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      British Council

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      British Council reviews

      3.7

      64% would recommend to a friend

      (2,312 total reviews)
      avatar

      Ciarán Devane

      61% approve of CEO

      45% positive business outlook

      Ratings by demographic groups

      British Council has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 2,312 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The British Council employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the ONG y Organizaciones sin fines de lucro industry (3.7 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      2K reviews
      2.0
      Jun 20, 2018

      Missing talent pipeline, hi-po system, career progression

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      21 days of annual leave 37.5 working hours per week a great place to retire

      Cons

      poor salary in the local context there is no career progression, there is no talent pipeline, there is no training needs analysis, there is no identification of high potentials, and talent is lost to competitors. vacancies are hired externally while internal staff gets no support to grow/develop/upgrade. zero opportunity to take on senior roles internally because such roles are usually give to external hires or UK expats. annual batch recruitment exercise is conducted for senior roles across the world and such roles are perceived to be generally reserved for UK expats only because it is basically a merry-go-round between the selected few. such opportunities or batch type exercise is not provided to junior level management or even executives and middle management. company is quickly becoming top heavy and bottom lean, and inverted triangle. expanding regional teams while cutting manpower in operational and business support units, teaching centres making a huge loss. poor hr practices. processes and procedures move at a glacial pace.

      2.0
      May 7, 2018

      Depends who you are and where you work

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      If you're a UK appointed working overseas benefits are pretty good Some pretty flexible and sympathetic managers

      Cons

      There is a lot of favouritism, getting on is as much about playing the game and sucking up as it is about being good at your job A lot of senior people at the centre and in the regions lack much needed leadership skills There's a lot of change at the moment managed by people who are not particularly qualified Poor internal communications Very top down, the thoughts and opinions of UK appointed staff in many countries are valued more than local/national staff who have been employed for numerous years An increasingly fearful organisation that lacks confidence in the face of e.g. FCO and DIT colleagues. Very short-termist at the moment

      4.0
      Mar 11, 2018

      Good place to work

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      British Council is a extremely interesting organisation to work for. The scale of the organisation makes it fascinating. The organisation has a positive mission and does good work. Work life balance is very good. Very friendly place to work from a cultural perspective.

      Cons

      Slow paced. Lack of engagement from other parts of the organisation when trying to move initiatives forward. Immature processes, particularly in HR. Decade long public sector pay cap means salaries below senior management levels are relatively uncompetitive even when compared with some other public sector bodies.

      Viewing 109 - 111 of 2,312 Reviews
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      ReviewsBritish Council reviews

      Glassdoor has 3,230 British Council reviews submitted anonymously by British Council employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if British Council is right for you.