Thread regarding 3M layoffs

@2svk+1mxl4wk8

Joe H was polished. Had a simple "here is the same playbook I've had forever pitch: maniacal focus on the customer, sell our supply chain reach, unparalleled innovation engine." Some smoke in there, but plenty of fire and he would get you to believe in the darkest times. He was also an insecure a-hole that would throw a fit if someone had a fancier watch or beat him at golf (easy...he was a late duffer). But his mantra was "it's a game, and at the end the winner takes your job." He thought he was going to be the next CEO and immediately jumped when Inge was named.

He had plenty of warts, and blew some calls, but he was on the offensive and constantly bitched about 3M being too d@mn afraid to unleash the power and money it had when cash was king & the economy was in turmoil in the early '00s.

I remember when Sir George's time was about up. I met Joe H and liked him. Even though he had come from GE he seemed for better than mcnerney. Personable and visionary. Inge seemed artificial. He could light up a room with his talking but seemed to be over his head for the CEO job. What was his vision again?

Sir George was much better leader and better for employees than mcnerney ever was. But, I think a lot of 3Mers wanted a return to 3M leaders, so we got what they asked for and now Mikey has dismantled what is left.

Joe H had a pretty good post 3M life, first at dow and as you said on Hitachis board.

I didn't know the story you mentioned about H A but it's exactly mcnerney GE style to fire anyone with dissent. I remember when HR was sending up trial balloons around 2001 about going to GEs rank and yank system how much pushback there was from leaders, even some people higher up. How it would destroy the collaborative culture that made 3M special. But it got imposed and later led to an age discrimination lawsuit that 3M had to settle post mcnerney. It turned out (people I knew in HR privately acknowledged this) that if you ran some of the statistical tests that you learned in six sigma, the correlation was crystal clear: older employees got lower ranking on average than younger at the same grade. Jimmy was also rallying his bosses to find young talent under 35 and promote them faster using MBB roles as the path.

Next up. Vale. Can't wait for his motivational speeches!

The cuts to the shareholders extravaganza where retiirees & shareholders gathered for 2 days of expos, free food and swag bags (originally in HQ and eventually at River Center) didn't take place until the early '00s, well after Jake was gone. Retirees HOWLED about that one since they felt they were being cheated out of their goody bags and a chance to socialize with former colleagues.

Two key "what if" moments to me are 1) H-rry And-ws telling Mac to his face when he was asked how he would roll out six sigma to the E&CB and cut 10% across the board that he wouldn't be doing either & he had the data to show both were unnecessary. Out went H-rry, in came (up) Chuck R-ich to hold the bag and pad his pension for a few years until Mac could bring in more GE sycophants.

And 2) when Sir George was forced to retire (to his disbelief) at 65 and Inge was announced as his successor, Joe H immediately jumping ship to Dow. What if the BoD decided 3M could handle a 3rd consecutive non-3M lifer as CEO and given Joe a chance to run his take on the GE playbook? It's hard to imagine that things could have ended worse given the current predicament. I see George and Joe both ended up on Hitachi's BoD.

"Top dogs and cats" in relation to 3M is an insult to dogs and cats. ; )

GESPP has been a painful lesson for a lot of people for being way too reliant on 3M. Anybody participating previously should have sold their shares immediately after the required holding period and put the gains into a diversified index fund (VT/VTI/VOO, etc).

Talk with your financial advisor he says!! No thanks id rather keep my money va let these blood suckers leech my returns!!

After spin MMM becomes a $60 a share company. If you believe current valuation is fair, and by most metrics it is then there is more pain ahead. The spin accounts for around 1/3 or revenue, so losing that will certainly cause 3M to look even worse. Obviously, you’ll most likely be granted shares of the new spin to make you “whole”, but after that the sole focus will be on lawsuits. And boy will this lawsuits deteriorate the stock. I agree. Stop contributing for the foreseeable future.

I stopped buying shares last July (2022) and at the same time my financial advisor sold what we could (most of it. A handful required a waiting period.) I took a hit, but for the next 18 years I get to claim losses and my portfolio is no longer hemorrhaging. My financial advisor said I was weighed WAY too heavily in 3M. And PS: I was let go from 3M in the we’re-not-going-to-tell-the-press headcount reduction from last Fall. I know I made the right decision with the stock. Two takeaways here: stop buying 3M stock and talk with your financial advisor.

great post to see the insight of previous C.E.O.s...... the rumour mill has spoken a lot of truths on this site and now we have board members getting more knowledge on here than through the glass doors at 220 bgs, the most important truth that will hit hard is the total break up of remainco in 2024, why is MR and MP not being straight up with employees who have GSEPP , I will tell you, please and I repeat, please sort out selling off your shares now, they will be worth around $40 come October, Don't say you were not warned

I agree with much of this, especially the part about Buckley. Could care less if he had a woman or man on the side in Japan. He saw the power of innovation at 3M but couldn't get the board to recommit to making big investments in research after Jimbo GE guy decided research was a cost and not an investment.

Inge borrowed billions to buy back stock because he figured it raised the pain point for an activist investor beyond reason to force changes to 3Ms business model. One poster confirmed that during a leadership lunch and learn with Mike in 2015.

I don't see any Plan B or C or D for that matter to turn this place around. The next McKnight as CEO has already left and is working for the competition.

In Vale we trust (Mr. We should have cut more sooner) is hardly a ringing endorsement for the future.