Bill_S

I like being an outlier... you know the data aren't real without a few.

gad33

Don't know how true this still is, but the UK is one of the few countries where accountants are paid more than engineers. So I am not surprised that you have a better experience here.

I'm not saying that accountants shouldn't be paid well, it's to illustrate that the UK does not respect engineers whereas other countries have a different attitude.

scrubbedexpat091

I've worked in several companies with senority systems but unless they were a manager or supervisor, the more senior employees had no more right to tell anyone what to do then the least senior person.

However senior employees will attempt to boss newbies around but those who stand up to them will generally be left alone.

MB-Realtor

Change is not always good, In my 20 years dealing with NHS Supplies they changed from Depts/wards/units ordering, to a Hospital wide ordering dept, to County wide, to Regional, to National. Then it swung back and forward between various levels depending on the next bright spark idea.

Most people I spoke to in the NHS would have liked a brief period of stability before the next reorganization came along and changed everything, again.

Posidrive

As some have said, "how long is a piece of string". It probably depends to a large extent on the type of business. While in Canada I've worked for 2 companies, both in a software development role for the oil and gas industry and have found the atmosphere in both companies to be pretty laid back as long as visitors from the USA parent were not present in the building. I get the impression that Canadians like to do their own thing but aren't willing to risk upsetting the corporate types.

Sadly I'm soon moving back to the UK to do the same job and have expereince of the office environment back in the UK. I'd much rather be in the Canadian office.

Only downside of Canadian offices that I've found is their lack of interest in a Friday lunchime pint which was always something to look forward to back in the UK

Danny B

I work in a very chilled out atmosphere, casual dress, iPods, pop corn machine, drinks cooler, loads of banter and piss taking going on.

This is my first real Canadian job so maybe I was just lucky?

criodain

online marketing?

Whiskers

I have only worked for one company whilst here. It was a transfer from my UK Company and the culture is very different.

Blame/ Seniority complex alive and kicking here!! My manager is also a non-Canadian and really struggles with this to. I have a guy at at work who can remember my name perfectly well when we are alone yet get near some clients and he suddenly forgets it…. a pretty sad example of ‘one up’ culture.

Other side of the coin - my OH works for a small firm in Langley and loves it! Everyone working together, good fun, less politics etc. (I’m trying to bag myself one of these!!)

Tangram

Now there's a sentence I just don't understand ??????

Danny B

No, IT.

Yoong

My work place is changing ,becoming more acute and violent due
to the demands of patients that have psych,drug addictions and medical conditions. We went through rough periods,with the help of the Unions,
HR and Labour Relations,we reconciled our differences with our treatment team.

The nurses who left during the conflicts,came back because they said
other places were just as bad.

I think we have fairness in our work place and it did not matter who we
had problems with,regardless of the rank,there is always someone to listen
to the problems and come out with workable solutions.

Yoong

Lemonfish

Lots of things I like about my workplace, generally great bunch of people, but when something goes wrong there is definitely a blame culture. My OH finds the same in her work too.

Think it is due to some kind of deep-seated Canadian insecurity. Fear of being found to be inadequate, a lack of confidence basically.

This is also why it might be tough to get new ideas accepted sometimes - people lack confidence to make big changes and take big decisions.

Another thing is that communicating is pretty badly done, esp if giving people bad news. People seem to hate confrontation or telling someone directly and constructively they got something wrong and how to do it better next time. See more poor leadership here than in UK also.

Can see why hard-working immigrants from around the world often thrive here - they have more a lot more entrepreneurship than most Canadians, I'd say.

Don't agree with the lack of sense of humour thing though. Work mostly enjoyable in that way.

Iain Mc

How long is a piece of string indeed.

My experience is similar to Danny B's.

I work for a privately owned software outfit in Vancouver and the work atmosphere is absolutely brilliant. Flexible hours, accommodating attitude to time off, family needs, etc., regular team sports with a great turn out, happy owners who send all their staff personal Christmas cards through the mail, etc. They even took everyone in the office to see the new Star Trek film last Friday afternoon. Couldn't be more friendly.

By contrast the last place I worked in the UK was for a big corporate (a US financial outfit) and it was absolutely awful. Bloated middle management, backside covering, fear and blame stalked the halls, etc. Horrible, I'd never go back.

Mind you, a lot of this disparity may be a more general corporate vs small company thing and not necessarily geographically significant.