Habitat for Humanity reviews

What used to be a lean and flat hierarchy has morphed into layers upon layers of upper management which means there are now fewer people who actually produce than there are those who "oversee" them. Not atypical to have 3-4 meetings in a day and even attend meetings about upcoming meetings. Decision-making tends to be slow and convoluted with stakeholders worried more about their piece of turf than about the target outcomes. Few in the C-level have had any field experience and those that did were phased out. Most in position now were brought in from outside corporations, but lack expertise in the non-profit world. What you hear about objectives and priorities often does not align with what upper management actually decides to do. Appearances are far more important to the C-level than tangible outcomes.

The Communications Department currently lacks any real leadership. As a nonprofit, no one expects Habitat to measure up against a corporate communications team, but I was honestly shocked by the lack of vision. Public relations leadership views a paid Cision press release not as one of many tactics, but rather as a full strategy. Lower level employees want to do so much more, but morale has tanked to the point of checking the boxes and keeping silent. On the social and digital side, things are just as bad. It's like someone googled "what is social media" in 2007, and that was the beginning and end of any strategic planning. While lower-level staff members want to innovate and engage, they are limited to a list of a few dozen drab pre-approved "safe" tweets. Poke around their twitter account and see for yourself. Big picture, I worry that the Communications Department will drag Habitat into irrelevance, especially once President Carter can no longer carry the weight of public interest. But for young professionals, this department blunts enthusiasm and relegates otherwise talented individuals to mundane, entry-level grunt work. So many staff members *want* to inspire and be inspired, but the department culture essentially forbids it. Before considering a position with this department, ask yourself if copy-pasting sleepy talking points is the best use of your talents. Ask if you want to grow your career or stall out in a shared cubicle. Ask if you can do better than this. I promise that you can.