I reported a case about harassments and abuse to the Ethics alias via email and opened a case as well. It's been three days, but no response from anyone.
Does an Ethics person/team even exist?
Why is it taking this long? Is this normal about ethics report?
They don't care. Not one bit.
Cisco somehow has ways of legally ousting you. Speak up against the ELT, you're gone. Post something in the chat that Chuck doesn't like, you're gone. File a COBC against a Sr leaders, and they find out, you're gone. Get a bunch of stock options, you're gone. Speak up against BLM or point out what they really stand for, you're gone. Have a high salary and not kissing up to a SVP, you're gone! It might take 1-2 years, but HR has a way of marking you.
What was the report about?
Which area are you in?
Did you turn in any evidence?
My experience with filing a complaint through the Ethics line was that it was easy to do, and they responded quickly to me. It took some time for them to do the investigation, but I felt it was handled fairly. There was no retaliation of any kind.
I was involved in an investigation that was opened by someone else also. It took about 3 months from start to finish and resulted in the leader being removed from managing people.
@5yvo+1oQLSEAn "The United States is also witnessing corporate employees uniting to support their colleagues. When will Cisco employees stand together in solidarity against these layoffs, especially when the company is financially thriving?"
Great points. Totally agree with you. Answer to your question is easy: Corporate Employees who are showing solidarity for their laid off employees work in orgs (Google for example) where they are put through rigorous interviews and selection processes. These companies only hire the best and that elite quality is expressed through their actions: they are not afraid to lose their jobs. They know they will find something similar easily or start a start-up if their employers decide to retaliate. Quality breeds quality.
At Cisco however, hiring culture tends to go for mediocrity at best with an interview process that focusses on the candidate's capacity of window-dressing and hand-waving. Their toxic culture is so well known that elite new employees do not go for Cisco.
On top of that there is the wide open culture of nepotism. Merit, efficiency and loyalty are taken for granted and not rewarded. What is rewarded is a$$-ki$$ism via nepotism. Hang on to the coat lapels of a Director, VP or SVP and your career is paved for you. This is precisely the reason why the quality of management is so poor generally. Most efficient managers focused on their jobs get LRed sooner or later because they have no time to do politics. As a result, most managers, Directors, Sr. Directors etc. - especially in sales - that are left behind are the precipitates.
My two bits from working in the UKI for over 6 years. I want to change, trying to change but having Cisco UK on my CV is like a curse that will not go away. And to add insult to the injury, I have to witness open rampant ethics violations regularly. You go to ethics, you get laid off. You get laid off in this market from Cisco, who's gonna hire you?!
People at Cisco do not have the quality to unify and stand together. They are scared and have become spineless that they will get fired and won't find another job. This is precisely the reason why the company does not hire the best and try to get rid of anyone who is good and has the backbone to stand up and speak out. Blessings of ignorance. Rule the sheep in the kingdom of pond sc-ms.
At least yearly we talk about ethics at Cisco, but it's time to question if we truly live up to our words. While we do adhere to some significant ethical standards, such as refraining from bribery, it appears that some of our practices are more about maintaining an ethical facade than genuinely embodying ethical principles. For instance in the last large round of layoffs, we haven't been forthcoming. False statement were made to shareholders about growing areas not being impacted. We stated it was "restructuring", not cost cutting, yet we still cut senior personnel to cut our costs such as in Security and Sales. It's crucial for someone to hold our leadership, particularly Chuck, Scott, and Fran, accountable for their actions!! We seem to have some leaders that can't admit they made a mistake. They keep covering for their actions and digging the hole deeper.
The U.S. government has shown a growing trend of holding accountable those who fail to keep their word, and we just saw a historic ousting. When will Cisco follow suit and hold our SLT accountable, or oust them and find a SLT that employees can trust to really care about them first, and then the bottom line?
The United States is also witnessing corporate employees uniting to support their colleagues. When will Cisco employees stand together in solidarity against these layoffs, especially when the company is financially thriving? It's time for us to address the issues surrounding the LRs and bring about positive changes, or else these senseless layoffs will persist!
People should be more important than giving SLT bonuses or a few cents on the dividends. Every one of us at Cisco wants the company's stock to perform well. However, just like the U.S. debt crisis, it's essential for someone to step up and advocate for change!!
If we don't address the current state of affairs, the false leadership statements, and the culture of LR practices doing the best of financial times, it eventually lead to Cisco's downfall.
It’s up to the area you work.
If you got voice records and several colleague comments, with strong labor law in the country, you can get rid of them.
If they are from sales org, you may ask your customers' help to complain to their management. This may help.
If labor law in your area is weak, then you may move to another team.
Proof or not, the least senior person will be LR. Cisco doesn’t want people fighting. So if your case is against a grade higher than you, you will be offered a package.
Oh yea, LR is on the horizon if you file a complaint. They will give you a reasonable severance package, but when you sign it you must drop all allegations.
Here is a tip: there are no ethics inside of Cisco. It’s all to pontificate the management PowerPoints and koolaid messages. Any ethics case against management is used to eliminate the relevant complaining employee at the next LR. Cisco is one of the most unethical employees outside of China. Just come to the UKI market and see how the management protects their layers by using HR as firewalls.
