Only issue is that Cisco 's management (starting from first line managers to all the way vps), don't agree with it. This is unlike Juniper, where the management agrees that it is not a great place (in otherwords, stupid place). This makes employees feel that it is none of their fault and company itself is stupid and hence increases employee loyalty.
Advise to top management:
Advertise to your employees that we are stupid, it will inturn increase employee satisfaction.
Employees of the heavyweights (Google, Apple, Tesla) have massive egos but they are justified...
As with Cisco in the 1990s the margins and stock prices of these companies are over inflated and these companies could pay well beyond market rates not to get the best talent (they didn't) but to create prestige. As Jay Leno said, you generally don't see Ferraris and Lamborghinis at track days because they can't be run hard and fixed quickly, and the magazine shootouts show that even with professional drivers they can be beat by far less expensive cars. It's about image, not actual performance.
As with Cisco they'll eventually saturate their markets and like "50 First Dates" investors will learn again for the first time that there is no such thing as infinite growth and the companies will have to do some serious belt tightening.
OP says Juniper is better because everyone accepts that they're stupid, but Cisco's image plays a role in the fact that the market cap of Cisco is about 20 times that of Juniper.
Psychologically both investors and customers are happier seeing Chuck having a good time in Hawaii that curled up in a ball weeping because they want to be successful like that. The reverse is also true: the employees curled up in a ball weeping instead of growing skills and jumping jobs aren't going to get respect.
Advertise to your employees that we are stupid, it will inturn increase employee satisfaction.
Your argument is "the stupid are too stupid to realize they're stupid and by telling them they're stupid they'll feel better about their stupidity."
This makes employees feel that it is none of their fault...
Much of why Cisco is a bad place to work is their fault. You're proposing that management should insure employees never realize this and therefore will never have any incentive to get better. It's not like any program has been able to say "our product is complete and there are no bugs, and now we don't have a new development project to do which will generate more profit."
Hobbies are for fun. Work is to produce something to offset your consumption and no system will ever be able to fairly balance these things and people at all levels are the reason why.
Exactly!
I luckily was able to line my pockets with a big stash of Cisco options and RSUs from almost two decades and took the final LR $ with a smile.
I have honestly never been happier these last three years.
Old Cisco WAS a great company.
To those staying, try to moderate the alcohol intake, and try not to cringe too much trying not to react to the next bout of unnecessary drama or social "cause" doublespeak doublegood campaign.
Prestige doesn't pay the bills.
It's quite clear the leaders at Cisco are in a managed decline. Do you actually expect them to announce that? Keep working while we line our pockets with stock, and slowly cut costs/conduct layoffs.
I suspect you might get downvoted for this post but there is validity to what you are saying.
The problem is that there are still a lot of oldtimers who fondly remember the salad days of the company in the late 90s to early 00s. Younger folks might not realize this but the name Cisco was once held was the same reverence in the valley as Google, Apple, and Tesla are today. Despite the fact that Cisco has fallen from grace and is now a company on the managed decline, the egos from Cisco's glory days are still around. So there is a disconnect.
Here is the end result: on the bottom rung you have worker bees who have checked out and are in it strictly for the paycheck. Mid tier you have managers/directors who are trying to act like bigshots even though deep down they know that the name Cisco will never have the same cachet as it once did (thus adding to their bitterness). And of course at the top you have the usual narcissists and sociopaths who only care about lining their pocketbooks and fueling their egos. Combine that with semiannual mass layoffs and what you've got is an all-around miserable place to work.
Employees of the heavyweights (Google, Apple, Tesla) have massive egos but they are justified relative to the prestige those brands currently hold. Smaller companies know their place in the grand scheme of things so they are immune to that stupidity.
I absolutely agree that Cisco would be a better place if the people in charge accepted the cold, harsh reality that Cisco is yesterday's news.