I think by now we can all say that this whole 'merger' experiment failed when it comes to employees. I used to love my job, now I'm dreading every new workday. I'm not alone, all the people I know miss the old days when we were simply SunTrust. The job might have not been perfect but at least people were happier and there was some kind of job security. Now they're not only getting rid of us through layoffs, but they're doing everything they can to make our lives miserable enough to make us quit. No wonder people are leaving in droves.
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hBB&T here too. The culture is the worst I’ve ever seen it. It certainly doesn’t feel like 1 company even after a whole year of this.
Success of the “merger” depends on who you are. If you define it as simply the “act of the merger”, then the executive team was wildly successful garnering themselves big retention bonuses.
If you define it as the enduring success of the resulting organization, I fail to see much to be very hopeful about. I see two disparate cultures, a toxic work environment getting worse by the day, and technology decisions not based on future technology requirements, but rather political infighting over which current antiquated system will win out. Merger of equals are very rarely successful as someone pointed out earlier, and I can’t fathom this one being an exception when you have so much arrogance pulling in so many different directions...
To the person saying it's not a failure - how do you define success/failure? Legally it's one bank and in 5 years there will still be a Truist bank so in that regard I guess the two organizations merged successfully. However, I don't think there will be the "synergies" and cost savings that were planned for. You can only blame the pandemic so much. At some point executive management and the board should recognize this was a very expensive mistake. This large company will be limping along for a very long time.
How’s that kool aid tasting? Sounds like you’re enjoying it!
The merger is not a failure. It's still in process and the executive leadership will ensure it is successful. However, what we're left with isn't anything at all like BBT or STI used to be. We're a completely new bank. Due to COVID, we were never able to develop a new culture. So, now we have two clashing cultures on two different systems, and leadership is trying to bring it all together - while eliminating people in order to meet that $1.6 Billion in savings promised. We're all expendable because they're still trying to figure out how to run this new, giant bank. I don't feel safe and neither should you. Trying to find a way out now.
I was one of those people that left rather than be RIF'd. I had been with the company for a very long time working in corporate but the environment was beyond toxic. The two organizations have vastly different cultures. I don't know how in the heck this is going to work out. It was terrible and I'm thankful every day that I was able to escape.
I got cut 9/30 too... I was retirement age too - cannot say it was targeted.
I am so glad it's over.
The merger will flop
As somebody touched on earlier, when you have this much dissension out in the field, it is usually indicative of major problems/rifts in management (E14 in our case). I am simply amazed that the industry/stock analysts haven’t picked up on the massive amount of employee unrest in this merger - I have been through 3 mergers and have never seen anything close to this bad. Our team has not just lost good employees, but easily half of our superstars. You do not replace that level of talent, or repair employee loyalty easily. This is a mess.
I agree I was RIF’F Sept 30. Thank GOD I am retirement age. Knew it was coming, seems it took forever to receive notification.
Don’t miss it in the least.
The fact that one year later this merger of equals is still operating on two systems is incredible. The infighting that our system is better than yours and the refusal of people from both banks to embrace any direction but continue the crying. Senior leadership up to the gang of 14 needs changes and fast. It appears at this point all they have done is screw up two banks as they obviously don’t know how to create one good one!
Agreed. I'm hBB&T and my team and I feel the same way. Morale is very low.
I agree totally, it is the exact same from us on the BB&T side. We’re working with the bare minimum of folks, and in some cases not enough at all. I don’t know how any specific team is actually able to handle the normal day to day workload, including the branches. Morale is at the lowest I’ve ever seen. You’re in constant fear that “you’re next”, management is nonexistent. I can’t sleep. I’m stressed. I cry often. For where we’re located, there’s currently nowhere to go. You just have to sit and wait and pray for a severance.