Airfoil Group Reviews

3.9

73% would recommend to a friend

(22 total reviews)
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Lisa Vallee-Smith

90% approve of CEO

54% positive business outlook

Airfoil Group has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 22 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Airfoil Group employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

22 reviews
3.0
4 June 2021

Overworked. Underpaid. Apathetic Leadership.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Cool office -politically progressive -Quality individuals -holiday/anniversary/birthday gifts -company parties -interesting clients

Cons

-Poor company organization + no standard operating procedures: Files are kept on different hosting platforms and it is impossible to find necessary client assets. And there are no standard operating procedures, it depends on the team and individual management making it difficult to keep up with different review processes/timelines/projects. Microsoft was once a client and now they use it religiously even though it consistently makes things harder. There is also no formal on boarding process for new clients (internally) so no one on the account understands the strategy or the processes. -Leadership cares more about the clients/new business/senior leadership than the internal needs of employees implementing strategy. Often times this creates additional and unnecessary work for people who are already swamped. -No formal HR department. It is run by the COO so there is no “neutral” party to bring company issues to. Employee company evaluations ask the wrong questions to provide insight on operations. Too stuck on bragging their “values” than to actually carry them out. -Unsure how to handle difficult conversations with clients and employees, they end up creating an overly-crafted message that doesn’t accomplish anything. -The split between digital and comms makes work more complicated than it needs to be. -Focused on getting business so they don’t set expectations with the client and work with companies they know are racist/misogynistic even though it goes against their values. Also along the lines of image- several accounts are for a large well known tech company that has too much work for the small team, and they cut them a deal to keep the business for show. Ultimately overworking employees and leaving not enough room for better client relationships.

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Airfoil Group Response
5y
Being an agent of change in a business that is established, doing time-honored work in a proven model requires patience and determination as a leader. Airfoil is a 20 year old agency with an amazing reputation that has decided to evolve because the market demands it. Evolution results in growing pains, and Airfoil is growing rapidly. As leaders we may make more measured moves that lead to slower change on some fronts, but this is not to be confused as apathy. You were a key part of Airfoil’s evolution and we are deeply grateful for what you built here. I’m sure your patience wore thin at times. Mine does too. I agree with some of what you mentioned - for example - our tech stack and process optimization. But when you say something like ‘cutting rates’ or ‘racist/misogynistic client’ - it tells me we missed an opportunity for more open dialogue to better arm you. Our DE&I efforts in the past few years could have really helped here. From the tone of this message on the whole, I think we missed a number of those opportunities. How unfortunate. I hope everyone who reads this understands that every company has flaws, something will always go wrong, and it's not necessarily a matter of what those flaws are - it's a matter of whether or not you’re surrounded by people that want to bring solutions to the table. We’re glad you’ve found a new home that makes you happier. Best wishes to you and your family. Jon Pielak, President - Airfoil Digital
3.0
7 Oct 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The people. The majority of people at Airfoil are friendly and overall pleasant to work with. Accountability. Every employee is held accountable for their actions. If a deadline is missed, there is no mystery as to who is at fault. The size. Because it is a small agency, each employee can feel that they are key to the success of business. Learning. Oh my god, you will learn. You will be forced out of your comfort zone. You will do thing you've never done before. It might not be the most enjoyable way to learn new professional skills, but it is the most effective way. Results. Airfoil maps to specific goals for each account. These goals will be met, no question. These goals also require hard work from each team member. If you work hard you will generate meaningful results. Relationships. This is the best place to be if you want to build relationships with national and local media outlets. No politics. I've always avoided office politics, but I didn't find myself needing to here. Because there weren't any. The majority of Airfoil employees are empathetic and understanding when it comes to personal matters. Flex time. The flex time is a nice perk if you previously worked at a place that does not offer flex time.However, it is frowned upon to frequently take advantage of flex time. It's typically used for appointments and emergencies. The work day "officially" starts at 9:00 a.m. You'll sometimes need to come in earlier, though. Development. Leadership makes a conscious effort to continue the education and professional development of its employees. The quality of this education can vary, but employees are encouraged to give feedback about training programs. Experience. I am convinced that while work at Airfoil you WILL improve professionally in every possible way. The industry knows Airfoil turns people into supreme professionals. In the three weeks after leaving Airfoil, I've been contacted by six recruiters.

