#employeeengagement

Why it’s always empty .
Everyday, every time I go there, it empty. Rows upon rows of empty desk.

No one comes to work in this office. Yet they say it’s full and booking is hard.

Next week I'm going to kick back to C+ level work. No more A+ overachieving. Forget circle of excellence, aiming for the triangle of mediocrity - badge in, meet expectations, go home at 5 pm.

I know everyone works differently and has their own preference for how they’re most productive—whether that’s remote, in-office, or a hybrid of the two.

I’m one of those people who genuinely thrives working remotely, and I’ve proven that I can do my job well that way. Requiring everyone to come into the office four days a week for more “collaboration” moments feels unnecessary to me. My role realistically requires one or two days in person, and I’m happy to come in for those.

And when we have a New York office and team members who are still working remotely, what’s really the difference between being at home or sitting in an office for a Zoom call?

Target has done an excellent job silencing its employees, and almost everyone I’ve talked to is miserable. People are being asked to come back to the office without additional compensation, while many haven’t seen meaningful raises in years. There’s a growing disconnect between what leadership thinks is happening internally and what employees are actually experiencing.

And unfortunately, I think the guest is starting to notice that disconnect, too.

Happy employees = better work = better products.

I visited this week, as a tourist, and was amazed to see how pristine it is. Even Backstage! I assume people work 24/7 there but are there people who work on nothing but recovery all night??

DO NOT take the engagement survey starting next week. Most companies (truist included) care more about low participation than low scores. Most companies believe that any response to these surveys indicates that you still believe your voice is heard and cared about. This is well documented online and I’ve seen it personally.

A manager of mine a few years ago (who was terrible and eventually fired for misconduct) had very high engagement scores. Much higher than the company average. And that’s because only ONE person on a team of over 20 people took the survey (I personally think the only teammate that took the survey was the one the manager was sleeping with, but I could be wrong). HR and higher management got involved specifically because of low participation and our concerns were finally addressed.

The participation rate has been steadily going down throughout Truist for years. Make it plummet and they’ll actually start taking notice. That’s why we get emails saying “hey guys we still only have xx% of people who have taken the survey. It’s available to take for a couple more days. Make sure to take it and make your voice heard blah blah blah.”

Silence is the sound of dissent and dissatisfaction, and that makes people in charge VERY nervous.

Seriously, why?

They clearly don't do anything with that info.

Have you submitted your voluntary and confidental Employee Engagement Survey yet?

But they never ask the questions that actually matter. Imagine if they asked the real questions on the next one, the ones that could make a difference. I'm not holding my breath, though.

lets all just stop working and spend hours setting up mini golf courses around the building. and spend hours playing mini golf. has this ever been done?

Hello friends and colleagues. I would like to apologise. Yesterday for the first time in 7 years I forgot to post a meaningless #lifeatbny LinkedIn post. After our recent inspiring and uplifting “Ask me Anything” with RV (as long as it’s pre approved meaningless questions that don’t challenge the narrative) I had resolved to double down on my “look at me I love BNy” LinkedIn posts. I hope that my lack of LinkedIn post yesterday did not discourage, demotivate , or cause anyone in my team to wonder wait does she still love the company or not. So sincere apologies to all. #lovelifeatbny #lookatme #proffessionalbootlicker

U.S. Bank’s culture increasingly feels built around one assumption: employees cannot be trusted.

Track IP addresses because people might not be working where they say they are.

Crack down on medical accommodations because someone might be abusing the system.

Centralize / eliminate Business Resource Groups because employees might be spending too much time on work that doesn’t directly produce output.

That is Theory X management: assume the worst, increase control, reduce autonomy, monitor more closely.

The problem is that policies designed around the small percentage of employees who might abuse trust eventually punish the employees who earned it.

And once people realize they are being managed as potential problems instead of valued professionals, engagement dies very quickly.

You can force compliance.

You cannot surveil people into caring.

What do you think will get people’s attention more? Really low engagement scores, or a really low participation rate? I’m thinking a really low participation rate. Execs seem to care more about that than actual survey results.

Someone just took a pic with our CEO and posted this... And it got1000+ likes... honestly surprised since I vomit in mouth just on the first paragraph 🤢

Today was one of the highlights of my 27-year career at ExxonMobil Baton Rouge. I had the opportunity to hear Darren Woods speak with employees and, as an added bonus, spend some time with him during a safety demo in the field. I was even fortunate enough to take a picture with him, something I'll remember for a long time.

