#employeeengagement

Who here believes that they want us to build AI agents so that we can focus on “higher thinking” work and not so that they can cut jobs?

Disclaimer: I will not be doing it.

That said, I am itching to know whether a couple of the old standard questions, and the ones they really got beat up on last year, are even on there anymore.

IE (paraphrasing but these 2 particularly) :

“My company cares about my well being”

“I would recommend AT&T as a great place to work to family and friends”

We would like to hear why you love this slogan. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

What will we learn about today? That their idea of making people more comfortable is to add a Wellbeing center to a fully saturated, overpopulated, and loud office environment? Or pickleball for all? None of that will improve the quality of the experience for the customer, who can’t hear us on our calls due to the noise around us. The only part that makes me feel included is that it stinks for everyone.

This new survey is asking questions specifically about if we are happy with the direction of the company, how often are we using AI ect! This survey is a joke.

"We no 1 in this , We're no 1 in that, We are market leaders, We have a broad portfolio"

The fatigue is real

We’re 5x back in office since Sep 1. How’s it going? My manager just reminded me about attendance’ - he’s remote btw!

I hate going into the office but not landed a remote role yet despite interviewing. So, my act of defiance is coffee badging and maybe spending 1-2 hours about twice a week for ‘visibility’.

There’s zero in-person collaboration or meetings. So much for ‘culture’!

1) every employee truly reviews their direct manager AND one level above that
2) higher positions that have 0 to 2 direct reports are also reviewed by 2 to 3 peers

Anonymous
Free form, let the workers speak.

Feed results into AI, and seriously consider the results

Someone had a copy of a strategic plan that showed KPIs for hiring women and minorities? What if that proof existed?

So we have Smiles Week and looks like lots of effort going in to make this a good event, but wait who is actually doing work? The same folks that always are busy and those who have spare time ie no work are organizing. They are not admin staff they are university graduates being paid to make PepsiCo better. Come on Snr Leads open your eyes and get some work for these that have no work or get them out. You now want us these people in the office more so please monitor their output.

I’m just wondering why I shouldn’t leave a scathing review.

Do the suits get graded on survey participation instead of the actual survey responses?

You can submit the survey without answering anything

Well, it’s here.

DO NOT TAKE THIS SURVEY.

And don’t reply to this with dimwitted comments about how you’re going to hammer them. They don’t care about your comments or your ratings. Couldn’t give less of a flying flip.

ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS WHETHER YOU TAKE IT OR NOT. DON’T GIVE THEM THE WIN ON THIS.

Before the end of next week,you and the rest of your group will start receiving emails from your AD, Director, and VP urging your participation. Do not cave. Despite what you read here, they cannot tell who has and who has not completed the survey. They get a roll up report showing the percentage of their team that has participated.

I know many bootlickers will take the survey and leave glowing comments. I know many dimwits will still think their low ratings and scathing comments matter, and will take it.

I am just hoping for the lowest participation numbers ever.

Why is Fiserv covering a petting zoo and trunk or treating at the only site that gets to WFH 50% of the time while us at other sites get nothing to be here 100% of the time?

It’s funny how the primary task of a “technology” manager or “senior” manager is to monitor and manage the attendance of other adults. It’s like being in school and the teacher marking attendance of all the kids. Except the kids here are 40 year olds. Directors senior directors and VPs doing the same, asking devs to update some values in excel files, database columns and loosely using the term “AI” to appear current. All while half their team members are sitting remote, not attending meetings, and always appearing away. How about you manage their “attendance” ?

I don't see much leadership here that makes people want to give extra effort, like it was 20 years ago. Some of the newer leaders even struggle to communicate what they actually want, so we barely have any sense of where we're going. No wonder things have deteriorated so much.

It is SO important that we complete this and let our voices be heard within SNP.

Source: C. Simpson

Plenty of leaders point to an open door, a caring one-on-one, and a policy that says people can come to them with anything.

But none of that tells you what happens when someone is genuinely struggling.

What someone experiences when things go wrong tells you more about your support
than anything you say when things are going fine.

