NICHQ Reviews

Pros

At NICHQ, you will have the opportunity to do your part to improve health outcomes for children through systems change nationwide. The people at NICHQ typically embody the mission of the organization – they work hard in their capacity to improve health outcomes for children through systems change. Whatever your future position there may be, you will probably learn a lot about systems change and our nation’s health system by doing the work. It’s actually really interesting. Whether you’re a newcomer or a mid-career professional, I highly recommend this organization as a good career move.

Pros

great learning environment for starting out in public health

Pros

Nice employees, although most unhappy.

Pros

Working to support/fulfill a deeply compelling mission across many areas of children’s health and healthcare.

The organization attracts very smart and passionate people with deep content and other expertise. Including employees, board members, and other collaborators. They bring so much to their work and helping kids and families. I learned a great deal.

It’s wonderful that many bright people build great knowledge and skills at NICHQ for a few years and launch into other awesome work in nonprofits, government and other places to continue to help kids and families in health and beyond.

Advice to Management

Continue to engage employees, board and others (as appropriate) in the vision and strategic work to ensure funding diversity and organizational capacity progress is maintained and supported. Keep finding and growing great people and launching them and the work forward.

Pros

good snacks and good location

Pros

The passionate, hard working staff are amazing. The mission is inspiring and the content is strong. The impact you have on children's lives here will be great.

Pros

mission, worklife balance, culture, types of project, and staff

Pros

Great colleagues, good mission, sometimes interesting work, support for decent work/life balance, friendly culture.

Advice to Management

Bring in skilled and experienced management. Prioritize management and interpersonal skills in leaders.

Pros

The Mission is critical to optimal health for children

Advice to Management

Continue to engage internal and external stakeholders and never lose sight of the mission

Pros

Wonderful, passionate, smart workforce. Truly good people.

Advice to Management

Executives at NICHQ are fond of referring to the organization as a "family." I would advise against this practice. It's a workplace, and a very financially unstable one (which is the nature of being a grant-funded non-profit) that can't bank on keeping all of its family members. ,

Why I advise against this false sense of family:
During a stream of layoffs, some members of the executive team and high-level directors didn't bat an eyelash as those who just lost their jobs packed up their desks. At a large, corporate organization, this might sound normal, but NICHQ praises itself heavily on deeply respecting its "people."

I recall one executive team member, in particular, loudly laughed at something in their office in earshot of everyone who was clearing out their desks, acting like nothing was happening. People notice these things. These experiences stay with people who go on to progress in the field, and they stay with those who lost their coworkers and friends and continue working. You lose your credibility as a "family" after putting everyone through experiences that feel full of hypocrisy, and with that you chip away at the heart, commitment and passion of your remaining workforce.

Hearing NICHQ called a "family" is cringe-inducing after you know about a coworker's heartbreaking layoff experience.

Next time, show the people you are laying off that you sincerely appreciated and valued their work and time. Take some time to really do that. You can still show compassion and be human -- no one thinks this is fun for anyone. Tell your highest level staff members to show compassion and not ignore people as they leave. The remaining workforce will know how you handled the layoffs, whether you do it privately or publicly. Why not end an employee's tenure on the most positive note you can? It's in everyone's best interest to do so.

Finally, be genuinely transparent about who you are at the end of the day: a business that needs to sustain itself, not a family.