Vantaggi
After member lunches, leftovers are put in kitchen for staff. Some great people, although I'd guess it is hard for new people to know who they can trust given backstabbing and fear-driven culture. If you are a pretty young girl with no kids who is OK brown nosing, you may become the CEO's pet. Yes, you can go from recent grad to management with no skills or experience at all! Casual dress is a pro, as long as you are OK with casual meaning sloppy clothes most of us wouldn't even go to the grocery store in. Some of the members are smart and passionate about improving the workplace -- in their own companies, anyway. If you listen to what they say and ignore what is done at association, you can learn best practices from top practitioners. Some have mentioned how hard it is to get a good raise. On the plus side, the lower your salary the longer you are likely to escape the budget-cutting layoffs.
Svantaggi
CEO started as COO and forced previous CEO out. (She was a ditz, but at least had experience in training/quality world.) He comes from tech startup culture and tries to run this nonprofit like a startup - minus the payoffs, stock options, and good salaries. So if you like working nonstop for no money and no recognition, you'll love this place. Overtime is expected and unpaid. (Not a few hours -- extra time every day and on weekends.) Little mistakes might get you fired -- especially if made by one of CEO's pets who pin blame on you. Membership has dwindled since he came onboard but he has packed board with his admirers so no one can/will point out the obvious reasons for the decline. Overtime is essential because you'll spend most of your waking hours in meetings. Endless boring meetings that go in circles and slow time to a crawl. You'll meet about when to have a meeting. And then one of the bosses will walk in late, or show up to the fourth or fifth meeting on a topic and you have to start. all. over. again. So, your real work is done during non-meeting hours... you know, that time most people use to eat or see their kids or sleep. Due to mismanagement, layoffs are frequent and typically handled in the most insensitive ways possible. For example, one time they went from office to office to axe people and then had them escorted out in walk of shame. One long-time career employee had his entire department outsourced. He was hired back by that outsourced company at a fraction of his previous salary, but was ultimately forced out because he was judged a gossip. Which was one way of looking at it. Another way would be that he was the kind of employee everyone loved and relied upon for news and information - and he did a thankless low-status job very very well. He's dead now. We'll never know if losing his insurance contributed to his early death, but you have to wonder. The high turnover has led to an astonishing lack of institutional memory. On the positive side, some people (including me) got consulting gigs as a result. Of course, most people would rather have a job with benefits and be treated with respect. Others have remarked that the company is mostly women. Don't confuse that with empowerment. Women are predominant because they are cheaper to hire. And, of course, CEO likes to hire and promote clueless pretty young girls. Just don't get pregnant -- you'll be shocked by how fast you fall out of favor. (Married seems to be OK.) Look, if you can afford to work for nonprofit wages, there are plenty of groups out there that actually help make the world a better place. ATD doesn't even do good for their own profession.