Rewarding company mission, yet not worth the toll on mental health - Analyst APPRISE Employee Review

You get to learn a lot and apply your skills to helping energy policy programs for low income households. There are talented individuals working here. I was able to work 40 hours a week of actual work and get my work done. Management does really care about the quality of the work as the results have an impacts on low income households and they have high standards. They give you a lot of feedback and great access to training and help with improving yourself. There is room to grow if you are motivated.

Some don’t like that it's located at least a 10 minute walk from the train station.

The external training opportunities, PTO, and health benefits are good, considering the company's size. Excluding management, colleagues are very friendly with one another and form a supportive network that offsets some difficult aspects of the work environment.

APPRISE has a problem retaining talent for more than about 2 years. During my 9 months at the company of roughly 25 people, 5 people left, many citing the difficulty and personal stress of working with upper management. As a result of this high turnover, there is often a shortage of institutional knowledge for new hires to benefit from. I was trained by an employee who had started work the previous month, and despite their best efforts, I did not feel that I was set up for success. This incomplete training was compounded by the President’s hostile attitude toward my attempts to learn from her. APPRISE strongly believes that there is such thing as a stupid question, and whenever I asked something that was considered too basic or unsubstantive, I was reprimanded and my question was not always answered. When I asked the President, whom many employees directly report to, for assistance in learning a new skill or approaching a new task, she consistently refused to provide guidance. She discouraged me from approaching coworkers with questions and reprimanded my coworkers for spending time helping me, even when they were willing and able to assist. Feedback at APPRISE comes with a shortage of carrots and an abundance of sticks. New employees are expected to learn from their mistakes by fixating on them for extended periods of time, sometimes stopping all other work to write the President a long-form email explaining an error and how they will improve in the future. The intentions behind this exercise are good, but in practice, it feels more like an activity for students in detention than one for working adults to correct a misconception. The President raised her voice at me on multiple occasions and was notorious among employees for her short temper and tendency to send unprofessional, abrasive emails when her patience ran low. I could go on about the President’s harsh behavior, micromanagement, and favoritism, but other reviews cover this in sufficient detail. APPRISE is a workplace that works for a select few, and those with thick skin, resilience, and limited contact with the President can build the foundations of a fruitful career here. However, this was not my experience. I encourage prospective applicants to read all reviews carefully and consider whether this is a culture in which they can thrive. I wish I had thought more carefully about my decision to join this company.