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Discovery Place

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Discovery Place Reviews

2.9

32% would recommend to a friend

(55 total reviews)

Catherine Wilson Horne

6% approve of CEO

42% positive business outlook

Discovery Place has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 55 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Discovery Place employee rating is 22% below average for employers within the Non-profit and NGO industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

55 reviews
1.0
19 July 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

When I started working here, there were incredibly talented and knowledgeable people who cared about the mission, cared about staff, and cared about the impact they were making on the community. Those days are gone and it is not due to the Pandemic

Cons

The President/CEO has ousted all the good talent and people who truly cared about the mission. There is no regard for staff who are doing the work on the floor. The CEO will literally walk through a museum and never once speak to a staff member, has no clue what actually happens at the museums and frankly doesn't care. There is a HUGE pay discrepancy. Definitely look at the 990 before thinking about taking a job here. The ship is sinking but the CEO keeps getting rewarded. At the same time, more and more is expected of staff who get paid mere fractions of the CEO and Upper Management. There is one department in particular that continues to not meet goals, everyone knows it and yet the CEO continues to treat them as if they were the most important people in the organization. There has been a mass exodus of talent and yet no one who can do anything about it seems to see what the real problem is. Just beware. There's a reason that turnover is so incredibly high here.

avatar
Discovery Place Response
4y
Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. We appreciate and value the input of current and former employees and are committed to making improvements. Our intention is that Discovery Place be a great experience for employees as well as visitors but we clearly have work to do. I would welcome a conversation if you are willing to share more - you can reach me directly at erving@discoveryplace.org.
1.0
7 June 2021

company chaos

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

there are and were some very talented and caring people working here.

Cons

Upper Management, from the CEO to the COO. They walk around like they are high and mighty. One of them will stare you up and down, sizing up what your outfit looks like, to see if it meets their standards. Some departments are never held accountable and even though they never came even close to making budget year after year, that department was the golden child and could never do any wrong. Another con about this company is how they handle transitioning the company. Even though I was in middle management I often heard about changes via an all staff email. in these all staff emails, it would say, if you have any questions ask your manager. to which I couldn't answer the questions as I had no info to go off of.

1.0
13 July 2021

Not a good time to work here

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great organization that is a valuable part of the Charlotte community Some freedom to be creative (depending on your job) Work with children, families and schools Great co-workers Exciting things like animals and chemicals Always something new to learn

Cons

The majority of staff who were not permanently laid off during the pandemic have left the company due to the heavy workload and toxic culture. The organization has difficulty finding and keeping new staff, which adds stress to the current employees. Even before the pandemic, there was very little upward mobility, but it is worse now. The culture is toxic with a huge divide between senior management and everyone else.

avatar
Discovery Place Response
4y
Thank you for sharing this feedback. Like you, we care deeply about this organization and would like to improve the employee experience. While these are unprecedented times, we also recognize that there are areas in which we need to improve. I invite you to reach out to me directly for a confidential conversation to help us learn more. erving@discoveryplace.org
Viewing 1 - 3 of 55 Reviews

Glassdoor has 57 Discovery Place reviews submitted anonymously by Discovery Place employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Discovery Place is right for you.