What do you think Citi needs to do to turn the company around? What are the top 3 things you would do if you were in chrage? I know it's it's not easy and it wouldn't be a quick fix. I know culture needs to change but how do you turn the Titanic?
37 replies (most recent on top)
Its obvious to me. Get rid of HR, that’d make things better.
Post ID: @btlo+1qhEJZVW Jane Fraser is being paid US $30 Million per year, Not $25 Million. This includes the 10% salary increase approved by the Dvmb A$$ Out of Touch with Reality Cretins Citi Board of Directors !
@btnz+1qhEJZVW a page taken straight from the Jane Fraser playbook. Well played.
First pay me 25 million a year, then I'll tell you.
Yes. That's very true about ERM in Risk Management.
Basic Citi HR question. What’s the one blanket thing that can be done to make most of the people happy so we can check a box and say “we’ve heard you”.
Well for one, not a single person I know trusts or finds value in HR at all.
Also, not a single person I know trusts most management especially Jane F.
Until the perception of these two things are changed, most people will be out for themselves.
Citi is way behind other corporates I.e., Technology, HR policies, employee benefits , Agile methodology etc.,
Hire employees based on talent not to check the D&I.
ERM has 70% of Indian folks and not even 1% of African Americans.
RE: Post ID: @2bse+1qhEJZVW Your post: "I should be given a do nothing fluff role with an impressive title and I should be given public accolades on how great I’m doing for visibility." ERM already has this in place. You should get a job there. Everyone has a big head and an inflated sense of themselves. Let us, this forum, know when ERM gives you a Royal Sinecure Title and Undeserved High Salary just like everyone else in ERM. ERM always eats up and burns through Citi's budget and expenses. It's a gas guzzler. Thank you for keeping us apprised.
Citi should provide an actual physical safe space in which I can seek refuge when someone has a different opinion than me. An onsite liscensed psychiatrist should be made available to me for counseling. The person with the different opinion than myself should be made to take mandatory training on being sensitive to my needs along with weekly refresher training for the rest of the year. In order for Citi to compensate me for the mental anguish, and hostile working environment, I should be given a do nothing fluff role with an impressive title and I should be given public accolades on how great I’m doing for visibility. The review period should take under consideration the rough journey I went through during these trying times.
It is obvious that people who voted down a few posts are VPs and above in Citi themselves.
Why not replace HR with AI? It seems like the next logical step.
I’d layoff most of HR. They are disconnected, ineffective, aloof and are often ambiguous.
I’d replace HR with people who actually know what they are doing, care, and offer actual guidance.
The announced restructuring makes sense, removing regional roles is spot on as eliminates duplicate responsibilities. In order to make Citi more efficient, a serious consideration of trimming audit roles needs take place. I have been in Citi for 20yrs, initially spending 10% on audit, to currently at least 50%. Regional audit roles exploded in the past few years, new policies and new roles were added on the back of so many audits.
I’d say, if JF is just resorting to cost-cutting without making any fundamental improvements to the business, I’d say she needs to be removed. That’s exactly what’s happening in Wells Fargo, they brought in a Jamie Dimon protege called CS, and he’s just offshoring every tech job to India/Manila, unloading long-standing businesses for a quick buck, and laying off en masse without changing the bank positively or positioning it to take off once the asset cap is removed. If JF resorts to the same kind of behavior, understand that these restructuring initiatives only result in higher bonuses for her and the executive team.
Fix Citi by replacing Jane with someone with some vision and a plan on how to get there.
The ole Jane more of the same is not working.
It reminds me of when Hillary Clinton during the presidential debate when she got asked the question of,
“Other than ‘It’s your time’ and other than ‘more of the same’, what else do you you have? Do you have anything different than more of the same? Just anything at all?” and the response from her was “boy you guys are really tough on me” and that was it.
Since this is obviously a thread from Citi and Citi HR, Hello, Citi and HR. Since Citi is lazy and dysfunctional and does Not want to do its Homework by reading and analysing the VOE results that were already done for Citi by the Shareholder Paid 3rd Party vendor and Citi is cheap and destitute because Citi is NOT Profitable compared to its G0ds is idolizes and admires, JPMorganChase, Goldman and BofA, why don't you read ALL, and this means ALL of the Citi Threads on this public Internet Site www.thelayoff.com ???!!!
Get rid of virtue signaling DEI. It's divisive, it's bad for moral, it's bad for business, thus, it's bad for the bottom line.
Everyone in the entire DEI "department" should be let go. That's where Citi should start with their layoffs.
What has DEI done for the stock price? Is it a coincidence that the stock price has been in the toilet around the same time DEI took off at Citi? NO.
We all know it checks a box. But does that checked box improve the bottom line? NO.
We all know it's "needed" for the ESG percentage. But does this improve the bottom line? NO.
