social worker

business support

technical officer

team leader

support worker

Kirklees Council

As section manager of a Building Surveying group carrying out Repair and Maintenance of Schools and Public buildings there was never a dull moment due to unexpected problems that would arise on a daily basis.

Driven by regular mandates cascaded down from either other council departmental initiatives or from central Government, or changed due to regulatory or policy changes of political parties.

The council had it's own training facilities and a training department who facilitated the learning requirements of council staff of all areas from blue collard staff of the 'trade departments' to office staff, technical and management of all levels.

Through the various management training courses attended I honed my management skills in attendance management, recruitment and selection, disciplinary protocols, technical guidance, Health and Safety responsibilities and training of staff. Also the softer skills were always covered within the management training.

I believed in an open door policy where staff could call into my office and discuss any work of personal problems or concerns as relevant.

To motivate staff, I held two one-to-one meetings with my staff every year where there progression through the salary levels were monitored and discussed and checked that they were meeting the criteria for their particular salary grade at that time. Their training needs was also discussed and new training programmes would be arranged and budgeted for to enable them to climb the progression ladder.

The hardest part of my job was managing contracts with other council departments.

The most enjoyable part of my job was giving praise to staff who had done well following feedback from clients when work had been completed to their satisfaction.

What can I say about Kirklees Council? Well I suppose I should thank my senior manager for giving me a brilliant reference and that she was very supportive. However that is where anything good ends.

I came into the job having almost a decade in an enforcement role, I have dealt with many challenging situations but i was not prepared for what awaited me at Kirklees. Favoritism was rife in my team and supervisors would often lie and play staff off against one another. There was zero training, and other new starters really struggled to get to grips with legislation that we were tasked to enforce and would quite often be belittled for getting it 'wrong'. I was the victim of work place bullying and was told within 3 weeks of starting that I wasn't liked as I was too enthusiastic...this came from the mouth of my supervisor. I lasted 364 days in the job and i feel guilty for leaving my fellow colleagues behind in such an awful environment. I would strongly advise you get to know any department before you start and ask questions relating to how you develop. Staff turnover within the team was horrendous but no one at the higher levels ever questioned this. 

Be warned also thay Kirklees also pay less than other local authorities for doing the same job....

If you have an interview I wish you the best of luck and I hope you end up not where I did. 

Typical day consists of organizing gas servicing and repairs throughout Kirklees district using an online diary system. Speaking on the phone arranging appointments and dealing with emails. 

I learn how to cope under pressure for example in winter when the workload increases. People ring up with no heat or hot water and you've got to deal with it the best way possible. I do this by being honest and approachable and put myself in the tenants position and show empathy. 

I've been lucky enough to have had good managers in my current work place. I have found them all good listeners and very approachable when i need to speak to them about something. 

My colleagues are all team players, we help each other where required and are also able to loan work and get on with the day to day tasks. 

Hardest of part of the job is informing tenants that we cant quite meet the expectation of getting an engineer to their property straight away due to other pre booked appoints. Each job is categorized from routine jobs to Emergencies so you've got to determine whats realistic to do.

The most enjoyable part of the job is when you've made an appointment with a tenant and they appreciate the effort made to accommodate them.

I would go in to the Office. I would set the computer in motion for downloading budgeting and monitoring data to spread sheets. Or it would be the following few days and I would be reconciling the downloaded data to the general ledger. I learned about the complex formulae in several spread sheets and how data was automatically passed from one to another. All the time the computer software was being updated. More efficient systems were employed but checking the transposition of the numbers was the same. I was not over impressed with management. Because it was a politically correct environment communication was restricted. When a managers only topic of conversation is Oldham Athletic FC , then that does not leave much for intellectual debate or discussion. My co- workers were mainly women and their general conversation was restricted on the same lines or perhaps lack of intellect in the first place. The hardest part of the job was the interminable boredom. The best part was successfully completing jobs whether it was processing batches of invoices or the budget monitoring jobs.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I’ve worked for Kirklees for 7 years cleaning in a school and a cook in a school ,I love my jobs and also the people I work with .my job can be full on at times but also fun and rewarding 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
For me getting up at 5.30 and start cleaning at 6.15 then after straight to my other school to start my cooks job ,I am finished at 1.30 then the rest of the days mine 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is great ,Kirklees council make sure yr well looked after and updated on your courses .Social standards ,dress and laws ,is all very good .

