No leadership consistency or vision... clients and staff feel it and are responding - Anonymous employee Airfoil Group Employee Review

1.0
16 Aug 2019
Anonymous employee
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

Explore other reviews about Airfoil Group

5.0
16 Feb 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great team atmosphere to work in and grow in your professional career. Exciting clients to work with and a great team of leaders.

Cons

None i can think of.

3.0
4 June 2021
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.

7
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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
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