Large Corporations.

[VeeDubb]

Originally Posted By: Dan4510


I worked for a major corp and we had meetings to "encourage" loyality to the corp. I ask what about the corps loyality to the employees. I was told to shut up and to stop being a troublemaker.



Yeah, that's the oxymoron. The more they are willing to cut ties with employees, the more they'll have to have these "loyalty" meetings. sometimes I wonder how some managers can keep a straight face while delivering these loyalty speeches.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

I'm sorry Pablo. I worked for Nestle, the largest food company in the world. I thought that everyone would have to continue to eat. I guess I was wrong.

I saw a bumper sticker today, " The beatings will continue until morale improves"

That says it all.

 

[VeeDubb]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan

Do something that you like/love ..and you never work a day in your life. Most of us get trapped in chasing a buck as it tends to be the standard by which most success is measured.




My wife's brother works in the health sector and had a job that paid okay, not great. But he liked his work and didn't have to work more than 40 hours a week. But he was stressed about money because his wife would rack up some hefty credit card bills. So he went looking for better paying job and found one - a sizable promotion along with a sizeable pay raise. Practically doubled his salary. But now he is even more stressed out because he has a lot more responsibility on his shoulders. If his employees screw up, he's the fall guy. He now works around 70 hours a week. He and his wife are both less happy, though they did get those credit card bills cut down!

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
I saw a bumper sticker today, " The beatings will continue until morale improves"

That says it all.


It really does, about some managers.

 

[CivicFan]

Interesting thread. We were discussing this same issue at our ethics and leadership discussion last week.

 

[Shannow]

A few years ago, us "hopefuls" were sponsored through a "Certificate IV in Management and Team Based Leadership" (anyone play wank-word bingo ?)

We had a half day on ethics. CEO had spent a few hours with our lecturer talking about ethics, morality, and the Company.

Through the afternoon, almost every one of her points was greeted with laughter from some corner or other of the room, from someone who had been dealt with entirely opposite by very senior people. People wheeled out their threatening letter, diary entries etc.

She was amazed and appalled at the public face versus the work face that was shown.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Interesting thread. We were discussing this same issue at our ethics and leadership discussion last week.


Was this to provide you with the appropriate rhetoric when promoting loyalty from your future subordinates, or to allow you to see through such rhetoric when you hear it from others?

 

[H2GURU]

Many here seem to in the same boat (liferaft?). We were told many years ago... work hard and strive and some day it will pay off. Well, those old rules don't apply anymore with the hollowing out of the middle class. Working for a large corp. used to mean more pay and about a 25% better benefit package. They only paid this because demographics of the 60s and 70s meant employers had to scramble to fill slots. They did this with their best weapon - money. Now, as we do more with less, we must expect them to offer less as we are competing globally. WE played by the rules, but "they" changed them because it was their ball. Only problem is, for most, a career change late in life is usually impossible economically. If you have a normal boss, don't worry, that'll change soon enough and enjoy it while it lasts. I do rationalize it out by saying . Perhaps we were just lazy and hoped that some big company would provide economic outpatient care for life? Its always good to have something no one can take from you, so if you're young, get a diversified education that will be able to transverse different economies and/or fields.

"The truely educated never graduate".

 

[Gary Allan]

I saw a short (sorta) training film one time. It showed various personalities in the work place and how they were perceived in succeeding. One person, a female, was hard working and 100% conforming to company rules ..excellent performance. The film promoted her as the least likely to advance. They, more or less, said that this was someone with the illusion that good work gets rewarded in due time. The truth was that it often got unnoticed unless the person was also aggressive and ambitious. I think they named the fictional character as (something like) Punctual and Perfect Priscilla.

Funny, "cunning" and "shrewed" were never in Leave it to Beaver, or any of the formative shows that I watched as they told me how to behave as a good citizen. I never saw a company have it listed as the key ingredient for promotion in their policy section of the employee manual either

 

[Vilan]

I must work in a different corporate world than everyone else. I've been pushed into several promotions that I didn't ask for nor particularly want, but my manager said I was best for the job, so I figured I'd take on more responsibility. I could be up even higher but I don't want my stress level to get too high.

Plus my company encourages people to cross-train in other departments "so we have more things to put on our resume". Helping us to quit and find better jobs?

 

[VeeDubb]

Sounds like you work for a great company that gets it and is ahead of the curve. A company that understands that competing for top talent means letting them know that their market opportunities won't erode if they join the firm. Some of the top consulting firms like McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group pretty much use the "enhance your market value" pitch to recruit top talent. The other side of the coin is the company my neighbor works for. He is scared to enhance his market value by looking for outside offers because his company considers it "holding a gun to their heads." So he is constantly in fear for his job, doesn't get good pay raises, and has to do whatever the company tells him to do. They turned him into a true company man and he also looks beaten up when I see him after work.

