The Media Image Reviews

As the title of this review states, the reviews for The Media Image are not representative of the entire company (maybe 1 or 2 of the favourites), but since TMI forced all its employee's to leave positive untruthful reviews when it received a few bad reviews, I felt compelled to share my experience. There is a deep-rooted culture of bullying at The Media Image where inappropriate remarks (often sexist) are the norm. During my 2 years here, many colleagues raised issues with "HR" (I put HR in parentheses as there was no actual procedure when issues were raised, other then to blame colleagues for their own mistreatment), and nothing was done. Colleagues are expected to work beyond their 9-6 working hours, and to give up any kind of personal life. This, combined with the extremely low salaries, means the company has a quick turnover of staff (which they deny). The Media Image employs many graduates straight out of university, but fail to give any training or support, which was tough for me as a more experienced colleague to witness and often meant myself and others had to train them. My experience is not an isolated one, but one widely shared, you only have to look at the real reviews, not the ones TMI forced its colleagues to write, to see that. I was lucky enough to keep my head down, and survive my time here and move on without any major issues. But I would advice anyone not to work here. It is an unprofessional and unhealthy work environment.

There were a few issues and behaviours I’d noticed that weren’t outright enough for me to feel confident to call out until my exit interview, however, since leaving I have been disgusted to hear of more harmful events from colleagues: these aren’t my experiences to share so I won’t go into detail, however they do include highly inappropriate behaviour from more senior members of staff and colleagues, and heightened performance observation during extremely difficult personal circumstances. It makes no difference having x% of women in the workplace if they are continued to be treated in a degrading and invalidating manner. I count myself lucky to not have experienced this treatment myself and have overall had an okay, if dysfunctional, time working here: the select and irregular but seemingly frequent nature in which these experiences happen and life at TMI continues as usual is a huge example of how difficult it is for organisations such as these to be held, and to hold themselves, accountable. I would also highly encourage developing a stronger forward-facing 0 tolerance approach towards racism and micro-aggressions (internally & client receiving). Client boundaries/ expectation management felt non-existent, attitude & conversation around clients was depressing and bitter with little respect and I noticed colleague morale nose-dive over time. Sometimes business decisions by clients, or employees handing in notice, were received extremely personally and occasionally in a paranoid and untrusting manner. No staff perks/ incentives or overtime pay. Working 40+ hours a week is norm, you can only claim up to £30 for takeout/dinner if you work until 8pm+ and need the receipt to upload to then be approved. Company awards/ milestones weren't rewarded to employees in any solid way. It was suggested various employee time-zones and client needs/hours made perks difficult to solidify, please consider: 30mins in the week for an internal social activity (not work related), internal celebrations for international holidays, themed national days (perhaps pick an effort to support?), summer Friday hours (early finish), quarterly away days for company awards… perhaps research competitor Employee Benefits packages and see how these can be adapted to suit TMI. Training was structureless and relied on colleagues who had no support or extra time for their own, often unmanageable, workload. Team swaps, client changes and staff turnover were high and constant, and urgent cover needed on accounts with little to no context was to be expected. A manager who has received numerous formal complaints continued to be celebrated and routinely promoted. I’ve seen responses to 1-star reviews include the offer to have a call and talk about issues - please keep in mind this doesn’t get to the root of the problem or address the source of the issues directly, and most of us would rather not return for a chat. It is not our responsibility to further explain to you where you need to improve: we’ve been clear enough here without going into explicit detail. If you’re surprised issues aren’t brought to HR at the time please consider embarrassment, shock and not wanting to make life more difficult for ourselves in an already stressful and unstable working environment where we would be doubtful of a level response back to us and treatment following. I would recommend regularly available, optional bookable sessions with HR members to talk through any concerns - and for this to be an encouraged and open part of company culture. Managers, senior staff and employees who were either involved or have witnessed aforementioned or other toxic events and have chosen not to reflect and improve upon them (or inform HR) are the only people who can change this manipulative and two-faced workplace from the centre. I suggest these people have an internal meeting (with HR present) and discuss where they can improve and lead by better example. Mental health discussions, more structured training and flexible working hour meetings started taking place internally - I am hopeful these will be acted upon and continued with intention and genuine desire for improvement, with consistent support from higher management.