want Phil Bentley to show them some respect
The huge response to the opinion survey and the consistent message that emerged show that GMB members working for British Gas are angry and disillusioned with the actions of their senior management. Morale is very low and employees feel bullied and unappreciated.
- “I don’t think morale has ever been lower. Installation engineers feel undervalued, unrewarded and insulted by the cuts in job times which were already difficult to achieve. Management’s attitude is that we are ‘lucky to have a job’, which is ridiculous. In fact, British Gas is lucky to have so many highly skilled and conscientious engineers. We are the company’s greatest asset”.
- “I will never recommend working for British Gas to anyone I know”.
- Having worked for British Gas for 33 years I feel totally worthless. It seems that all the top management are now interested in is making fast buck from all the hard work that employees have done in the past to create a first-class company”.
Yet, despite their dismay, GMB members consistently expressed their desire to be allowed to provide a better service to customers. British Gas employees don’t want to see the company ruined by the arrogance and aggression of one man. Phil Bentley has instigated the changes which threaten the reputation of British Gas and he must act now to regain the trust and confidence of his workforce.
GMB has laid out a way forward. British Gas employees should be treated with dignity and respect. It was the efforts of the workforce which built the reputation of British Gas as a company.
Unless he changes course, Phil Bentley will destroy that hard-won reputation and do untold damage to British Gas.
GMB WON’T ALLOW PHIL BENTLEY TO WRECK BRITISH GAS