 

[xlt4me]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan

Funny, "cunning" and "shrewed" were never in Leave it to Beaver, or any of the formative shows that I watched as they told me how to behave as a good citizen. I never saw a company have it listed as the key ingredient for promotion in their policy section of the employee manual either

One of my previous bosses had a saying. I don't know if he originated it or not but it seems to be true.

"Cream and [censored] rise to the top."

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Interesting thread. We were discussing this same issue at our ethics and leadership discussion last week.


Was this to provide you with the appropriate rhetoric when promoting loyalty from your future subordinates, or to allow you to see through such rhetoric when you hear it from others?

As a manager you have to know how to trick (or to use the industry jargon: motivate) the employees to increase their output.

Anyone who's been in the corporate world for more than a couple of years knows how to see through [censored].

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I saw a short (sorta) training film one time. It showed various personalities in the work place and how they were perceived in succeeding. One person, a female, was hard working and 100% conforming to company rules ..excellent performance. The film promoted her as the least likely to advance. They, more or less, said that this was someone with the illusion that good work gets rewarded in due time.


Why advance her and risk getting someone mediocre instead of her? She fits perfectly in her position and adds value appropriately. Plus, a person like that never indicates that she want to move ahead so is not considered at all.

Unless it's a company like 3M or some other progressive corporation where they encourage you to move ahead.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Unfortunately, in too many instances, good work is rewarded with more work. Incompetetence is rewarded with less responsiblity at the same or increased rate of pay.

We have the greatest difficulty in identifying and dealing with poor performance. It will be the downfall of any business.

 

[Shannow]

Groucho, too true that.

Always seems that they punish the good for the deeds of the bad. i.e. if there's a problem with malingerers taking excessive sick leave, they come up with increasingly harsher procedures and proofs for those who only have a sickie a year...the malingerers just find a "better" more complaint doctor.

As to measuring performance, a guy I know works for a company which has just taken over another in a different state. They need to see rapid changes in the balance sheet, so are looking at a quick 20% staff reduction.

They haven't time to get in there and observe for a while, so are interviewing people over a couple of days.

"What is your job, and what do you do ?"
"What do you think of the performance of that guy over there ?"

They are going to sack up to 20% of a workforce based on hearsay.

 

[andyd]

My father worked for the same company for 35 yrs and got a great retirement package. About every decade, Ive been forced out and have had to re-invent a career. I considered myself to have been a loyal employee. Not this time, Ive learned. I've been working nearly 40 yrs, I can f#%& off like an expert. My daily goal is to get back down my driveway as fast and as easily as possible.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
I'm no fan of big corporations. I worked for one for 16 years. They were good years for the most part. I traded some of the most valuable time of my life (youth) for compensation (money and benefits).

I held no illusion that I was indispensible. I formed many friendships that I still treasure to this day. We had a community that worked together and cared for each other for the most part. Then new management and the '80s came. Mergers, technology, globalization. It was a wave. The only reason my segment of the company wasn't the surviving segment was that our CEO didn't understand that he was an employee as well. The ship went down with its captain. TOUGH LUCK!

Anyone who expects a large corporation to have their best interests atop their goals is foolish. The corporation must survive. BIG DEAL. Get over it.

As Nick Nolte said in "North Dallas Forty": "We're not the team. They're the team, we're just the equipment."

Keep the people you care about close, Maybe if you do the best job you can each day, your problems will seem small. Counting on a corporation or government to solve your problems is as senseless as thinking alcohol or drugs will solve them.


Excellent post. I've only been in the working world 10 years, but can definately relate. For the most part, my career has been with Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies and the trend has gone from "close knit group" to "here today gone tomorrow". The company DEMANDS loyalty, but will let you go at the drop of a hat. As of late, I question why even get a full time job at any company when one can make much more as a consultant or contractor (and have the same longevity, in some cases, as an FTE).

I cherrish the time with my family and am working to get out of coporate america ASAP so I can slow things down and work at my leisure rather than out of necessity.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Anyone who's been in the corporate world for more than a couple of years knows how to see through [censored].

That's why young recruits are so valued in a company. Their naivety makes them good soldiers.

Last year, our director announced in a staff meeting that we had a good year and everyone should get an 8% bonus. I got stiffed with a 6% bonus. I asked but received no explanation why.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Interesting thread. We were discussing this same issue at our ethics and leadership discussion last week.


Was this to provide you with the appropriate rhetoric when promoting loyalty from your future subordinates, or to allow you to see through such rhetoric when you hear it from others?

As a manager you have to know how to trick (or to use the industry jargon: motivate) the employees to increase their output.

Anyone who's been in the corporate world for more than a couple of years knows how to see through [censored].


I've used such techniques with my kids ..subordinates ..associates ..people in general.

"I can use your help in getting this accomplished". What's apparently the oddity in my view ..is that I really appreciated the team effort and recognized it and rewarded it in any and all manners possible. You're charged with many missions in your life. Rarely can they be accomplished by a team of ONE. It was the skills that I saw and, more importantly, could depend on in others that allowed most achievements to be possible.

It frequently gets convoluted with various personalities.