#trust

Something has shifted over the last few years, and it’s hard to ignore.

I’ve never really felt like I worked for DXC — my focus has always been on doing right by the client and delivering a good outcome. But recently, it feels like we’re neither wanted, respected, nor trusted to do the job we’re here for. Work is withheld or second-guessed at every step, with everything needing detailed oversight. It’s draining, and it doesn’t exactly inspire anyone to go the extra mile.

That lack of trust is one thing, but when it’s paired with years of a 0% pay rise policy, it becomes even harder to stay motivated.

People often say financial reward is only part of a job — and that’s true. But right now, there’s very little else to balance it out. There’s no real sense of job satisfaction, no recognition when something is done well, and often not even a simple “thank you.” It increasingly feels like the expectation is that having a job should be enough in itself.

For me, that balance has tipped. What used to be tolerable — even enjoyable at times — has turned into something I genuinely dislike. The disconnect is such that it’s hard to care whether projects succeed or fail, especially when accountability can so easily be shifted elsewhere — to a missed detail, a PM oversight, or yet another broken process that makes delivery unnecessarily difficult.

It raises a bigger question: how sustainable is this? Because from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t feel like something that can continue for much longer, and I will be happy to see it collapse.

Carrot + stick + fear + metrics” = control-based management Transparency = trust-based management

GK’s brand reputation clearly stands for doing what’s best for the stock and not for the employees.
It’s time to show her again, like we did after the first townhall, that we do have a say.
Go on Glassdoor, indeed, etc. and tell those looking for work at USB that this place su-ks and she, along with her MC, are a bunch of knuckleheads with no care for the employees.

Ask the tough questions on the townhall. Vote up the questions about trust, transparency and lack of care for employees. Call out the head of HR for being such a terrible leader and policy maker and reach out to your local news and let them know about this last RTO mess they created.

What kind of company changes rules and then publishes bad data based on those changes? If I can't trust the data now then why should I trust it next month?

Layoffs ki-led any sense of teamwork. Don't let anyone near your work or they'll take credit. Hide your files. Even managers are doing it.

Tech bosses say AI will make us work less. So far, that's mostly meant fewer of us will be working for them full-time in the long run. So be distrustful of anything you hear from leadership.

More enjoyable:
Getting a root canal without novocaine.

More trustworthy:
Eating a tuna fish sandwich sitting out in the desert sun all day.

Your turn.

Serious question: is this an actual leadership change… or just another episode of “nothing to see here, carry on”?

Because if you’ve been here longer than five minutes, you’ve seen this headline before. Big announcement. Big promises. Same results. Now we’re being told the MM exit is happening in July.
July??

So we’re just supposed to sit tight for a few more months and pretend everything is fine while the same dysfunction keeps running? That the damage they did to people didn’t happen? At this point, it’s not even skepticism, it’s pattern recognition.

Let’s recap what employees have actually experienced:
• Constant churn
• Strong people walking out the door
• “Transformation” that somehow makes things worse, not better
• Leadership narratives that don’t match reality on the ground

And now we’re supposed to believe this time it’s different?

I think the real internal reaction is:
“I’ll believe it when I see the calendar hit July… and even then, I’ll give it a week.”

Also—genuine question—how much did this last year of “strategy” actually cost the company in lost talent, momentum, and dollars?

Because that’s the part no one ever addresses. If this is real, great. Long overdue. But respectfully… employees aren’t celebrating yet.

We’ve learned, we have the scars, the damage has been done and we will pray for the future org they fake their way into.

Let's talk about what actually happened.

Avaya didn't just restructure. They cut thousands of experienced people — account managers, engineers, support staff — people who had spent years building real relationships with real customers. Not contractors. Not redundant roles. The people customers actually called when something broke or a deal needed to get done.

And those customers noticed. We watched it happen in real time. The calls shifted overnight. Not "what's the roadmap for Infinity" — it was "who do I even talk to now" and "should we start looking at alternatives."

Now there's a LinkedIn post about hiring to sell Infinity. Like the last few years didn't happen.

Here's the thing about trust in enterprise tech — it's not a product feature. You can't relaunch it. It lives in the people who showed up consistently for years, who knew the customer's environment, who picked up the phone. A lot of those people are gone. And the customers they served remember exactly why they left.

BlackBerry had better hardware by the time people stopped buying it. Didn't matter. The relationship was already broken.

We're not saying Avaya can't survive. But surviving and winning back the people you walked away from are two very different things. One is possible. The other takes a lot more than a job posting.

There is a pattern of behavior where the individual keeps project teams siloed and separated, while expecting everyone to remain aware of all activities. At the same time, information is selectively hidden within teams, creating confusion and lack of transparency.

