I definitely intend to leave because it is pretty clear that the leadership is literally destroying this company. The atmosphere is terrible and I wonder if in the past there were more difficult periods here than now? Those who have been here longer would know that.
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There are no leaders at the top. Only managers.
Listening to town halls over the last 5 years or so, I have NEVER heard a single person ever saying that we made a mistake , it was a wrong call or it was a wrong move and being accountable in any way.
It is always external factors and current economic situation.
So pathetic...wee little men...all of them...shame on them.
Others have said it in slightly different ways, but compared to any other rough time, this goes beyond widespread, poorly handled, and just brutal layoffs. It feels more like the end for a once great company. Not a symbolic end, but potentially the literal end. Best case, the parts get broken up and the businesses go in to exist somewhere else in some other form. I remember thinking in 2019 that MR showed some significant flashes of incompetence. I had no idea that his incompetence would be tolerated so long by the board or an activist investor, and that he would end up bringing a $30B+ company with over a 100 years of history to its knees. It feels almost criminal to me.
I went through 2008-2009 and truly felt the economy dealt us a bad hand. I knew that 3M was resilient and would weather the storm.
This time around the clowns upstairs are blaming the economy but we all see through the lies now. This is not on the economy, this is not on raw material constraints. This is 100% on the shoulders of terrible leaders and no, the business will not weather this storm. Unfortunately this is the end of a once great company . I am sure within the next 5 years business schools will use 3M as a case study for all of the things a business shouldn’t do. Is it as scandalous as Enron? No, but it is sad to see
The only correlation is 2008-2009, but the huge difference is that I never really questioned if business would come back. Now I firmly believe the actions are being taken to ensure business does not come back.
I’m a former 3Mer with nearly 20 years experience with roles in lab and commercial for a few businesses. 2008-2009 was tough, but understandable. At that point I felt that there was fat to cut, and the cuts seemed targeted at reducing that fat. The rumor is that 3M may have absorbed some legal costs associated with wrongful or discriminatory separations. Since then terminations seem to be entirely based on risk management.
Morale never has been lower, and it’s not even close. Even the doldrums of 08-09 weren’t this rotten.
A total reset in strategy and executive leadership is necessary.
In 1907 William L. McKnight joined Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co (3M) as an assistant bookkeeper. He rose quickly through the ranks and became president in 1929 and chairman of the board in 1949. His timeless management philosophy laid out below, encouraged 3M management to “delegate responsibility and encourage men and women to exercise their initiative.”
The Basic Rule of Management
As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance. Those men and women, to whom we delegate authority and responsibility, if they are good people, are going to want to do their jobs in their own way.
Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs.
Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made ki-ls initiative. And it’s essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.
“If you put fences around people, you get sheep. Give the people the room they need.”
This is how 3m used to be operated
I agree. I survived the 2009-10 cutbacks but saw a number of really good colleagues get let go. Buckley was pretty honest about things and the economy impacting a lot of 3Ms businesses. When you charge a quality premium, you will feel the pain when people switch to cheaper alternatives or buy less during the Great Recession. But I don't recall my leadership being anything but somber during the weeks their were unavailable because they had several layoffs per day.
Most companies, other than tech, have been cutting 3 to 5 percent. Counting the unannounced numbers from last August along with the 8500 this year, 3M is cutting at least 2.5x the rate of its competitors. That is lousy management. And very callous flying the globe for short 1 to 2 hour "townhalls" with an entourage of clapping seals.
I retired 2 years ago after being hired out of college in 1986. Morale has definitely ebbed and flowed but the only time it was really bad were the early Mcnerney years 2001-02 when he had something like 5 layoffs in his first two years. The job market picked up by 2003-04 so the layoffs slowed, though Jimmy still loved to fire the 1 ranked employees.
The last 5 years have made Mcnerney look not so bad at all. He was competent but incredibly arrogant and egotistical. I didn't doubt his business sense but hated his GE ways. Mike has been worse than Herbert Hoover. Not a single thing to like about him. He has been found lacking in so many ways and his zombie like appearances since last August are beyond pale.
Please leave work at work and enjoy the family and friends and hobbies and God if you are religious after 430 pm each day and all weekend long. Don't let 3M bring you down on YOUR time.
As a 25+ year 3Mer, there has never been as dire a time as now. Morale is the lowest its ever been in almost 3 DECADES (maybe even longer than that), but continues to plummet.
It seems finally there's widespread understanding we are just a number here. Nothing more. Sad to see a once magnificent company and culture now circling the drain.
From a marketing perspective (now retired):
2009-2010 headcount reductions were really ugly. Recession was kicking in and the home mortgage collapse really pulled the economy down (watch The Big Short for perspective). 3M did some very significant head count reduction then and it was hard. Big difference I’m perceiving between then and now is that this round of layoffs is due to horrible decisions by current senior management (rather than global economic conditions). They may try to blame economic headwinds, but I’m calling BS on that. Also, the tone of the current lay offs also seem uncaring, cold, and at times being handled in a very incompetent way including laying off people out on medical or maternity leave.
Buhbye!