I loved it at first but left with a different view. Change is important, but the direction of it is even more.
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Very good company and office structure. Excellent equipment and technical support.
I have the impression that the CEO really believes in the company and works to make it grow and reach its full potential. I find him to be a person who cares about Holidu.
Flexibility of work and workation are good advantages to improve work-life balance.
The summer party with all the company's employees flying in from all over Europe is a nice and motivating event.
Team events are also usually a great time to build team spirit (but as I said above, it's not guaranteed that you'll have them, and it may be that, indeed, with the budget to do four a year, your team lead will organize one or two).
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
This is only about the CHT department, not the whole company. That's the part that saddens me the most. I used to love working at Holidu.
The company has grown, and it's important to worry about costs (understandable). The problem was that the head of the department wasn't enough to meet this target, so they hired someone above him to do it. Then everything changed.
Quality is no longer the focus; staying within the company's budget is. The problem is that this is costing the company in other areas.
Colleagues have had to reduce their hours to cope with the stress (on medical advice), have started taking anxiolytics, and have clear signs of burnout and other issues in their mental health that were initiated or aggravated by the work. Colleagues have started skipping lunch to work more, logging on Sunday nights to see how their cases are doing. To solve this, they implemented a tracking system that timed everything you did in the software, which backfired because it only increased anxiety and stress.
It breaks my heart to have to write this because it was a job I was happy with and in which I would have liked to have built a career. Unfortunately, my colleagues who are still there continue to suffer the same kinds of pressures and suffer from so many changes focused on saving money. That's what this department has become: better numbers and less quality and humanity.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Please listen to your employees and not just to the leader who gives you information from their perspective.
CHT is not valued in the company as it should be. The service constantly drops in quality in search of performance (check with HO's). But don't just look at the numbers to justify it. Take the happiness check questionnaire more seriously. Maybe even make a second one for the departments with the lowest happiness scores.
If many employees start claiming the same thing, something deeper is wrong. HR has heard the same things in exit talks.
Look at employees' health. It's neither healthy nor normal to consider burnout and taking anxiolytics an acceptable side effect of the new management measures and policies.
The company was not like that before and could be great again.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
It used to be 5 stars. I truly appreciated the working atmosphere. It was great; everyone was involved and united. For that, I will still give 2 starts.
Unfortunately, our department changed so much that the team is now disconnected, and stress levels are on the roof. Not necessarily amongst all colleagues, but more because we can't waste time to be able to achieve all the new targets, and trust is definitely shaken.
I can confidently say that employees are afraid to speak their minds. Many are already quietly looking for other jobs.
Kommunikation
General-wise, I guess the company communicates with employees well and lets you know the next steps.
Department-wise, there are weekly meetings and constant 1:1s with TL, which is great. However, they are not efficient anymore. It is all about numbers and how we were not doing it enough. Practical solutions are not set to help, they are just told to be followed; employees have to fit the new way of working regardless. We do not feel heard by the TLs, head, and director anymore (unless it is something technical to improve numbers).
When they decide it's time to "part ways" with an employee or to let someone go as a "mutual agreement," there is no transparency for the co-workers about the true reasons and parameters. They might claim it is for privacy reasons, but there is no need to lie or change the reasons. Immediate disconnection is set, not even allowing you to say goodbye to your co-workers (this happened more than once).
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Again, it pains me to have to write this, but my first 2 years used to be 10/10. We were a united team that helped each other. There was respect between TL, no arrogance, and totally open communication. The day we went to the office in person was a day we looked forward to. Many of us even became personal friends. Team events were a cool, chill moment for us, and 1:1's were a time to talk, listen, and grow.
Unfortunately, the team started to become segregated, and not just because they built a huge team from our department in another country. Initially, this wasn't a problem at all. We would look forward to seeing them all in person at the summer party. But with so many changes, increased pressure, and stress, cooperation diminished.
It's sad to say, but things got strange, with rivalry between colleagues. Team spirit went from very present to non-existent. Colleagues started to write that we might be a "team" like that in quotation marks. There was no interest in interacting with each other anymore. We win as a team is, sadly, just a slogan.
Work-Life-Balance
The possibility of working from home is great, and working in other locations is also a huge advantage, especially in an international team. This allows you to work while traveling or visiting family.
I deducted one star because there started to be a delay in planning the high season, which made it difficult to plan big summer holidays in advance (which can raise costs). Some weekend planning was also done at the last minute (such as who would cover the markets for special events).
Vorgesetztenverhalten
In the beginning, I had amazing TLs who communicated very well and understood the particularities of their market focus. They brought solutions to improve performance and cared about the quality of the work. Back then, I would for sure give 5 starts.
TLs have been redistributed and overloaded, leaving no quality time for this working relationship, with many extra tasks too. 1:1s then started to be all about numbers, and anything we suggested was either not considered or ignored. Comparisons between colleagues from the TLs themselves became explicit, and a ranking system that greatly increased work stress.
Some have done unprofessional things (like telling an employee a list of names of colleagues who have complained about you), and I would say that they are not qualified for the role (even though I like them as a person).
Interessante Aufgaben
The cases can be stressful, but they also present unique situations, allowing you to discover cool travel possibilities. Funny stories and humor between departments were present at various times in the early years.
Gleichberechtigung
I can only say this about my department. Only men are in the top leadership positions (director, head of department, CEO). For team leaders and other technical positions, yes, we have a lot of women, but unfortunately, I can't tell you about salary equity.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
In general, the company and our department have always been younger, with a start-up atmosphere (as indeed it was). I don't think this was intentional, but it is due to the company's history and environment.
Recently, older people were hired for the CS department. The intention was good, perhaps to bring more maturity to the team. I don't see any age restrictions as company policy.
However, the management of the department itself found it difficult to manage these new employees, as the pace of work and the pressure to perform increased greatly. This made it very difficult for them, and the company took the decision to "part ways."
Arbeitsbedingungen
There's nothing to complain about here. You'll get good, quality, new equipment. If you have any problems, you can ask for a new one. You can take screens home with you, and the technical and IT assistance is excellent and fast.
The main office is spacious and bright. Great structure.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
There used to be a department just for this, dealing with sustainability. However, it seems to have been reformulated, and I can't say exactly how it is now.
There are donation campaigns once or twice a year (I can't remember for sure now) where we can choose the institutions that will be granted financial support.
Gehalt/Sozialleistungen
This can vary greatly depending on your position and the country in which you are located. I know that my colleagues in Spain always complain about the low salaries.
There are annual increases and salary reviews, but they are very small.
There's the argument that it's always the market average and that we're always on the same level as the competition. The thing is, Holidu's customer support service does a lot more than just answer phones and write emails, so it should be compensated more.
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Unfortunately, I can't say much about the company in general because we don't know what it's like in other departments. This is probably because most of them work from home or don't go to the office on the same days.
Overall, I'd say the company is a good place to work. But I wouldn't recommend working in the CHT department.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
The department has recently offered new vacancies and the chance to move. However, there is first a test phase of a few months, and the salary compensation is not so great. Unfortunately, some of the successful colleagues also changed their behavior, as if they had become people's managers.
As the department is considerable in size, there is, of course, no opportunity for everyone (which would be difficult).