I've been with GE for less than five years, but I've worked in another large company before I came to GE. Here's my perspective:
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Mid-career outsiders have no chance in GE. If you aren't a CAS/_LMP graduate, you are never going to move up. You could be the former CEO at Pricewaterhouse, and GE will not promote you because you didn't do a turn at CAS.
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Which is ironic, because outside hires could be a valuable resource for GE. When you have nothing but "managers" who've graduated from Crotonville "leadership" classes, you end up with a bunch of yes-men and yes-women who think being a manager means scheduling tons of conference calls and spending all their time creating powerpoint presentations. Outsiders could point out that a perfect powerpoint is less important than real analysis or healthy debate, but whatever - at least you used the right size font and border colors on the slideshow to upper management....
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I took a Crotonville management class and it was a JOKE. That's supposed to be world class? We literally spent an entire day of class cutting up magazines and making vision boards.
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As a result to all this, the management teams are HIGHLY disconnected. When was the last time a manager walked the shop floor and understood what we make? At my old job, management was always on the floor - learning names, talking to people, finding out what was going wrong and what was going right.
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The management disconnect just rolls all the way to the top. That's how Alstom gets bought. That's how Baker Hughes gets bought. That's how Two Jets Jeff flies around, burning cash. That's how the company pays for Beth's hair cuts and book club. That's how accounting can release fifty versions of the same number to the street and think its okay.
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The management disconnect is made worse by their sheer arrogance. They have never worked in another company, so they buy the myth that GE is the best. Newsflash: other companies handle layoffs by doing hiring freezes and natural attrition so that they can minimize people impacted. Other companies invest in infrastructure instead of using Quickbooks and Excel to run their business. Other companies have frank discussions about what you're doing wrong instead of tiptoeing around with a "consider" in PD. That arrogance is how you get an all hands with giggling hysterics, or a VP who blatantly moves his HQ to Miami so that his wife can run her Edible Arrangements store, or a team lead who says that he's "made sacrifices" when GE is paying for his penthouse apartment and car lease.
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For the current situation GE is in - you don't cut your way to greatness. They are trading long term strategy (which was poor anyway) for short term gains (and those gains are tiny). Once the non-core businesses are gone (which may take a while, since lighting has been for sale for a while and no one is biting), all of the support areas will be trimmed to nothing. Many of the best people will be laid off or quit for greener pastures. Those that stay will be worked to death for little or no raises. I don't want to say death spiral, but it's not good. And the core businesses that GE is keeping - I can't wait for some street analyst to get wind of Aviation's creative accounting. It's not as strong as it looks on paper....
I hope the people laid off find better situations soon. I hope the people who can leave for better situations do so. I hope the people who stay are able to work without crushing stress and can have some level of stability.