Communication is often done in Hindi, which can exclude some team members from fully understanding discussions. The individual also appears to influence people to report directly to him, positioning himself as a central point of control. When status updates are requested, he tends to protect those who report to him, which encourages more people to align with him for safety.

Conversely, those who do not report to him are often put in a negative light—either blamed, overlooked, or set up in ways that impact their performance or perception. There are instances where opinions are shaped against certain individuals, affecting their growth, ratings, and opportunities. Senior leadership responsibilities such as supporting, mentoring, and enabling team success are not being fulfilled consistently.

This environment has led to decreased trust, lack of collaboration, and has been a contributing factor in multiple team members choosing to leave.

I can imagine how everyone feels, especially the veterans. I'm still here, but it doesn't really matter, does it? They can drop more of this on us anytime. We're being betrayed by a company so many of us have given years to. I'm saying this knowing I might get ridiculed. And I know, on an intellectual level, that this is how things work. But as a human being and a professional, I feel we are being betrayed.

The recent surge in share prices are not a reflection of the market now thinking Phillips 66 is a better investment than peers.

YTD we are trailing all refiners, including PBF, Delek, and even CVR and are right in line with the broader S&P energy index. Bets on refining were made with the start of the Iran war and we did not benefit. We just followed the inflow of money into energy.

We still have a long way to go before we earn the trust of investors. We must deliver Q1 results given the current favorable margin environment.

I spent the last few years training and helping several contractors in the labs. The contractors were always scared of getting fired and made many mistakes. I helped them fix these mistakes and protect them. The contractors always said they appreciated the help ve in and said they were grateful. I helped them because I believed in helping those in need. The supervisor was always looking for kiss a and snitches. The contractors were not trusted to snitch on other employees. Fast forward to last year and many of these contractors were hired on. The change was almost immediate by the newbies. They started kiss a bad and backstabbing everyone. Everyone of them had secret meetings with the supervisor to tell all. I have never hid my dislike of exxons inefficient bureaucracy and was surprised to be told by my manger that I should watch what I say. I have only shared these feelings with the newbies. So all my help was for nothing as these snakes are trying to ki-l me. I don't talk to these a holes anymore. They still try to get information out of me but I just ignore them now. Trust no one.

The atmosphere changed after the layoffs became the norm and it hasn't come back. People are hesitant to speak up, to take initiative, and to trust. I keep waiting for things to feel normal again, but they never do. It's no surprise, though, since we all know more layoffs are always a possibility.

Why is this leadership incapable of being fully transparent? They let us sit in uncertainty, guessing and hoping to hear something official that rarely arrives before we already managed to find out what's coming. Do they really not see how that's affecting morale and makes us trust them less and less?

I still think about a meeting where they told us we were crushing our goals. The vibe was good, people were relaxed, and it actually felt like things were going right for a change. Then a week later, half the team was gone. It’s hard to believe anything they say after something like that.

May 1st will be a new beginning and fresh start for fiber. Arium & Zayos paths are uncertain but they have a future good or bad. Crown however, is damaged and the trust has been broken every Crown employee will be looking over his or her shoulders for next layoff for years to come

I’ve been in a work environment where leadership is often framed as “shared,” with the message that everyone is leading. In reality, it doesn’t feel that way.

There’s a pattern of conversations being guided toward a preferred outcome, where input is less about open collaboration and more about aligning with what’s already been decided. It creates the impression of shared leadership, but often feels like managed agreement.

When someone has the authority to make decisions but avoids clearly owning them, it shifts responsibility onto others and creates confusion around accountability. Over time, it makes it harder to trust the process or feel that input is genuinely valued.

Strong leadership isn’t about telling people what they want to hear or steering them to a specific answer — it’s about transparency, ownership, and honest communication, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Curious if others have experienced similar

A new CEOWORLD magazine study surveyed 125,000 full-time U.S. employees. Most employees believe return-to-office mandates are "stealth layoffs." 72% suspect these policies aim to cut headcount without severance. Many workers engage in "coffee badging" or seek new jobs from the office. Strict monitoring correlates with lower trust, especially among Gen Z.

https://ceoworld.biz/2026/03/18/report-stealth-layoffs-and-coffee-badging-what-125000-u-s-employees-reveal-about-rto-mandates/

Things were kept under wraps for a while but now your Band 5 leader now knows what’s going down…they have to choose who is going to be riffed…who will sink or swim. Don’t trust a single thing they say…

HR will protect the company not you

1. Do you agree that the information contained in the database associates your name with your survey responses? If so, then by definition it is NOT anonymous.

2. Do you agree that the unique link helps ensure that people don't take the survey twice? But in so doing, do you also agree that the unique link is also stored in the database, which associates your name with your survey responses? If so, then by definition it is NOT anonymous.

3. Do you agree that Dell could retrieve your information if they ever needed to for things like legal discovery, etc? For example, if someone said something really stupid like made a threat or something, which has happened before. If so, then by definition it is NOT anonymous.