My suggestion is for to look for another job.
Said many times. Evidence is important.
@3eha+1oQLSEAn Sounds like someone I knew at UK Meraki whose ex was hired as an SEM in UK theatre couple of years ago while they were going through a messy divorce. I heard that her management skills were not that great either, several of her team members left. Question is, is the man you speak about a management guy? If not, then it is not a surprise that he was fired. Usually, if a harassment complaint is brought against a management person, Cisco's first response is to get a HR consultant in there who'll try and bully the victim into believing that he/she made a mistake or is over-reacting. And next step would be to silently ear-mark that person for the next LR-lot or force the person into a corner so that he/she leaves spontaneously.
They do exist , but take couple of days to respond. Make sure you have the evidence ready.
My colleague opened a case 2 years ago on her ex (from cisco) that he has been harassing her on webex after breakup (honestly the usual BS after breakup , but that guy did this on webex)
Eventually the guy was kept on unpaid leave for 1 month and then fired .
I raised a case with the Ethics committee 4 years ago and it took them 2 weeks to respond. The manager I worked for at the time had broken the Code of Business Conduct by yelling at me & humiliating me in a large public setting for something she thought I had done but didn't, and she dismissed me before I could tell her what had actually happened.
HR listened to me and agreed her behavior was against the Code of Business Conduct and said it would be raised to her manager for him to address with her. Well, I knew that wasn't going to happen because her manager was a flake and never followed-through on anything, plus he thought highly of her, so nothing came of it. She ended up taking a 1+ year LOA and most of her team, including me, were subsequently LRd.
It didn't occur to me until reading these posts today that my complaint might've contributed to being LRd, but I still don't think the two instances were related, since most of her team were notified the same time I was. I did manage to get re-hired 3 months later.
I have a friend in HR & it's my understanding the Ethics committee is overwhelmed and doesn't have adequate manpower to address complaints in a timely manner. Poor behavior by management should be reported & addressed, else there wouldn't be an avenue for reporting it.
So I say, speak up & stand your ground - and refer to the Business Code of Conduct as your back-up, because what is and is not acceptable is in writing, and all employees are expected to adhere to it.
Good luck on that. There have been enough ethics violations, especially at sales events, to make a college fraternity blush. Nothing was done, and nothing will be done. I would cease and dissist if you want to retain your employment here. Just the way it is. Welcome to reality.
Best you can hope for is they pay you a nice severance amount before terminating your employment.
Voice record video record etc are necessary. You also need to get ready to be LRed since Cisco doesn’t like ppl files cases like you, but make sure the one you reported die with you together.
If you are ready to move on, just do it.
In some other geos you do not get “fired” for bringing an ethics case against management but yes, you get LRed with the next lot. Or, you are forced in such a situation by your management that you are forced to quit. It’s very difficult to prove harassment without any tangible proof and Cisco HR is trained to make you question and bully as if you are the guilty one and not the victim - they do this in order to protect the company from being sued. It is also impossible to prove retaliation when LRed with a lot or when your career is made to stagnate. At the end of the day, nothing happens to the guilty managerial person, your career gets stagnated, you get marked for the next LR and the actual guilty party goes home laughing with a bonus package. This is the Cisco way. Speaking from experience.
What kind of company is it? Is this company North Korea? It's illegal to fire someone without a legitimate reason in many countries.
California, and North Carolina, are what is known as an “at-will employment” states. This means that unless there is a specific employment contract or law protecting employees, an employer can fire an employee at any moment for any reason, or for no reason at all.
All US remote employees sign the "at-will" agreement because Cisco is Headquartered in CA. Obviously, firing someone in retaliation is illegal, but the burden of proof of retaliation is on the person fired. Cisco can simply claim their role is redundant and reap them in the next LR. How can you prove retaliation when they are let go along with hundreds of others?
Retaliation for an ethics complaint is a serious sin at Cisco. I’d be surprised if it happens.
You may not know it yet, but you are fired. Anyone who launches an ethics complaint is a goner. Same as someone who responds to "does anyone have questions" during an all hands meeting.
What kind of company is it? Is this company North Korea? It's illegal to fire someone without a legitimate reason in many countries.
You may not know it yet, but you are fired. Anyone who launches an ethics complaint is a goner. Same as someone who responds to "does anyone have questions" during an all hands meeting.
I recommend looking for a change - internal or external as the whole experience will make it toxic for you to survive, leave alone build a career.
The whole company, any region, any country, is ALREADY toxic, regardless of the ethics report!
Get voice record, proof the harassment, probably it’s my country, labor law is very strict, with one voice record of obvious harassment ( especially se-ual, even touching shoulder) got a manager fired for good.
@OP+1oQLSEAn Depends on who the harassment claims are against. Speaking from personal experience, if the complain is against a management personnel then Cisco's first reaction would be to try and protect itself from lawsuits: ethics may refer it to HR and a trained HR consultant will contact you and give you the 3rd degree Ge----o treatment trying to prove that YOU are the guilty party and/or that you do not have a case. If against anyone in the management, then this will not go anywhere unless you have irrefutable proof. I this case, I recommend looking for a change - internal or external as the whole experience will make it toxic for you to survive, leave alone build a career.
All the best.