Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, Inc Reviews

Pros

making a difference in the world.

Cons

caseload can be too much for one person and low pay.

Advice to Senior Management

keep up the good work.

Pros

Great co-workers, the benefits were very good compared to other employers in the area; the company puts a lot of effort into employee retention. Flex time was good. They allowed some work-from-home days and were understanding about work-life balance issues.

Pay was comparable with similar companies and the company reimbursed for milage. Health, vision, and dental benefits were good; the prescription plan offered in the health package is quite good (all prescriptions for $25, which is handy if you need the $300-a-bottle-a-month ADD meds). Vision benefits would pay for new glasses every two years.

Although the work was stressful and unpredictable, management was very understanding and worked to mitigate stress on employees. The work was always interesting.

Cons

The workload was high and the on-call policy can result in a person putting in an 18-to-20 hour shift.

Advice to Senior Management

Please fix the on-call problem! The stress of on-call was unbearable at times.

Pros

The company is large and has been around awhile. It is easy to get in the door.

Cons

The company is poorly organized from the top down. There is no consistency in sharing information with employees such as new policies or practices. Most employee's do not even know all of the programs within the agency let alone the services that can be obtained for themselves or the clients they serve such as food pantries, donation rooms, FMLA, etc.. The agency is not for the "employees", there are no special events, college reimbursements, or bonuses for the workers though three years ago the CEO made headlines as being the top paid CEO as well as having received the largest bonus of CEOs in non-profits! The company has a high turnover across the board, for all staff below the CEO, COO, and CFO level. Terminations, demotions, resignations, and shifting of employees are very common. This is a company where good employees leave and desperate one attempt to hang on until they can secure something else.

Advice to Senior Management

The most important advice I think that I could give is to insure you are hiring trust worthy and competent employees at your management levels. Micro manage for a period to insure they know what they are doing and then step back and let them run their programs while you closely monitor the output.

Implement a safe method for the little guys to voice their concerns without fear of retaliation. Everyone needs checks and balances and this company does not provide a forum that feels safe for the worker bees to voice concerns over activities of their superiors that may be illegal, unfair, or unsafe for them, their clients, and/ or the agency. Lets face it, if you have a Director that does not even know the basic functions of a spread sheet your agency is in trouble. Your staff should be valuable based on their work abilities not because they know how to manipulate and brown nose.

Pros

The agency is exceptionally flexible. Family obligations are not a problem. The 3 floating holidays include Jewish holidays which provide more choices. The amount of support provided at the Mulberry facility and the genuine "family" atmosphere serve to retain employees more than any other reason. There is pride among the workers for jobs well done. Management staff provides opportunities to appreciate employees and recognize hard work.

Cons

The higher management has recently displayed a lack of sensitivity with the staff. The agency provides child protection supervision services which call for 1000 to 2000 miles per month per case manager. The reimbursement rate was $.35 per mile and has recently (July ist) been raised. Also, cost of living raises have been approved. The agency has not provided the new information to the employees. Something so simple could have a positive effect on morale, instead it seems the agency is playing games.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide information when it becomes available; don't play with people's livelihood. When there is a chance to increase morale, take it. If there is an agency problem effecting staff, tell us.