http://www.startribune.com/357/story/1538641.html
USFLAG
Replies (3)
ttocs on 11/9/2007 17:42:37
I am not suprised, I saw best buy treat people the same way. EVERBODY is replaceable by now.........
swez on 11/10/2007 07:14:06
Look around guys.... things have changed a lot in the past 10 years.
Many or most large companies and their people live and die based on the P&L sheets. Too many "bean counters" (MBA Grads) have learned to focus too much on the profits side of the ledger and forget the most valuable asset to any well run company are its people. (Especially the experienced ones that show everyday, put in long hours and have been around long enough to know how to run a successful business)
In the 50's and 60's, it was common for an employee to work for the same company some 20-30 years and made modest but incremental moves up the pay/benefits scale because they got that 3% COLA, moved up the company ladder and trained a lot of quality people as they came in fresh out of school or vocational training programs.
Today, it's not uncommon to see a fast track person with 3-5 jobs, (Sometimes more) on their resume in a 10-15 year period. This is most true of the corporate ladder climbers who well educated, come in swinging, master their functions well and then take those skills to other companies that pay better and are open to fresh and aggressive talent. They generally leave a company after they have reached a salary or positional cap and cannot go any higher on the company ladder.
On the other side of the equation, some companies want to get rid of long term and older employees, replace them with younger people and at much cheaper labor rates. Yes, that means constant training costs are often high, but the pay scales are low and if they find a few sharp workers to abuse, all the better.
I worked for TDK back in the mid-80's. I was new to the Corporate world but wanted to learn and grow with this company. After a solid training period, they handed me the keys to a business development project and said... "Make this business grow". I did just that and took this project from about $1.5 MM annual sales to over $5.0 MM in less than 2 years.
The thing is, it took long hours, working many weekends and 70+ hour weeks were not uncommon. Hell, I practically lived there. (No, am not bragging, claim to be bright and defintely not the sharpest tool in the shed) But, hard work, long hours and getting to learn many tasks in the process, it positioned me to move into a new job at another company for 150% more pay.
Developing those skills lead to another successful run up the corporate ladder and the earning potentials went up incrementally as productivity improved and so did the sales revenues in MY territory. ("MY" meaning that I took ownership of the opportunity and built the business over many years)
Now, I had a fundamantal flaw going on here too. I put customers first, serviced their needs with diligence and determination and watched the ROI grow for 12 consecutive years. The philosophy I used was... "Put customers first and they will take care of my needs later". It worked out like a well balanced investment portfolio.
1. Put customers first
2. Diversify the business with a wide variety of large, medium and high growth start up companies
3. If one company slumped, there were others in the pipeline to keep the cash flowing and growing each year
4. Search out new markets and expand our biz with similar technology products in fresh applictaions
Sales numbers were well above average each year because of a diversified account base. (Yes, I worked with several Fortune 100,500 companies, but they were not short term projects) These large accounts take a long time to develop and mature, but also demand a lot of resources to support their efforts. So, I focused more on mid and smaller companies that had vision and paid attention to doing business rather than playing internal politics. They were able to flex in a given market and grow rapidly too. (And many of them did for about 10 years)
When many US companies shifted out of local manufacturing and went off shore for cheap labor and low cost goods, the company still got the sales, but these sales were now passed to other agents that had not done any work to get the products designed in, but were geographically positioned well to service the Off Shore makers. I did all the hard up front work, but these new agents just took the orders and learned to service their new windfall.
After 2 years of decline in local markets that had gone off shore, my job was elimintated. Why? The salary, bonus and benefits package was at the top end of the scale and the company figured they could bring in a few new guys, pay them less and let them service what I had built up over many years at about 40% less pay then I was getting.
Also, the market was going through a deep down-turn and it made no sense to pay a seasoned rep a large package and not have the sales volumes we once enjoyed during the growth years.
They down-sized by 20% and systematically pushed out about 25 employess after the GM bought a dead horse, borrowed $8.0 MM to develop a technology that never found its place in the changing market. The P&L sheets were a mess and to survive the losses, the company had to let good people go. (I just happened to be one of them)
The GM was blinded by greed and deception and tried to make that dead horse run. It never did! He finally retired with a fat pension, full benefits, a fat 401K and was well rewarded for a career ending blunder that put 25 long term employees on the street. How's that for being treated fairly? If he would have stayed any longer, he would have gotten the axe too. But since he had been with the company for over 30 years in various capacities, they let him leave on his own terms while others suffered from his blunders.