What stood out most was his authenticity, transparency, and willingness to engage directly with employees. His answers to our questions were thoughtful, candid, and reaffirmed why I am proud to be part of this company.

One statement that particularly resonated with me was: "Not here to advise. Not here to consult. We are here to deliver." That mindset reflects what I've experienced throughout my career and why I remain passionate about the ... Blah blah...

Already being pushed to do it so let’s do a survey of our own.

Will you do it? Yes/no
If yes, will you give happy talk BS to placate them, tear them a new one or something in between?

Everything is always doom and gloom here. I'm trying to find something good to say to shake things up a bit, but I'm coming up short. Anyone got anything?

The person they brought in for this wellbeing presentation, is one of the most chilling presenter I have encountered and not in a good way.

There was no emotion, blank stare, no genuine feeling about anything. Everything seemed practiced and rehearsed. I know sociopathic tendencies are rampant the higher you go up the ladder but this one kind of scared me. It’s like I would not ever want to work with that person and can’t take any advice seriously. Maybe it’s just me and so overworked that I have no idea how this will help.

The current union has little to no presence on the floor. There are lots of new employees, yes some of them are lost causes and that’s the narrative more experienced members will run with. Regardless, a lot of new people are not associated or familiar with our union and unfortunately won’t be till radio silence is broken for either a big election or contract. There was no communication last contract until they were looking for us to amend what they presented. A little packet, two excel sheets, vote on that, and no you can’t have anymore details and the FULL contract is confidential.

I would really like some outreach from the union to the floor outside of union meetings, in this day and age there should be other avenues of communications.

If there is no change from the elected union officials then their time in their cushy jobs will be short lived. Though they are not allowed to campaign on company time, I am allowed to make sure they don’t get elected on company time.

So yeah, course correction anyone?

How many have experienced racist managers in Tech? Seems like it seems to be very prevalent. HR aware of this?

"If you're working, you're not working hard enough. And if you are working hard enough, you're not working long enough. And if you are working long enough, you're not passionate enough. And if you are passionate enough, well, you're not hustling enough. And if you are hustling enough, you're not loyal enough. And if you are loyal enough, you're not focused enough. And if you are focused enough, well, then you can kind of see how this goes..." J. Fluke

I’m getting a lot of “my purpose“ recognition notifications from a bunch of executives I have never met and aren’t even in my hierarchy. Like I don’t report to them in any way shape or form. Almost like they are mistakingly recognizing me, when they mean to recognize somebody else. Has anyone else? I appreciate the effort, but considering how awful this company has been to work for the last two or three years it seems pretty disingenuous. The engagement survey starts next week, the new CEO starts today, etc. It just feels like a bunch of exacts are trying to cover their a-s.

READ BEFORE COMMENT : i thought i didn't get it , then i saw that table had more than one page , when switched to second page it was there just like everyone else .

a lot are already saying they have it ( 28th aug or 21th aug ) no need to stress ..

I’m spending more time trying to figure out how to turn features off that were automatically changed on my Outlook. Then I am actually working because everything is so inefficient and such a pain in the @… but I can’t even turn these features off because they come right back! I hate this. I’m absolutely confident and comfortable with change, but this is just unnecessary unproductive and unwanted.

If they’re gonna put this on our computers, then they need to give us the access to make the changes we prefer in regards to Settings. I’m tired of opening up emails just to have to close out a bunch of automatic Outlook calendar invites that don’t make any sense and we’re not requested or needed!

GIVE US ACCESS TO MANAGE OUR OWN SETTINGS SO WE CAN BE PRODUCTIVE AND TURN OFF THESE DISTRACTIONS AND ANNOYANCES!!!

Everyone staring at their Outlook like…
⊙_⊙

I love this company. I came here from a completely different industry 5 years ago. I was drawn by the owner’s story in a Harvard Business Review article. I still think it’s a great company, on the balance. What I wish the leaders would understand is that AI is an amplifier. If you feed it noise (e.g. “bad” data, unclear business logic / rules), it will amplify chaos. If you feed it good stuff like a piece of beautifully crafted music (e.g. well designed process with “good” data and clear rules), it can turn it into concert. How do you get the “good” stuff? Through your SMEs, through SMEs working closely together, TRUSTING each other, by respectfully challenging each other. It’s hard work. There’s no switch, no buttons you can press. You won’t get there by trusting outsiders, trusting people who agree with you at all times, trusting copilot AI slop, that’s how organizations walk off a cliff. It’s the same old boring things. Cleaner diet, exercise, good habits that determine good health outcomes. Don’t be tempted by the weight loss pills (eg GLP1), because not only are you NOT going to get what you want sustainably. There are a TON of unknown side effects that you will pay a hefty price for. Excellent output requires excellent inputs and excellent process. Right now, the market is up, and we have tolerance for trying out GLP1. What happens when the market is down? Still, I love this firm and its people, and I focus on the little I have control over. There is hope yet

