We all know painfully well by now that most groups were consolidated into areas with around 50% or less seating capacity. We also know that Mary acknowledged this during an APM but has dictated that we all return at the same time regardless.
Most have speculated that this situation was designed to frustrate, humiliate and anger people into retiring or quitting. That said, what are some of the ways this horrible mistreatment of GM's own employees could backfire on General Motors as a company?
15 replies (most recent on top)
If the SLT is planning those things, they'll probably wait for a few weeks after the bonus to see how many leave on their own.
Repercussions:
- After the mass layoff, which could be anywhere between 10-25%, management will expect the remaining 75-90% to fill in the slack. Do YOU have the bandwidth to become 10-25% more productive? I'm assuming not, hence the 1st repercussion, which is lower productivity.
- The tactic of demoralizing employees so they quit is long lasting. After the period of pain, the demoralization and resentment will be long in the tooth. Result: more of that lower productivity, with the added LOWER QUALITY, which will result in lower quality products and expensive plant issues & possibly expensive recalls.
- Typically after a mass layoff, there's a lot of fear and people start to become guarded and less likely to take risks including taking on more work or voicing concerns. Repercussion: The coveted "collaboration" will decrease. It's every man for himself.
- Everyone knows that mass-layoffs have waves. After the first wave, rumors about the second wave will start. Employees will self-demoralize. This is when a corporation starts to see some of the best talent leave for better opportunities. Repercussion: The snake eats it's tail and the fear breeds a productivity race to the bottom. Some employees may even deliberately start to work against the company.
-
Mass layoffs and employee horror stories have their own repercussions. As word gets out, General Motors will be known as a toxic workplace. Repercussion: GM misses out on attractive new recruits, and investors are too apprehensive to buy stock. This is especially damaging regarding new product development, as GM must compete with new and interesting products or lose market share.
Many of us have been through the 2007-2008 Great Financial Crisis and know what to expect. General Motors didn't do so well, did it? Do you have any rational expectation that anything at GM has changed to prevent a similar outcome? I don't. This is going to be a rinse, lather, repeat situation. Things are about to get really ugly, really soon. People need to get thicker skin and accept the reality of extreme pettiness, tattle-tale & brown-nosing colleagues, fear mongering, longer hours, pay cuts and a five day work week. It's all in the cards whether you accept it or not.
@6rru+1qs2kkjm
“ it feels more desperate than strategic”
Good observation.
IMO, Mary’s announcement was vindictive and personal. We also saw this in the APM. She is lashing out and it’s very low class and unprofessional. I get this overwhelming feeling that they are desperate. They have already blamed employees for the slow EV rollout even though it’s due to bad planning. They lose money on every EV but refuse to admit that. And the UAW “war” seemed to wear Mary down. Cruise is failing. Employees are complaining and not showing up. To add, I suspect she’s fully aware that the market is slowing and that things are about to get serious. It’s time for her to start grooming a replacement.
While RTO has an effect on individuals, the aftershocks from the VSP (some yet to be felt) are a far greater threat to GM’s future than RTO. There some serious dice rolling going on and it feels more desperate than strategic.
If they're trying to make people leave by creating a stressful situation, it seems like the people the company needs most would be the least likely to feel the need to put up with it.
In very simple terms, upper management created the ILLUSION that there are simply too many people, not enough desks or parking spaces. Not enough toilets, the paper towels are gone, etc. etc. By moving several buildings into one small space, they are creating a sense of urgency to "do something". Never mind that before the move, everyone had ample space. Your new reality is that there are "challenges ahead."
TBH the only challenges will be the survivors doing 3 or 4 people's work loads while being micromanaged and threatened.
I thought it went really well and it was exciting to see so many faces from the past.
My productivity was up at least 15%.
/s
Obvious sarcasm. Only a few people from my group showed up. I guess they are trying to prove some kind of point…
Parking deck was pretty full though. After 3 weeks the real fun begins.
We’ve been 3 days since February and I see the same handful of people every time. Not sure how the vast majority gets away with not showing up.
If we had cubicles it would be 33% more bearable.
It is funny to see a lot of people could not find a desk with monitor, and have to sit on dinner tables or hide in phone rooms/huddle rooms to work for the first day of RTO.
“ Please post your ideas on how this will backfire!”
Once all experienced employees here in U.S. have been laid off or separated and GM has offshored engineering & design work to workers with English as a 2nd language, GM cars & trucks will achieve junk status.
However, it won’t be until Chinese imports are outselling GM, and we can no longer compete, that corporate management will finally realize what has happened.😳 😢
Tomorrow is supposed to be terrible weather in SE Michigan and there seems to be a lot of sickness about.
Can’t think of a worse scenario to mark the first day of RTO.
OK… if Michigan loses tonight that will take this all up a notch.
"Quiet Firing" is now a thing:
https://www.itpro.com/business/senior-aws-dev-claims-amazon-is-quietly-trying-to-encourage-employees-to-quit-in-a-push-to-covertly-cut-numbers
I'm the OP. I strongly believe that the purge of smart, dedicated people with experience will backfire on these companies. Please post your ideas on how this will backfire!
Also reflecting on the idea of "quiet quitting", which was pushed by the media a year or so ago has lead our nations leaders to grow very cynical and bitter. You can see the tone from Mary's email -> her disdain for us is very obvious. Just another example of "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
“ Nonsense, you can be fired at any time.”
That’s true but by making things uncomfortable, SLT goads people into quitting. That way, severance is off the table and no need to report layoffs. How do you not see this?
#criticalthinking
"Most have speculated that this situation was designed to frustrate, humiliate and anger people into retiring or quitting."
Nonsense, you can be fired at any time. No need for conspiratorial nonsense. People who get bad reviews will likely be fired just like last year. SLT can make any cuts whenever they want.
Yep