I kept in touch with a few people that were in the know and they saw the handwriting on the wall as well. Sooner or later, they would be let go or pushed back into lower paying positions and a lot more work. Those who could, left the company soon after the GM retired and found jobs outside the industry.
In a dinner meeting with one guy I admired, trusted and respected well, we talked all this out and he agreed 100% that this is what had happened and also why he left the company for a fresh start. We were neither bitter or angry about it, but a lesson well learned... "When the ship starts to sink, get off the boat or plan to bail water a long time to keep the ship a float".
In short, I have lost faith and confidence in Corporate America. Every one is expendable at the drop of a hat and it's dog-eat-dog world now too. (Especially at the top rungs of the corporate ladder) So for now, I am very content to work for a smaller and fast paced company that is growing. The work is challenging, the pay is low and fring benefits are not in the budget. Oh well... but I like the people in this group and we work like a pretty well-oiled team most days. (We'd better huh?)
It's not what any of us had pictured as we move toward retirement age, but each team member has a similar story.... we were all dumped by large corporate orgs and have banded together the skills and hustle it takes to run a small business with the experience we all garnered in the corporate world we all came out of.
However, we now place fun and people ahead of the Corporate P&L. It's working for now, but well below the pay scales we once enjoyed. This team is very tight and each one depends on the other team members for support, guidance and getting past the glitches with our butts intact. It's not eutopia, but it's better than being unemployed, isolated, depressed and broke.
Wake up guys.... things are tough now and will get much worse in the future. It may not make sense to the 20-ish guys that are reading this psudo-blog now. But, sooner or later... you'll get the picture and plan accordingly or fall/get pushed into the same pit.
Comments?
Swez
PS Mr. B. is probably one of the sharpest businessmen on this forum. I wonder what his read on the situation might be? (Victor is too, but his situation is very different then what we are seeing in the USA)
I don't mean to rant, ramble or pat myself on the back here guys. I just want to give you younger guys a good "Heads Up" so you can adjust as needed. Unfortunately, we can't see the cliff that awaits on the other side of the mountain we are now climbing. Just know that it's there and be ready to face it at some point in the future. It's a long fall when we get to that point.
PSS The fall is not the problem... it's the sudden stop when we hit the bottom that hurts the most.
MrBrownstone on 11/13/2007 17:28:07
My personal philosophy: If you want to pick on old ladies, learn to play bridge @ Denny's
USFLAG
Replies (3)
ttocs on 11/9/2007 17:42:37
I am not suprised, I saw best buy treat people the same way. EVERBODY is replaceable by now.........
swez on 11/10/2007 07:14:06
Look around guys.... things have changed a lot in the past 10 years.
Many or most large companies and their people live and die based on the P&L sheets. Too many "bean counters" (MBA Grads) have learned to focus too much on the profits side of the ledger and forget the most valuable asset to any well run company are its people. (Especially the experienced ones that show everyday, put in long hours and have been around long enough to know how to run a successful business)
In the 50's and 60's, it was common for an employee to work for the same company some 20-30 years and made modest but incremental moves up the pay/benefits scale because they got that 3% COLA, moved up the company ladder and trained a lot of quality people as they came in fresh out of school or vocational training programs.
Today, it's not uncommon to see a fast track person with 3-5 jobs, (Sometimes more) on their resume in a 10-15 year period. This is most true of the corporate ladder climbers who well educated, come in swinging, master their functions well and then take those skills to other companies that pay better and are open to fresh and aggressive talent. They generally leave a company after they have reached a salary or positional cap and cannot go any higher on the company ladder.
On the other side of the equation, some companies want to get rid of long term and older employees, replace them with younger people and at much cheaper labor rates. Yes, that means constant training costs are often high, but the pay scales are low and if they find a few sharp workers to abuse, all the better.
I worked for TDK back in the mid-80's. I was new to the Corporate world but wanted to learn and grow with this company. After a solid training period, they handed me the keys to a business development project and said... "Make this business grow". I did just that and took this project from about $1.5 MM annual sales to over $5.0 MM in less than 2 years.
The thing is, it took long hours, working many weekends and 70+ hour weeks were not uncommon. Hell, I practically lived there. (No, am not bragging, claim to be bright and defintely not the sharpest tool in the shed) But, hard work, long hours and getting to learn many tasks in the process, it positioned me to move into a new job at another company for 150% more pay.
Developing those skills lead to another successful run up the corporate ladder and the earning potentials went up incrementally as productivity improved and so did the sales revenues in MY territory. ("MY" meaning that I took ownership of the opportunity and built the business over many years)
Now, I had a fundamantal flaw going on here too. I put customers first, serviced their needs with diligence and determination and watched the ROI grow for 12 consecutive years. The philosophy I used was... "Put customers first and they will take care of my needs later". It worked out like a well balanced investment portfolio.
