Mark Jen’s departure comes after less than a month on the job, amid controversy over Web postings about the company.
No reasons have been given for Jen’s departure, but this is a bad sign.
Let me put this as plainly as I can. Employee bloggers are the best thing that can happen to a company, and this kind of behavior– assuming Jen was let go in relation to his blog– is worse for a company than any bad PR a blog might generate.
The Cluetrain isn’t just marketing jargon, it’s real. Markets in the Internet era really are conversations. With your company or about your company, the fact is that your customers are talking. You can be open and frank with them and let them tell you what they want, or you can be closed off, ignore this goldmine of constructive criticism and keep making mistakes you could have avoided had you only been willing to pull your head out of your ass and listen.
The best conduit for these market conversations are employee bloggers. These people, talking about their jobs in their own voices, good and bad, have and authenticity and “street cred” no corporate PR spiel could ever have. Your customers will open up to them in ways they simply never do in focus groups. And it doesn’t cost you a dime! It’s free market research, and better, it’s authentic.
So why are so many companies hot to squash employee bloggers? Because they’re afraid if people (read: stockholders) really knew how things were run at their company, heads would roll. There’s an easy solution to this.
QUIT DOING THINGS THAT YOUR STOCKHOLDERS WOULDN’T LIKE!
Run your company with honesty and integrity, treat your employees like partners and encourage input from your customers. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear from employee bloggers. If you allow employees to blog, your customers help you make a better product or service. It’s win-win, all around.
If you don’t be stupid.
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