Great coworkers and clients, but poor management - Account Manager SMC Communications Employee Review

The agency is full of individuals who love what they do and are looking forward to building. It feels like a team who truly has each others back. There is a lot of room for growth, which is exciting.

A con that doesn’t exist anymore. When I started there was a lot of unhappy people who didn’t want to or didn’t have the ability to make change happen. A lot of negativity. Thankfully, these people have moved on.

• Genuinely talented, kind coworkers who supported each other through a hard environment • Solid client roster and interesting work on paper • Decent downtown office location

• Hired as experts, then not trusted to do the work we were hired for. Constant second-guessing and micromanagement • When coworkers left, their workloads were redistributed to existing staff with no pay adjustment, no title change, and no support • Growing client turnover driven by under-resourcing. Accounts weren’t getting the attention they needed because the team was stretched too thin • Felt like a popularity contest. If you weren’t in the owner’s good graces, you became a target. High-school dynamics, not a workplace • Public call-outs over minor, inconsequential things were routine • Zero psychological safety. People walked on eggshells • Extremely high turnover, both from terminations and from people leaving to protect their wellbeing • Mandated days in office, justified by a lack of trust in employees rather than any business rationale • No career growth or development path. No clear progression, no investment in people • Any improvements implemented were repeatedly undone or abandoned • Scope creep was constant. Expected to absorb work well outside role and expertise, with no acknowledgement