TNTP Employee Reviews about "50 hour work"

Pros

The people are amazing, very driven and invested in the organization's mission to help all students get a great education. The leadership is strong and they talk a good game on work-life balance and supporting staff development, but it's not always realized in practice. Many staff work from home, which I really appreciate, but just know that it can be isolating at times and also it's hard to stop working...ever. There are good opportunities for growth for some, but not all employees (even those who do well in their roles) because more senior staff do tend to stick around a long time and there doesn't seem to be a real focus on helping talented people transition to new roles outside their core experience area when there are no growth opportunities within their current departments.

Cons

The organization has always been adaptive, but the pace of change over the past few years has been disorienting and at times demoralizing. Long hours are the norm and expected (they tell you 10+/hour days on hiring, but that can often be low) and it can be difficult to unplug. Given how hard we work and how much we care, it can be frustrating to feel like the organization keeps switching gears to keep up with market developments - it makes you feel like all that hard work has been wasted effort. It also feels like they are pushing into new areas of operation because they see needs and business development opportunities, but the expertise to deliver on those is not necessarily in place. The organization is in a really good place right now, but it's hard to predict how this is going to play out (which is why I rated neutral on organizational outlook and would not recommend the organization to a friend). TNTP has a a feedback-intensive culture, but it can be difficult to feel like you're succeeding because the focus is often on areas for growth. One year, I was incredibly worried about my performance (despite working 70-hour weeks for months at a stretch) because I got so much negative feedback. My annual performance review was mixed, saying that I'd met some but not all of my goals. And then I got a large bonus with a note indicating that I was among the very top employees that year. I almost quit multiple times because I felt like I was working so hard and still not succeeding. Don't get me wrong, the tangible bonus was great, but it would be nice if it was accompanied by encouraging words during the year so that I wasn't riddled with anxiety about my performance when I was apparently seen as doing exceptionally good work.

Pros

I am a mom to 3 young children (ages 6, 5, and 2), and at TNTP I've been able to work part-time from home for the last 3 years. I worked 30 hours/week and was considered a salaried employee and received benefits and paid time off. This was such a rare find that I'm so grateful for - although the pay is quite low (they are a nonprofit, and my previous career was on Wall Street, so I took quite a salary hit), I like being able to keep my foot in the door to keep my skills sharp and still have flexibility to be there for my family. I just recently decided to reduce my hours so that I could spend more time with the kids, and take them to their after school activities, and TNTP and my team has been great to allow me the flexibility to become a PT hourly employee at 20 hours/week. Although I'm no longer salaried, and thus don't receive benefits or PTO, I am able to keep my 403b and continue to receive contributions from TNTP.

Cons

Their HR is still in its infancy, and they still have a long way to go regarding employee policies. For example, when I was salaried, I was technically non-exempt, which means that I should have been paid for any time worked over 30 hours/week. I didn't know this, and HR didn't know this until after I'd been working there for over 2.5 years. But they made up for it by giving me all the back-pay based on the hours that I logged...of course if I had known that I'd be paid for hours worked over 30 hours/week, I would have been more diligent in recording my time!

Pros

- Incredibly motivated staff from top to bottom; they work hard but also smartly - Opportunities to take on new work and learn quickly - Sincere desire for staff to have excellent experiences at work and commitment of resources towards consciousSincere desire for staff to have excellent experiences at work and commitment of resources towards consciousSincere desire for staff to have excellent experiences at work and commitment of resources towards conscious inclusion and open communication

Cons

- Experience can be very manager specific; not all managers (direct or indirect) are effective at advocating for staff and setting them up for success, even if they themselves are effective at their jobs - Organization has been at a turning point for years and mission feels murky to all but those in leadership

Pros

I worked on the summer pre-service trainingservice trainingservice training which included training in May and June and full time work for about 5-6 weeks from mid-June to early-August. Very powerful and driven organization with a clear purpose. Well-developed chain of command and clear expectations. Amazing opportunity to train teachers who will enter the classrooms immediately to work with high needs populations.

Cons

Tough work/life balance (manageable because it's temporary; however, stress/anxiety levels can be high.) Very long trainings (11 hours on Saturdays) with hours of pre-work assignments. High turn-over season to season. Some feedback seems like too much and unnecessary and creates an unnecessary workload.

Pros

I love working with many of my colleagues. A lot of really smart hardworking people work at TNTP. I feel truly blessed to have worked with some of the people I have worked with.

Cons

A lot of those smart hardworking people are being taken advantage of. Face it, TNTP does not practice what it preaches. We know about how to run organizations well and how you should treat staff, we tell clients about it all the time, but our own practices are so bad and leadership keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Salaries and benefits are mediocre and it still seems like we always need to tighten the belt more. The executive team constantly pretends to staff that things are more OK than they are and comes up with all kinds of doublespeak to justify all the decisions they make behind closed doors. Because we were 100 per cent remote even before COVID you don’t know if what you are hearing from your supervisors is what other people are hearing. Even after changing to how management works, managers have too much power over the career pathways of their direct reports. The goals process is such a waste of time because your evaluation is still going to come down to your relationship with your manager. Communication is very inconsistent and at times dishonest. Just say you need to lay people off for financial reasons instead of isolating individual staff members and making their lives so miserable that they quit, and then filling the roles with temps or not at all. Leaders are also awful at responding to criticism and go on about how employees need to demonstrate “TNTP core values” by being good sports and putting up with bad policies or mistakes. “Extending grace” gets mentioned a lot but mostly when leadership wants the rank and file to forgive them for a mistake, while expectations placed on staff in return are unreasonable. Flexibility of working from home is meaningless if you are just working all the time. I would understand if it were an accepted part of the culture, but don’t pretend like you care about not burning out your staff and then burn them out anyway. Just be honest.

Pros

Some very intelligent people work here and you will likely find at least a couple of people you wiill learn something new from.

Cons

The focus and goals of management seemed to shift on a monthly basis. The strict focus on ideas and future planning left little room for management to communicate basic guidelines. All employees have to work a 50 hour work week at a minimum. Yet they claim that they want employees to have a "work life balance".

Pros

Amazing mission, really talented colleagues, top tier leadership is very invested, accessible and open to ideas/voices no matter your level within the organization. The environment is data driven and folks are not afraid to do the hard work of changing things if change will ultimately help kids. I tripled my skill set and knowledge base with everything that I learned during my time w/ the company. I also made professional connections along the way that have been priceless in terms of growth and development, as well as super helpful in helping with my transition into a new role. Salary and benefits were also some of the most generous of my career.

Cons

work life balance and completely unplugging

Pros

the job allows a flexible work schedule

Cons

the job hours not regular, one week 10 hours, next week 2 hours.