Unbelievably Disappointing - Anonymous employee Fishman Public Relations Employee Review

When I was in the interview process, I was promised support, adequate training, and a collaborative and positive environment. These were the first of many promises that were never delivered upon. Later on, I was promised that I would receive constructive feedback and a supportive and helpful team to aid in the management of an entirely too-packed list of priorities. Again, because everyone has too much on their plate, I was let down and figured things out on my own. Though I was willing to do my best to figure things out independently, as a recent grad who just wanted to be as successful as possible in my role, this was incredibly disappointing. I was told to voice my concerns about workload, and speak to my director when I needed additional support. Disappointingly, yet unsurprisingly, my concerns were brushed under the rug in a slew of responses such as “it’s a learning process”, “your clients are happy, so just keep doing what you’re doing”, and “just manage your time better and reprioritize”. None of these responses were true- but, due to the disorganized, mismanaged, and unprofessional behavior of this organization, nobody seemed to care. Until management sees clients begin to leave, concerns are not addressed. Even then, so many things are intentionally never discussed with the team. I experienced very little transparency from management which was incredibly frustrating. With the rapid turnover of clients and employees, transparency should be valued. However, management tends to lean on the side of hiding information and being borderline deceitful. Overall, this is how things are handled at this company- brush things under the rug until they resurface, scramble to find a mediocre solution that can keep the client/employee around for a few more weeks, rinse, and repeat. Bringing in a high volume of PR placements is obviously an important aspect at a PR agency, and is vital to the success of a client. But, no matter how many times you hear the phrase “PR is not guaranteed” (spoken both internally and used as an expectation management tool for clients), it is in fact the only way to guarantee a promotion, respect from your managers, or your job. You will see people who produce a high quantity of mediocre work receive raises, promotions, and praise. Do not expect to receive a raise or promotion based on the quality of your work- these decisions are made on a time-basis, and in my opinion, do not take into consideration your overall work performance, skills, workload, or merit. Lastly, it is made clear from previous reviews that the salaries and workload are abysmal, management doesn’t handle criticism or conflict well, and employees can barely stick it out under these conditions for a year. From my experience, all of these things are true. However, you can easily look up a salary expectation online, and see it on an offer letter before committing to the role. It’s the personal experiences from employees that tell the real story of what it’s like to work at this company. If these stories were not true, there would not be so many common threads from review to review. If these stories were not true, there definitely wouldn’t be a company executive running to the comments to invalidate negative employee experiences. Ultimately, it goes beyond pay grade and workload. Being underpaid and overworked is unfortunately common in the industry as a recent grad. Being deceived, misled, and lied to by management is not.