Institute For Humane Studies reviews

IHS has two types of people: 1. The staff. They're good people by the most part and have lots of enthusiasm. But they're all junior people who have very few decision rights and equally little job security. The hours aren't terrible but they lowball you on pay even for non-profit standards. These issues combine into a MASSIVE turnover problem that others have mentioned. Competent people are usually either driven away because their work is stifled, or they are laid off due to the mistakes of the organization's Senior Management. That brings us to 2. the Senior Management. They're all paid six figures. What do they do other than collect salary? Well that's the actual mystery. It seems to be sitting around and reading management-speak books that the CEO is obsessed with and taking cuts out of the money that the Kochs and other rich donors give them. They operate as an insular little clique though and all their communications with the rest of the staff are like staged sales pitches. Orwellian doublespeak is rampant. Also meaningless buzzwords. But they don't appear to actually *do* anything that's real work. That all gets pawned off onto the staff. Unlike the staff, the Senior Management is untouchable. Actual job qualifications are meaningless among them. Instead it's all those who are promoted out of positions they screwed up and blamed on somebody else. Those who are friends/favorites/spouses of the right people on top. Some are practically invisible - they "work remotely" and even the regular staff who work under them don't even see them for weeks on end. Whenever a Senior Manager screws up, they shove the blame onto somebody further down the food chain. Then mass layoffs happen to perfectly good people on the junior staff. Sometimes it's deeply unethical. One time when I was there they ran a deficit because of all the waste in the top of the organization. Did the person whose fault it was get blamed? No. They just dumped a few jr. staff like it was no big deal. Another time they fired a guy a week after he came back from medical leave due to a serious illness. Whenever anyone asked or hinted this was wrong, all you got was more doublespeak. Canned answers. Non-protected people aren't fired from IHS - they're "disappeared" and everyone else is supposed to be quiet about it like it's no big deal. All of this does horrors for morale. It makes the regular staff into emotional wrecks. Good people leave because they can't stand the stress, the canned messages, the doublespeak - sometimes only after a few months. They shed several DOZEN of people in under 2 years while I was there. It's only continued since then from what I'm told. It's probably at LEAST a 40 percent turnover from when I started a few years ago to now. And worst of all nothing ever changes. The Senior Management just pretends this is all normal. And when it screws up it blames somebody junior and "disappears" them too. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Where to begin…IHS is a cool place, ostensibly. It has an honorable mission, it’s programs and summer seminars are well attended, and people have a pretty positive opinion of them externally. However, working there is a completely different story. The office environment is a nightmare. There’s a certain type of person who does well there, so if you’re that person you’ll love it. The worst definitely get on top. Competent people need not apply. Thus, middle and upper management is a bust. They don’t have a clue what’s going on, and I was never sure what half of them did all day. They absolutely don’t know how to organize or lead, and it’s very clear they’re making it up as they go with little concern for how it affects their employees. A lot of middle managers are untouchable no matter how blatantly useless they are. There is absolutely a hierarchy. If you’re at the assistant level, expect to be treated poorly while doing most of the work. The culture is pretty much on par with high school – it’s cliquey, gossipy, and sexist. You’ll be critiqued on yourself as a person far more than on your work. Management took accountability for nothing, and lower level employees are often blamed for mistakes. Standards are applied arbitrarily, as are promotions. Pay is abysmal, even for non-profit standards. They will absolutely low-ball you, so be careful before accepting an offer. Given its many deep-seeded issues, IHS has very high turnover. You’ll either get pushed out or quit, good luck making it more than a year. They fire people like it’s their job, and sometimes they’ll fire entire teams at once (no warning). I’ve lost track of how many friends of mine have left or been fired. I made an effort, I wanted to make it work. I was very vocal about the issues I encountered, but not only did bringing it up not help, it worked against me. If you see a problem, keep your mouth shut because vocalizing your concerns will blacklist you. Once you leave IHS you'll basically have to go through recovery, and many former employees joke about being in a post-IHS support group. Bottom line is I deserved better and so do you.