driver

service technician

pat tester

truck driver

floor care technician

phs Group

I work at the head office in Caerphilly and I have to say I feel sorry for the drivers. Customers complain to them then about to us and we see told just to believe them and escalate the issue regardless of fact. The drivers work so hard and get asked to work weekends not fair head office dont work weekends unless asked to do over time. The stories I've heard about drivers from customers seem unbelievable most days yet the. Same driver has to go back and rectify an no exsistant issue and the customer practically abuses them in their return. Customers treat the drivers like slaves and seeing half the reviews here they feel bullied by management and all thanks to this escalation thing they got goin on. I feel like our drivers need to start carrying chest cameras like the police for their own safety from customers who just keep getting irate because there is not enough drivers to service all the places in the regional areas but why everything is put in their shoulders instead of head office ringing to say the customers we cannot service they we cannot and we are sorry aviod it all is rediculous. I feel like our drivers are being stressed out to the point they do not want to be in their jobs. I've had incidents where customers have refused drivers to leave their site when the needed too because they have different product that needs attending too but tjis driver is not there to that and they call head office asking why so no wander the drivers are feeling threatened when they are held against their will at a customers premsis. Absolutely outrageous please give them chest cameras for their safety at least the drivers will feel safe if nothing less. As for the complaints about speed on the roads I am not suprised they are I'd they are given time sheets that they targeted against to get the job done it's not fair on them at all. Give them the credit they deserve. For working in head office it's not too bad other than the food is rank considering its a benefit of working there. Personal milk gets stolen from the fridge? Why I've no idea but that's annoying and the training is poor people have to wait 6 months to year for rwla training to know how to close a case. There's a lot of butchiness amongst bug group about others who aren't apart of it like its comprehensive school. I also not so long ago had an operations manager at a depot refused to talk about anything as and I quote 'I'm an operations manager I don't talk about this weather its a driver or not' there is 0 care for staff at depots and I seriously think this needs to be addressed or have a HR mrmeber present to remind the managers the drivers are employees with lives and rights and they do not have to be made to feel the may they do becsuse PHS cannot fulfill anything. Operations managers need to be told that they cannot use their title as excuse not to deal with anything otherwise why are they even allowed to be a manager?such an ego on them. Head office now deal with a lot clinical waste mainly from care homes type waste where they cannot get rid of it because again there is not not enough drivers so there are vunrable old people sitting around dirty used pants and pads needles and other type of waste that could be harmful. Phs has bitten off more than it can chew and its best to sell some of the contracts on.

This Company are keen to shout their positives from the rooftops but keep their dark side very close to their chest. There have been several redundancies this year within PHS Compliance and, trust me, the process is inhuman and brutal. They keep to the letter of the law and cover their backs but there is no assistance, guidance or even sympathy for the unfortunate victim(s). It is, literally, "This is the date you go, there's the door, Bye Bye." There has also been something of an Exodus of test engineers and many have opted to exit this sinking ship. It doesn't help the situation when you look at the priorities with regards to finance. A company of this size (Not huge by any stretch of the imagination) With TWO MD's! I have never, in my entire working life, encountered this situation and I have been around for a good while. These MD's exhibited genuine pleasure at presenting the 'three-year business plan' to all employees back in March. The 'audience' included many employees who had already been informed of their impending, compulsory redundancies. Obviously, this situation was not included in the 'inspirational waffle'.  Nice move PHSC, very considerate. 
On now to the people who actually pay the wages of the middle and senior management. The field engineers. There is a production based bonus scheme in place which is wide open to abuse. The engineers who do abuse this system are not held to task as their figures make the supervisors and regional managers look good and help them to achieve their inflated targets. On the other hand, if an engineer does not hit the required targets, for whatever reason, (Try hitting 40 circuits a day fixed wire testing in a Hospital or Prison) the supervisors are down on them like the proverbial ton of bricks. 
Finally, the situation is further exasperated by a regular blog to all staff from the CEO who likes to focus on his personal life and what he perceives as positive information. Any unpleasant issues are conveniently omitted.  He tries to present a ‘one of the boys, down to Earth and approachable’ impression. Unfortunately, his attempt to appear ‘one of the good guys’ is totally transparent and fools no-one. In reality, you can’t help feeling that he is reaching out with a helping hand and a big smiling face, but at the same time his other hand is behind his back holding a large axe. 
It is a real shame because there are some great people who work for this company. Unfortunately, it isn't the great people that make the important decisions.   
I am wondering if I will receive a genuine reply to this or the standard copy and paste with a promise of 'passing it on' to the relevant upper echelon. It should prove interesting.

