#changemanagement

Given our current workforce culture ratio(s), this is curious to me. Are WE to become more like THEM, or are THEY going to become more like us?

Did you all see the email the other day? I cannot keep up with the changes anymore. I also heard of a shakeup for the HMS people. Top heavy folks leaving over there and huge re-org changes. I have never seen a company like this!

expect several months worth of small, targeted little potshots and pruning to avoid more bad PR and WARN, etc. hopefully some bigger changes will come at the top level.

I’m curious if Optum will adjust severance again soon and if there’s any way to know that? Those updates sometimes come out of nowhere, but they’re too big a deal to just learn about them when the actual layoffs happen.

Here's what I've gleaned so far and I'm certainly hoping the new year will shed some.real light on things. Please feel free to add anything I may have forgotten or missed.

So Dan comes in and touts himself many things, including an authority on AI, even so much as smackin coffee lips about it at the white house.

He's uber excited for this "new Verizon" that will be scappy and non-bureaucratic, with inital claims that no other carrier will be able to easily replicate what we're going to do.

To accomplish this mastery of his mind, we obviously must have massive cuts to fund the multi-billion dollar mystery venture.

And so far, this has consisted of a mega layoff, a declaration laden in hypocrisy that our culture must shift to starting meetings on time so we are no longer sloppy, and a story about a cancer patient who was allowed to break contract, implying that delighting our customers mean we will now be more giving to all who want/need special cost-related provisions.

I fail to see the connection. In fact, as I typed it out, I felt an overwhelming sense of nausea come over one me. Something doesn't feel right.

Apple Inc., long the model of stability in Silicon Valley, is suddenly undergoing its biggest personnel shake-up in decades, with senior executives and key engineers both hitting the exits… And more changes are likely coming.
Johny Srouji — senior vice president of hardware technologies and one of Apple’s most respected executives — recently told Cook that he is seriously considering leaving in the near future.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-06/apple-rocked-by-executive-departures-with-johny-srouji-at-risk-of-leaving-next

Another week of high profile corporate exits. Head of channel (VP) out after just 5-6 months in the job. 5th channel leader in 18 months. Replaced by 2 senior directors.

Marketing leader leaving Dec 31.

Joe IBM and his gang have pushed the outsiders fully out the way of the leaders team so he can continue his takeover of marketing. Sandy Oh-No is either helping plot his succession to CMO or is too busy with her AI characters to even notice the empire building going on. Sad to see things falling a part due to incompetence and egos winning over good leadership but has happened to many teams and this week to ours. Why do they keep moving functions under someone who not done anything and still thinks he works at big blue?.

ABU was among the first business units to move toward modernization and, in the process, implemented unassigned seating. The experiment failed spectacularly, creating widespread frustration and ultimately forcing a reversal back to assigned seating.

It’s hard not to ask why we continue to repeat initiatives that have already demonstrated clear and predictable failure, rather than learning from past experience.

Today marks the end of ExxonMobil's presence in France, with the change in control for all remaining assets owned by US major to North Atlantic. There will only remain a tiny commercial structure with less than 20 employees. Esso France is dead, long live North Atlantic Energies.
Rejoice! This is the end of all the corporate bullsh-t people had to swallow for years (and keep smiling as if they liked it), the end of decisions made from 30'000 ft with limited knowledge (if any) of the local context, the end of dysfunctional organisations, having to deal with the incompetence and carelessness of “service” centers supposed to support you, the end of underinvestment in industrial sites making them more and more challenging to operate etc. etc. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?
To all those in the EM world facing the same prospect (i.e. being dumped by big mamma): DON’T BE AFRAID. There is a world outside the fence of the prisoners' camp... 😀

Jamie Rutledge is on a mission to drive delivery off a cliff. The minions he has hired (Michele Moesman and his direct reports) are the foot soldiers in brute forcing the implementation of “industry pods”. Highly efficient teams being broken into the POD model, manages have no clarity on their roles, such as big org change being done without any due diligence. All in the name of driving productivity. Jamie’s minions think that using “Agentic AI”, we can eliminate manual work. Kyndryl is sadly becoming another Indian IT provider under the current leadership. Kyndryl is driving off a cliff, and I dont see any skid marks.

