Staff is also seems fairly petty and defensive. Cliques abound. Small huddles of employees are observed on a weekly basis speaking to each other in hushed voices while cautiously looking over their shoulders. Conversation abruptly stops once others enter the room. Very unfriendly-feeling and secretive work environment.
There is alternately too much crossover between management and staff (for example: unsolicited, intimate details of upper management and Board Member's personal lives are made readily available to bystanders by gossiping staff) and not enough interaction at all (departments often do not communicate, even when big projects are at stake).
Staff turnover feels like it has become a major crisis. SEVEN employees have quit or been fired in the past seven months. Office rumor has it that these folks left on very bad terms, and some have told me that they remain bitter about the way they were treated (even many months past separation). Per my own experience and the stated experience of my co-workers, raises (promised by upper management at the time of hire) have been inexplicably denied to at least four employees over the past few years. Active rumors persist with regard to people being utterly excoriated --and possibly even "pushed out" of the organization for broaching the topic more than once.
Micromanagement and top-down criticism of lower-level employees seems to be the norm these days. One co-worker recently told me that their stellar work "always" goes unnoticed, and they are also frequently blamed for upper management's mistakes. Behind closed doors, staff members tell each other they feel unappreciated. The overall feeling of gloom is palpable.
From my perspective, long-term development and programmatic planning is non-existent. I have observed upper management to be myopically focused on short-term crisis resolution, thereby rendering sustainable growth impossible. Perhaps some secret plan exists to rectify the apparent budget problems and programmatic gaps. If this is the case, the plan is extremely well-hidden.
My final considered opinion: I think that the future of this organization is very uncertain. I would not be surprised if the organization shut down completely in the next year.