1. Put customers first
2. Diversify the business with a wide variety of large, medium and high growth start up companies
3. If one company slumped, there were others in the pipeline to keep the cash flowing and growing each year
4. Search out new markets and expand our biz with similar technology products in fresh applictaions
Sales numbers were well above average each year because of a diversified account base. (Yes, I worked with several Fortune 100,500 companies, but they were not short term projects) These large accounts take a long time to develop and mature, but also demand a lot of resources to support their efforts. So, I focused more on mid and smaller companies that had vision and paid attention to doing business rather than playing internal politics. They were able to flex in a given market and grow rapidly too. (And many of them did for about 10 years)
When many US companies shifted out of local manufacturing and went off shore for cheap labor and low cost goods, the company still got the sales, but these sales were now passed to other agents that had not done any work to get the products designed in, but were geographically positioned well to service the Off Shore makers. I did all the hard up front work, but these new agents just took the orders and learned to service their new windfall.
After 2 years of decline in local markets that had gone off shore, my job was elimintated. Why? The salary, bonus and benefits package was at the top end of the scale and the company figured they could bring in a few new guys, pay them less and let them service what I had built up over many years at about 40% less pay then I was getting.
Also, the market was going through a deep down-turn and it made no sense to pay a seasoned rep a large package and not have the sales volumes we once enjoyed during the growth years.
They down-sized by 20% and systematically pushed out about 25 employess after the GM bought a dead horse, borrowed $8.0 MM to develop a technology that never found its place in the changing market. The P&L sheets were a mess and to survive the losses, the company had to let good people go. (I just happened to be one of them)
The GM was blinded by greed and deception and tried to make that dead horse run. It never did! He finally retired with a fat pension, full benefits, a fat 401K and was well rewarded for a career ending blunder that put 25 long term employees on the street. How's that for being treated fairly? If he would have stayed any longer, he would have gotten the axe too. But since he had been with the company for over 30 years in various capacities, they let him leave on his own terms while others suffered from his blunders.
I kept in touch with a few people that were in the know and they saw the handwriting on the wall as well. Sooner or later, they would be let go or pushed back into lower paying positions and a lot more work. Those who could, left the company soon after the GM retired and found jobs outside the industry.
In a dinner meeting with one guy I admired, trusted and respected well, we talked all this out and he agreed 100% that this is what had happened and also why he left the company for a fresh start. We were neither bitter or angry about it, but a lesson well learned... "When the ship starts to sink, get off the boat or plan to bail water a long time to keep the ship a float".
In short, I have lost faith and confidence in Corporate America. Every one is expendable at the drop of a hat and it's dog-eat-dog world now too. (Especially at the top rungs of the corporate ladder) So for now, I am very content to work for a smaller and fast paced company that is growing. The work is challenging, the pay is low and fring benefits are not in the budget. Oh well... but I like the people in this group and we work like a pretty well-oiled team most days. (We'd better huh?)
It's not what any of us had pictured as we move toward retirement age, but each team member has a similar story.... we were all dumped by large corporate orgs and have banded together the skills and hustle it takes to run a small business with the experience we all garnered in the corporate world we all came out of.
However, we now place fun and people ahead of the Corporate P&L. It's working for now, but well below the pay scales we once enjoyed. This team is very tight and each one depends on the other team members for support, guidance and getting past the glitches with our butts intact. It's not eutopia, but it's better than being unemployed, isolated, depressed and broke.
Wake up guys.... things are tough now and will get much worse in the future. It may not make sense to the 20-ish guys that are reading this psudo-blog now. But, sooner or later... you'll get the picture and plan accordingly or fall/get pushed into the same pit.
Comments?
Swez
PS Mr. B. is probably one of the sharpest businessmen on this forum. I wonder what his read on the situation might be? (Victor is too, but his situation is very different then what we are seeing in the USA)
I don't mean to rant, ramble or pat myself on the back here guys. I just want to give you younger guys a good "Heads Up" so you can adjust as needed. Unfortunately, we can't see the cliff that awaits on the other side of the mountain we are now climbing. Just know that it's there and be ready to face it at some point in the future. It's a long fall when we get to that point.
PSS The fall is not the problem... it's the sudden stop when we hit the bottom that hurts the most.
MrBrownstone on 11/13/2007 17:28:07
My personal philosophy: If you want to pick on old ladies, learn to play bridge @ Denny's
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