To be very specific, my experiences are related to Sales Division based in Manchester.
Where do I begin!
If you are considering a role at Sage, do read all the reviews.
Please note the recent influx of overly positive reviews (Sage actively encourage employees to post positive reviews on Glassdoor and actually have employed a full time individual to troll the negative reviews, she will be along shortly). Also note that negative reviews carry the same same themes e.g.lack of ethics, bullying, favouritism, leading with fear etc.
In my personal experience, I've seen some horrendous bullying take place.
The business has a policy of hiring more people than required, then using the 3 month probation period as a trial before picking and choosing their favourites.
If you stand up for yourself, you're a troublemaker. If you complain because the business is not fulfilling its contractual obligations, you're a troublemaker. If you do anything other than smile and nod, you are a troublemaker. If you try and take holiday, you're a troublemaker.
If you get deemed to be a troublemaker and don't have exceptional results by the end of your probation, you will be fired.
If you get through your probation period, little actually changes. Although Sage do have policy in place for performance improvement and disciplinary, they completely ignore it, and the business likes to remind you that the axe is hanging above your head every day
Your comp plan will require you to hit 70% before you earn a bonus (its not really commission) and at that point you get paid about 1/3. The business reserves (and regularly uses) the right not to pay earned bonuses. Accelerators are in place but require you to hit at least three metrics two month in a row. 'Commission' plans (with targets) are issued monthly. Quite often the plan isn't communicated until past the middle of the month and more often than not the targets are revised at least once after that.
On the subject of comp and if its relevant to you, mileage realistically pays out between 8 and 13p/mile, some way off HMRC's recommendation of 45p.
Accountants Division itself is in a terrible mess. I believe its seen something like 12 different leaders in the last 10 years. I've personally seen 3 different managers in the last 15 months (the first two are no longer with the business). Staff turnover is a major issue.
The biggest issues lie with middle management, who have far too much autonomy over their staff members for an organisation this size. As I alluded to above, management don't have to follow any process relating to HR, so appraisals, performance improvement etc. They can, and regularly do, under and overpay individuals based on favouritism, and regardless of performance.
Unfortunately the whole working culture just seems to be rotten, and its perpetuated by staff who have grown up in that system.
Luckily for you though (if you choose to ignore my advice), Xero, Intuit, Iris, CCH, Digita and Brightpay are currently ripping through Sage's client base like a hot knife through butter, so the suffering won't last too much longer!
