Why you need to pay attention to the blogosphere – now.

Maggie Fox, February 1 2007

Have a read over this article from yesterday’s Globe and Mail – it highlights the fact that the “isolated incident” has truly gone the way of the dodo. The example? A big U.S. law firm that’s taking a beating in cyberspace:

[Sullivan & Cromwell LLP] is now waging a far more diffuse battle in cyberspace, where a torrent of raw and at times harsh blogs about working life at the firm is threatening to stain its reputation… The postings, mostly unverified accounts from anonymous posters, suggest workplace morale is awful. One anonymous blogger who claimed to be a former Sullivan & Cromwell employee said on The Wall Street Journal’s law blog that he had “never worked with a bigger bunch of sycophants and cowards.”

Remember what Deloitte learned last week? That by paying attention to the conversation, you gain intelligence about your business, and by participating you can then take action when you need to (and hey – if that action is as radical as changing your corporate culture? Maybe it’s something you need to consider. If there are that many people unhappy with your workplace – it’s not them, it’s YOU). A lesson Sullivan & Cromwell is learning the hard way.

Hat tip to Chris Reid from Yamaha!