Pros
Medical Benefits Paid leave and vacation days (salaried employees) Friendly Coworkers
Cons
Poor work life balance High turnover Gender pay inequality Favoritism in several departments Poor, absent leadership There are significant differences in experience for employees at ELIC. This review pertains to the home office. Only after leaving did I realize how far below the bar ELIC falls in some of these areas. While working in the ELIC bubble, I commiserated with colleagues when it came to these issues as “working for the cause”. Actually, the ways in which this workplace fails to create a positive work environment, especially one that values ALL employees, was rather shocking. While health benefits are universal, and everyone has the ability to participate in fun team building type picnics and holiday celebrations, the day to day experience is negative for many females in the organization. There is a pervasive “in” club depending on your likability, youthfulness, and usually field related experience. An employee's ability to find upward mobility within their department is not reflected by work performance. Those women who find a little traction by gaining an interdepartmental management title are often rewarded with a fraction of the salary compensation awarded their male counterparts. Men are encouraged, trained, and invested in through leadership positions while women are not. There are also frequent significant differences in compensation between male and female employees, particularly in the recruiting department. Often, a lower wage is discussed as the compromise of working for a non profit organization, but salaries for women are often below other ranges for similar non profit work places while the male salaries do not suffer for it. Senior level management travels often and is either unwilling or uninterested in creating a culture of equality. This, despite the often repeated sentiment of “family” circulated in the organization. During my years at ELIC, I heard the sentiment from several male departmental leaders that women will eventually begin their families, or “we’re not sure how long she’ll be here,” when discussing staffing changes and role transitions. In speaking with colleagues I heard the feedback repeated, “You’re doing great work, keep doing what you’re doing. You’re destined for great things.” ie - you’re a great worker, we need you, but we aren’t willing to promote you or raise your compensation according to work load, position change, or years invested in the organization. Usually, I repeat, the males with “families to support” are not subject to this same sentiment. In terms of daily work, long hours are required of many roles. While not uncommon in workplaces, the most annoying aspect of day to day work comes from the frequent changes, reorganizations, and reversals that happen. In the name of creativity, projects are changed up last minute, project leaders are removed or added, and work load is often increased due to lack of planning and forethought. This especially applies to the recruitment, and likely marketing teams. Many nice individuals work in the offices. Some roles have standardized expectations that are not necessarily subject to the above complaints. But considering the largest departments work with recruiting and field-related support, these complaints are pervasive. Unfortunately, in the name of serving a greater cause many work related injustices are propagated in the home office of this organization. Many changes in/from directional leadership are needed to create a productive atmosphere that values all employees and creates the “family” environment desired in this small office.