Open Data Institute

2.0

Feb 20, 2023

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

* Brilliant staff team - talented, hard-working, mission-orientated, resourceful, dynamic and highly engaged on DEI. * Wide range of national and international stakeholders across sectors and domains. These stakeholders are also often mission-orientated, and often open to working more as partners/collaborators than clients/customers. Great exposure. * Wide portfolio of projects ranging from rapid light-touch interventions to longer campaigns or explorations. It might get tiring, but it doesn't get boring... * Relatively "flat" structure and non-hierarchical culture, so if workload allows and you are quite self-directed/entrepreneurial, you can sometimes find ways to take on more advanced challenges.

Cons

* No real discussion/scrutiny of possible red flags: eg in an 18-month period, the VP, Head of People, Head of Public Policy, and Head of BizDev all resigned without jobs to go to. Two of these post-holders were Black women. * Poor DEI: culture of unadvertised jobs - most frequently at senior levels, and mostly going to white men (sometimes to white women). Also risks groupthink at a leadership level and not engaging in constructive critical discussion (if the "real" currency is patronage). * Questionable practices: some senior managers intercepting email without consent or senders knowledge - this was reported to ICO. * High staff turnover creates operational drag and negatively impacts the staff team and external relationships. Eg one major 18month project changed project manager 7 times, several other teams have gone through 50%-100% staff churn in periods ranging from 24hrs to 12 months.

Open Data Institute Response

Thank you for sharing your feedback on your experience at the Open Data Institute, and we apologise for the delayed response. We appreciate your positive remarks about our talented and mission-oriented staff team, as well as the wide range of national and international stakeholders we engage with. It is encouraging to hear that you found the work dynamic and engaging, with opportunities for growth and collaboration. We are genuinely sorry to learn about the concerns and negative experiences you mentioned. We deeply regret any instances where you feel our practices may have fallen short in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion. The ODI is committed to transparent hiring practices, fostering an inclusive culture, and ensuring privacy policies are upheld. If you have any further suggestions or would like to discuss your concerns, please feel free to reach out to us directly. Your input is highly valued as we strive to make positive changes. I would be happy to engage with you via anonymous email, in which case please contact me using the title you have given your review via HR. Email address: human.resource@theodi.org

Not great for being a senior manager bearing collective responsibility - Senior Manager Open Data Institute Employee Review

Explore other reviews about Open Data Institute

Want the inside scoop on your own company?

Bowls

Followed companies

Job searches