4. Do you trust Dell HR and/or Dell leadership?

True anonymity severs any PII between the user, user ID, employee number, etc., from existence. It never creates it in the first place - i.e., no logs, no db entry, no links, no memory, nada. That's not the case here by virtue of the way it is created, distributed, and stored.

As to whether the 3rd party who manages the survey would give up that information, that's an entirely different discussion altogether.

But it is NOT anonymous by definition, End of Story.

Real leaders don’t smile while destroying lives. Real leaders don’t look their employees in the eye and lie about the EMEA strategy for six months.
You’ve spent half a year dodging responsibility and expecting us to work "business as usual" while you plotted this behind our backs. You threw the Credo and its principles in the trash the moment they became inconvenient. Do you actually think we’re stupid? These aren't just "headcounts"—these are families, mortgages, and lives at stake.
The hypocrisy is breathtaking: You announce a reorganization on Wednesday, and by Thursday, you have the nerve to tell us you’re "confident we’ll continue to give our all."
The trust is dead. You’ve broken it beyond repair. You can't execute people one day and demand their passion the next. You should be ashamed of your cowardice.
Make no mistake: it is now Us vs. You.
We were the lifeblood of this company. We are the ones who built what you are currently dismantling. You celebrated us yesterday only to betray us today. You have no honor, no backbone, no strategy, and—clearly—no soul. You aren't leaders; you’re just pathetic puppets.
Despite your total lack of integrity, we have a professional conscience. We will continue to deliver our best for our clients and our colleagues—not for you, but because our ethics are something you could never understand.

After 20+ years at Verizon, I’ve never seen morale this low or trust in leadership this broken.

Yesterday’s EMEA call was a brutal reminder of where things really stand. Yet today we’re all expected to log in, smile on calls, and carry on as if nothing happened.

What makes it worse is the constant stream of polished messaging from management and our Exec team that feels completely disconnected from reality. We’re told everything is about “transformation,” “strategy,” and “opportunities,” while RIFs happen all the time and the remaining staff are expected to absorb the work.

I feel like we’re being gaslighted.

Everyone knows AI is coming and it will fundamentally change large parts of the workforce and remove even more jobs at a rate much higher than we've known before. Employees aren’t stupid. Most of us have decades of experience and can see exactly what’s happening.

What’s astonishing is the apparent belief from leadership that the workforce will just nod along and accept whatever narrative is being presented.

After more than two decades here, I’ve never seen this level of distrust between employees and leadership. People can deal with tough decisions and difficult change. What they struggle with is the feeling that the truth is being managed rather than communicated.

Right now, the biggest gap in this company isn’t technology or strategy. It’s credibility.

When EH first came on, he mentioned how Nike would be turning a new page and lay offs wouldn’t be like the past. More of a restructuring of roles rather than saying goodbye to teammates. Since then, it’s been lay-off after layoffs, more than the JD era it seems. And even with all these lay offs, the stock is lower than it’s ever been. Maybe he was just blowing smoke up our as--s, but makes it hard to trust leadership when they do the opposite of what they promise and then also kicks our stock/part of our pay in the gonads. Just get a double whammy.

The big AI companies have been talking for two years about their plans to build huge data centers worth trillions of dollars. Any sensible person could understand that they would empty all inventory of computing components, memory and data storage. Cisco did nothing about this and woke up in complete panic only about two months ago. The trust and confidence of partners in Cisco is in a state of collapse and the long-term damage is enormous.

Dear Citi,
Trust is very costly feeling it’s difficult to gain and easy to loose. You and Managers are loosing that,No employee trust manager here.

on the ask me anything session. Here's a summary:
"blah blah, strategic blah blah excited, blah blah Ai, blah blah blah No Layoffs"

So hard to believe any of this, the actions of the past years do nothing to support them. The leaders are powerless, only Christian, Dominik and S/O have the power and make the cuts.

Is there any good that comes out of the One Voice survey or is it one of those 'going the motion' things. And nothing comes of it.

I filled it out today and in good conscience, could not give very many positive marks.

i don't trust my manager and in fact I would love a different one. No training, no opportunity for advancement or to improve oneself. In fact, just the opposite. You're intentionally blocked or side-railed at every opportunity by those above you.

Mileage may vary depending on your position and location within the organization. So I can only speak on my particular situation. My area offers career su----e as the only opportunity.

Just focus on your work. We will make sure you will be fired at the right time. We will push you to complete work by March and June, etc., but you assume you are safe even when your peer is laid off. Be honest at your work even when your manager hides that you will be moved or laid off in the next few months and talks with you simply face to face, thinking he is making a fool of you and making you work. Still, just focus on your work and assume everything is fine around you till your manager says you are done.

