Which company do you think that this story is about?
More interestingly, how many companies do you think that this story could be about?
Unfortunately, the answer is "too many".
I started working for XX 14 years ago. When my wife and I were still in college, we put together a top ten list of places that we wanted to live. XX was not on the list. Not because there is anything wrong with XX, just that it didn't offer what we were interested in at the time. We prioritized our geographic preferences (proximity to mountains, oceans, etc.) higher than any other factors, and were apparently on our way to the Carolinas. We didn't care about a particular job or industry. The plan was to work for a company in the location we desired.
Then I got a call from XX.
I was familiar with the company, and it looked pretty great on paper. So I asked around. Invariably, each person I talked to had the same response: "XX? Great company!" More than a company... a family. When you work for XX, they take care of their employees like a parent cares for their children. XX treats its employees so well that it has never had a union of any kind - there is no need. The pay is great. The people are intelligent, innovative, and fun to work with. It's a global company with a strong brand, and a bright future.
I took the job.
In my first years at XX, the positive remarks continued. You walk down the street and bump into somebody you don't know, and the first question they ask is, "What do you do? Where do you work?" And I say, "XX." To which the response is always, "XX! Wow! Good company!" And it really was great. Aside from the sense of achievement and satisfaction drawn from the "work" part of the equation, life in general was really great, and we were having a lot of fun in and out of work. And the company was diverse, and balanced. With multiple sectors, XX could still succeed and move forward despite issues in one group or another. If XX was having a bad year, the YY group numbers would bail them out. And vice versa. We were a family, and we kept the company moving forward.
Things have changed.
Today when a group has an issue, we don't attempt to fix it. We don't address the problem. We spin it off or sell it, and hand the problem to somebody else.
My wife and I have children. If one of my children comes home with a bad report card, having failed every possible course, with terrible performance across the board, what do I do?
If I'm XX, I say, "Wow. This is terrible. You're bringing down the family average. You're out. You have to leave the family, strike out on your own, and fix your problems by yourself." This is not how family responds. Family pulls the child closer. Family works with the child to get to the root of the problem, and family works with the child to improve the grades.
XX went to war, and was shot in the leg. It's a bad wound. XX is on the hospital bed, and the doctor is looking it over. The bad news is that its going to be painful, expensive, and will take years of hard work to recover. But the good news is that the doctor can save the leg. But (the CEO) wants him to cut it off anyway. Nobody does that! Everybody wants to save the leg! You cut off the leg and the body may survive in the short term, but you'll never run again. XX will be a shadow of its former self. And of course the leg without a body cannot survive.
Perhaps I am naïve. Perhaps the family has been gone for a long time, and I've been in denial. I should have seen it. Today I'm forced to look with eyes wide open. And what I see is a business. A very cold business. I see a focus on executive exit packages and stockholders. The employees are not part of the equation. Pride in products is not part of the equation. The future of XX is not part of the equation. And maybe that's the nature of most businesses. But that's not XX, and that's not what I signed up for.
I don't have the numbers. Perhaps the decisions are justified on paper. XX may survive. It may die. I can't say. All I know is that the family is gone.
And that makes me sad.
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