A lot of leaders never find this out until it is too late.

So here is what that looks like, so you can spot it in your own team before it costs you someone good:

1️⃣ You say your door is always open.

→ But people only come to you with good news.
→ You have built a culture where problems get hidden until they are too big to fix easily.

2️⃣ You say people can come to you with anything.

→ But the last person who did got told to figure it out themselves.
→ You have taught your team that asking for help costs more than it is worth.

3️⃣ You say work-life balance matters.

→ But you answer emails at 1 am and reply fastest to whoever works the latest.
→ You have shown your team that visibility matters more than boundaries.

The gap between what you say and what your team experiences day to day
is the truest measure of how supported they feel.

Close that gap, and everything changes.

Because a lot of retention problems come down to people feeling alone in the workload, instead of the workload itself.

To genuinely support your team, provide:

✅ Someone who notices before they have to ask.
✅ Permission to say "I'm behind" without it costing them.
✅ Coverage when life happens, instead of just when it is convenient.
✅ A leader who has their back before they need to ask for it.
✅ Feedback that helps them grow and challenge their thinking.
✅ Time protected, as well as time offered.

Get that right, and people stop looking for the exit and start staying on purpose.

More people need to “Get in the Game” and speak out! You cannot or should not sit back quietly, if you are not happy with how things are being ran, and let only a handful of persons speak out on your behalf.

Because only a handful of people speak out just appears like a few crazy disgruntled people. But when many speak out, the company cannot simple ignore. At that point, it has developed into a movement.

Do a significant employee cris, employees walking out, quitting, going out on short term disability, the company says they heard you. Issue with advancement, taking time off, pay etc. what do you think? Will they actually make things better?

Our HR leader’s 30+ strategy deck makes no sense. Gibberish. No wonder employees are not valued or recognized. There is no strategy.

I don't know exactly when things changed, but IBM feels nothing like it used to. People are exhausted, nobody has much enthusiasm anymore, nobody seems interested in anything, and the old sense that everyone was in it together is gone. We used to actually enjoy seeing each other and working together. Now everyone's just trying to get through the day. I miss the old IBM.

For working heads up even with all the uncertainty about future
All this with the unworthy and incompetent leaders

Are IPs really being tracked I have been doing the four hours but only see mac 2 people , curious if there is ways around this and I’m missing out on this? Doesn’t it matter for bonus or am I just wasting my time?

The executive’s logic around base pay creates a classic corporate "death spiral." While linking pay increases exclusively to revenue growth sounds like sound fiscal discipline on paper, it relies on a fundamental misunderstanding of labor economics, operational risk, and human capital dynamics. More flawed thinking. Punishing employees for Leadership failures is what they are doing. The new guy is d-mber than a box of rocks. This town hall was another demotivating waste of time.

There is something almost comforting about mid-September at Honeywell.

Everything is business as usual. Forecasts. Customer calls. Q4 plans. Strategy decks. People talking about 2027 priorities as if every box on the org chart is permanent.

And anyone who has been around large companies long enough knows the rule: it is business as usual right up until the exact moment it isn’t.

One day you’re debating a KPI. The next day the KPI, the team, the reporting line and half the PowerPoint have changed.

That is what makes these periods so strange. Big organizational change rarely feels dramatic while it is approaching. Most of the time, Tuesday still feels exactly like Tuesday.

Until an email lands.

I have absolutely no inside information, which makes me about as qualified as everyone else to read the corporate tea leaves.

But this particular September has a very strong “enjoy the current org chart while supplies last” energy.

For the Honeywell veterans: what was the biggest “business as usual… until it wasn’t” moment you’ve seen here?

I suspect the comments on this one could be educational.

I’ve seen a couple of people in Boston post holding back to school signs - so cringe.

Today I am 47 years old. When I grow up, I want to spend 2½ hours commuting so executives can see me on Teams from a different building.

Then the HR talent acq people chiming in “how clever”

They should dress us in orange and have us hold up our A numbers instead like a mug shot.

Anybody noticed that their productivity has gone down since the return to office mandate has been in place?

