Plus & Not-so-plus

An exit interview is offered to those who leave the charity. Clearly, this is not the case for short-term contractors. I was also told that matters discussed in confidence become common knowledge shortly after this interview. A former member of my team said that criticisms of a manager - made in confidence by another team member during an exit interview - became widespread common knowledge. So, like almost all Macmillan's employee processes, this is completely flawed.

Nevertheless, I sent feedback that I would have given at an exit interview, to Macmillan's HR and the then Chief Executive, Lynda Thomas.

Plus points

🌕 The London office is located at Vauxhall, which is an easily commutable journey by train. In my case, it was also possible to reach Vauxhall by bus, bus and tube or bus and boat combinations.

🌕 Staff at the ground floor reception are friendly, professional and very helpful. They are not Macmillan employees.

🌕 Free tea and coffee.

Not so plus points

🌕 The job title "content channel editor" is completely misleading. It is a text copying and pasting job, akin to that of a factory production line worker. But I can see that calling it "text worker" might be problematic.

🌕 The team is weakly managed. Senior management seem disinterested, aloof and clueless about anything 'technical'.

🌕 Obsession with meetings: a team meeting every fortnight and a 1 to 1 weekly. In my case, more meetings to discuss work. At these extra meetings, I was subjected to insults, threats and belittling comments, all designed to humiliate.

🌕 A childish management style by line manager, Sam Taradash. At the first 6 or so meetings, the "hey hey" and accompanying childish behaviour was a novelty; at the 107th, it was intolerable and hindered communications. Perhaps it was a deliberate ploy.

Also, this childish behaviour permeated other meetings where we were supposed to discuss my performance. I was subjected to childlike anger bursts and near tantrums, always accompanied by verbal insults. There were no other witnesses at any of these meetings.

🌕 Cliquey team culture. If you didn't speak to anyone, they wouldn't speak to you. The majority of team members are white and female. I got the impression that they were unused to and uncomfortable working in a multicultural setting. This contrasted sharply with the support line team, who employed many Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people. They were always friendly, whatever their heritage.

🌕 Quarterly whole team, all day meetings that required compulsory attendance. They are the most unbelievably dull events I have attended in over 40 years of working in the UK. They were dominated by senior managers - including the Cancer information development team's - who clearly liked the sound of their own voices, but had little of interest to say. A colleague and I played a game where I prodded them periodically to keep awake during these meetings.

🌕 Grey, cheerless work environment. Not a single picture or poster. Back-to-back seating resembling a production line.

🌕 Deafening noise from the Grants team sitting on the opposite side of the floor. Every afternoon, the noise level rose to that of about 1300 children leaving school at the end of their day. This team, it seemed, couldn't give a monkey's about anyone else. A few individuals, with bellowing voices, persistently yelled across the room, every single day.

While Macmillan cancer support may have been relevant and useful in 1911, as a person affected by cancer (PABC), I feel it's no longer. In my experience and opinion, the NHS is far better and consistent at supporting and providing information to PABCs.