It seems odd that the other PayPal execs are around already, but Shankar is still not replaced. I mean, he's not doing any work, not showing up for anything, not talking to his teams, not setting a strategy or a direction or anything. So clearly HE knows he's out (fingers crossed that the rest of his posse are out as well.. first of all Vivek and his reports) But still, it would be nice to know which PayPal guy will oversee the next shift of 10+k jobs to India / contractors...

SAP, founded in June 1972, when Dietmar, Klaus, Hans-Werner, Claus and Hasso departed IBM when they were told the software they had all been working on was no longer needed and so they started their own company - SAP.

We all need to pay  highest recognition for what these individuals achieved and the great company that was created.

But the time has come  for the remaining two founders and specifically Hasso to completely step away from the management, operation, executive selection, strategy, etc.... and allow new leadership take over SAP,  Times have changed from what they were in 1972 and so must SAP also evolve - which as long as the legacy founders are running the company and selecting the C-Level executives we will be stuck in the past.

Yes, Hasso removed Punit Renjen ( even before he officially took over as Supervisory Board Chairmen), but why did he do this.  Because Renjen was prepared to make significant changes ( whatever they may have been?)  and Hasso was not supportive.

And then what did he do?  He installed another puppet who was a protege of Hasso  and on SAP Board since 2002 - Pekka Ala-Pietila.  The issue is not who are the individuals in C level positions BUT rather WHO is putting them in such positions. 
This type of oversight and control is  simply what IS NOT NEEDED AT THIS TIME.

Look, the issue driving our latest survey results down to 59% when measuring confidence in the Board, is the Board itself  !     And CK, Asam,etc.. are all in Clevel positions for one reason = Hasso.   Until we get  leadership who is responsible for selecting the best and most talented key people AND holds them accountable, we will not see any improvement.

Yes, all congrats go to the founders of SAP for what they achieved, but the time has come for them to move on and allow new talent  that has domain experience and is capable of running a company the size and breadth of SAP.  We no longer can afford to just have hand picked people by Hasso who really have no outside C Level experience running the company - or we will all  be on the outside looking in.  Yes, the time has come and the time is now.

I'm curious about how the future of our jobs is shaping up. Given all the changes happening, I wonder what might be next. They've already shifted our request process to only go through workforce, and no longer allowing instant approvals for hours available like before. In an email, they mentioned upcoming changes in now going forward into 2026 regarding PTO requests, which makes me think we're in for more shifts ahead. Plus, they continue to ask for volunteers to work through our lunches and before or after our shifts. It raises questions since I thought breaks and lunches were a legal requirement. I'm left wondering if these changes are the new norm and what insights others might have about what's really going on. What can we anticipate in the coming months?

Is it just me or was the last company meeting different? It wasn’t the usual energetic fluff that we’re used to. There was no formal run down of the numbers by the CFO. Then SM and SR bring in another one of their friends to run security. What’s unusual about this friend is she’s close to retirement age which means she isn’t joining for a lengthy career. It says a buyout is near without saying a buyout is near.

Mirlanda Out as Xerox Appoints New CFO from Lexmark.
https://tonernews.com/forums/topic/mirlanda-out-as-xerox-appoints-new-cfo-from-lexmark/

Mid-Markets to be cut in half. Calls have already been sent out of EST. This will be a total shake up, if you survive you will not have the same title or job scope Jan 1. Get prepared for them to make more money on your backs.

So the big "integration" of the Network orgs is going just super. The two SVPs who now run the combined mess apparently can't figure out what to do with us. Heard through the grapevine they just hired a big-name consulting firm to "evaluate the organizational design and operating models."

The kickoff meeting was yesterday. Feels familiar, right.

This seems to be the classic move when leadership doesn't actually have a plan. They pay a few million to a bunch of people who don't understand our business to come in and tell them what to do. The word is they're going on a "listening tour." They'll probably make a bunch of pretty charts and graphs that basically say we have too many people doing overlapping work.

It looks like a way to get cover for the cuts they already wanted to make. Now they can say "the data suggested" we need to streamline. The whole thing has that distinct passive-aggressive vibe. Instead of just making a tough call, they're bringing in a third party to do it for them. It's like they ordered a pour-over at a coffee cart and then asked the barista to taste it first to make sure it's good.

