Vantaggi
The organization puts forth effort to make the staff as a whole feel appreciated - for example, hosting company-wide lunches. Overall, all the employees are kind, well-meaning people, which makes the NSCA a relatively pleasant place to work. Good benefits, including wellness hours during company time, provided financial planning services, and a company-provided HSA. Access to an enormous weight room and on-site training. A well-stocked kitchen and access to Promotive/Experticity discount pro deals. The company strives to deliver on its promise of providing research-based knowledge and practical application to its (paying) members - it does a pretty good job of working to fulfill its mission of education in the world of strength and conditioning. They put on really exciting events around the U.S., and do try to make their certifications available to everyone (offering student discounts, etc.)
Svantaggi
Unfortunately, the NSCA has a deeply ingrained mindset that discourages its employees from taking initiative. There is an atmosphere of "that's not my job" or "that's not your job," which really ends up harming the organization as a whole. Rather than simply take initiative and work to build partnerships withing the company, employees prefer to use these gaps to belittle another department. Case in point: "Why didn't Marketing ask us about this?" "Well, did Marketing know about it? " No, but that's not my job to tell them." ... because that's a super productive way to operate. This might simply be a reflection of the lack of overarching staff experience, as this is the first or only job for many of the staff members. Salaries are low, even for a nonprofit, and as a result, the staff's experience and knowledge reflect the pay. Leadership comes from the top-down, but it appears as though senior management is often lost when it comes to setting precedent - preferring to defer or deflect, or hand decisions off to other departments rather than be held accountable.