Poor culture and mission drift - Anonymous employee Kinnect (OH) Employee Review

Staff bonding Ate a lot of ordered out lunches

All the programs felt very siloed, it was as though there was very little interaction between programs.

The organization has such a great opportunity to make significant systems change in the child welfare field. There have been some great professional development opportunities, like the Dare to Lead training. The organization has decent benefits for a small organization, and they have made some small improvements to benefits recently.

I had such high hopes for this organization during onboarding and training. The culture seemed to so inclusive, and I loved what the organization professed to be about. However, as time went on, I realized a significant gap between what is talked about and what actually happens. For example, feedback is verbally encouraged and being open to other viewpoints is emphasized, but many staff do not feel allowed or safe to disagree or express anything to contradict leadership. Authenticity is encouraged, but if your authentic self doesn't match leadership's, then you are put in metaphorical "time out." I have heard leadership described as "classist." Brene Brown's Dare to Lead principles are inconsistently applied, even weaponized. It seems that leadership and their select favorites are exempt. When a staff member anonymously submitted this as a comment in a staff meeting, many heads nodded, and a few brave souls came off mute to share this validated their feelings and put into words something they have witnessed. I have serious concerns about the psychological safety of the workplace. If you bring up concerns, many folks have recounted being made to feel that they are the problem or issue (aka gaslighting). Even worse, a surprising number of people of color have left the organization recently. I'm not just a disgruntled employee - this organization is positioned to do some truly meaningful work for families and children, but this culture will get in their way. In my time with the organization, I've heard multiple external partners express similar concerns about the organization, and that's not going to further the mission. Some of the brightest folks are being stifled. I genuinely want to see things improve, but it feels like there is no safe place to bring this feedback internally.