It's sad to watch those at the top leading this place straight to the bottom. I don't think they realize that they have created a culture in which most of the employees are milking this company while they look for new opportunities outside. What kind of future does such a company have? Not a very bright one.
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I have done pretty well with supposed work/life balance after hitting a breaking point some years ago. However, recently I really felt the pressure to throw that all out as it was hinted in no uncertain terms January 2023 that I needed to get a project to a certain point so that I could avoid being laid off in 2nd quarter. Gas lighting much? Then one of the terminated executives was my executive sponsor who was blindsided and pushed out because 2 of the 3 M's were not fans of them. After seeing all of this disgusting behavior along with everyone else let go, I am re-declaring to not work the crazy hours anymore because at the end of the day they will lay me off it is only a matter of time.
For years from the trenches we’d hear rumors about the toxic nature of the upper executives but were able to ignore it as long as the lower levels took care of buffering the clowns and those levels had a vision to keep things operating. It makes me sick to see all of this upper executive GE style dirty laundry now exposed for all to see. Welch’s failed little man McNerny left quite a legacy it appears. Well done, gentlemen.
Sad decline, horrible to witness the 3M demise. C-Management is not fit to serve. Hotpotch with out a vision.
The generational domestic abuse analogy is right on point. I know I have been gas lighted many times by my manager. I told HR but there is nothing they or I can do.I just go into the office three times a week and act like I am Ted Lasso.
This reminds me of a generational family abuse situation. "It's the only thing I know" or I didn't realize there could be a relationship without abuse." It will take powerful leadership who was part of the "GE style" to say enough is enough and I WILL NOT BE that person to my team. Even though I was treated $hitty, passed over for promotions, etc, it stops TODAY - with ME.
It's weird because every bad situation I've had at 3m my family thought they'd do the right things based on their perception of that era of the company but in every situation I was wronged to the point where they had to apologize for leading me down the wrong path. I've worked for a lot of $hit private companies but this one is right up there at the top. Many regrets to the point where I'm looking for something better now. Management keeps telling us to bust @$$ but when you talk to other employees they say I'm not working any harder. I don't blame them anymore. At some point strange things need to happen. 3m needs serious change at the lowest level and I've yet to see it.
I don't think I've ever seen so many long-term employees actually brought to tears for perhaps the first time in their career with the way they and others have been treated, whether in one on one's with the boss, Teams meetings, or with the callous Vale like approach to cuts (should have cut deeper earlier, etc.).
Anyone who hired in here in the 80s or 90s is totally dismayed by what they've seen become of 3M, a company that was in the fortune 100 best places to work for many years in the 1980s and 90s.
Why this company decided it could out-GE GE itself at being a miserable, passive aggressive place to work (started under Mcnerney but continues to this day) is mind-boggling. Why??????
Stay focused on what you can control! Never mind all the layoffs.
I really appreciate these comments. I know the morale of the people I work with is really low. The passive aggressive leadership and lack of transparency is taking its toll on 3Mers. I feel everyone in my division is looking to leave. My colleague stated in a Teams Meeting recently the toxicity and uncertainty at 3M makes even the most loyal 3Mer want to “escape” 3M. No one can get work done when there is so much dysfunction.
Between the concerns about bankruptcy (perhaps overblown but cannot be brushed off by the incompetent Legal VP) and the likelihood that 3M will be broken up into a 1M (HCBG) and about four 0.5Ms, people have learned that this place is becoming Groundhog day movie but no happy ending.
Other than about 5 layoffs under Mcnerney in his 1st two years, never has this company gone through so many years of back to back to back layoffs! And the pace is accelerating.
The common denominator is clearly pathetic management but also really bad returns from all of the R&D over the last 20 years. Organic growth has been so bad that the only way to "save" the company has been layoffs, which don't work after the 1st round.
Mcnerney started the slide into 3M becoming the next Kodak when he slashed R&D so bad to pay for share buybacks. Buckley tried to redirect but couldn't convince a board packed with Mcnerney disciples. Inge borrowed money to buyback shares. Mike is a buffoon for sure but it would have taken a Steven Jobs kind of thinker to really position this company for a turnaround. Mike just keeps throwing logs (employees) on the bonfire as he collect millions.
Watching 3M fall apart is like being a driver slowing down as you witness the aftermath of a brutal car accident on the highway. Warning to all. If your company decides to embrace GE style thinking (forced rankings, passive aggressive management, obsession with quarterly earnings, etc.), get your resume ready because you will become the next Kodak/3M.