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Danish Refugee Council

Engaged Employer

Danish Refugee Council reviews

3.7

83% would recommend to a friend

(547 total reviews)
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Charlotte Slente

76% approve of CEO

58% positive business outlook

Danish Refugee Council has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 547 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Danish Refugee Council employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the ONG y Organizaciones sin fines de lucro industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

547 reviews
4.0
Aug 4, 2013

Good experience, good camaraderie - wonder about the future though

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I've had a very good experience thus far. - Transparent salaries and expat terms of employment, which are posted publicly online. - I thought the pay was pretty good and the benefits were decent, especially as compared to domestic jobs in the US. - A lot of freedom to pursue initiatives without interference from HQ. - Higher-ups, at least on the mid-level, are accessible and understanding, even if they don't always agree with you. - Important work to help refugees and other displaced people. - Very strong reputation internationally.

Cons

I can see where some of the other reviewers are coming from, however. My region is perhaps less political than some others and we've had very good people in HQ. But I can see why the other reviewers may be upset, especially if they are not used to a Danish management style or if there was a different constellation of personalities in their area. - Leadership in Copenhagen is a small cadre of people who have worked at DRC forever and tend to be insular and self-regarding. - Decisions at the upper management levels tend to be taken without much input from the field, but then sold as "bottom-up". - Have grown fast, but still act like a small Danish NGO. Need to start acting like the bigger international player that they are. - Tough for non-Danes to be considered for HQ jobs. - Too focused on Denmark for private fundraising to exclusion of much bigger markets, i.e. US, UK, anywhere else. - No formal mechanisms for field staff retention. - Too dependent on major institutional donors. - Flip side of the above, while they give managers lots of freedom, they also don't give them much help, especially as regards proposal writing. - Agree with another reviewer: too obsessed with turnover, but not doing enough to broaden the funding base.

1.0
Jul 30, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great relations with UNHCR, good reputation, overall without significant fraud. It has a very good presence in all countries in conflict.

Cons

Un-principled, professionally shallow, parochial in their management. I started working with them attracted by their reputation. However, what that reputation does not mention is the sky-high turn over of expat staff due to poor management, frustration with decision-making processes at senior level and the clear protectionism exercised by the Danes in the team. Very nontransparent and all good Scandinavian principles about equality, participation, worker rights, etc. went through the window the moment DRC step out of Denmark. I still wonder how donors keep giving funds to this organization, although I understand why serious ones like DFID, USAID, etc. would not entertain the idea of dumping their funds on that bottomless pit.

1.0
Mar 20, 2013

A waste of opportunities

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

DRC manages to have some standing and presence in major humanitarian crises. There is a lot of work that could be done by the organisation. Some very technically-competent staff, however, with very little opportunity to influence management.

Cons

Arbitrary management, non-transparent decision-making processes, without a possibility to influence senior management. Senior management can increase its own benefits, while remuneration for middle management goes down. Too concerned about its own turn-over, resulting in agreeing on any kind of project in return for some donor overhead money and added PR, rather than focusing on high-quality impact for beneficiaries. Too much political positioning instead of concern about the actual programme delivery. Weak and flawed internal procedures (on admin, finance, programming, etc.), weakly followed up, resulting in an organisation style without any guidance. The head office in Copenhagen fails dearly in this role; local initiatives are not allowed to develop further.

Viewing 544 - 546 of 547 Reviews

Glassdoor has 727 Danish Refugee Council reviews submitted anonymously by Danish Refugee Council employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Danish Refugee Council is right for you.