I worked here for a short period of time (four months) and was part of the inbound telesales team. The first two weeks here I received impeccable training which exceeded my expectations. Staff at phs invested time in the team and I had a sense of optimism about the role.

Sadly once training was over everything went downhill. A typical day consisted of sitting at a desk for 8 hours and working through staggering amounts of leads which you were expected to call up and complete quotes and contracts. You were also expected to answer the telephones which were very busy, along with online web chat. Very early on there were discussions between team members relating to work related stress. This was resulted from high workload and very minimal staff due to high staff turnover. Employees began dropping like flies, however existing team members (me being one of them) was expected to do extra work which did result in a lot of pressure and stress. 

The business seemed to have no structure. Customers would call the sales team up for any query, due to this being the only number on the website, and as a result not only did the role feel like you were working on a switchboard, but customers would get passed pillar to post which became very irritating and not good for the customer. We would also receive a high volume of calls regarding hazardous waste, however as we were not allowed to deal with this we would have to pass this on, knowing very well no one would contact the customer for months due to lack of staff in this division.

The culture here is very poor. Having come from an environment where everyone would help one another, this place truly shocked me. Each division would stick by its division and there was a sense of separation between each department. It seemed that the business works against targets' and what I experienced here was personal targets were put before customers.

The management here was poor and rather than deal with issues, they would turn a blind eye. Management did not invest time in staff or even recognition. Having expressed difficulty with workload to management, no appropriate measures were put in place to help me with this, instead I was given more tasks and told "you'll do it".

The only good things I can say about working here are:

The lady at reception - very helpful
Free food and free parking - good perk

The salary for this job is awful and for the work you are expected to do it's really not worth it. Working here was a big mistake.

I've now been working at phs Group for a year and have been reflecting on my 12 months with the company. I was with my previous employer for a significant number of years so was not sure what to expect. The interview process was reassuring and the managers that interviewed me were warm, honest about the company and the role, and gave a realistic view of the company at that time, so that I knew what to expect. I had a lot of questions which were all answered, and I was delighted to be offered the job shortly after my final interview.  

Again, after being with my previous employer for such a long time, its daunting to come to a new company for your first day so I was pleased to have such a supportive and friendly team to greet me, each one spending time with me and easing me into my new job.

The work itself is challenging, it's a busy working environment and there is never a dull moment. I've been fortunate in as much as I have a very supportive manager who trusts me to do a good job and a really good team where we all collaborate to work to the best of our ability.  I work at the head office and the people here are friendly, there is on-site parking which saves me a fortune compared to where I worked previously, and lunch is provided which is a great benefit.  

It's not perfect - there could be more benefits and different service areas have different challenges, and there are things that could be done to make some of the experiences and processes better / easier. The reassuring thing where I work is that the management team recognise this and there is a genuine desire to improve. In the last 12 months there have been significant moves to measure and improve the service, such as the introduction of NPS scores and improved training. The CEO gives regular updates on performance, and there is focus on improving for customers and for the employees. 

Overall I'm pleased I have joined phs Group, the team and people where I work are great. I was attracted to work here mainly because there was an opportunity to be part of a company that does want to be better - I was impressed with how it is caring for the environment - and am looking forward to the next 12 months.

