Recently, the Transportation Security Agency, or lovingly known as the TSA to all of us frequent flyers, has been rocked by scandal at the hand of an “anonymous” employee’s blog called Taking Sense Away. Because the blog does contain some explicit language, it is not linked to this post, but you can easily find it by Googling the name.
Recently, the Transportation Security Agency, or lovingly known as the TSA to all of us frequent flyers, has been rocked by scandal at the hand of an “anonymous” employee’s blog called Taking Sense Away. Because the blog does contain some explicit language, it is not linked to this post, but you can easily find it by Googling the name.
In his blog, the newly-outed author, Jason Edward Harrington, has chronicled the happenings in security at Chicago’s O’Hare airport since October 2012. Harrington wrote about everything from security officers sleeping on the job to what he really thinks about counter terrorism policies and the technology employed to keep us safe.
Late in January, Harrington’s stint as an “anonymous” employee ended as Politico.com ran an article identifying him as the two-year author of the blog. “Confessions of an ex-TSA agent” reads the headline. Again, Google it. The story just gets uglier from there.
Moral of the Story
At a basic level, this is a story about branding. The TSA (despite the volatile political feelings many people have about its existence) has spent a lot of money and resources over the last few years to tell its brand story. But then this blog happens, and TSA has a serious branding (and PR) crisis on its hands. This will stick in peoples’ minds (and on the Internet) for years to come.
Obviously, national security is vastly different from financial services. However, this article poses an important question: could this or would this happen at your organization?
This is an extreme example. But in a world of social media outlets, all it takes is one negative interaction with the wrong person on a bad day for it to go on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, Google…the list goes on and on.
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Are there skeletons behind the scenes in your organization that might provide fodder for an employee (or member/customer) to blow the whistle? Chances are 99.9% against this ever happening to your financial institution, but the point is…if you are aware of instances where your company isn’t doing the right thing where employees or customers/members are concerned, why don’t you change it before it’s too late?
Is it a policy that makes members and customers jump through hoops? Are some employees being treated unfairly? Do you know about things happening behind closed doors that shouldn’t? Good or bad, these are instances in which people identify their feelings with with your brand…and it may not be what you want them to think or feel.
One trait of successful companies is that they are vigilant internally and externally about practices and policies that could not only get them into trouble, but also conflict with the brand the organization wants to embody and portray.
Doing things right by your members and customers and employees (even when they aren’t looking) is always the right thing to do. For them, and your brand.
Amanda
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