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      American Geophysical Union

      Engaged employer

      American Geophysical Union Reviews

      3.7

      54% would recommend to a friend

      (72 total reviews)
      avatar

      Janice Lachance

      44% approve of CEO

      38% positive business outlook

      American Geophysical Union has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 72 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The American Geophysical Union employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Non-profit and NGO industry (3.7 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      72 reviews
      2.0
      30 Mar 2015

      Very Political, tons of Cronyism and a Dysfunctional Environment

      Finance
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Decent paid time off, there are some really nice people there in some departments, despite them being completely worn out.

      Cons

      I worked there a little over 5 years and I came to learn that this place was way too political to the point of being dysfunctional. Nepotism and cronyism are of out of control there. It's totally normal to see completely qualified and competent people being passed up for others who barely know how to tie their own shes, simply because they are in good with the boss. This was very wide-spread and accepted by the staff. And the work-life balance is WAY off. Departments don't hire enough people to keep up with the workload. It's expected that you work 60 hour work weeks (in some case it's more). This is most likely the case, due to the toxic environment where managers don't want to give the impression that they can't get the work done with their current numbers. They don't want to risk looking bad by asking for more manpower. And the worse thing is people just accept this with the attitude: 'it's just the way things are'.

      3.0
      8 Mar 2019

      Great people, poor management, mostly busy work

      Program specialist
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Excellent friendships and coworkers, fair amount of time off (1 day of PTO accrued each paycheck), flexible work schedule (telework 3x week)

      Cons

      There was a lot of change while I was there that was not well planned or executed. Every time someone left we absorbed that persons work and they were never replaced. My team felt overworked with mostly busy work, not substantive or interesting projects. Extremely poor management - I was reporting to 3-4 different people at a time. The Senior Manager on my team is defensive and doesn’t take responsibility for mistakes. Morale was extremely low when I left. People are shamed for leaving, but passed over for promotion after several years. The path to promotion is very unclear and seems more about how much your manager likes you as a person - even talking about how you should be more outgoing. I would also say people who work in my department are not interested in their work which is not very inspiring.

      1.0
      29 Feb 2016

      Work here until you can find a better job

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Depending on who your Director is, this could be a good job for you. A few Directors look out for their employees, making sure they get the salary and work load they deserve. Various committees work hard to create events that get people mingling and add some fun to your work day (Art Committee especially), so that is a plus.

      Cons

      -Petty competitiveness among colleagues. It is very difficult to get anything done because there is so much competition between departments. There are too many egos that will undermine projects if it doesn’t fit their needs exactly. -Human Resources. Changing positions and salary is very difficult, and HR has often low balled employees in the past to save the company money and keep expectations low. I saw it many times while I was there and experienced it myself. -High turnover rate. The high turnover rate means a lot of stress on the people who remain behind, and tasks are passed off to random people who are not trained to handle them properly. The Directors do not support the remaining staff to be able to handle this work and just expect them to get it done. -Not enough pay and poor work-life balance. You have to work long and hard hours to be recognized, and even then you still won’t get the salary you deserve.

      avatar
      American Geophysical Union Response
      10y
      Our retention rate is actually on the high-side at 83% (the range is typically 70%-85%), and conversely our voluntary turnover is low. As noted by another reviewer, we can do better on cross-training so that vacancies are better managed during the transition, and we are working on that. HR and Directors work together on compensation to ensure fairness and competitiveness: HR does not decide on hiring salaries or the increases that come with promotions in a vacuum. In 2015, 18% of the staff was promoted or transferred to new roles that provided for professional development. Well over half the staff received spot bonuses in 2015 from their supervisors in appreciation of their work and how they live out our values.
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      ReviewsAmerican Geophysical Union reviews

      Glassdoor has 82 American Geophysical Union reviews submitted anonymously by American Geophysical Union employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if American Geophysical Union is right for you.