What you can learn from one company’s layoff debacle
After a jilted employee live-tweeted her company’s round of layoffs, the company had to do major damage control. Here’s how to keep your brand safe.
By now you’ve probably heard the story of the HMV employee who went rogue when the company let a group of employees go at once.
“We’re tweeting live from HR where we’re all being fired! Exciting!! #hmvXFactorFiring,” read the initial message from @HMVtweets, which has more than 70,000 Twitter followers.
This happened while the 91-year-old company laid off 60 employees during a round of downsizing.
Through seven subsequent tweets, Poppy Rose Cleere, the company’s newly-axed, 21-year-old online marketing and social media planner, aired the company’s dirty laundry to the world.
By the time the marketing director gained control of the account and deleted the offending messages, the damage was already done—and the screen grabs were taken.
The tweets went viral and images were shared around the world.
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