Maybe I'm just being cynical. An outside perspective could actually spot some real inefficiencies, I guess. But let's be real. This is likely just the first step. If you're on a team that's been a pain to get resources for, or your projects have been in "wait and see" mode since the SVP shake up, I'd be updating the resume.

This is usually how it starts. Heads up.

Anyone else on a team that has a leadership change every few months and given very little direction? Seems like people are constantly disappearing and we’re all expected to work in a “matrix” environment which basically means the manager has no clue what you work on and is not expected to provide you direction on projects so there’s no one to provide support…and these are all being framed as efficiency changes which I have seen no efficiency at all

I don't understand the long emails. What is going on with the org?

When did Ford move to the People Leader / Individual contributor model? And how did they categorize existing employees at the time? Did anyone get a say in their label?

Watch closely and observe the clinical precision of LBT in cleaning up the deadwood, scammers and imposters in leadership. Absolutely brilliant!

1. MJ gone
2. Christoph gone
3. Saf gone
4. Ann gone
5. Pambianchi gone
6. Lavender gone
7. Sandra gone
8. Sachin gone
9. Bruckner gone
10. Adding Craig to board must mean he’s getting ready to push someone out

Haven't heard from Sampath since announce of nee CEO. Is Sampath on his way out? If so, would guess to think big changes for VCG and possibly even Sampaths baby Case Management??

When new leaders join a company, the first question they should ask is simple:

“What was already known, and what was already attempted?”

Without that context, accountability turns into retroactive blame, punishing people for outcomes they never had the authority to change.

Too often, long-standing structural issues are well known internally. They’ve been raised repeatedly by those closest to the work, but when prior leadership failed to act, the problems compounded. Calling that “lack of ownership” misses the reality, it’s an organizational stall point, not individual failure.

Strong leaders know the difference. They can tell who’s been quietly pushing to fix systemic issues versus who’s been coasting. They take the time to distinguish contribution from compliance, ensuring that institutional knowledge isn’t discarded in the name of “fresh perspective.”

I’ve spent years trying to drive meaningful change, often against inertia. But it’s difficult to stay motivated when leadership seems more focused on appeasing the next layer up than on fixing the foundation. If decisions continue to be made in haste, without understanding how we got here, the risk is simple: we’ll lose the ability to sell the products that actually work while chasing “new initiatives” that generate noise but not revenue.

Sometimes the problem isn’t that people don’t care, it’s that those who do care stop believing anyone above them is truly listening. Learn to identify them. Empower them. Protect them. Do that, and you might just build a team capable of winning again.
If not: good luck, and adios.

Team of the usual suspects working on a plan to fully outsource Permian operations. Similar to Guyana SBM Model. Being close to the wellhead to be safe was never true. Timeline for change is unclear. Those in operations will be offered to switch over to third party service provider as was done previously with groups like IT and GREF with the associated cut in pay and benefits.

I heard a rumor from a reliable source that we are ending 5-Day RTO by the end of 2025. We will have 2 office days and 3 virtual/remote days. It will not publicly announced thru some announcements but it will slowly shared among the organizations from VP/AVP levels. Expect some changes near the end of 2025.

I still remember when Hans was first announced as CEO. I did some research and saw that his tenure at Ericsson ended in turmoil, which immediately raised red flags for me. My instincts told me he might bring similar issues to Verizon—and after eight years, it’s clear that concern wasn’t unfounded. His leadership left the company in disarray, and it’s no surprise he was ultimately let go. It always seemed like his appointment had more to do with his connection to Lowell McAdam than with merit.

Now that he’s gone, I’m genuinely hopeful that Dan will take this opportunity to clean house—especially at the top. There are far too many EVPs, SVPs, VPs, and AVPs who’ve climbed the ladder without delivering real value. It’s time to move on from the talkers and empire-builders—those who lack the domain expertise and technical insight needed to truly drive the business forward.

Team,

Today is a difficult day for all of us at Target. Earlier this morning, I shared with team members whose roles are being eliminated that today is their last day of work.

For the group receiving this email, you and your role remain at the company.

These are incredibly hard decisions and today carries enormous weight for everyone – especially our colleagues who are leaving. We’re committed to supporting all departing team members as they make this transition, including severance packages, benefits, career services and well-being resources.

These changes aren’t easy. And we know they’re necessary to reduce complexity, remove barriers and create the clarity and speed we need to grow and better serve our guests. To get there, we’ll need to continue the change – working in different ways, with renewed focus and effectiveness to deliver for our guests as we move into Q4.

