If you write code according to the "reqs" without understanding enough of the business model to ask intelligent questions about what you're given, you're just as at fault as the managers creating the reqs.
Unless you consider yourself a code monkey.
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Maybe the issue is in communication and being able to understand. And since the requirements where gathered by consultants the problem would be where?
Requirements are only as good as the employees providing the requirements. Follett very bad, IT but not just IT. Follett company laggard, not leader.
43398...the requirements sessions, where requirements were captured, were run by the offshore team. So, are you saying that the offshore managers and business analysts are also failing? In that case, I agree.
What a joke "We have delivered based on reqs". It doesn't work, more excuses.
sooner or later offshore will have to take ownership of all the crap they produced.
Project is red because of Follett IT resources, not offshore. We have delivered based on reqs.
Actually, the network isn't that great.
Shitty workstations.
I can ping whoopie! Most networks stay up in this day and age....
You meant to say, none of the IT works - except for our network!
This is payback. Follett made a huge mistake laying off people the way they did.
None of the IT worls in the stores. Constantly down. Our collegiate customers FOOLED into thinking that Follett is 1/10th as professional as Barnes and Noble. BBA is ten times better. Follett sucks. I work in a store where we live to tell our customers to go to Amazon. Take that Follett/Kmart jerks.
I don't see anyones comments as petty, except for the quotes posted by management. Everyone has their own experience, and positions ranged from cashiers to VP's that were let go. The underlying theme is that the company has changed, they no longer care about their employees. From 1500 laid off over the last two year, to the movement of full time to part time, to the near future outsourcing of IT development to India and to the horrid treatment of those still left. The bottom line is they want you to leave on your own so they can save on severance and replace you.
Look at all of the positions that were eliminated and then filled with Kmart and Sears exes. If you get rid of a position in HO, then DO NOT tell us it is workforce reduction, only to put someone in the SAME position.
There are both, mostly good comments some are lashing out. Due to the number of those posts lashing out and I do not think they are all coming from the same individuals I think you have to consider the source, in this case many people were setup, lied to and treated poorly so the company did not have to pay a severance for decades of dedication. If the new leadership had accept austerity for themselves it would have been more palatable that was not the case. They ostracize people, lie to an example many by after giving them positions then eliminating the positions which was planned. In other words for lack of a better way to get my point across they f..ked with peoples heads. Now they are upset people are using freedom of speech to communicate to others that experience similar treatment which seems a bit ironic to me since the majority of these posts are at least truthful.
I have to say these responses have been great. I guess I should have said the petty comments on this site come from the same petty people. Not everything.
@42351: Root against each other? Hardly, I posted the original comment out of utter frustration. Frustration that everyone wants to do quality work, but management cares nothing about that - just "make the date" regardless if it's completely unrealistic. We are hired for our knowledge/skills, yet we're never listened to. I don't take pride in posting these comments, but it does feel good to get them off my chest.
There is one other thing that the field should know.....we in home office support them. All of the people removed in the last ten months- we also feel your pain. It is bare bones in Westchester, not enough associates to do the job. And they hide that. When was the last time anyone saw an updated org chart or contact list? Do another engagement survey and let it truly be anonymous. Then maybe the truth will come out. There are no issues with doing your job here, just want to be treated with dignity and not feel threatened every single day.
42388 is correct. I didn't agree with the old leadership in many aspects. Here is the problem: We were treated well. We were proud of the Follett name. We were dedicated because we were treated well. First thing to go was sick days. Why? Why did you have to take away 2 sick days from us? It sent off an alarm in my head. Then this mass firing. I understand why it needed to be done but the way it was done was wrong. Follett had a strong reputation of people first. It was devastating to us that this all changed immediately in one day last November.
It isn't the same people posting over and over. Many different departments all feel the same way about the "new" Follett. We are ridiculed for doing things the old stupid way, because THEY know so much more. Cutting staff to the bone is not a recommended management tool. Motivating by fear is not an acceptable business practice. Forcing people to work nights and weekends does not ensure better or accurate results. It is MANY people at HO and the field.
To 42351, my biggest fascination with this site is that the Follett thread is one of the most active and longest running threads since I've first started visiting anyway. If you look at the most recent posts, there is always a Follett post. I don't think B&N or any of the other corporate bookstores are any better, but I do wonder why their employees aren't posting as much has the current and former Follett employees.
Unemployed because of Follett so I really enjoy seeing the real truth about Follett and what is going on. It isn't Follett rooting against each other, it is fairly evaluating the new Follet leadership (same as their evaluation of previous leadership and employees). Views are in the 500-1000 so I hardly think this only a few posting.
Glad you acknowledge more layoffs to come.
At least these petty people can get the message out about what's really going on that's all that matters.
I think this site is great.
I know a lot of people at Follett read this site but I have a feeling the same petty people are posting over and over for the most part. You guys are like teenagers with nothing better to do and no one to interact with so you come here and bad mouth each other anonymously as if your witty thoughts are too great not to share.
As for this post, how can you guys root against each other? Follett doing poorly isn't good for you. The layoffs will probably continue and I doubt you're going anywhere else anytime soon.
IT taken over by CNS awhile back even if it was only informally empowered. The original mobile POS was thrown out after it was already in Beta and replaced by an outsourced solution that had insufficient skills and understanding of the business requirements given the major priority was a timeline deliverable even if substandard to meet the time deadline without sufficient time for quality control testing. The project passed the project requirements for a bonus for those responsible and the communication to the users was not use it.
One more spectacular failure by the cracked IT department.
How they consider the project a success was always beyond us.