We’ve all been there. Maybe that internship when you were younger didn’t measure up to the job description, and to add insult to injury, you had to work for free. Or your first job out of school didn’t give you much brain food. Or as an experienced pro, you were treated like a newbie. Not all jobs are dream jobs. We know this. I’ve had the pleasure of working for a couple of stellar companies. The kinds of companies I would tell anyone are great employers. But sure, I’ve had a bum experience, and if asked specifically, I’d happily offer a friend some words of wisdom so that she may avoid the same fate of short-term employment.
But here’s what I haven’t done — broadcast tales of my terrible boss and the company’s awful policies
Most marketers fully understand the value of working with HR in communication efforts. That’s because your employees are an extension of your brand. And when they’re dissatisfied — or worse, disgruntled — and they badmouth the company, it’s the company’s brand that falters. But it seems to me that there’s a point where the damaged brand is no longer the company — but rather, the employee himself. He is branded a whiner, a know-it-all, a malcontent.
Case in point — This week, I was sent a link to Dennis Romero’s blog. In a lengthy (but captivating) post, he detailed his misery working for Entrepreneur. It appears his editor in chief failed to live up to her role and that he was the only qualified journalist in the place — and one who filed more and better pieces than any other writer there. (At least he says so.) Power struggles abounded, and ultimately, he was let go. Now, he’s airing the magazine’s dirty laundry. Comments on the post reveal some other disgruntled staff members as well as those in the biz who think they finally know why the magazine has been going downhill. Still others note that maybe it’s Romero himself who is the problem.
While it seems he’s a talented journalist who has since picked up new projects, this public grievance-airing may have done more to damage Romero’s brand than that of the magazine or its editor in chief.
In Phoenix, a young intern recently got caught in the same trap. Read her story here. Hers was certainly a less hateful diatribe, but led to the same questions and comments. Who’s really hurt here — the intern who thinks she was capable of more and quit after three weeks or the agency that will easily maintain its popular reputation and can fill her spot in no time?
Online tools and social media make it easier for us to get our messages out, but that doesn’t mean every message should be communicated.