Gannett Reviews

Pros

Very large company with the ability to move around quite easily

Cons

Leadership skills of management are poor

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your employees with respect and stop promoting workers who clearly don't deserve it, then maybe they would actually want to put in all of those hours and extra time you so desperately need.

Pros

Pay and vacation time are pretty good, although there have been no raises in years, and fellow employees (not management) are talented and supportive.

Cons

There has been a constant stream of layoffs, creating an atmosphere of fear. Supervisors are heaping on more and more and more work and employees are nearing burnout. It is a stressful business anyway, and it is getting worse. It used to be fun, but no more.

Advice to Senior Management

Show your employees some respect. They are working extremely hard under trying conditions and feel dispensable and unappreciated. Morale is very low right now, which makes it hard for people to do their best work.

Pros

Most of the staff (non-management) was great to work with.
Pretty good benefits package.
I really enjoyed the job itself.

Cons

Constant change to structure, philosophy, tactics, etc. Once had 5 offices in less than 2 years.
Management so focused on current numbers that is loses focus on bigger picture.
Understaffed, under-appreciated, and overworked.
Pay freezes, vacation restrictions, commission cuts.

Advice to Senior Management

Be creative with a way to grow the business, not just the bottom line. Keep in mind that your employees are the reason your customers do business with you and encourage a better working place. I was once known as the motivated "go-getter" and by working at gannett long enough it killed all of my motivation.

Pros

Exciting place to work. Fun atmosphere. Great people. Reinforces a team environment.

Cons

Bad pay, minimal vacation, instability with employment - lots of downsizing

Advice to Senior Management

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Pros

• New VP of Sales is the only chance this place has to make it.
• New focus on uncovering pains of local businesses and not just getting on the phone and using techie words. This is huge because most SEO companies just have reps that call and make local biz owners feel stupid with their lingo.
• Most of the people are nice.
• The logo is gets attention.

Cons

• Morale is very low.
• Can not compete with companies like Reach Local or Yodle.
• The strategy of only calling cities with local Gannett newspapers is not working.
• Marketing department should be fired and get new people that are credible. All they do is blab about social media and there is total disconnect for sales. The average biz owner could care less. Gannett Local is a classic textbook example of how sales and marketing departments are disconnected in most companies.
• New hires leave after a few weeks
• Some of the sales techniques are deceptive
• Print media is a huge focus and that is a trap.
• Leads are recycled. I get most companies do this because sometimes another voice gets a yes. But seriously do three people need to call the same lead that day?

Advice to Senior Management

• Focus on sales and get some real marketing people.
• Do advertising to get name out there!
• Get rid of the people that are just there working the AZ Republic customers.
• Do better product training with the reps.

Pros

A talented staff with excellent skills. Clean work environment and good working conditions. Decent pay. Decent time-off and vacation policies. A hardworking team that was dedicated and reliable.

Cons

Publisher lied about the path that was being chosen in regards to outsourcing. Favoritism from management. Several people actually managed their own companies while on the job at Gannett. Department manager and vice president of production looked the other way because they were friends. Some management personnel discussed (gossiped) about employees to non-management co-workers. Also, the raises were skimpy at best.

Advice to Senior Management

Be professional and truthful.

Pros

- Good pay
- Nice people to work with
- Feel like the company is going to keep growing and getting better
- Management is willing to help you if you reach out and want to improve yourself

Cons

- it is a start-up so some days can be rocky
- new managers are learning how to be helpful and give you solid advice
- need to grow quickly to compete with others in the same space

Advice to Senior Management

- focus on finding new talent that is dedicated to making gannett better
- keep funding start-ups like gannett local to find new revenue

Pros

Great cafeteria and gym
Pretty headquarters
Awesome parking garage
Starbucks coffee shop (which also sells beer and wine)
Phenomenally low expectations

Cons

Digital executives (now that Saridakis has left) set new standards of incompetence almost daily
Cronyism isn't just encouraged, it's mandated
Terrible compensation combined with exorbitantly priced benefits
Furloughs

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of all of the ceremoniously appointed inexperienced buffons running Digital and start fresh with some genuine online leadership. Stop running Digital as defined by the low bar of print publishing guidance to keep the mothership whole. Secure a whole team of talent from GOOG, APPL, AMZN, et al, paid appropriately and with proper operating budgets, to right the Titanic.

Pros

There are some honest sales professionals at Gannett Local that truly provide a beneficial service for their clients. They are trying to maintain their integrity. If you are a Gennett Local client and one of these people is your rep please support their efforts to maintain their good reputation. And there are some nice people at Gannett Local trying to make working here bearable.

Cons

How many Sales Professionals have been churned through Gannett Local in the past year? 50 or more? Could they all have sucked so bad? Maybe it's the picked over leads cannibalized from the AZ Republic sales team. Maybe it is the same old tired print product packaged with resale of only-relevant-to-techi-hipsters SEO and PPC.
What makes this a soul sucking boiler room is management's constant distrust and berating of the employees. Now we're being asked to be dishonest to our prospects. Manipulation and deceit kills sale.
True sales professionals should steer clear of this place. You'll spend the few weeks you are here selling management on your ability to be as deceitful as they are, not actually building a loyal customer base.

Advice to Senior Management

By treating your salespeople like crooks and asking your salespeople to be deceitful you are validating your prospects perception that your salespeople are crooks.

Pros

It's a great station, good culture, hard working people. The newsroom folks work very hard and have a good time doing it.

Cons

Too many name changes, the brand changes too much.

Advice to Senior Management

Stick with the brand you have now for longer than two years.