Poor Leadership and Management - demoralizing environment - Anonymous employee National Organization on Disability Employee Review

NOD is an organization with a mission to increase employment for individuals with disabilities. Yet I never saw any evidence that their work actually increased employment for people with disabilities. Unfortunately on a daily basis I saw employees belittled because they asked for time off for doctor's appointments, refused accommodations for their disabilities, and their confidential disabilities "outed" to other employees. Turnover rate is high (2020 was an exception because, well, where could anyone go)...because people are treated with disrespect and the president is prone to tantrums, requiring employees to speak up in staff meetings and then embarrassing them when they do, requiring employees to take personality tests (at high cost to the organization) and then keeping their confidential results tacked to her office bulletin board, and using the results to judge and mock them in her anger, insisting that employees talk to her about other employees, and guilting employees into going to happy hour with her so she can grill them about what is being said about her. It is quite common for leadership to yell and scream openly at an employee, then ask them for a "big hug" when finished. Board preparation takes an inordinate amount of time, as numbers continually change and the narrative of how the organization is performing is exaggerated. Goals that are stated to the board are often unattainable and projected revenue has little or no basis in fact. Constant turnover provides cost savings and balances this because when one employee leaves it usually takes a long time to replace them, if ever. There is a bold distinction between "junior staff" (employees) and "the president's office" (comprised of 6 people in a 12-14 person organization). Junior staff are not given development opportunities, training or other opportunities to learn, despite repeatedly asking for it, and are instead given projects such as writing large grant proposals and managing large programs with no guidance given - unless and until it fails, at which time they are blamed and belittled, or thrown under the bus to the Board. There is a revolving door of finance employees and/or consultants (the title of the finance person changes each time one quits or is fired), who suddenly leave when they dispute the questionable numbers. The constant ridicule, blame, guilt and shame at one's "inadequacies" (a term used quite frequently by the president), leads many employees to experience anxiety and dread of the president's questionable and unpredictable behavior. The president told two employees she would "shoot them between the eyes" if they followed another employee, who had just quit. Compounding the oppressive environment and bullying is the unusually high salary of the president who makes close to 1/2 million dollars in a small non-profit organization. Morale is at a consistent low level and any kind of employee collegiality is looked down upon and questioned as "employees conspiring" against leadership. Working there was a terrible experience for me and for many others. fyi a normal workweek is 9:00 to 6:00 (45 hours per week for 40 hour pay) and employees are questioned and called out if they take time for lunch, come in late or leave early. Hopefully it has gotten easier for employees to work a 40 hour week since the company is currently a remote environment.