In the next day, you’ll hear from your leader to learn what these changes mean for your team specifically and how to move through the next few weeks. We’ll all need to balance adjusting to what’s new, while keeping absolute focus on the business-critical work.

We will continue to stay anchored in our culture and move forward with purpose – keeping the guest at the center of what we do. I’m confident that, together, we will build a Target that’s positioned to win and grow well into the future.

With gratitude,
Melissa

What did you all think of Dave’s town hall yesterday? It was good overall, but still left some areas unclear. It’s interesting that some of the old DPA team members seem to have transitioned into stronger leadership roles instead of being impacted. I’m also not sure what the Tech Venturing and Innovation team actually delivers — based on my experience, they’ve created more disruption than value, yet manage to position their work as impactful. Their approach feels more suited for marketing than for a technology function. I’m surprised Dave is allowing this structure — his org already feels too top-heavy with overlapping roles. Hopefully, they’ll revisit the organization design soon.

The only thing more consistent than their quarterly all hands metings is their biannual migration between Teams and Zoom.

Every six months, executives, fresh off a “strategy retreat” involving buzzwords, golf carts, and a suspicious amount of Sodabi, decide that this time, the other platform is the holy grail of productivity. Cue the chaos: a month of re-training, a month of muttering, and four months of pretending it was genius. Historical recordings? Gone. Lost to the void, sacrificed at the altar of “thriving family”.

But don't worry, leadership assures everyone: next time, they'll get it right.

Received a townhall invitation from our division that there will be changes to API structure. Did anyone hear anything?

There will definitely be changes. Given his track record, he might actually introduce some positive ones, but he could just as easily roll out sweeping changes that hurt all of us. Never forget who CEOs really answer to. We’re always at the bottom of the list when it comes to anything but cuts.

With Rick leaving, any insight into how his replacement might make changes? The Financial Crimes group is such a disaster. I bet some of the execs will be out the door shortly.

So we jump on a call being handled by someone who clearly had no idea what she was talking about, only to find out she has a PHD in Psychology. Following along..PHD in psychology, leading a Google Enterprise discussion and labeling with her team of so-called change management experts.. Okay, I digress. The call was poorly conducted and alomost the 100 people on the call all had outstanding valid points why they could not convert and everytime a comment was made the so called experts leading the call would say well you may fall in the group that can't be transitioned lol - At this point, who's running this integration and second has anyone even provided Sammy the truth about the negative impact on this transition? For the next call, please do not add people who can't speak on Google; instead, bring people on the call who can! We don't need our behaviors on the call to be analyzed; we're not a school project!

Were the previous executives cooking the books or is Sammy just looking for a scapegoat?

Did they get rid of transformation office and the change function? Do we just send out amplify articles and call it change management?

What used to feel like a really collaborative, upbeat place is completely gone. Now it’s all awkward silences, people looking out for themselves, and meetings where nothing gets done. I can’t believe how fast the culture just…evaporated. I hate working here now, and I used to like my job.

Today, I’m feeling profoundly grateful.

Grateful for our firm’s relentless momentum. Grateful for the opportunity we all have to be part of something bigger than ourselves. And grateful—truly—that so many of you still have the privilege of calling Edward Jones your professional home.

As we continue to optimize our operating model and accelerate strategic priorities, we are making some difficult but necessary adjustments to our home-office footprint. Change is hard. But let’s remember: not everyone gets a seat on a rocket ship. If you’re still strapped in, that’s because your work, your attitude, and your resilience have earned it.

To those impacted by this redesign: thank you for your service mindset and the seasons you’ve invested in our purpose. You should leave with your heads high, knowing your contributions enabled this next chapter. I’m confident you’ll land on your feet quickly; after all, talent rises.

To those who remain: this is your moment. Lean in. Do more with less. Embrace the ambiguity that comes with growth. Our clients, communities, and colleagues are counting on your extreme ownership. Let’s turn this into a masterclass in execution—fewer silos, faster decisions, bigger outcomes.

We talk a lot about gratitude here. Let’s practice it. Be grateful for the work on your plate. Be grateful for the challenge in front of you. Be grateful for the chance to build what comes next. Opportunities like this don’t come often.

Onward—driven by purpose, powered by performance.