Pros
In every organisation, there will be pros and cons. After all, perfection is merely a construct of the human mind. Perhaps from a standpoint of a businessman, everything makes sense. But as with every successful sales man, you need to be very knowledgeable of your product and services. Especially in such a sensitive industry like special needs, where you have the ability to shape the future of the children. As an employee teaching here, the pros are the supportive, empathetic and helpful colleagues. And to be fair, the employer is caring at times but in areas that are not related to work. I believe that he is not a bad person, but unfortunately, separating his personal beliefs from work is a luxury he does not have. Employer was nice to all staff initially, but his attitude changed drastically after some staff submitted their resignation and the treatment was very obvious to everyone. Everything just went downhill from there. Many people find this kind of environment unhealthy and left.
Cons
I would prefer to invest my time in an organisation that is professional in their operation, delivers their product and services as accurately as it was being communicated to their consumers and employees. I do not find overpromising your staff with a grandiose future and endless possibilities as a reliable management technique to retain staff. Sure, it may be enticing at first but in the long run, questions will be asked, staff will notice the inconsistency in your words and actions. Perhaps this is why the only long term staff is the receptionist. Our generation is not one who will settle and stay on for the ride, blindly hoping for change. Isolation of colleagues and bad mouthing staff who may or may not have left the organisation, which I find shocking and felt very uncomfortable with. I do not wish to engage or be a part of he says she says kind of work environment. If it is irrelevant to my work and career, kindly rant to your spouse, friends or therapist instead. I do not find this practice helpful in enforcing camaraderie in the office, coming from a staff who initially planned to stay for at least 3 years. Irrelevant remarks from the employer that I find very unprofessional. Employer tends to take things personally during communication, causing lots of hesitation and stress to voice out any opinion. As the coaches are most familiar with the children, he would express his willingness to have an open discussion to improve on their learning (which I appreciate), but there is a tendency to make conclusions and judgements before you even finish your ideas, or before he even tries to understand from your perspective. Instead of working out a solution together and engage in an open minded discussion, employer has a defensive nature and accuse you of insubordination (behind your back) when opinions are not aligned. As university graduates, we have high expectations of our future. Intentionally offending, sabotaging our work or participating in insubordination will never be any graduates' intention. And your coaches are your front liners, pointing finger and putting blame only reflects your management skills, in my opinion. As it should, the final call lies in the employer as the organisation is his asset. But personally, I believe that mutual respect and understanding are important factors for a successful organisation. Relying on your own bubble of knowledge in finance is not sufficient to manage an organisation dealing with special needs. It would be beneficial for you and the organisation to be receptive and open minded towards staff who actually study psychology and specialise in it. Deducted salary justified with the requirement for training, which I gladly agreed as I was excited to learn practical skillsets and apply my theoretical knowledge from school. As a centre marketing itself as a specialist centre targeting children who suffer from ADHD, ASD, MDD etc, the training provided was not on par with the industry standard. Training was merely definitions and theoretical knowledge that we have learnt in school. On paper, it may look professional and aligned with what other organisations are carrying out, but the credibility and quality is questionable. These are my opinion and experience from a perspective of an educational therapist/ teaching specialist. My goal was to stay for 3 years, but unfortunately, I decided that I do not thrive in such working environment. I hope things will change for the better as I want the children to be taught by qualified individuals.
