So Much Potential, Realities Are Disappointing
Pros
A unique place where competing brands come together to collaborate. One-of-kind access to multiple companies, universities, and NGOs for those trying to gain access to work in the social compliance world. Great opportunity to develop relationships. Good benefits, generous with time-off, flexible with schedules, and good at managing the impacts of the pandemic on staff and their families. Staff are smart, committed, enthusiastic and truly believe in the mission and work. Staff are also supportive of one another, genuine, and team players. Work-life balance is good for employees who draw clear boundaries between their work and personal time. As a small organization, you can wear a lot of hats and have variety in your work. Generally, employees are encouraged to share new ideas and implement them. There have been some recent efforts to invest in operational systems to cut down on wasted employee time spent on administrative tasks. The office is beautiful.
Cons
Staff turnover is an ongoing problem and likely due to a top-down culture that does not prioritize communication, transparency, employee voice, consistent internal structures, or operational fundamentals. Employees are not unionized, no worker representative structures, no established worker-management communication channels, no wage transparency, no formal or anonymous grievance channels, etc. It's difficult to make these recommendations to companies when the FLA itself doesn't follow these standards. Employees have talked about unionizing for years, but are afraid of retaliation. The lack of consistent internal structure and process impacts the day-to-day work of staff, burnout, and morale. Information is often withheld from staff and delayed communication from senior leadership about organizational decisions leaves employees feeling out of the loop. There is a chronic problem with follow through at the senior leadership level and a blind eye turned to inappropriate behaviors of some senior staff. The CEO is nice, but not inspiring, and it seems that the resistance to open communication and transparency may be rooted in her leadership style. HR has a reputation for intimidating, demeaning, bullying, and unprofessional behavior. It is easier to leave than to speak up.