Accepting a position at LaForce was the biggest mistake I have ever made. As with most PR roles, this job will take over your life, but with the added factor of working in a catty, toxic environment where management focuses more on optics and politics than supporting employees. The company has experienced extreme turnover in the last year, especially at the junior level, as they are willing to let dedicated employees leave the company in order to keep toxic leaders. The teams lack structure which causes regular miscommunication and a lower quality of work. Verbal and emotional abuse is the norm at LaForce and is considered "part of the job." Most people operate on a "head down" work style to avoid being the target of team leaders' continued harassment.
The company places no value in the growth of employees nor does it challenge them to think of new ideas, resulting in very cookie cutter client campaigns that lack any sort of creativity or out of the box thinking. Lunch breaks are nonexistent here so be prepared to spend upwards of 10 hours at your desk staring at your computer screen and when you finally leave expect to receive texts/calls about work at all hours . While the company has a fair PTO policy, you'll never be able to use those days because of "client conflicts." Team leaders lie to and push back on clients regularly and bill inappropriate and wildly expensive meals/drinks back to clients. Additionally, the company does not have strong name recognition within the media community which makes pitching and securing placements much more challenging than at companies with stronger name recognition.
I didn't realize how truly awful LaForce's structure and culture was until I moved on to a new company and saw what another work environment could be like. It's one thing to have long hours, a toxic environment and poor leadership but LaForce is a combination of all three that truly makes working here unbearable.
