Great International Team and Easygoing Corporate Culture with Some Room for Improvement
Verbesserungsvorschläge
* Integrate education and training measures into personal job profiles and skills development
* Try to improve retention rate by offering better options for long-term careers
* Maybe rethink salary levels / general perks to remain attractive for new people in an expensive city like Munich
Arbeitsatmosphäre
The general atmosphere and the team spirit are two of the things I value most about working at InterNations. Of course, we now have at least 20 different teams across the entire company, so I can only speak for mine: I'm generally happy with the relaxed atmosphere at the office, the fact that I can work mostly independently, and my smart, helpful, and friendly colleagues. If anything, the only issue I see is us sometimes being too friendly and relaxed -- many of us are so used to working with each other that we probably don't notice some "blind spots" (i.e. room for potential improvement) anymore. But that's really what the Germans call "Jammern auf hohem Niveau". :) The team events for the entire company are also well organized and usually a lot of fun.
Kommunikation
My rating for communication really depends on the level within the company organization that we are talking about. Within our team, we have at least one weekly meeting to keep us informed of what's going on and what everyone is working on (plus the usual gossip in the office kitchen), so no complaints there. On a horizontal level, it's hard to know for half the company what the other half is working on: different departments are located in two separate buildings, and I think this has really hindered the informal information flow. The monthly team meeting with its short official update is really not enough in that respect. Vertically, I think quite a bit of information can get lost in the "trickle down effect" from upper management, too, so that's another reason why there's only three stars out of five.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
See my comment on "Arbeitsatmosphäre" above.
Work-Life-Balance
In my team, working additional hours is rare for anyone not in a team lead / management position. If you are a regular employee or an intern, you usually have more or less regular office hours. If there's an important deadline, everyone does stay longer if necessary, but that's the exception rather than the rule. However, I think it's a bit sad that things like flexible working hours, home office, or making up for the occasional evening spent at the office mostly depend on your supervisor's goodwill. Personally, I haven't got any issues with the way it's been handled informally in our team, but it would be nice to show greater appreciation for flexibility with an official company-wide policy.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
Again, that probably depends on your direct supervisor, but mine has never been anything but clear in communication, constructive in giving feedback, and helpful in difficult situations.
Interessante Aufgaben
That depends a lot on your job and responsibilities. My position has sort of accrued a lot of different tasks over time, which I have rather enjoyed in terms of variety, so I'd say I'm generally satisfied with this aspect of working here. But there are some other positions in other teams which I can imagine to quickly become repetitive and which are best regarded as temporary entry-level jobs for recent graduates.
Gleichberechtigung
We are a very international company, so we probably do better than plenty of other businesses when it comes to national, linguistic, or ethnic diversity. (I say "probably" since I might be the wrong person to judge such a sensitive issue, but I haven't become aware of anything obviously negative in this regard.)
I do feel more at ease when talking about gender, though. I think I can safely say that ours is definitely not a hostile work environment, but I miss a certain commitment to active support and development in that respect.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
This is the one aspect of diversity that we fall definitely short of. I think we only have a handful of employees aged 45 or older. Quite a few positions are entry-level jobs, and there doesn't seem to be much interest in retaining people for a long-term career track.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Could be worse, but could also be better. I know that the ongoing search for new office space for a growing company is very difficult in Munich, but our current location is not ideal. Working in two buildings hampers internal communication (see above); one of the buildings is also lacking a proper reception area, stricter security measures, and air-con in summer. The office has really good transport connections (for which I'm very grateful) and lots of shops, banks, fast food joints etc. nearby, but the neighborhood is kind of loud and a bit dodgy. Our team lodge is really comfy and stylish, though, but still, I'm looking forward to what another, larger, office in a different neighborhood might look like.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
I think some people in this company really care about topics like sustainability or CSR, but I also miss some more large-scale efforts and active, structural commitment to such causes.
Gehalt/Sozialleistungen
Okay for regular employees, I guess. Can't say anything about salary on management level, obviously. Considering that this is Munich, the salary might be a bit better, but I honestly can't say whether this is due to the actual salary or to the plain crazy living costs around here (esp. for new arrivals facing the local rental market for the first time!). I really like having a sponsored company pension plan, though.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
I really appreciate that we do have regular offers in the form of monthly lectures and workshops, as well as free German lessons for our non-German employees. But I think further education and training options need to be a lot better integrated into personal skills development and career path planning.