Social Media: The Megaphone for Unhappy Employees

Twitter crises seem to be a dime a dozen these days.

Some involve getting 'slizzered' and have a happy ending. Others involve road rage and end up causing serious damage. There are also tweets making a light of revolution and interns burning bridges.

Then there are the stories you never heard.

Ryder, a well-known truck rental company, recently had an unhappy employee blast the company on Twitter. This employee had a workplace issue he/she felt was not adequately addressed by HR. The employee started an account called 'ryderemployees' and followed trucking companies, industry leaders and media outlets. The employee called Ryder out on its response and made it known he/she was not happy.

What was the issue? Well, I'll have you look at these screenshots of the now-shuttered account. Remember, the oldest tweets are at the bottom of the last image (the yellow highlights are from Google Cache).

Obviously, this was a crisis and had potential for more damage. The employee engaged with local and national media trying to get attention. The account was gone shortly after the employee posted the last tweet, before anyone could pick up the story.

Before the rise of social media, an employee in this situation would have sat quietly and said nothing. He/she would just be angry and mutter under his/her breath. No big issue except for one unhappy employee.

But social media is a gigantic megaphone. If someone isn't happy, it will take no time for him/her to be heard. If a company treats employees unfairly (or is perceived as doing so), there is nothing to stop this from happening. The only way a company can stop this from happening is by treating employees fairly and ethically.

Ryder recognized the issue and addressed, since the account is gone. Did Ryder solve the problem? Did they threaten the employee with a lawsuit? How did they really solve the issue?

I have no idea. I reached out to their PR department via Twitter but received no response. If you're the person behind the account or if Ryder wants to reach out and explain the situation to me, I'd love to hear it.

How would you handle this situation? Would you find and engage the employee directly? Would you ignore the issue?