It’s already been said by the other reviews: toxic. It’s too bad, because a healthy and productive environment seems within reach. Landesa has most of the right ingredients. It’s just a couple persistently rotten ones that hold it back. One is a couple departments or higher-level people that lack either the competence to do essential work at the right level and don’t have the staff’s confidence, or that don’t have the right disposition and outlook for the global development sector. Another thing that’s harder to pinpoint is a general inability to live out the organization’s values and the culture that it wants. Take the example of wanting to have an environment where accomplishments are recognized and staff feel valued, something that has come up in organizational feedback. Instead of just being that way, which requires managers and others to simply be the type to call things out, take the time to say a few authentic words, or clearly tie performance to advancement, Landesa will do something like establish some awkwardly contrived minutes at every staff meeting where staff are put on the spot and have to come up with praise for someone else. Even in this exercise, you rarely see things coming from the top. Day to day in normal interactions, non-senior staff get this stuff. The miss is coming from above where tone setting could happen. It seems to not be in people’s personalities organically (whether it’s for this example or for having open discussion, communicating effectively, creating accountability, whatever), and the repeated inability to get the values stuff right might simply come down to that.
It seems difficult for some people to grow at Landesa and it's contributed to some departures. The staffing setup is such that most managers have far too many responsibilities on their plate to mentor or track anyone. And or they are not specifically accountable to the organization for doing it, so it does not happen.
There is generally not a climate for robust intellectual discussion and exploration. Busyness seems like a factor, but that can’t be it. There is a timidity or disinterest around acknowledging and dealing with disagreements and things that challenge the organization's assumptions or narratives, and you must be exceedingly careful not to offend.
