While Uber publicizes its new CEO, whom the company hopes can save Uber from a web of scandal, a group of employees are taking a different approach.
Six anonymous Uber staff members are trying to build positivity through community. They have launched a website called Good People Good Thing. The website exists to promote positivity and build morale.
“Let’s be real, it’s been a pretty rough nine months (plus). Negativity became the rule, instead of the exception to it. And morale fell to the floor,” says the anonymous team on their website. “So, we’re trying to pick it back up. Together, we can lift each other’s spirits and make a difference in our everyday.”
Right now, they’re collecting email addresses and trying to spread the word. However, they promise they have more positivity-inducing initiatives planned for the coming months. They also reportedly put up posters throughout the San Francisco Uber headquarters in an attempt to promote positivity.
Why Uber needs positivity
Their goals seem simple, but in a company fraught with charges of sexual harassment and discrimination, they may be the morale boost employees need.
This summer has seen what some call the implosion of Uber. In addition to harassment and discrimination charges, the company hasn’t seen private investors in over a year. However, even those who want to sell their privately held stock are having trouble finding a market. They are awaiting a trial for a lawsuit from Waymo who claims Uber stole its secrets for autonomous vehicle technology. Employees are getting increasingly disgruntled with their treatment by the company, including reports of the company “deactivating” their accounts for no apparent reason.
Will Uber CEO boost company morale?
Former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will be taking the reigns of Uber, and many hope he will be able to change the company for the better. Among other qualifications, Khosrowshahi has significant experience guiding a publicly traded company through periods of extensive growth. If he is going to meet Uber’s longtime goal of becoming a publicly traded company, he will have to restore some kind of transparency to the company. Expedia grew from $2.1 billion a year in growth in 2005, when he took leadership, to $8.7 billion last year.
He also has experience making profitable deals for the company, as well as expanding via acquisitions, both inside and outside the United States.
