Association for Talent Development reviews about "parking"

Where to start, the place is a mess. The CEO is like a puppet master and the rest of staff are puppets. I have not seen any place which is ran by such a strong hold and no one dares says anything. If you do say anything, the next thing is you are out the door (quietly). If the CEO says left is right, the whole company will have to follow. This creates an environment of fear and politics.

Workloads are insane and the more you manage to accomplish the more they give you to do, usually without either a raise or promotion. Organization is ruled by a culture of fear. Everyone is afraid to say anything that would be construed as complaining or rocking the boat. HR is supposed to be, to some degree at least, an advocate for employees but nothing could be further from the truth at ASTD. HR absolutely cannot be trusted to back you up if you go to them with anything. People frequently "disappear" from the staff. I've never worked anywhere where so many people get fired.

Fakeness, lack of communication, and fear is abundant.

The leadership is terrible. A lot of brown-nosing goes on here. They keep Directors around even after the entire department turned over and complained. He was given a different role eventually. They elevate people that are clueless and then they fire lower staff, only to be fired later themselves DO NOT work here. You will be glad I warned you. Everyone leaves there and gets a better gig at the larger HR Association. Save yourself the headache and just apply there. They have no clue of how to develop people, yet that is what they are selling After this experience, I would probably never work in the Association space.

Working at this company ruined my career. Even from the start of my interview, I could tell they had not bothered to read my resume, as they were reading it while I was sitting there. When I was hired, I started as a temp, even though I was told I was intended to be hired full-time eventually. Essentially, I was working full-time with no benefits and a reduced salary for four months. After working there as a full-time temp for four months, I was eventually promoted to be benefits eligible. When I was onboarded both times, you typically go to lunch with someone within the company. The first day I went to lunch with my supervisor, who was completely cold to me the entire time, and eventually, we both ended up eating in complete silence. The second time I was onboarded full time, I was assigned to go to lunch with someone, and they canceled on me, and never was rescheduled. Needless to say, I never felt welcomed or wanted there. Working in the office, I have never felt so lonely or isolated despite being surrounded by people. The office was also a very drab place with no natural lighting and felt like a prison. When we were working from home during the pandemic, I felt completely isolated from the rest of the company and only really interacted with four people, and my interactions always felt rigid. However, I felt relieved to not be anywhere near individuals who were clearly miserable and complained constantly, and also drank excessive amounts of alcohol, often while in the office. For a company that prides itself on training and development, and making “a world that works better,” they could not be more hypocritical and don’t do anything to successfully train their staff to do perform necessary tasks in their jobs. While I was encouraged to ask questions if I had any, I often felt that I was being an inconvenience or a burden when I did, as my coworkers would seem annoyed. When I did make mistakes in my work as a result of a lack of clarity, it was treated as a catastrophe, despite the fact that articles were literally published on their website describing mistakes as learning opportunities. I felt unappreciated, micromanaged, untrusted, and frankly felt as though I could not do anything right despite my best efforts. I never felt as though any of my strengths were utilized. It’s no wonder that most individuals don’t even stay with this company for two years. The overturn rate is unbelievable, people were always leaving the company, and new hires only stayed a short period of time. What I gained from this job was overwhelming imposter syndrome, depression, and a shattered sense of confidence and self-worth. Moral of the story: DO NOT WORK HERE! This place is completely toxic and not worth your time.

There's no lounge or place to eat during lunch (but that doesn't matter now and there's a lot of place in King St.) There were many layoffs and employees quitting awhile back (due to management), which caused me to worry - not sure about now. A lot of favoritism so if you're introverted, good luck. It's the typical setting: extroverts who talk a lot gets rewarded and the introverts who listen to ideas and execute them don't really get any acknowledgment. There's no accountability and some people don't know what they're doing or turn things late which hurts and look bad on other departments. Since its a nonprofit, they don't pay well. It's understandable if you're just starting out, but you should still get compensated appropriately for the work you're doing.

ATD/ ASTD is about 80-85% women and possibly growing. Given, there is gossip and office politics anywhere you go, this company can be a bit unbearable at times. I've seen good people disappear without warning for the silliest reasons. Also, I've observed management treat their staff with little respect and the lower employer is the one to leave. For instance, one of the managers gave the 'bird' to an employee and was not reprimanded. Also, I've seen HR and management collaboratively bully and intimidate staff. For example, take a simple matter, magnify it, then fire the individual. I think anyone considering coming to ATD/ASTD should know what they are in for. You are expected to work hard anywhere you go, however healthy work environments are necessary for high productivity. Also, you will not always be told of the additional duties that will come out of no where; you are expected to do EVERYTHING no matter what or who gives it to you. Everything is needed YESTERDAY. If you don't play by these rules, HR will build a case so fast, you won't even see it coming. P.S. no one is really your friend here no matter how nice they seem or how colorful they speak ( If you get the interview-listen to carefully to the colorful language of HR)