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Institute for Public Health Innovation

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Institute for Public Health Innovation Reviews

4.2

82% would recommend to a friend

(55 total reviews)
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Michael Rhein

85% approve of CEO

54% positive business outlook

Institute for Public Health Innovation has an employee rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, based on 55 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Institute for Public Health Innovation 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

55 reviews
1.0
29 July 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Generous medical benefits and some adherence to COID-19 emergency workplace laws for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Cons

No employee representation on contract with Fairfax County Health Department.

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Institute for Public Health Innovation Response
5y
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. Standing up a 400+ person COVID-19 emergency response workforce in a few short months certainly came with some challenges, and there were bumps along the way. We also recognize that some staff had hoped it would be a remote job, but the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) determined that an onsite workforce was critical to success. Regarding holidays, because it’s an emergency response and we have the goal of reaching every case and contact within 24 hours, a sizeable portion of the workforce does need to work most holidays unlike some of IPHI’s other employees working on other projects, however there is additional holiday pay for those days worked. It sounds like there may have been some miscommunication or misunderstanding about workplace safety, as IPHI and FCHD take that very seriously, and we work closely together on that. IPHI and FCHD have a comprehensive set of COVID-19 safety policies and protocols in place and provide training, supplies, ongoing workplace monitoring, and free testing and wellness support when needed. Regarding tenure, over the six months to date, we have had transitions with less than 20% of the workforce, which is about what we might expect for temporary positions of this nature, as many staff left when they found permanent employment or as their situations changed (such as returning to school) in the context of the pandemic. In the last several months, we have also made quite a few promotions from within, which is terrific. We recognize that being part of the initial months of launching this major pandemic emergency response required extra flexibility and patience. We are doing everything we can to ensure that employees are supported, safe and successful in their roles. We sincerely regret that you had a negative experience during those early months, and we certainly welcome additional feedback and comments at Feedback@institutephi.org. Thank you again.
1.0
29 May 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pay is good for COVID related roles - particularly for entry level positions. Some teams/regions have strong internal culture and support. Participating in the COVID response is meaningful, intellectually stimulating, and good professional experience

Cons

IPHI absolutely lacks any level of self awareness, flexibility, or compassion. I can only illustrate this with concrete examples. Inevitably as we approach the end of May 2021, a need for a reduction in workforce arose as cases declined. What follows is the way IPHI chose to respond to this - an event that they knew would eventually happen over one year in advance. One morning, staff supervisors and managers were all met with 8 security guards patrolling our floor at 9am rather than the norm, which is 1 guard who sits downstairs. Staff at all levels requested clarification due to concerns about a possible security threat that we were not aware of and no further information was provided. At 10:15, staff were directed to join an all staff meeting at 10:30. Here I will note that this was the first and only IPHI staff meeting we have ever been invited to. In this meeting, the CEO of IPHI spoke for 15 minutes about how great this pandemic has been for his personal career and his organization. He and others smiled and laughed while talking about how some staff might be ‘relieved’ to hear that, effective that day, 30% of staff would be fired. He speculated that we must be ‘tired’ and ‘grateful’ to be dismissed. The meeting ended, and over the course of three full business days, staff either got an email saying they were being retained - or got an email saying they had one hour to vacate the building. Those who were fired were escorted out CLOSELY by security. The rest of us were expected to return to work immediately. Some people were forgotten and had to sit alone in their office while the rest of their team packed up, until management remembered they exist and went to fire them in person. Some other concerning things I have witnessed over several months: - Leadership only wearing masks when other “important” people are around - Talented and tenured staff being fired over small availability changes (in a department that is staffed 365 days per year) - Staff unexpectedly reduced from 40 hours to 32 hours, new staff later hired to work 40 hours before offering those shifts to “full time” (but >40hr) staff - Zero actual support from anyone who works at IPHI regarding concerns regarding 1. Safety and sanitation of worksite 2. General information regarding employment 3. Conduct concerns. IPHI signs my checks but other than that I am lucky to hear from them in any capacity. - New staff are hired without even knowing the address (or potential addresses) they may work at. You are not told until the end of week 3 of training - which is one business day before you must report there. If you call and email IPHI headquarters (to attempt to understand *where* you will work before accepting the offer, you will not receive a response) Overall, IPHI treats its contract employees as 100% disposable. It is clear they care more about convenience than compassion. It is also clear that IPHI is in this response for notoriety and money - which, while my intention is not to be petty, truly must have been needed. I have spent time and effort trying to understand what exactly IPHI does.. since they act too busy to support their COVID response staff (and because I genuinely do care to understand who I work for) .. and truly I have yet to find any concrete contribution or project led by IPHI that has benefited the health of people in the DMV. While the COVID response is a unique situation I truly believe that any company that would rip away 100 people’s income *and* health insurance with one hour notice during a pandemic is one that will never treat any employee with respect and care regardless of the time or context. Avoid these folks who don’t even pretend to care for the people *actually* responding to the pandemic while they collect that good County money and relax at home - where they’ve been since March 2020.

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Institute for Public Health Innovation Response
5y
Thank you for your review. Constructive feedback is important to us as we strive to do right by our employees and handle sensitive situations in the best manner possible. We understand layoffs are never easy to announce or to be the recipient, however, we truly value our employees, both temporary and permanent. It has been a great honor and privilege organizationally to provide the Fairfax County Health Department with a workforce to fight COVID-19. Our employees are our greatest ambassadors and each employee’s contributions, during one of the most important projects we’ve ever embarked on, was vital. We would not have been successful without our staff’s daily passion and commitment. We pride ourselves on our reputation, core values, innovation, and collaboration. We would like share a different viewpoint on some of your comments and also hear more from you on your experiences and suggestions. As someone who has firsthand knowledge of our operations, your perspective matters to us. If you'd like, please contact us directly to set up a time to talk: feedback@institutephi.org. Sincerely, Taya M. Jarman Institute of Public Health Innovation Communications Director
4.0
21 Sept 2015

IPHI (Great places with some growing pains)

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Collaborative environment, Staff heavily involved in the creation of Office Culture, Rapidly growing, Provides great benefits, Friendly and Supportive,

Cons

Understaffed (Programmatically, Administratively), Little to no funds for Professional Development, Work/Life balance needs improvement, No succession planning or preparation for turnover, Modest Salaries but DC has high costs of living

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