TNTP reviews

- The virtual working environment isn't for everybody. Most of us work from home and when most of your interactions with colleagues are via email/conference call/video call, it can take longer to really feel like you have meaningful connections with your colleagues. I now have coworkers that I truly love and trust, but it took me a solid year to feel that way - when you go into a physical office those bonds form much more quickly. - Quality of experience as a staff member largely depends on the quality of your manager. TNTP values developing strong managers more than most orgs that I've worked for, but there is still a normal variance here - some folks are outstanding managers, most are at least solid, and some are not good. If you interview to work for TNTP, don't be afraid to ask really direct questions to the person that would be your manager, because your experience as a staff member will be hugely impacted by how well you work with that person.

In terms of overall direction, the organization has been going through a painful reorganization and feels rudderless. However, this might be short-term pain, while TNTP's biggest cons are rooted in its culture. There is a major gap between how little TNTP shows it values its employees, and how much management constantly talks about how much employees are valued. Senior management clearly works for a different company than the majority of the staff. The hypocrisy between what TNTP preaches as human capital management consultants, and what TNTP practices internally is pretty astounding. A couple of examples: As most reviewers have noted, work-life balance is a serious and perennial problem. Management periodically pretends to care, offering up incredibly lame, ineffective "solutions," (e.g. a series of "tips" on how to work more efficiently). The subtext of these initiatives is always (1) some people like working all the time, so if you don't, the problem is really you, or (2) you're probably just inefficient. Thankfully, these meaningless gestures never seem to last longer than a few weeks. "You are ultimately responsible for your own career growth" is the message explicitly communicated to employees. This is a convenient way of offloading responsibility for developing staff onto employees. Ironically, TNTP touts the career opportunities and professional development it offers professionals...but they only apply to a small portion of the staff. Career opportunities are very political. When they are not about good politicking, they are pretty much luck of the draw, dependent on whether or not you get staffed on a project that is high-profile. It is impossible to truly "own" your own development when you get no say on what you work on. No amount of trainings or PDs attended will actually further your career at TNTP; you need to demonstrate that you have already done the work of the position at the next rung on the ladder. (BTW, nothing you've done prior to your employment at TNTP to fulfill this is considered valid.) I strongly believe that poor opportunities are a huge contributor to employee turnover, and personally know numerous employees who have left in frustration over stagnant career growth.