I would say the overall issue at 3M, for at least the last 20 years, is not the people in the trenches doing the work. It is the direction the company is going and the leadership team that makes those decisions. I was let go at the end of 2015 with 2000 other employees at the time. I was a 35 year employee that had risen to a JG15 with a track record of good results and good reviews. 2016 Q1 earnings were forecasted to come in low so the easy solution was to cut headcount. I was unceremoniously let go during that holiday season. To be honest, I was devastated at the time.
And yes I had many poor managers and some good ones. I will go on record and say the 3M HR department is a complete cluster f*ck from top to bottom. During the McNerney reign HR became “yes” people and turned their alliance from the employees to the corporation. Everything said and done by HR was now to protect the company.
I can still remember the forced rankings of performance in our annual performance reviews. What a disservice to the employees. I could barely sleep at night. I can also remember the “age requirement” that was used in part to choose six sigma black belts. It wasn’t even kept a secret and talked about openly by the leaders of the company. This resulted in a discrimination suit against 3M. I pushed back through the channels available to me but received punishment for doing so on my own appraisal.
More recently, it is the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion over quality in job selection. Or my favorite, affirmative action. Let’s choose the race and gender prior to posting the job listing. Sounds like our own US Vice President. Job selection and promotion was no longer primarily driven by an applicant’s merits. 3M HR is a totally worthless department, in my opinion.
SAP BT was initiated to revolutionize how business was done during that time period. So billions of dollars were spent and 1000’s of employees were reassigned to make this transition. It was a failure of epic proportions. I have been out of the loop but I would be curious to know if that is still being implemented and the cost savings realized.
People were promoted through the six sigma black belt program and many landed in top leadership roles with little to no experience in the departments they would lead. Instead of having a background in that area, the new leaders only knew a business process to follow. This resulted in so many cost reductions efforts that the very fiber that 3M was known for, innovation, was torn apart. Experience and knowledge were not valued as much.
Cost savings was the holy grail and this resulted in short terms gains but long term it just kicked a can down the road. But those short term savings were proudly paraded up and down Wall Street. That’s when 3M became laser focused on meeting quarterly earnings, regardless of the cost. Instead of setting and maintaining a course of good leadership and management principles it began a knee jerk reaction to the events of the business world on a 3 month frequency. The stock price was rewarded handsomely and the shareholders loved it. But inside 3M core values and practices were beginning to rot.
That proverbial can is now what is resulting in mass layoffs, company spin-offs, stock price decline, etc. I am saddened how this story of 3M is playing out. It was a great company. It really was. Someone with more literary talent than me will come out with a book in the next year or two. It will be a cautionary tale about 3M and what not to do. It will be interesting. I will certainly buy a copy.