Working at American Red Cross — Reviews by Employees

All in all this is an absolutely atrocious place to work. The director of blood services has no intention of standing up to the managers and telling them how he wants things to be. They run the show and their is so much favoritism it makes me sick. It also amazes me that we have policies in place to handle attendance but yet if you are not a chosen one you will be picked on and harassed until you reach enough occurences to be terminated.

Never in my LIFE have I ever worked in a place where there was more in-fighting and politics, and outright high school BS. The director of fundraising on the chapter side is an absolute crybaby that pouts and rocks the boat for everyone when she doesn't get her way. The accounting director isn't much better. Not to mention that they want to hide their books at the local level from the national chapter. Something REEKS of corruption. If you don't have anything to hide, why worry about it? Blood side is just as bad....the people themselves are great to work with ON AN INDIVIDUAL level. However on the whole, I'd rather have a salt-water enema with a coffee chaser.

used to be great place to work. poor management and lack of respect for emplyees and donors have killed incentive to do better. bottom line is main focus, to devil with anything that smacks of morality.

A great place to work if you lack morals, enjoy brown nosing, and have no self respect

-Pay is a joke. Always some reason to not get a raise due to budget constraints, which seems to only apply to certain staff.
-Respect for staff and volunteers seems to be optional depending on which way the wind blows.
-Benefits are good. Somewhat makes up for the lack of pay.
-Work/Life Balance, if you want to continue to work for that wonderful paycheck, don't plan on having a life. Days are docked faster than you can blink.
-Career/Growth Potential depends on what staff member was terminated or resigned. You will quickly have new responsibilities, new title and no pay increase.
-Location is good depending on traffic and public transportation.
-Co-worker Competence...well, just hope your co-worker or supervior really can do everything stated on their resume. if not, be hopeful they are literate.
-Work Enviroment, old equipment, slow networks for the computers and too many cubicles to count
Bottom line: Good Mission statement and organization and poor management. If you see an add for non-profit, don't apply.

Working for the "for profit" blood services division might have been a fun job were it not for the company management. The managers in my division were, for the most part, totally incompetent. In some cases non-managenment personnel were given control over thier peers and sexual harrassment abounds. The work was very satisfying, but conditions became unbearable. Chose to leave and considered filing a harrassment suit but my attorney advised that too little evidence exsisted....too bad.

When I joined the Red Cross, I thought I was joining a humanitarian mission, based on the values of Clara Barton. Orientation and training were encouraging and thorough. Then I went out in the trenches.

What I think happened with the Red Cross in my area is that they tried to hire friendly and outgoing people to make conversation with blood donors and give them a good experience. What they ended up with is a group of loud mouthed, bossy and catty women.

Hardly a day has passed that I haven't been shouted at, spoken down to, or treated as a child. I have found that most employees are miserable in their personal lives, and have no problem bringing it to work and taking it out on coworkers. Driving to blood drives in Red Cross vans typically means listening to everyone berate and put down other employees, bitching about cheating ex husbands, or gossiping about each other.

Sometimes a blood drive is close enough that you can drive your personal vehicle (under an hour away). The cost of gas and wear and tear is priceless to avoid the hen house that is the Red Cross van. Unfortunately, most drives are an hour + away. You can try to tune them out by wearing headphones or reading a book, but these uncouth women will call you out for ignoring them. Their personal lives seem so unstable that they forget all sense of boundaries. They will confront you for not participating in the gossip and frequent sex talk. It's a diverse group of people from various employment backgrounds, but the one common trait is extreme unprofessionalism.

Mandatory meetings are held monthly with management. If you are unable to attend, it will be treated as an absence, or an "occurrence". They are held before 9 am, and no thought is given about the staff who had to work until 10 pm the night before. If the meetings were productive, it might be worth your time. Unfortunately, management is out of touch with what is actually happening on a day to day basis, and staff takes the opportunity to bitch, in a lengthy and loud manner. Nothing has been solved or worked on as a result of these meetings.

My typical day at the Red Cross improves only when I don't have to deal with staff and can focus on blood donors. The rest of the day is a struggle not to walk out and quit. I work at the Red Cross on a day to day, and sometimes hour to hour, time frame. If the economy was even slightly better, I would no longer be employed here.

I was encouraged and excited when I joined the Red Cross. Surely a national as well as international humanitarian organization would not tolerate petty behavior and outright disrespect. It was a shock and disappointment to learn that not only the Red Cross is no better than any lousy company out there, but even worse.

Both management and staff have a responsibility. Management needs to be open to suggestion in areas where we are not federally regulated, and staff needs to learn how to complain effectively. No one listens to bitching. Many have valid points, but they are conveyed so unprofessionally they are not taken seriously.

It's a struggle to go to work every day, but for now I need to pay the mortgage and have health insurance. Hopefully the economy will shape up soon, so the next time a coworker or team leader flips out and loses it, I can walk out and never turn back.

I spent a year and a half with the American Red Cross after being a volunteer. As a volunteer I had a great opinion of the organization and was thrilled when I was asked to take a job as director of two programs at the local chapter. Within 1 month I realized that the CEO was a moron who ruined ties to the community and could care less if actual "service" was provided to clients. As long as her salary was paid and she was able to tell her boss how wonderful she was, that was all that mattered. It didn't take long to realize that the organization as a whole is waist deep in their own demise. So much money is wasted and so much time is spent figuring out why and how money is wasted that the service to the client and the satisfaction of staff (both paid and volunteer) falls by the wayside. I did not expect to see top-notch professionals working for a low-paying non-profit, but I was appalled by the complete lack of competence and professionalism I witnessed. I left the job on bad terms with the support of my community, the board, and partner agencies who believed in me and the work I was doing more than they believed in the Red Cross. That same CEO is there today, because her boss believes her when she says she is doing a great job. Worst career decision I have ever made, bar none. Steer clear of the Red Cross and hope (as I do) that they get their act straight in the next 5-10 years. Right now they are nothing short of FUBAR!

Pay is aweful. I work for The American Red Cross BLOOD SERVICES, which is nothing short of a greedy business. Don't let the "not for profit" tag fool you. We collect blood, then sell it at outrageous prices with virtually non of that money passed on to employees(at least the low level ones like me). Absolutely ZERO respect in the workplace. Remember I said our salary is meager, but they treat us like they have purchased our souls.
-Don't know about the benefits. They are available, but I chose a separate plan.
-Job security??? more like Job in-security. They will can your ass in less than a heartbeat.
-Work life balance is decent. We have set hours and rarely alter those hours. That works both ways though, It is a pain in the ass to take a day off.
-There is a little opportunity for career SHIFT, not necesarily career GROWTH. All the positions are equally shitty.
-Location awesome for me. Only about a mile away and it's located in a fairly nice office park.
-Co-worker competence greatly depends on the co-worker.
-Work environment sucks. Small and shared cubicles, super bright lights, old equipment, zero respect, small breakroom, no cell phones allowed, no cell phones allowed, no cell phones allowed, no talking (If ever in doubt just don't ask because the answer will always be no)

For 9 years I worked in a caring, compassionate environment, I was surrounded by competent co-workers who believed in the Red Cross mission, provided needed products and services to our community and worked together to help our neighbors in need.

The last year and half of my employment things really changed. National ARC passed down mandates in which clients were given less to address their disaster caused needs. The structure moved from locally governed chapters to a more regional approach. Some of this regionalization was needed to improve efficiences but it also created a disconnect with the local community.

A new Executive Director was hired and immediately alienated both senior staff and volunteers. Four out of six program directors, each with 10 years of service or more, were dismissed or treated so poorly they went out on FMLA.

It should be noted that this chapter was a good place to work, the pay and benefits were adequate for a non profit in the area, the staff were appreciated by the volunteer leadership, the community and the clients. Co-workers cared for and respected each other and the chapter performed well according to all national ARC performance metrics.

However, this all changed after Katrina as the national ARC attempted to address all the negative issues and shortcomings that came out after the various review and reports about that Hurricaine season.

ARC was not great place for career advancement.