3Q used to be a prestigious agency whose name held a lot of weight; you were proud to work there. Some of what used to make it great were things you wouldn't find at larger agencies, like transparency from the execs, execs that genuinely cared about employees (and weren't afraid to fire jerk clients), and benefits.
Compensation: While it was accepted that your salary was likely lower than the industry average, the benefits and culture fostered at 3Q was "acceptable" to make up for the difference. It's now downright insulting how poorly employees are compensated while benefits diminish, all while ELT brags about "record-breaking revenue". Raises are minimal, unless they determine you're "at-risk" of leaving because of how far below market rate your salary is. Raises were routinely denied within the last year, leading to employees feeling discouraged, unmotivated, and looking for employment elsewhere in a very competitive market.
Career opportunities: It used to be that 3Q would promote based on skill and knowledge, so you didn't need to wait for a position to become available before being promoted. This meant there was tons of room for growth and opportunity, and you were promoted when you deserved to be. Now, promotions are denied left and right, leading employees to feel they're hitting a ceiling and leaving them no option but to look elsewhere for growth.
Management: When David R. was CEO and the original ELT was in place, you had confidence in them that they were acting in everyone's best interests. They cared about employees and their well-being, made time for 1:1s with even the most junior employees, and put employees over profit. 3Q now prioritizes profits over everything and it not only shows, it's blatant and disrespectful. While denying well-earned promotions and raises after bragging about how well the company is doing, ELT is bloating itself by giving jobs to and creating new positions for their friends.
Work-Life Balance/PTO: Depending on your team, this is non-existent. The cell phone re-imbursement benefit they offer is because you're expected to have Slack and email on your personal phone and respond at almost all hours to clients or senior team members. You're simultaneously punished and rewarded for working long hours, and your workload almost never fits within a 40 hour work week. Depending on your team, the hours you log are not only watched, they're micromanaged. It's incredibly stressful at times and you're told "your work-life balance is on you to figure out" while you're drowning in work. PTO is not as flexible or unlimited as it seems. Flexible working hours are not actually flexible, depending on your team. Once you become higher within the org, it's virtually impossible to disconnect from your phone entirely while on PTO. You can never really feel recharged after a vacation because you know what fires await you when you return.
Direction for the company: For the last 2 years, it's seemed incredibly unclear what the goals were for the company. Now, after the DEPT announcement, it's clear the goal was just "acquisition".
The People: There's been a mass exodus of "long-time 3Qers" in the last year because of the reasons I've outlined above. You'll notice on LinkedIn how many of us have left recently because it's too hard to see how good we used to have it and accepted the reality of what we we were left with. The new hires being brought in aren't what they used to be, likely because 3Q isn't the company it used to be. Poor hiring choices are being made all around, either out of desperation or convenience.
DEI&B: While some people within the organization are well-intentioned, DEIB shifted to feeling incredibly performative. DEIB needs to be embedded within our culture, not an "add-on" or a check box.
