Gates Foundation reviews

- Deplorable, counterintuitive, counterproductive management - Elitist, snobbish, crony country-club corporate culture - Misappropriation of employees' skills and capabilities - Difference of perspective from status quo is self-defeating and disrespected - No accountability for bad decisionmaking or poor work performance - No consistency with execution or enforcement of foundation policies for any given situation; there is no standard procedure for achieving objectives; foundation constantly operates by exception rather than standard - Inapproachable, unreliable, untrustworthy HR department defends perpetrators of misconduct and punishes those who report them - Displays of homophobic intolerance, racial intolerance, and ageism are not disciplined or reprimanded - Employees without managerial skills are promoted to mid-level or senior-level management - Occasional re-organizations often eliminate an employee's position without the employee's knowledge in advance or unexpectedly quadruples the workload for employees who already have too many responsibilities - Despicable treatment of program assistants (they are perpetually undervalued) - Abhorrent treatment of temporary employees - Cannot report work issues to supervisors because they are either a) untrustworthy and biased, b) contributing to the problem, or c) the ones causing the problem - Employees who should rightfully be promoted to management are patronized by supervisors - Employees are typecasted into roles; very difficult to attain higher level positions; transfers are often discouraged; professional growth cannot be taken seriously - Hypocrisy and abuse of foundation's 14 guiding principles internally among employees - Lack of privacy (one cannot make a personal phone call from workspace without being overheard by two or three people) - No sense of urgency to get things done; the culture condones laziness, procrastination, and inefficiency much to the consternation of employees who need to resolve issues quickly and timely - Several employees are frequently burnt out, exhausted, constantly worried, frustrated with no support from management - Blatant, oblivious ignorance of employees' roles and responsiblities, even among team members within the same department; many of the supervisors have very little inclination of what their direct reports do on a daily basis

When you are inside you begin to realize that the emperor has no clothes. It is a fast-paced, mean, competitive culture where people with no life outside of work excel. I began to feel like I was on survivor. I was great at my job, but the process, bureaucracy, hierarchy, constant spin and changing of directions was disheartening and made my work difficult. The worst part was watching the effect on my grantees and the field. The leadership and management are horrible. Yelling, fist pounding and insults from management and leadership are tolerated. HR is not to be trusted. The slogan is "every life has equal value" but that must only be true outside of the doors because inside there are definitely lives that are valued above others based on pedigree and position.