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day working in my school kitchen .I start a 5 hour shift at 8.30 .I start by mixing a hot pudding or maybe 100 cookies for lunch ,making 140 jellies then putting into the fridge to set ,I will also share jobs with my supervisor,I could be making cheese pinwheels or baking bread ,counting fish fingers or sausages,making mash for 200 and veg ,I help serve dinners and try get a head for the next day

A typical day at work would consist of visiting service users in their own homes, assisting with Personal Care, Food Preparation and also working along side Occupational and Physical Therapist's to be able to complete the service user's rehabilitation as well and as quickly as possible to allow them to become independent in their own home after discharge from hospital. Management are always on hand with support.
I have learnt so much in my role after attending various training courses. The hardest part of my job is taking a step back and having to let the service user's try do task's independently without my support. The  most enjoyable part of my job is the satisfaction of seeing the progress the service user's make with my support and the pride you take from supporting them back to full independence and giving them the confidence to live again in their own home.

Has provided me with a wide variety of skills.
A typical day as a Childrens Centre manager would be checking e mails,addressing staff first thing and check activities for the day in the centre and outreach work making sure relevat staff available.
Addressing any parents issues which may arise.
I had gained many management skills around their supervision policy and appraisal system for staff.
I had to complete Buisness plans and service plans for the centre whilst making sure the centre was compliant towards the O FSTED inspection.
The hardest part of the job was completing all the paper work when KMC introduced the OBA model (outcome based accountability)
Which was do able but staffing was not.
I enjoyed the wide variety of skills required for the job and every day was different.

Absolutely the most horrible place to work. Whole establishment rotten to the core with cronyism, incompetence, Laziness and  lack of moral values are all displayed  here. The incompetent rises to the top aided by acquaintances alliances and family members, only to be exposed as clueless , unprofessional  and (uneducated in some cases)
megalomaniacs. 
When , or if this incompetent unprofessional manager is challenged, the well trained legion of H.R and Higher management hierarchy appear as if from nowhere ( as prior to this are rarely seen) and go into  overdrive  to manipulate, clean up and cover up  the mistakes or problem and shift the blame. Ensuring everyone gets to keep their carefree life of doing as little as possible for as much as possible and not upset the status quo.


Throughout my time working at Kirklees building services i have improved my work skills and learn new things.
On a typical day I issue jobs to the electricians and take outbound calls from Kirklees tenants
I log calls for tenants, stairlift repairs and public building throughout Kirklees.
I also pay the work men's wages every week, i manage complaints and pass relevant information to different departments within the council. I also raise orders for our electricians to attend jobs on call out

Whilst working for Kirklees council i have learnt first aid and taken courses in safeguarding children and vulnerable tenants. 
The most enjoyable part of my job is seeing my work colleges and logging jobs for tenants.

Days were repetitive, spent a lot of time covering the same ground. management were pretty indifferent as were other colleagues. At times I felt I was only paid to wear a badge and present myself in public. Very little room for progress, a lot of laziness and corner cutting. Enjoyable part of the job was working for the public, they always showed an appreciation over and beyond the council itself. Manual Sweepers place a lot of pride in the communities they work in and maintain. Where an employer shows no interest in recognising the hard work of its staff but takes all the praise for itself can be pretty demoralising. Budget cuts to public services broke the job.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Social worker 10 salaries reported	£38,287 per year
Business support 4 salaries reported	£27,700 per year
Technical officer 1 salary reported	£45,000 per year
Team leader 5 salaries reported	£42,484 per year
Support worker 2 salaries reported	£11,768 per year

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