The real issue isn’t just layoffs, it’s trust.

When cuts happen and communication feels vague, people lose confidence fast. Add tighter return-to-office rules on top of that, and it can feel like control is going up while security is going down.

WFH flexibility isn’t just a perk. It’s a signal. It says: “We trust you to deliver.” Being super prescriptive with attendance dashboards and badge monitoring sends the opposite message.

If leadership wants to retain the best talent, they must listen actively to the needs of the incoming generations who are screaming to balance their life needs better then previous generations. It comes down to a few basics:

• Be clear about what’s happening and why
• Be consistent between words and actions
• Trust people to do their jobs
• Push the flexibility policy more and stand behind it

Layoffs test culture. Culture eats all strategy (even the best ones designed by DW). Flexibility and transparency are how this company will succeed or fail. It’s too late for me because I made my decision so I leave this for the new hires coming in to witness.

Your move, DW

Regarding Kevin's meeting and the effort he's making for employees. Kevin just sold $1,000,000 worth of stock. Do not trust them. They are trying to keep you productive up until they can discard you.

Dell has changed, they are no longer the company we once knew and loved.

When a system shifts risk to employees, the experience changes and the job starts to su-k more.

Stress becomes structural, not situational

The math starts working against the us

Even big wins can feel diluted

Over time, effort and reward drift apart, and trust in the model breaks down.

Great sales organizations create environments where performance, ownership, and outcomes stay aligned. When that alignment exists, people do their best work.

We have to ask ourselves, are we doing our best work or just trying to survive a broken system?

If it was a critical or life or death situation would our ELT be capable of telling the truth even once? I dont think any of the C-Suite "leaders" could even tell the truth about the color of the sky. Our "leadership" is rotten to the core and MW ruined the bunch!

The management and executives here are untrustworthy. They've broken just about every rule and unwritten rule possible with directs. They're the type who give you prop's the entire year and then give you a bad year end review so they can cheat you on your bonus to make some budget number. As a shareholder i've super disappointed in the place and plan to sell my stock holding in this company, and its a sizeable figure.

Since I'm leaving, figured I'd share what I wish I'd known. Don't trust promises from above. Keep receipts because people will throw you under the bus. Management won't protect you. HR protects the company. Have a good life.

In high-trust societies, people assume good intent. Information flows freely. Collaboration feels natural. In low-trust systems, the opposite happens: people protect themselves first. Energy shifts from building to guarding.

Consider modern Russia. Decades of opacity and centralized control have cultivated widespread skepticism toward institutions. Citizens often rely on private networks rather than public systems. Information is filtered. Incentives are distorted. When trust erodes, talent adapts by becoming cautious, political, and self-protective.

Our corporate environment shows similar warning signs. Competitive ranking systems pit colleagues against each other. Information becomes currency. Feedback is filtered for safety rather than truth. Instead of asking, “How do we win together?” people ask, “How do I avoid losing?” Innovation slows because risk feels dangerous. Collaboration weakens because vulnerability feels unsafe.

Over time, this trajectory leads to silos, quiet disengagement, and eventually mediocrity. High performers optimize for optics. Emerging leaders learn to manage perception instead of outcomes. Trust, once depleted, is expensive to rebuild.

If we continue reinforcing internal competition over shared success, we shouldn’t be surprised when initiative declines and politics rise (and one may say that we are already there). But the reverse is also true: when trust increases, performance compounds.

The future of our company will not be determined by strategy alone, but by whether we choose fear-based competition or trust-based collaboration. We sit in a moment when the system to identify future Management is hindering the ability to run the organization. Perhaps its time to not burden the majority of the organization with PDS classifications and let them operate with a stable performance reward system. No system is great but we sit in a time of history where a credible change is necessary.

They always want us to be all in, committed, loyal. But when it's convenient for them, we're just numbers on a spreadsheet. Don't preach teamwork and family to me when you treat people like this.

Store Manager/RXM bonus this year is 75% based on "company numbers" that this private company controls and self reports.

Only 25% of the bonus is based on your store or pharmacy.

Do you trust Sycamore?

Have they been transparent and trustworthy?

Their #1 goal is IPO and staging the numbers for the underwriters that determine their IPO value.

Low expenses and cutting payroll helps them accomplish their goal.

The best employees in the world are trusted to work where they want, when they want, and how they want. Not because no one is watching, but because they’re capable adults with talent, character, and integrity. When you hire people like that and give them autonomy, they consistently deliver more than any mandate ever will.

A five-day RTO policy sends the opposite signal. It tells top performers they aren’t trusted. And they respond the way the market always does, they leave. What’s left is a shrinking, less competitive talent pool made up of people with fewer options, the bottom quartile of talent.

If connectivity and flexibility are truly our product, we should be the company that proves it works, not the one that contradicts its own message.