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ProVeg International

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ProVeg International Reviews

3.6

64% would recommend to a friend

(33 total reviews)

55% positive business outlook

ProVeg International has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 33 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The ProVeg International 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

33 reviews
1.0
8 May 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Co-workers are usually friendly, remote work is possible, the food is great and being able to do work for animals is an advantage.

Cons

Leadership is unfortunately incredibly toxic. Bullying is very common, inclusive policies are rejected, leadership held a meeting to discourage staff from forming a union, salaries are phenomenally low, the workload is mostly unreasonable, HR is incapable of addressing serious instances of discrimination and bullying, volunteers are being used as free labour, contracts are not being renewed despite good performances. Although most people who have worked for ProVeg agree that the culture at ProVeg is very problematic, ProVeg has not taken any steps to resolve the issues, in fact, ProVeg has invested efforts into encouraging staff to submit as many positive reviews as possible in order to improve the public image of the organization.

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ProVeg International Response
5y
Thank you for taking the time to share this feedback with us! Please excuse me for not replying earlier to it. I am sorry that your experience at ProVeg was so negative. We care a lot about our employees' experience and our culture and therefore implemented an anonymous pulse survey system ("Officevibe") years ago. It gives each team lead and the management a good understanding of how the team is doing. Your feedback is not mirrored there. We also have clear guidelines and policies that forbid any kind of bullying at the workplace and a complaints commission that can be addressed if someone experiences problems with co-workers or leadership. I would like to learn more about your experiences to understand better where our systems might have failed you. I can imagine that you might not understand all decisions regarding contract management and due to confidentiality HR and leadership don't reveal much information when a contract can't be prolonged. Sometimes, a person is no longer the right match for a position, more often it is a question of funding or organisational structure. It is not true that there was a meeting to discourage staff from forming a union or that inclusive policies have been rejected. Our DEI working group and the HR team are constantly interested in making ProVeg a more inclusive place to work. ProVeg works with Federal volunteers in Germany (Bundesfreiwilligendienst). They get the highest amount of pocket money that the service allows and a lot of appreciation. We know that volunteering for an organisation is a big gift and we try to value this by giving exciting insights into our work and providing new experiences and knowledge. We also work with volunteers who support us in their free time and while they don't get paid at all (as it is an honorary post) we do appreciate them a lot non-monetary. While our salaries can not compete with bigger NGOs or some business sectors they are increasing for many years and might have changed a lot since you were with us. Yes, we do encourage our team members from time to time to leave a positive review on evaluation platforms such as Glassdoor - but there is no pressure to lie or to write an evaluation in the first place. Again, I would love to hear from you to understand your frustration and experience better.
2.0
8 Apr 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very young, international and dynamic team, friendly and sincere team members

Cons

- Entry-level and junior positions were replaced by low-paid BFDs. Many BFDs were attracted by the promise that they might get an official employment contract when the BFD was successfully accomplished, which in most cases wouldn't happen. - BFDs were treated as cheap labor and could be easily replaced by younger and newer BFDs. - Unfair treatment and unfair termination of foreign and female employees.

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ProVeg International Response
5y
Thank you very much for your feedback. I am sorry that you can't recommend ProVeg as a workplace. I would like to reply to your thoughts to explain the system of the BFDs more. For nearly 10 years, our organisation has worked with Federal Volunteers (BFDs). The Federal Volunteer Service is an offer from the German government to women and men of all ages to get involved in the common good outside of work and school for 6 - 18 months. Ideally, the next volunteer starts right after a volunteer service ends. This allows organisations with limited resources a great amount of help for work that otherwise could not be done. But it does not allow them to replace regular jobs with a volunteer. This is a fine line for most NGOs and not always perfectly easy to draw. But we at ProVeg are very careful here to not misuse the volunteer service. We don’t use BFDs to fill our entry-level positions. Moreover, volunteer service is a good way to increase the chances of a regular position. Because we do hire volunteers for permanent positions after their service often. In fact, this has been the most important source for our hires in 2020 - around 20% were hired from existing team members, mainly volunteers and interns. However, we are very careful with setting high hopes before a volunteer starts because there's no guarantee for employment after their service time. I know that my recruiting team makes that very clear right from the start. I am sorry if your hopes were disappointed. It seems to me rather destructive when you write that you experienced unfair termination, especially of foreign and female employees. This is not the case at ProVeg. We rarely terminate contracts on our end as we are interested in a sustainable, long-lasting work relationship. Sometimes, we can not prolong ending contracts due to funding or changing organisational needs. Maybe this appeared to you as a termination. At ProVeg, we value fairness and respect very highly and it’s engraved in our culture, not only by our Code of Conduct and the respect at work policy but also by our DEI working group and the work council. It is simply not true that people are treated unfairly. I hope that my explanation helps you to understand the BFD system better now. I wish you all the best in your future career. Nora from HR
1.0
8 Oct 2023

Amazing people. Terrible executive leadership.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The people at ProVeg are typically overqualified for their positions and therefore highly competent. They are extremely dedicated. Yet they are paid a fraction of their worth. They are also kind and generous. People are happy to work together and support each other.

Cons

There are several people at the very top, who do not know how to lead. They do not have clear direction. But get in the way of those who do. It's tragic how they block good progress from being made and destroy all that is positive in the organization. It is also a waste of donor money.

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ProVeg International Response
2y
Hi there, Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and giving us feedback. We genuinely appreciate your insights into both the strengths and areas of improvement within our organization. We are thrilled to hear that you recognize the dedication and competence of our team members at ProVeg. Their commitment to our mission is invaluable. We also appreciate your candid feedback regarding the challenges at the leadership level. Constructive criticism is essential for growth, and we take concerns seriously. Since you posted the review we made several changes within the leadership team. We brought in people with expertise, made sure only the key people who can add the most value are prat of the team, we clarified roles and responsibilities, made our decision making process simpler and faster and so far internal feedback has been very positive. If you have any additional suggestions or concerns, please feel free to reach out directly. We value your input and are dedicated to making ProVeg the best it can be. Kind regards, Peter Krocka International Head of People and Culture
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Glassdoor has 50 ProVeg International reviews submitted anonymously by ProVeg International employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if ProVeg International is right for you.