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Every day since joining Chick-fil-A four months ago, employee and TikTok star Miri – aka @mirithesiren – has posted a review of the employee meal she is given each day.
Miri’s videos, which start each day with “It’s a great day at Chick-fil-A!”, have gathered up to 3.4 million views, and amassed over three million likes to date.
They offer a glowing look into life as a Chick-fil-A employee, as well as giving customers a detailed (but honest) run-through of the many menu items she samples as a worker for the fast-food chain.
Miri’s viral videos have rapidly built her a cult following of viewers who latch onto her every word, totalling nearly 80,000 followers.
There’s just one problem – she’s been asked by Chick-fil-A corporate to stop making the videos.
Between the chicken sandwich specialist’s HR team and its PR team, that’s a disastrous move that should have been prevented.
Employer branding triumph or employee handbook violation?
Miri was informed by Chick-fil-A’s PR team that she would need to stop making the videos as they “break a rule in the employee handbook,” she explained in a video on Tuesday that has racked up 2.1 million views in under 72 hours.
@mirithesiren Chick-fil-A Corporate has asked me to stop making content. I’m sorry you guys :/ Thank you for all the support and love but an era has ended. “The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TC&Js Enterprises, Chick-fil-A Whittwood, nor Chick-fil-A, Inc.” #fyp #chickfila #chickfilaemployee #chickfilasauce #chickfilahacks #curlyhair #blackgirl ♬ original sound - mirithesiren
Granted, it was Chick-fil-A’s PR team that broke the news to Miri, rather than HR, and sometimes there’s no escaping company policy. But HR and employer branding professionals at the fast food company should have stepped in and prevented this disastrous decision.
According to Miri, the rule existed before she started making the review videos that any social media collaborations between employees and the company would have to be pre-agreed.
The PR team even told Miri that they loved her videos and would allow her to keep the existing TikToks up on her page.
However, she was told the chain was not willing to make an exception to the policy.
“I was hoping we could collaborate or turn this into something,” Miri says in her video. “I had numbers to show it.”
Banning something overwhelmingly positive on a point of policy is an example of why so many employees are frustrated with “corporate” – including HR.
In an era where authentic employee advocacy is so hard to find, banning a worker from producing authentic videos that help with employee and customer branding is completely counterintuitive.
Why social media employee branding is ever-more important
72% of recruiting leaders agree that employer brand has a significant impact on hiring, thanks to benefits including reduced turnover, cost-per-hire, and time-to-hire, and more qualified applicants.
Moreover, particularly for the tricky-to-engage Gen Z audience – 72% of whom review employers’ social media accounts during their job search, according to a Resource Solutions survey – positive testimonials from workers like Mimi can make a huge difference.
Rather than allowing a policy to get in the way of Mimi’s videos, HR should have pushed Chick-fil-A’s marketing and PR team to find a way around the handbook and lean into a social media collaboration.
Chick-fil-A’s decision leaves employees with a bad taste in the mouth
If any PR or HR decision-maker was unsure of the value, they should have been reminded that employees sharing content can generate eight times more interaction than the brand alone. Even a company as successful as Chick-fil-A cannot ignore the value someone like Mimi brings.
Instead, a party-pooping move like this will only dishearten other employees from sharing their love for the brand, and leave a bad taste in the mouths of prospective candidates.
“It has been a beautiful experience,” Mimi said. “I have inspired people to try new things at Chick-fil-A; I have been able to connect more with my community and the people I serve because they see my videos; I have been able to see people make videos based on my videos.”
Comments from users suggesting Chick-fil-A missed a trick – and even tagging competitors suggesting they hire Mimi have gathered thousands of likes.
“I’m thinking maybe @Culver’s @Whataburger or maybe @Wendy’s could put you for work!” one user wrote.
It certainly flies in the face of the values listed on its website. “We're an inclusive culture that leverages the strengths of our diverse talent,” reads Chick-fil-A’s corporate values page. “We find energy in adapting and re-inventing how we do things.”
However, it seems HR couldn’t find a way to bend the rules and take advantage of the employee-led social media advocacy that most employer branding teams would dream of. It’s a Miri-mistake they’ll live to regret.
