I interviewed at a bank before Wells and they told me they would ask for volunteers to be displaced. Said many had volunteered and how it worked out for many who wanted to stay.
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why dont you volunteer then? Maybe you will save one person and maybe not
To take the point below a bit further, everyone should expect that the very high number of JPMC alums now at Wells will mean the permeation of that culture. The right word to describe it is cutthroat.
And, embracing candor means that leadership gets to be rude to the people below them, while they obfuscate their cutthroat decisions.
Our CEO’s past behavior and current choices are a good predictor for his future behaviors and choices. Please pay attention to how it’s happening. It’s all about leading this firm with integrity, or not. He is setting an example, and right now that example is to be cut-throat and self-serving. Mandatory layoffs, period. Voluntary layoffs, as an initial round, would have set an entirely different example: an example that reflects he is a CEO capable of leading with respect and will value his employees down the road. That he can lead an organization that thrives, not just survives. No Golden Rule on display here. Charlie Scharf made $36.4 million last year to cut your job and send your job overseas. That should tell you everything you need to know about your what your future is going to look like at Wells Fargo.
Authentic leaders who are high in behavioral integrity are committed to setting an example and creating trust within the organization. When trust is developed, organizational culture thrives. When an authentic leader creates and fosters behavioral integrity, high expectations for the employees are cultivated and managed, horizontally and vertically. When an authentic leader’s actions and behaviors are congruent, levels of trust, loyalty and engagement are raised. And all associated with the organization, both customers and employees, benefit.
My previous employer offered one full year pay with benefits to take voluntary severance....and early retirement. Then they would see how many people left voluntarily, re-adjust the layoff numbers, and then start layoffs based on performance. Too bad Wells Fargo won't do something equally sensible.
They're not going to just open it up for people to volunteer for a package. People with a ton of time would line up, get their months of pay, then move to another employer. They're going to want to target people that they don't want to keep. If somebody offered me a year with pay, I'd probably take it, so would many others.
The people who get to ask or volunteer for a package are execs or higher level manager types, not lower level employees.
- Management would have to improve our reputation to where we can attract new talent to replace the existing talent that will gleefully walk out the door with a package. (Long way to go there.)
- Management would have to be making decisions with a long-term healthy goal in mind for Wells Fargo. (What is happening now is all short-term oriented: desperate measures to cut expenses now. We didn’t get a visionary who wants to rebuild a strong company and bravely lead us in to the next century. We got a guy with the nickname of Chainsaw, who was brought in to do whatever it takes to keep us from further going down the tubes. Charlie is like a Carl Icahn: Icahn has a consistent pattern and practice of extracting enormous wealth from companies while leaving a trail of layoffs and lost benefits in his wake. Then he’s out the door, has collected his payoff, and moves on to the next.)
Think all the comments about brain drain (even though plenty of smart folks wind up being let go) and lawsuit avoidance are true. Also, if you are volunteering then you are more likely to have possible jobs lined up, and if they wait you out you'll leave on your own = no severance. That said, I've known senior leaders who have approached their bosses/besties and gently floated that they'd be OK stepping aside. They take a huge severance pay out with benefits, spend time with family, do some consulting... then eventually get hired back – probably at an even higher salary. Not naming names but, talking to you Wholesale org.
Because they do not want to pay you Severance Package. When you leave on your own they owe you nothing
The most readily employable people would take the money and run. In technology, letting people volunteer would risk a massive brain drain.
because it would mess up their planned strategy for avoidance of discrimination lawsuits if it turned out they laid of certain groups and not other.
not really the point of my response
But if you don’t think you have the choice to leave, then you have no moves at all. You’re not a pawn, you’re a statue
@ennk you don't always have the choice of leaving first and especially in this economy.
Agree with below, it’s about control.
These executives love retaining the power of moving their pawns around the board. And they never have to tell the people Impacted the bad news. If they did, they would handle this differently.
Our only move as the pawns is to leave first.
Yeah, I guess in a nutshell that covers it. Rats!
When my group went through one of several rounds of layoffs (marketing), the CMO was asked a form of this question.
She burst out laughing and said “We make the decisions, not you”.
I think that covers it.