About us
Greater Manchester is one of the country’s most successful city-regions. Home to more than 2.8 million people and with an economy bigger than that of Wales or Northern Ireland. Our vision is to make Greater Manchester one of the best places in the world to grow up, get on and grow old. We’re getting there through a combination of economic growth, and the reform of public services.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority(GMCA) is made up of the ten Greater Manchester councils and Mayor, who work with other local services, businesses, communities and other partners to improve the city-region.
The ten councils (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan) have worked together voluntarily for many years on issues that affect everyone in the region, like transport, regeneration, and attracting investment..
What we do
The GMCA gives local people more control over issues that affect their area. It means the region speaks with one voice and can make a strong case for resources and investment. It helps the entire north of England achieve its full potential.
Website: https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/jobs/
Reviews
Great work environment
Pros
Good leadership, working on engaging societal problems, good flexibility
Cons
Sometimes difficult in seeing benefits on the ground
Positive
Pros
Very engaging and intelligent workforce
Cons
Sometimes difficult to see and appreciate delivery on the ground
Fast paced, dynamic, motivating environment
Pros
Contributing to development of skills and economic potential in large conurbation; lots of highly motivated people around you; good salary scales and opportunities to progress
Cons
Sometimes feels very political and expectations can be unrealistic
Advice to Management
Don’t expect the impossible from people; respect and use prior experience
Great Work Life Balance!
Pros
Great Work Life Balance
Fulfilling work
Cons
The pay is low compared to the other private organisations
Toxic work environment
Pros
Fair pay (in theory), flexible hours, good organisational response to Covid (in terms of IT equipment and office set up)
Cons
Very poor team structure – lots of managers with little managerial experience and not enough officers doing the work. Teams don’t work together but battle between them. No real action following Best Companies survey results. Overworked, told to hold time for a lunch break then managers put meetings in. Toxic environment in some teams, colleagues expected to always go above and beyond with no acknowledgement or thanks. HR are nowhere to be seen and exit interviews are held with your manager, so little opportunity to say how it really is.
Lots of unhappy people, but rather than exploring why so many people are leaving, managers just think that it’s because of other opportunities – pretending there’s no issues when there are. GMCA colleagues act like they are better than everyone else, very critical of partner organisations but don’t reflect on their own outputs and outcomes.
Lots of people saying they are struggling with mental health and wellbeing, people crying in team meetings / signed off sick and managers just say ‘there’s a link on the intranet’, rather than reviewing very high workloads and supporting colleagues better.
Advice to Management
Really look at why people are unhappy and make real changes. Ultimately, it comes down to workload and middle managers who are making officers lives very difficult