Management Trainee Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at GIST. Once I got to know my team and others around me days were fun and varied. The good thing was you could have banter with fellow colleagues and decent conversations. Down to earth and friendly people that you could genuinely get along with, both mangers and operatives. Additionally work was varied and the sooner you become multi-skilled and the ability to work cross-chambers both in the Cold Chain and Ambient, job variety increased.

I felt to a good extent valued by my colleagues. Praise was given when it was due and as you learn more and apply yourself, you win more people over especially those that are more wary of you at the start. This was the case for operatives and managers. The key is a bit of give and take, and vary what the operatives do. Return the favour i.e. operative does extra time for you on a busy day or delays their break to help out, on another day when they need to go early try and work that in to the plan.

Starting your placement you are given good support by your depot and you are paired with either experienced graduates or long standing shift managers who will show you the ropes and guide you. Expect to make mistakes, but learn from them. You are also allocated a mentor (senior manager) and a buddy (existing Grad). I didn't use these much however others found them of more use. Also had regular performance reviews with Line Manager so you knew where you stood. With the Line Managers I had you could easily knock on their door if you had a problem as you could with the Depot Manager if the problem wasn't resolved lower down. However after Christmas, directional support was less. What they didn't make clear is you needed to be pro-active and say this is what I want to do next. Otherwise you got stuck in a role with no progression. There are opportunities, just ask. Communication was also poor at times.

Workload was reasonable and what you would expect in an Industry that is prone to cycles of Peaks and Quiet Periods. In the run-up to Christmas volumes in the Warehouse became naturally higher as did the workload since you were managing a greater number of Agency Staff and the number of vehicles to load was higher. Because food consumption spikes so much in the week before Christmas we had to work 12 hour days. However as there were lots of things to do so it went pretty quickly. There are also much quieter periods when volumes are down and you can work less than 8 hours but still get paid for 8. Here the focus switches from service to cost and your role is to maximise efficiency, namely by getting operatives out the door early. i.e. not running out of work. Knowing your boundaries; where, when and how to cut and in what way to redeploy labour takes some time but its a useful skill. You start to see each activity for what its worth! Overall hours are ok. However there was a slight culture of long hours. The key is to be organised and arrange a smooth handover to the nightshift or preceding shift manager. Assert yourself. There is a tendency to do long hours to show willing but its counterproductive! You should always aim to balance it out.

Working in the Warehouse you were given full responsibility for teams of operatives, both Full Time employees and Agency Staff. Initially in your first 2 weeks you are given small amounts of responsibility as you become accustomed to the role however this steadily increases as your prepare for Christmas Peak having started in September. By 1st December you can fluently run the pick and/or manage the outloading of vehicles. These skills become refined as you progress up to Christmas. Post peak the emphasis is on you exploring other areas you would like to gain responsibility in. The key here is to sit down with your Line Manager and discuss areas within the site, that business wise require extra managers. For example I mentioned I was interested in Trunking and 2 months later a position became available when the Trunking Team were facing difficulties and extra support was needed. The 2nd half of your Placement requires you to be proactive and take opportunities when they come. For example there was the opportunity to take part in the Interviewing and Recruitment process for new operatives in April. Team wise you deal more with absence, performance and discipline.

This placement was an extremely valuable experience for me. Previously I had very limited work experience so it gave me an insight into the "real world", outside the Academic bubble. Most importantly it developed my people skills. I became more confident dealing with difficult situations, and learned how to engage and motivate people who were quickly bored by routine. Furthermore I learned how to look after a diverse team of people and communicate to them. Kind of obvious in saying but you don't tell them how to do their job but encourage them to use their initiative and become less reliant in managerial direction. Probably the hardest thing is dealing with people 20-30 year your senior. The key is showing respect, listen and learn from them. They have lots of useful tips that make your job easier and help achieve the Warehouse Productivity Targets!

The General atmosphere was friendly. Occasionally there were instances of people going above you or arguing over things but these were normally resolved and you felt like you could work well with fellow Line Managers. Good banter and people would always help you out or cover for you when things arose. Just don't focus/create your own empire as this irritates others.

Overall it was fairly organised, especially at the start. However just after Christmas the placement scheme was restructured, as was the HR team at Head Office. Consequently resources were diverted towards existing Graduates at GIST and placement students were left in the dark about things and I didn't do roles that were originally set out for me such as working in Transport which was a shame. Consequently I felt January and February were a waste. However it did improve and eventually things were made clear but it always felt a bit ad-hoc from then on.

A reasonable amount of training both on and off-the-job. Mainly on-the-job training and learning through doing. Formal training is limited for placement students but the courses you do go on are worthwhile especially Leading in an Involved Environment course which is done at head office . More extensive formal training is done for Graduates.

Future prospects are very appealing with GIST. They are growing their business outside of their primary areas, have won a notable long-term deal with Customer M and S and make healthy profits above the industry norm. Graduate and Placement wise they are plenty of opportunities to progress and quickly climb the pay skill. Just depends how well you learn and deal with people. Graduate and Placement scheme has changed so they now take less but it means more opportunities within.

Fairly good social scene. People would often organise nights out and there was the ocassional work do that was fully paid. However some weren't interested and it didn't happen that regularly. Many went home and did stuff with mates, etc. Good to have a social but you need to organise it and have people willing. Otherwise its best to do things out of work with different people so as to switch off from your job!

Living around Hemel, on the outskirts of London things were always going to be a bit expensive. Notable rent is the killer. Main tip is look for somewhere to live that isn't on the main line into London if you are going to work for GIST in the London Area. Hemel is very expensive given that the housing ain't that great apart from around the old town. Luton is an option as its onloy about 15 mins up the M1 with plently of side roads to Hemel if its blocked. Nights-out were typical London prices. If you are used to Uni prices think again - higher drinks prices and club entry. Food was on par with elsewhere. Just shop around. Petrol varied. On the whole Hemel expensive, Watford Luton, High Wycombe cheaper. Overall London services cost more that further north!!!

Hemel nightlife wasn't that great. Only a couple of clubs. Best were Olley's and Froomes (albeit expensive for what it is). Can go to St Albans which is more upmarket but better London itself which has plenty to offer. Taxi back from St Albans to Hemel is a lot! Might as well get a travelcard and go into the city.

Not many activities outside of work to get into to be honest as it just wasn't the scene. If you were friendly with a couple of the guys it was mainly the Pub or 5 a side you could get into but not really much. Look to join some clubs not linked to work down there. Though I know a lot of Grads went home regularly to see mates and family.