West Advertising Reviews

Deeply saddened to see this review. I was alerted to this and one other negative review by a current employee on the same day. I've waited over a week to respond so I could consider the comments, consult with current staff members, and evaluate how to best respond. For someone who takes pride in creating a very positive work environment, these two reviews strike at the core of my sense of self worth as a business owner. My first reaction was that these two reviews share almost identical points: management, work/life balance, pay. Clearly there was some overlap in both of these employees' careers at West, so presumably they had the opportunity to consider and concur on their feelings. I have to take that seriously. This particular review seems to focus somewhat on our prior Account Director, who is still with West but in a slightly different capacity. If that person has a management flaw, I always felt it was because she cares too much about the people on her team and shoulders an unnecessary portion of the workload herself. If I am mistaken, I wish you -- the reviewer -- would have shared the "terrible management" issues with me when there was the opportunity to respond. I would still be interested in hearing specifics, so please feel welcome to contact me. "Menial pay" is harsh. We're open about pay scales, try to remain competitive, provide benefits that raise overall compensation levels, provide bonuses when business is good, and give raises. I'm hoping that you -- the reviewer -- will agree that the Account Coordinator position is an entry level opportunity for people seeking to get into advertising. I also want to comment that the range provided is way out of date and that the Copywriter range is grossly inaccurate for all Copywriters that we've employed, with the exception of a part time intern and entry-level writer with zero agency experience. As for "work/life balance", I'm dumbfounded. West prides itself on NOT working the extreme hours of other ad agencies, going so far as to continue our 20+ year practice of ending the work day at 1PM on Fridays. People are allowed to set their own schedules, within a range of start/end times, and they are afforded a great deal of liberty to accommodate personal commitments. Yes, we have very high standards. I wouldn't want to run an organization that didn't. Again, deeply saddened to think I've potentially let down an employee to the degree indicated by this review. If you'd like to get back in touch with me, I sincerely want to learn more about what prompted this feedback. Thanks. -- Pete / Agency owner