Wednesday Morning Rant [Joe Mannix]

What happens when companies make their employees hate them? We are likely in the process of finding out. The past few years have been rough for employees of large companies. Beyond their shrinking purchasing power thanks to the recent inflation, the Great Enwokening that accelerated hard in 2020 created great and growing discontent. If you work for a major corporation, you're very likely at least somewhat jaded at this point if you're not a lock-step progressive.

The "Summer of Love" in 2020 in combination with COVID did enormous damage to morale at many companies, perhaps irreversible damage. Last week, Ace wrote a column on the leak about DEI requirements at Disney's ad sales division. I've been following that story because I am curious as to how that supremely woke company compares to my own experience in Corporate America. In a follow-up to that leak, the WDW_Pro YouTube channel posted another video with a letter written to them by a Disney employee. It sounded pretty familiar in a lot of ways.

Two pieces of that letter exactly tracked my own experience, and that of many acquaintances in my industry and others. I transcribed these myself, so please forgive any errors. Emphasis is mine.
On DEI policies:

[Spring of 2020] is when all of the DEI initiatives rolled out and we were all told that your bonus, etc. would be tied to sufficient adherence to these policies. I can't say that I have been affected by this, but it might be because I work in a relatively small department with little turnover. I refused to participate in this nonsense. I've had to come to accept that I will never advance in the company because of my age, my sex and my skin color.

Granted, Disney wasn't the only big corporation to do this, but the level of disrespect and pure chutzpah that HR started wielding around was truly jarring. Those of us not willing to comply where enemy number one. ... I couldn't believe that the company I had spent decades working with was treating me like this, and needless to say, my respect for the company was forever damaged.

Achievement will tank, as will productivity. A person who thinks he has a future - promotions, raises, new projects, etc. - will work hard to secure those opportunities. A person who thinks he has no future will not. He will work enough to maybe not get fired, but the fire will be gone. Ambition vanishes. People who want more opportunities will leave and those who think they have it good enough will stay and phone it in. Some people will conclude that they can do no better - after all, everyone else plays the same games and even if they get hired, there's still no future - and so will stick around through inertia, passively marking time and eating their salaries. This letter from a Disney employee hit home because, absent the Disney-specific stuff, it is a very common tale. It is something I have gone through, as have many people I know. This is the norm in many large corporations, at least those with which I have experience.

How do these companies arrest the cycle? How do they re-institute the expectation that advancement or even just respect and courtesy are possible? How do they undo haranguing their employees for years, telling them that they are the problem and have no value? How do they deal with their employees leaving and competing with them? How do they rebuild an environment where people don't hate their jobs and their companies?

Is it possible at all?

posted by Open Blogger at 11:00 AM

| Access Comments