People to People Ambassador Programs Reviews

Current Employee – been working at People to People Ambassador Programs full-time

Pros – - Great benefits
- Tries to hire within
- Opportunity to further career
- Amazing Facility
-Opportunity to work remote
-Understanding regarding family disruptions
- An organization that believes in its mission and customers
- Overall great customer satisfaction rating
- Strong Background

Cons – - Does not compensate as well as it should
- Has a large company feel when it comes to transparency and communication within departments

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at People to People Ambassador Programs full-time

Pros – Very good friends made at ptp. The people are what make coming to work worth it.

Flexibility with your schedule.

Cons – Unless you have the perfect position, no travel.... Ever. You never know if the business will be running in 6 months, but somehow always manages to move along.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at People to People Ambassador Programs full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – - Employee passion to job
- Sense of doing something worthwhile in the world.

Cons – Difficult environment if you are not a work-a-holic.

Advice to Senior Management – Recognize when you are turning & burning your employees and taking advantage of others and try to ensure everyone has a proper work/life balance.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at People to People Ambassador Programs full-time for less than a year

Pros – Working at People to People has been a truly great experience. A bigger company with many departments and hundreds of employees, the company still manages to excel at communicating across all departments and keeping employees in the loop. My fellow co-workers in Marketing are some of the brightest and most creative talent I've worked with; there is a definitive culture here that is of respect, fun and being a team player. Not to mention the nature of the work is inherently fun - we provide students the opportunity to see the world.

Management is also communicative and more importantly available - if I have a question or idea there is always someone to talk with or brainstorm. As the company continues to grow they are also more receptive and flexible with remote employees, which is great and opens up opportunities. People to People also encourages growth within the workplace - whether that is attending a workshop to gain that cutting edge or working your way up within a department.

There are support systems set in place that offers employees many benefits to not only excel at our job, but to be a part of a company that cares about its employees and customers alike. It's this kind of engaging, supportive and proactive work culture that really sets a precedent of doing the best at your job - and one I truly appreciate an an employee.

Last but not least the office is extremely worker-friendly with a gym, kitchen, locker rooms, yoga, and even zumba classes onsite. People to People cares about our work / life balance and goes above and beyond to make the office as comfortable and functional as possible.

Cons – One downside is that due to our campaign cycle some months are much busier than others - employees just need to manage workload more closely during the busy season.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep up the cross-departmental communication. It really helps to know how the company is doing, how certain departments are doing - and how we can all rally as a team.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at People to People Ambassador Programs full-time for more than a year

Pros – I love and value the people I work with, the mission of the company, things I get to work on, and the company's future and vision. I appreciate knowing that my contribution is acknowledged and respected.

Cons – Company has been going through a major shift in many aspects of the company. With this much change management is doing the best they can, but I believe it could have been handled a little bit better.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue the increase in communication and transparency.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at People to People Ambassador Programs

Pros – -Exposure to variety of different peoples - from all walks of life, and even countries of the world.
-Mostly laid-back environment.
-Mission, Vision, Values sounds good on paper, and in theory
-Most people are pretty nice
-Building is lovely
-Occasional activity perks

Cons – -Pay is far below what it would be anywhere else. The problem is that most people don't have jobs that are able to be compared to the area for fairness, so everyone is at about $2-$5 below what they probably should be.
-Nepotism run rampant: It's not how well you work, how competent you are, or what ideas you bring to the table - it's who you know and how well you're connected to the "powers that be", which leads to incompetency climbing the ranks.
-Taking from the above statement: a HUGE problem is that a large part of direct reports perform duties they have to primarily figure out on their own - Managers tend to have absolutely no idea what their direct reports do.
-Everyone puts on a happy face, but when you get down to it - morale is so low.
-Lay-offs happen what seems to be every 3 years - and they don't give you a warning aside to say "next week we're having lay offs", but they don't tell you who it will be.

Advice to Senior Management – -Make those managing the "underlings" learn what those people do.
-Create more open channels of communication
-Don't promote based on nepotism, DO IT ON MERIT.
-Create more opportunities for DIFFERENT associates to get out into the field - not the same 6 people. It's breeding indifference and hurt feelings.
-Get rid of people who are problems. Washington is an "at will" state - cut the fat when it's not detrimental to the organization.
-Give credit and acknowledgement where it is due.
-Care. And show it.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at People to People Ambassador Programs

Pros – Our mission is great and we do a fantastic job of providing great travel experiences to students and continuing education professionals. Our customers rate us very highly and it is fantastic to see the impact we have on students. I have found management very caring. There is good opportunity for new ideas and they welcome fresh thinking. The fundamentals of the company are strong.

Cons – We are operating under extremely challenging world economic conditions which has definitely impacted the company more than others. That has created a more stressful work environment but not beyond other places I have worked. Some of its previous marketing practices complaints continue to come up years after, diverting our attention and resources.

Advice to Senior Management – During my time there, I have seen senior management being very responsive and caring for its employees while managing through some extremely complicated and difficult economic realities. The President moving her office in amongst the rest of the employees is a good demonstration of that. They have embraced a lot more transparency and are tough but very fair. I would recommend that they continue that.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at People to People Ambassador Programs

Pros – Outstanding facilities, very strong financial company

Cons – no development to promote from within

Advice to Senior Management – develop to promote from within, be more creative in departmental retention efforts

Former Employee – worked at People to People Ambassador Programs

Pros – Truly dedicated associates at the lower levels, and programs that are safe and actually worth what parents pay for them. Many happy and satisfied travelers of all ages.

Cons – Upper management overworked the associates, whether the associates were hourly or salaried. Some of those who were salaried may have not really fit the description, and should have been hourly, with overtime compensation.
It is normal for people to work into the evenings and on weekends.
Upper management puts pressure on middle management, and middle management has to pressure their teams to do the impossible. It's a miserable atmosphere with tension, secrets, and fear.

Advice to Senior Management – Bring in a positive leadership team who won't just do the "rah rah" song and dance, but will actually make the company the fun, productive, positive place it once was.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at People to People Ambassador Programs

Pros – This company has a good mission and does a good job on the travel programs receiving high ratings from past customers once they return. The majority of the work force at this company are passionate about helping customers. The offices are nice.

Cons – Too many to list all:
Poor management. Many of VPs are simply not leaders, but merely execute on what the top management wants. There is disengagement at the very top. Attempts to find and keep senior people have failed time and again as they arrive and figure out the real situation and then leave. Consequently, the same poorly qualified individuals stay and continue to make poor decisions. High turnover in the senior ranks proves this.
Scam reputation in marketing - do a Google search! There is real validity to this. The marketing letters say 'you have been chosen' and make it look like the US Presidents endorse this for-profit company. They don't. The company is under investigation (or has been) in several states. The better bizness bureau ranks them an F.
Terrible work environment. There is misery among the ranks in this company. People are openly looking for jobs elsewhere, complaining about their situations and generally frustrated about the poor work tools that are in place. Great people leave as soon as they find something else.
Incompetence in sales and marketing. Leadership keeps saying that it is the economy that has made sales drop dramatically over the past few years. Maybe this is part of it, but it is also that there is no good and cohesive sales and marketing plan to pull the company out of the downward spiral.
Long time poor reputation in Spokane. When I tell my friends I work for this company they look pained and offer apologies. This is a huge challenge to getting local folks to work at this company.

Advice to Senior Management – Understand what is really going on in your organization. Clean house in your management team. Get some real leaders or keep the ones you have. Be genuine and stop glossing over the huge and real problems the company has.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend