Pros
The cause, no question. The service Kids Help Phone provides really does help people.
Cons
Unfortunately, like many charities, Kids Help Phone is prone to maddening inefficiencies. There is such a lack of clarity between roles that everyone steps on each other's toes. Boundaries are completely blurred and priorities are unclear. It's as though every leader in the place has a different idea of what's most important for the organization, and no one can come to a consensus. There's a lot secrecy and closed-door discussions, but if you try to clear the air with anyone you better watch your back. For an organization that upholds non-judgemental values, its environment is highly passive-aggressive. It's also extremely stressful, with no sense of direction or control. Even though the place is full of managers, directors, and VPs, there is no sense of leadership and it was very hard to put trust or faith in upper management because everything was always so disorganized and a lot of the executives seemed to be in regular disagreement. Sensitivity training could also be helpful for staff. Even though it's a mental health organization, I saw a lot inappropriate conduct when it came to talk about colleagues' own mental health struggles. The language and attitude some - including managers - took around mental health and wellness was sometimes shocking, as though they didn't see it as a credible illness, or as something that needed to be acknowledged and supported. There was also a group of people who regularly speculated on one employee's sexual orientation. It was not the kind of supportive, open environment I was expecting it would be, and definitely didn't match up to the way the organization marketed itself to the public, at least not in my time there. The company's bereavement policy is also very conservative, when it could be much more progressive and set an example for other organizations. For a place that constantly fundraises to make its rent, it's quite distressing to see how much time staff are expected to spend in meetings, answering unnecessary emails, and organizing campaigns and events that are not financially successful for the organization.