I am a current employee with PHS and have been for 10 years. This job use to be brilliant, get an 8 hour route and go and complete it. Sadly that is no longer the case. Now we get an 8 hour route that takes 10 hours to complete. If you cannot complete it and have to send jobs back then you are expected to do overtime. If you cannot do overtime then you are expected to explain to them what you are doing after your 8 hour shift has finished, if they do not like your reply then they try to bully you into doing it. The managers and admin staff never take on what you say. They are not interested in reasons, they just see figures and lines  on their screens. The rules change constantly depending on what day of the week it is. The routes that you get allocated by the so-called route allocators are ridiculous. We are expected to repalce sanitary bins at supermarkets and resturants at lunch times which is their busiest times of day. No matter how many times you tell them nothing changes, we may aswell just talk to the door on the office. Sometimes you drive to the same road 3 times a week to carry out your only 3 customers you have in that paticular road. No sense in it what so ever.

We also have what is called the (dummy) driver. This driver (who does not exsist) completes about 200 calls a week. That means tge calls are not serviced but phs are telling the customers the service has been carried out and therfore they have agreed to the terms of the contract inplace with the customer. Drivers are also encouraged to not carry out the services correctly. I myself have been told to tip bins onsite by my manager so i can save time servicing the customers correctly and then there would be no reason for any omits at the end of the day.

Such a shame as i said originally it use to be a great place to work. Now certain collegues are told by management that they CANNOT talk to certain other drivers. Such bullies and i wouldn't blame anyone for disbelieving me. ENTER THE PHS CORPORATION AT YOUR OWN PERIL!

i worked in the washrooms in cardiff. when i got the job which was a 5 day week with weekends off. i was quite happy to join thinking PHS group are a large firm that is established. i knew the job was going to be dirty but i did not mind that for job security. i was wrong, the hours were good with having weekends off but thats where the pros end. the heating did not work in the washroom warehouse and been broken for quite sometime and there were no intention of get it fixed for us any time soon, maybe in time for July? it worked well in the managers office though. strange that! it was winter 2018/2019 and we were working with water in the freezing cold as it was threatening to snow at the time. 

you would work flat out with demands outstripping the capability of the production line due to PHS selling off vital resources for the job in the name of greed. the pay did not reflect the level of labour put in with the level of danger we were exposed too, even with PPE we still got exposed to dirty contaminated water and used sanitry towels, never mind the things that were in these sanitry bins that should not be in there, IE used drug equipment like used needles and broken alcohol bottles.

even though i got on well with my work collegues we were all fed up with the conditions we were forced to work in. but PHS solved the problem by hiring more management so whe had one manager to one operative, pathetic!!!!  

we sent out sanitry bins due to our work load not fully cleaned and serilised and due to the lack of availabilty of stock damaged and split. i am now in the lesiure industry and i would not recomend PHS and will remove the contract if i end up on site where they are used. i saw too much to trust or respect them. i know PHS do not care about any of what i have had to say here. they too greedy.

Do be careful applying for Customer Service Caerphilly, I wouldn’t suggest the role is as advertised or portrayed to be. It’s a lot of intense account management on a very outdated, massive, backward system with very little guidance or support. The stress and pressure you are put under simply isn’t worth the money or the strain on your mental well being.  

We were instructed by the two trainers that we are by no means allowed to get up from our desks or talk to fellow co workers. You are monitored very intensely on how often you go to the toilet, and how long you take breaks. Very embarrassing. 

Don’t be convinced by their 4 week training plan either, the two trainers at Caerphilly are careless and lazy. Whenever I asked a question, I was snapped at. I was made to feel so small and began to feel very anxious. We were told to leave early several times. The trainers put so much pressure on you to pick up everything, but didn’t bother teaching us correctly. Many time we were sat in silence doing nothing as we were given very little instruction. For the first two weeks we did almost no work because the first trainer simply couldn’t be bothered. I did also overhear the two trainers stood right behind me complaining about the fact they have to train us - charming! 