Super Saturday

I just wanted to share a thought regarding the message. I’m sure it wasn’t intended this way, but the wording “For Those STILL Here… Have a Great Rest of the Weekend” could potentially come across as a little discouraging to those who took time out of their Saturday to participate in Super Saturday. I think a simple acknowledgment and thank-you to everyone who made the effort to be there would help people feel appreciated and recognized for their time and commitment. Everyone’s time is valuable, and even a small expression of appreciation can make a big difference in keeping people encouraged and engaged.

In a tough environment, your colleagues can really make a difference. With all of the rapid fire changes, collaborative, experienced and, sure, funny colleagues are what helps the most.

For the surviving “CenTeamers,” Gallup has some encouraging news. About 1 in 10 people has the natural talent to be a great manager.

Unfortunately, companies pick the wrong person for management 82% of the time.

Even better, managers account for at least 70% of the difference in employee engagement between business units.

Gallup also points out that companies often promote people because they were good at their old job, had been around long enough, or seemingly “deserved it.” None of which means they can actually manage people.

My favorite finding: statistically, there is/was probably someone on your team with the talent to be a great manager. There’s also a pretty good chance it isn’t/wasn’t your manager.

Source: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/231593/why-great-managers-rare.aspx

But don’t worry, CenTeamers. The next Pulse Survey should get to the bottom of this!

London Calling, Sarah. Gallup says companies pick the wrong person for management 82% of the time. Centene seems to have solved that problem by promoting them and laying off the other 18%.

#SimplifySarah

Here’s hoping the RTO scares off the fossils so the rest of us can finally grow

Are there any real leaders that you admire in XOM?

Source: Dr. Mullen

I once hired someone smarter than me. I hated how it made me feel.

→ They were sharper in meetings.
→ Faster with decisions.
→ More technically capable than I was.

Instead of feeling proud, I felt exposed.

I started wondering:

If they're better than me, what exactly am I bringing to the table?

Then it hit me.

I was competing with talent I was supposed to be leading. So I changed how I led.

1️⃣ I asked more questions than I answered.
↳ My job wasn't to have every answer. It was to get the best thinking into the room.

2️⃣ I gave credit publicly.
↳ If someone was better than me at something, I wanted everyone to know it.

3️⃣ I shared decisions earlier.
↳ People take more ownership when they help shape the answer.

4️⃣ I made disagreement safe.
↳ If your smartest people are afraid to challenge you, you're wasting their talent.

5️⃣ I admitted when I didn't know.
↳ Pretending to know everything wasn't leadership. It was insecurity.

6️⃣ I measured myself differently.
↳ Their growth became a better measure of my leadership than being the smartest person in the room.

That changed how I thought about talented people. I didn't need to outperform them.
I needed to create the conditions for them to outperform me.

Doesn't usually take this long. I didn't expect them to be positive because points at everything, but with how long they've been holding back results, they must be BAD bad this year.

Anyone heard anything?

I remember when Target was well known for solving internal problems quickly.

It's been 2 years since I've had a skip level status. Most of my team didn't take the best team survey because they don't believe it works. The biggest problem on our team was never followed up on after the survey.

Get your sh-t together, Target. How about instead of calling consultants you actually talk to the people who work there.

not a good mgmt approach IMO

Every year, employees are asked to be honest and say how they really feel. We take the time to fill out the survey, the results are reviewed, presentations are made, and action plans are discussed.

And then… what actually changes?

LOL. They got tired of planting employee questions from the audience. Playing Jeopardy - made up their own questions to answer. Too funny.

@VP Why does VZ waste money promoting internal employee videos, newsletters, emails on internal website, most employees do not have time to watch list, read, listen but do their 8 hour work.Personally, I work on my feet, not at a desk,yet local manager sends out emails I don't read until days, weeks later, unless I take my lunch.

Taking away the last bits of any real joy we have around here but pretending like they are doubling the investment. This company has no culture left.

Im wondering if the 4 hours on the clock training we are granted per month and the AI My Agent that was announced are going to be delegated by Cisco on what we study and if we use the Agent or not.

Instead, I got no training, no mentoring, and assignments outside my skill set. So much for my expectations.

And please, be honest.