Uber’s PR nightmares shine as an example of how not to manage your reputation.
UK Businesses can learn some valuable lessons about protecting their reputation by paying attention to how Uber have been dealing with employees and customers…
They are a case study of how not to treat your employees, as they have been accused of dismissing complaints of sexual harassment to HR, because the manager was a high performer. “She said Uber continued to ignore her complaints to HR, and then her manager threatened to fire her for reporting things to HR.”
This is a classic case of a company getting big very quickly and the hierachy being above the law. In this sense it workplace ethics are easily flouted by those high up, and people below have little voice.
In an almost Orwellian manner some companies ignore basic Hr and believe in thier own hype. It is always clear from successful companies and people that the idea of staying humble and staying hungry give you much better results long term.
With lots of bad press about sexism and drug taking, stolen technology and intellectual theft, it seems that Uber’s thirst for success and a drive to market share at all costs can backfire dramatically.
Fast growth no care, no perspective on how far they have come, and a lack of ethics that allow it to be sustainable.
Ignoring concerns of their employees, and just as importantly concerns of their customers as highlighted by “delete Uber” when they raised prices at airports as an opportunistic way of getting extra cash from an unfortunate incident.
Their ways of dealing with bad press seems to lack vision, and there is no plan or commitment to rectifying any of the issues that the bad press has brought up.
Even investors has been disappointed with company culture – Google sued them for intellectual property theft.
They have also been accused of smear campaigns against engineers.
Trust is so important in any business, and with more and more cases displaying reasons not to trust them, it is clear their reputation has taken a massive hit.
A reputation management lesson for all businesses
We see this with companies of all sizes. For example a small company that has a bad review online may lash out at the person writing, get involved in an argument, take no responsibility and blame everyone else. This fans the flames and makes the whole situation so much worse.
In these cases the company would be far better off either ignoring it if it is in fact false, or apologising, accepting responsibility and seeking to rectify it.
When a company can not look at their own failings and see this as an opportunity to fix their reputation and develop trust with their customers/employees they risk having a bad reputation. And people don’t understand the value of a positive reputation until it’s gone.