Me for instance, I have noticed my productivity has gone down while the hours worked and in office have increased. It's quite unmotivating being monitored for being in office for 8 hours, as well as all my activity being monitored. Needless to say I am miserable.

Another survey they're going to ignore.

Let me get this right, as a reward for busting your a-s off all year round, closing multi-million dollar deals and rising to the top 1% of all sales reps, you get a 4 day Hawaii 'vacation' which you spend locked up in a resort 'networking' with your corporate programmed coworkers? Sounds like a dream

Why do we keep hiring from the outside instead of promoting people who've been here for years and earned it many times over?

...which leaders seemed connected to our reality during difficult moments - and which did not. That's the post.

Coming soon to a garage near you for 35 happy v teamers!

Are we losing our monthly Purpose Corner?

How’s the first day back going in the 100% RTO sites?

Where's the collaboration they promised with RTO? I only talk to people remotely, never in person, outside of the random meeting that I might as well skip. I even eat my lunch alone. It's a joke.

A century-old syrup company is proactively addressing the impact of artificial intelligence on its workforce. Instead of considering layoffs, the company is focusing on how employees can leverage AI to enhance their roles and add greater value. This employee-centric approach fosters confidence, encouraging staff to embrace new technologies and acquire new skills. The company's commitment to its people has also aided in attracting and retaining talent in a competitive market. This strategy ensures that growth is achieved without compromising employee well-being.

San Leandro, California

https://americanbazaaronline.com/2026/09/04/no-layoffs-in-101-years-487600/

I think I just witnessed corporate amnesia in real time. 😂
Last year, our 🐭 Associate VP went on a full-blown rant about nurses transferring members to Pharmacy without first telling the member what was happening.
We were essentially told:
“You need to explain the transfer and give the member a choice!”
Okay. Message received. We followed the guidance.
Fast-forward to 2026… 🍿
Apparently, that guidance has been deleted from the corporate memory.
Now we're being told we are expected to transfer EVERY member to Pharmacy. No asking if they'd like to be transferred. No giving them an option. Just… transfer them.
And if you don't?
Coaching.
Keep not doing it?
PIP.
So I'm a little confused.
🐭 Associate VP — 2025:
“Why are nurses transferring members without telling them?! They need to KNOW and have a CHOICE!” 😡
🐭 Associate VP — 2026:
“Why aren't you transferring every member?! Don't ask them—just transfer them!” 😡
Nurses:
“Wait… 🐭, didn't YOU literally spend last year telling us NOT to do this?” 🤔
Management:
“That was then. This is now.”
Nurses:
“So what changed?”
Management:
“Our metrics.” 📈
But wait… there's more! 😂
No raises for existing employees this year.
Meanwhile, we're hiring new people into the same positions at salaries higher than what current employees are making.
So apparently the message to the people who have been here, doing the job, taking on more work and meeting the metrics is:
“Thanks for your loyalty. Here's your $0 raise.” 💰
And the message to new hires is:
“Welcome! Here's more money than we're willing to give the people already doing the job!” 🤡
Nothing says “we value our employees” quite like paying new hires more while telling existing employees there isn't money for raises.
So we've got:
🐭 Contradictory leadership
📞 Mandatory transfers that used to be frowned upon
📋 Coaching/PIPs if you don't comply
💰 $0 raises
👋 New hires making more than existing employees
But wait… the Associate Engagement Survey is coming up in a few weeks! 🎉
So when that survey lands, please take the opportunity to let management know what you actually think.
If you're frustrated with the constant changes, lack of raises, pay compression, unrealistic expectations, or the threat of coaching/PIPs for not following the latest directive, say it.
Because apparently the only thing management hasn't changed yet is the survey. 😂
Maybe this year's employee engagement score will finally tell them what the employees have been trying to tell them all along
peak up. Be honest. Use the survey.
And remember:
Your 🐭 Associate VP may have corporate amnesia… but hopefully the engagement survey has a memory. 🤣

One thing for sure: askin AI beautifying PPT deck >> socializing with their BEST FRIENDS