You're fired! We don't like your blog

Catherine Sanderson who uses the pseudonym La Petite Anglaise for her blog no longer has a job.  That's according to an article in the BBC. She has been fired because her employer took objection to some references to it on her blog.

The employer has just scored a spectacular own goal in PR terms, even if the employer does have a good case for gross misconduct or something similar (Catherine is currently suing the firm).  The firm is said to be old school.  It's got some global coverage by the BBC, but is it the message it really wants to give to potential employees?

Don't worry Catherine, you've got a great blog and it's about to get a huge uplift in readers. Just put your CV on the blog and you'll have a new job very soon.

As a guide to navigating high seas of the blogosphere safely it is worth reading Captain's Blog by Accountancy Age. Bon Voyage.

Technorati Tags: small business medium sized business sme smb blogging accountants  sme-blog

Comments

[Stuart Jones]

A business I deal with was refused a contract because an associate of the business had blogged about the shabby treatment he had received from the company which had issued the tender.

They didn't like what had been said! Alhough it is interesting to note that they did not take ANY action to correct it or remove it from the blog.

[Philip Woodgate]

Hi Stuart

Large companies are certainly adapting to the new medium. I know for a fact of one top UK company whose PR department monitors blogs.

The worldwide publicity this has generated is amazing (CNN, Telegraph, BBC etc..)

The site appears to be pulled at the moment, but check out this for more

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=396393&in_page_id=1770

[Doug Hawkins]

Hi Philip I am sorry that Catherine has lost her job.I have not seen her blog , but it sounds fun. A great many managing directors etc are "die-hards" and cannot embrace new technology..Perhaps they don,t understand it and feel inadequate, and hit out at soft targets. Companies should be careful, because bad service posted on a blog, travels like wild fire (a well known computer company must have suffered from this when they let down quite a few customers!! No name no pack drill ) I do hope Catherine finds a new post soon.

[Philip Woodgate]

Hi Doug

I thought La Petite Anglaise site had been pulled. It hadn't, it crashed under volume of traffic! So checkout www.petiteanglaise.com

Catherine had no input in the Daily Mail article above, but she's spoken to the broadsheets and expects them to publish this weekend. The partners of her old firm will be choking on their croissants. Meanwhile I foresee a lucrative book deal coming Catherine’s way.

[Dennis H]

Errr...you know her employer was Dixon Wilson?

[Philip Woodgate]

The world knows their name. They say no publicity is bad publicity, but for anyone looking for more help in this area checkout http://www.bcentral.co.uk/business-information/marketing/marketing-methods/handling-bad-publicity.mspx

We're only at the start of a technology revolution. Old school firms are in for quite a shock and it won't be long before the Myspace generation are the next clients. Most people still don't really understand what a blog is, but they have heard of CNN, The Times and BBC and take notice of what they print.

[Dennis H]

How about the first day you interview someone and when you ask: "Tell me something about yourself I won't find on your blog?" Could be fun.

[Philip Woodgate]

Or for the head-hunter: "I read your blog, would you be interested in....". It's a whole new world of transparency.

I suspect that we will see more employment contracts with Blog choking clauses. Personally, I’m a big supporter of freedom of speech, but I do understand the need to protect the company image. Where the line is drawn is a crucial balancing act.