Its a Sunday and im already feeling anxious thinking about having to deal with the sh1t show this place is the following week.
Blame games being played, having to su-k up and play politics. I genuinely dont know how someone works here for 5 years+
12 replies (most recent on top)
The only reason someone works at Ford nowadays, is the money! That's it!
I grew from a size 32 waist to a 44, due to stress-eating.
@OP, it’s not worth your health to feel anxious about this company. This company is dysfunctional, plain and simple. I don’t condone cheating the company of the time you are supposed to work; recognize that going above and beyond is not worth it. Just give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Close up the laptop for the evening, open it again the next morning. Don’t try to run with the cretins who are destroying this once great company. They will drag you down with them; even use you as the scapegoat.
I retired two years ago. I had hired back in the late 80s. It sure was a different company back then. We had product that made money not just one like the F-Series. Since Ford 2000 I can honestly say the company lost its focus.
When you hear that one plant KTP makes 54% of your profits you know Ford is in trouble.
Company current structure and process is set up for when Ford made over 5mn vehicles. Also look at the current debt $142bn with a "B".
Company was lucky to find Allan but I do not believe that our current senior board or management really know what they are doing.
There was an internal company paper written in 2017 outlining why EVs will take time to catch on. The reasons were explained in detail. But we had clueless people at the top
who ignored what was published in that paper.
I firmly believe Mark Fields believed what was in that paper. But it was Billy who pushed this company in the current direction. I am no fan of Farley or Doug Fields aka Capt. Job Hobbler.
Given the current board make-up or senior management team I do not see this company last beyond 5 -10 years.
I was an experienced hire during the “Renaissance” hiring program of 2001. So 20+ years of hindsight.
- Did I learn any new technical skills at Ford that were not self taught - absolutely not.
- Did I improve any technical skills on Ford time - absolutely not.
- Did I learn and improve people skills such as working with and for difficult people - absolutely.
- Did I perfect Excel and PowerPoint skills - absolutely.
- Did I learn how to navigate through the Ford bureaucracy and find the small percentage of employees who actually knew something and would actually do work? Absolutely
- Did I keep a color-coded directory of Ford employees - absolutely. Green-competent and apolitical. Blue- somewhat competent but political animal Yellow-lazy might help in a pinch if you bring them a six-pack, Red-incompetent, Pink-FNF backstabbed. It is a sea of Red Pink and Yellow, with a few Green buoys bobbing about here and there.
Now did I on my own time (after hours) learn and improve technical skills - absolutely.
Would I have been a much better technician if I had not worked at Ford - absolutely.
If you are young treat the Ford job as an extension to your university training.
- Learn how to deal with difficult people (Ford is jammed packed with them especially in Leadership positions)
- Learn about bureaucracy and why it exists especially in toxic companies
- Learn about how work is rarely about improving the products for the customers, but rather about advancing the career of your boss.
Then get the heck out once you have learned enough to know you don’t want to spend your life in the toxic soup. Don’t let yourself get trapped in toxicville due to debt/mortgage/family obligations. Keep your options open.
Now how did I survive 20+ years?
- I made alliances with the Green buoys, we help each other behind the scenes to get work done without going thru the bureaucracy
- I steer clear of the Red and Pink employees. Polite but offer no personal info to them, never offer to help them, when they ask for help I refer them to the official request forms and then seek bosses approval before helping.
- I never offer to help the Yellow employees unless it is in trade and they have first completed their part of the trade.
- I have shields up whenever dealing with Blue employees.
- And lastly I spend the first 2 hours of each day working on things I want to work. Then I do any work the Green employees have asked for as favors. Then I work on any tasks from the boss. When 8 hours are up, I am done for the day.
Do I sometimes regret ever hiring into Ford - absolutely. It was pure misery and exploitation while dodging kn--e wielding coworkers. Then I set boundaries and found my tribe and disengaged from the legions of toxic Ford employees
In Ford PRO... and have to say these long term NAFLRO people ie. Sales are d-mber than door knobs. These people have spent their careers in the field with never actually working in the corporate environment and have the intelligence of middle school kids. Ford PRO would be better of getting rid of them all and hiring professionals off the street. HaVing over 25yrs corp experience, it is shocking how whining and stupid some of these people are. Almost to the point of wondering if they have any college education.
@mnd
“these improved areas of the company where growth is mandatory.”
“like at Model e and Ford Pro”
Please explain the lack of growth in the MOST IMPORTANT METRICS:
Revenue and profitability.
I’ll wait for your response, forever.
Pensioner here - hanging on for a few more years until I hit 30. Have I grown? Yes, to some extent. Have I stagnated and am I undervalued? Yes, particularly since Hackett came into the picture and decided the old guard must go. While I have never liked the good ol' boy / friends & family club, I do feel that prior to Hackett and the rush to hire in Silicon Valley, I was better utilized than I am now. Unfortunately, the pension handcuffs are too tight for me to jump ship. For those without a pension - I'd suggest you look outside. Unless you are part of the club, you will not be put in positions to grow your skill set.
Can someone point to one thing ford has done right in the past 5 years? Honestly. I dealt with what has now become ford pro and you were the worst. Had a technical requirement and was told to draw a picture of it like I was a 5 year old.
You must be new and got su-ked into the marketing for talent…welcome to ford..
While I don't understand the continued fanboy cheerleeading promotion off Model e and Ford Pro, there is a valid suggestion hidden here about looking elsewhere in the company (or outside). As much as people want to say those 2 divisions are different....they aren't. It's all marketing and part of the story they have to tell. It's not some dreamy rainbow laden countryside where everyone sh--s sunshine.
If Ford continues to push an all electric line right now this early Tesla will win and Ford blue badges will turn to Tesla ones. A 25K EV like Tesla is planning will accelerate this by an order of magnitude.
Sunday scaries are a thing. Everyone gets them. If you get them every weekend, look at why and how you can move on. If you get them no matter where you are, then look at yourself as the common denominator.
Most of what OP says has been cleaned up and streamlined in newer areas of the company, like at Model e and Ford Pro. If you are unhappy where you're at (and it sure sounds you are), I would consider looking these improved areas of the company where growth is mandatory.