Where do I begin?
Kelly Scott Madison and KSM South prides themselves on being forward-thinking agencies that focus on being great places for people to grow their careers in. Unfortunately, this agency has a huge problem in understanding how to function. As a wannabe agency who is stuck implementing outdated practices with poor management, this is absolutely no place to advance your career, hence why so many people are either gone or in the process of looking for another job of substance.
Here are some of the main cons I encountered at KSM:
1. There is a huge disconnect from the leadership team and their employees. If the directors actually paid attention to their employees and the dynamic of the work environment, they would see just how unhappy people are with their job. In my years at the company, I saw so many great workers leave who had such great potential. If only they would have been taken seriously or given better opportunities, they might have been able to grow with the company instead of actively searching for literally any other opportunity. It blows my mind how the people who are managers at this company literally have no clue how to manage their employees. It's so confusing.
2. There is absolutely no integration at this company. As much as KSM tries to instill this belief in their core values, integration is and will always be a challenge for this company. Media planning, digital, promotions, and broadcast are all separated and rarely communicate with one another. This leads to obvious politics in the company on which department is more important and valued more to the agency as a whole, which is overall toxic to the company and its employees. Awkward coffee dates with leadership members who clearly do not want to participate is not integration. It is pathetic and sad.
3. No culture whatsoever. This company struggles so much with wanting to be a cool place to work for with a great culture. The directors and leaders think that adding a ping pong table to the office will create the camaraderie that other cool and better-run agencies have. With the workload, you get shamed if you ever actually play with these "incentives", making them more for the look of a fun agency than an actual place to interact with your coworkers. When people get in trouble for trying to give the agency some personality, chances are "culture" should not be something highlighted by the company. Newsflash, making people feel terrible for wanting a break from looking at their screen all day will not help company morale.
4. Your input, concerns, and recommendations as an employee are unfortunately not taken seriously and will probably be used against you. I personally made legitimate concerns to our HR department and leadership team on ways we could work as an agency and was not taken seriously at all. The CEO of the company actually set up meetings with all the workers to discuss ways to better the company. However, don't give your true opinion on how to fix some internal issues because it just might be used against you in the future.
5. Goodbye to your social life! KSM does not care if you have a life outside of the office. The workloads that are on your desk (due to the many people that have quit) are enough to make you go insane. I can count multiple people who I have comforted in this office that physically cried at their desk because their workload was too much. I get agency life requires after hours, but staying until 9pm every day to meet a deadline that should not have been made in the first place is literally ridiculous. To be disrespected as an employee due to unrealistic expectations is insane.
Overall, this agency has so many cons to it that future employees need to understand. When I had started, the agency was in a far better place than where it was when I left. Especially with KSM South being located in Austin, there is a huge disconnect from the Chicago location and the people who make the decisions that affect the entire company. The team put in charge in the Austin office unfortunately does not cultivate an exciting place to grow a long-term career, forcing great workers to leave and dump their work onto the remaining workers who already have one foot out the door. I'm disappointed with this agency and the lack of consideration it has for their employees on so many levels.