Cons

These are personal opinions based on my unique experience at Airfoil and should absolutely be taken with a grain of salt. Some of these cons may be your pros: The on boarding process for new employees is anemic. I was introduced to your new teams on day one. On day two I was expected to seamlessly integrate into these teams. It is a baptism-by-fire approach and it the least efficient way to introduce someone to a new role. Employees can be assigned up to six accounts (this number does not include new business accounts). This makes time management incredibly difficult, which creates a high stress environment. If your previous job was not fast-paced and guns-blazing 24/7, you will struggle to keep your head above water. Roles are not specialized. All employees are expected to conduct media outreach, develop pitches, write bylines, create and execute social media plans, develop weekly/monthly reports and address a variety of one-off requests, among a plethora of other tasks. Culturally, email and instant messaging are used more than face-to-face and verbal communication. This inevitably leads to a higher degree of depersonalization and miscommunication, especially when working with other Airfoil locations, which creates conflict among employees. Management seems to take a passive approach to scope creep, instead of fighting against it. In other words, if a client has an oddball request that is out of scope Airfoil may follow through on it. New ideas can be met with criticism or rejected immediately. A *very* small number of people have an inadequate understanding of professionalism. For example: arriving late to meetings. Leaving meetings early before anything was accomplished. Working on other deadlines during meetings. Demanding someone's time for an impromptu meeting. Using profanity in a non-humorous fashion at inappropriate times. Time entry. Each employee is expected to report their actions for every quarter-hour of the workday. This is understandable from a billing standpoint, but people tend to over or under exaggerate how much time they spend on a specific task. Example: Can you recall what worked on last week on Tuesday between 11:00 and 11:45? This goes on for every hour of every work day. Upward mobility. I never knew if there is opportunity to move up in the company. I would ask my supervisor and they wouldn't know. It just seems to happen based on time and/or performance. Promotion criteria was a mystery. Overall, Airfoil gets 3 stars. Like I said, I loved the people, the challenge and unparalleled experience, but certain negative cultural motifs unfortunately made my time at Airfoil a roller-coaster of extreme highs and extreme lows. If you want exceptional PR experience, apply here and interview them well.

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Airfoil Group Response
7y
Thank you for your feedback. We strive to live by our core values here at Airfoil [Fun, Collaboration, Accountability, Leadership, Learning & Service] At Airfoil, we want only the best for our team and appreciate everyone’s dedication and commitment to our clients and each other. Thanks again for your feedback, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
1.0
16 Aug 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some great clients in tech. Access to clients, if you’re ready and prepared.

Cons

Some pure profit clients that drain morale. And aren’t profitable. Or don’t pay. Ask: Who prepares you to do your job? Who manages your career? What is the turnover rate (clients, staff)?

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Airfoil Group Response
6y
We are sorry to hear that after more than five years of employment with Airfoil you have determined that your experience with us was less than positive. In our mission to help our clients compete and succeed, we strive to hold very collaborative work relationships with them; and in some cases – especially with early stage companies and those in transition – there are payment issues, which we take seriously and usually land on mutually agreeable resolutions. We strive to ensure every employee has access to the tools and resources necessary to be successful in their role. With annual performance reviews, routine one-on-one’s and employee surveys, our staff are given every opportunity to seek guidance and support from their managers and our leadership team. Keith Donovan, president, Airfoil Communications
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Glassdoor has 30 Airfoil Group reviews submitted anonymously by Airfoil Group employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Airfoil Group is right for you.