My own experience was absolutely appalling, I only stayed for four weeks until it got to point where even the thought of walking through the doors made me feel unwell. Very unlike me, I don’t jump from
Job to job and have stayed in the same role for years prior to these events.

The other 3 lovely trainees I trained aside also left, we shared the same disgust and concerns. 

Enter at your own risk I say! 

. I could stand working at the Caerphilly main branch for only 
2 months and ive never experienced anything like it. The office is basically run like a production line.
.  The worst induction / on the job training ive ever had. We were sent home just after lunch several times because there was no one available to train us. On one course the trainer spent 30 mins telling us about her daughter visiting her child's father in prison. (I kid you Not !)
. The Team Leaders / Managers were shockingly bad, only concerned in covering their own backs and clearly didnt have the core skills, experience or training needed for their job. There is a culture of  'you know where the door is' if you raise any issues and they have zero appreciation for the staff.

. The free canteen they make such a big deal about is bog standard at best, none of the managers will eat there and many staff still bring their own food. It definitely dosent make up for the low pay, ridiculous work load and stress levels you will experience.
. Calls for about 5 different departments are pushed through one small and understaffed switchboard. Almost every customer you speak to has complaints and you spend half your day apologizing because PHS simply does not have the staff / vehicles / depots needed to cover the contracts or give anywhere near the service levels they've promised. They were losing customers on daily basis yet you your were still given crazy targets to hit.
. Id never quit a job before but I had to tell them where to stick it for my own sanity and self respect, just like the many others I saw leave in the short time i was there. If there wasnt so few jobs in the local area they would lose half the workforce im sure.

I really enjoyed working at PHS when I was there and it is probably the best place I have worked.

I used to start around 6am and because you keep the vehicle at your home address it is straight on the road to your jobs. There was a degree of flexibility when I started so we were given the list of jobs and could do them as we saw fit. You could also take on more work to boost your earnings as there were several performance related bonuses available. 

However, over time, the company started changing the way it operated and restructed which resulted in a change to the pay scheme and instead of bonuses, they offered a chance to select 8, 9 or 10 hours worth of work as allocated by the newly introduced planning system. This made it easier for some of the drivers in places with lower levels of available work, to earn more money. I actually benefitted from the change and my income increased by around £60 per week after tax. It also increased the work rate of the drivers because you could opt for 10 hours worth of work, rush round all day, finish after about 8 hours and still get paid for the 10. Although the new system was a lot more regimented and the flexibility had gone, I could still leave my house around 6am (depending on the given start time), complete my route, get back to the service centre to unload and reload and then home for 3/3:30pm each day. It was great to be earning more but have the same amount of time to be at home with my family. 

I have heard from the drivers I used to work with that they have since changed the way the routes are planned and allocated but obviously I can’t give an opinion on that.

Within my department, there are many different types of roles. All of which are connected. On a day to day basis, we work extremely closely with credit control. Should we do our job incorrectly, it then stops invoices being paid. As a result, the managed teams within credit management essentially need each other to enable everyone to do their actual job to the best of their ability. 
My colleagues are more like family than colleagues and working with them while doing the job I enjoy is extremely refreshing. 
Managers trust us to do our jobs. They don't try and 'micro managed and they are always more than willing to support or even muck in and help out if needed. 
The culture in the business is such that we are all on the same team, we all work for the same company and as a result, we're all willing to work together to deliver the best possible results for the customers. Whether that's within HO or to the wider areas of the business including specialist business. 
The hardest part of my job? Simply put, there isn't one. Full training is given to ensure that what we do isn't actually hard. In addition to that, you are able to build rapport with customers to the point they end up as friends more than customers. And that is probably one of my favourite parts of my job by far. My colleagues and customers are like an extension of my family and I appreciate every single person. 

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