We all know it "looks good" and appeases a group of selectively offended people. But does that improve the bottom line? NO.
Other large companies are starting to get rid of DEI, Citi should follow. But instead, Citi made it one of their priorities for 2024.
There is a quote that applies here:
“Train your people well enough to where they can go anywhere and succeed. Treat your people well enough so that they don’t want to.”
This will never happen in Citi. The company wants their employees to do their own training on their own time at their own expense. Use those skills to benefit the company and to be expected to be rated a 3.
So, when a person’s skills are up to par and get finely honed and they leave for somewhere else, there’s this collective company gasp of shock and wonderment as to “….but why….why did they leave”.
Post ID: @2blb+1qhEJZVW: are you kidding about at least 2 ratings? At Citi ratings are like a match fix, whoever lick the a-s of managers gets 2 ratings, real hard workers working silently and deliver more never get recognition and gets the 1st or second rating as they don’t know to kiss the a-s.
Layoff the newer people (recent joiners), it takes forever to ramp them up to take place of the more tenured employee if you let them go.
If they have at least 2 years in and have not gotten at least a couple of 2’s on rankings, then let them go too.
Instead of laying off people who will incur less in severance pay (recent joinees), look at the population that’s sitting around for 10+ years. Look at their career progression / workday feedback and look for strategies to reduce the older fat. If they’re VPs / SVPs for the last decade, that’s your cue. That will help you sustain the newer blood that will help the company with the simplification process.
Way too many VPs and above in Citi who are overly-comfortable in their positions. This group of people needs to be trimmed heavily.
A MD had the cheek to ask his team for solutions to improve his team’s horrible VOE results when it was his job to do it.
Another MD told her team that she did not care about VOE results. When her team told her changes were needed, she simply said, “It has always been like this in Citi. It is beyond my pay grade to change things.”
Examples of useless and overpaid people in the organisation
Citi went on a hiring spree and brought in people from APAC, people on L1A visas, etc. why do we need more people in the US from Asia ? The cost of transferring them, then maintaining their visa status is an overload on the org. If you’re looking to cut manpower, look at the ones on visas, send them back. Stop hiring people that require sponsorship. We have enough skill in the US.
For a financial institution, I never understood as to why the 401K options are rather lackluster. The funds offered, like the other benefits, are mediocre.
The one thing that Citi could do to boost morale that would cost them nothing, would be to let employees work from home 100% should the role allow it. Citi could sell it as a huge benefit. “Guys, times are rough, the bonus’s and raises are rather sparse this year. So, to make up for it, everyone who’s role allow it, can work from home 100% if they want”. It certainly would attract top talent.
Change must begin at the top. Citi needs a new leader.
The Citi 401(K) savings plan is horrible. The app is unstable and cumbersome. The fund options offered are 3rd tier level. Pay company match every paycheck instead of once per year.
Reduce management layers to 5.
CEO, execs, md, directors, managers.
Citi employs a global workforce. Stop demanding employees be at the office..
Provide classroom training for employees.
Provide better benefits: medical, pto, sick leave.
Empower employees to do their jobs.
This is an HR post that is looking for the one cheapest thing that they can do that’s low hanging fruit so that they can tout “see we’ve heard you”.
Think before you leap: Way too many mistakes.
A.) Remember paying the McKinsey group millions to offer us the lean model.
Here’s a nice segment from John Oliver on the McKinsey group discussing questionable actions by them such as advising on how to expedite the sales of dr-gs for infants and advising big tobacco etc… the list goes on and on.
https://youtu.be/AiOUojVd6xQ?si=5cMxyK9QFy1xY4-N
B.) Remember we paid millions for a inventory tool only to realize that after the fact it did not inventory everything we need it to.
- ) Then there’s the Revlon mistake we made. No need to rehash that one I guess.
Invest wisely: Example: There are tools and models out there that are successful but you will have to pay for them…top dollar. Stop buying scaled down tools that get you most of the way there but try to force and shoehorn the tool to work like an enterprise solution. Do your homework, ask the experts, carefully consider the pro’s and con’s and be prepared to pay top dollar.
Train your people properly: Not the required training we are all forced to attend but actual training that’s relevant to job role. If someone is a programmer, then send them to training that focusing on programming securely. Don’t provide them the cheap training to where they watch a few videos and that’s it. Again, you’ll have to pay some $ for it.
Be competitive on your pay\perks: Doing this both attracts and retains top talent. Right now Citi is average. Institute a work from home full time if your role allows it. Don’t make it a “its up to your manager if its hybrid or not”. If the job role allows it, then if the employee wants, make it 100% remote with no “you have to come in every so often”.
Stop trying enforcing political agenda’s on employees. Nothing gets a global eye roll from employees quicker than this.
Fix hiring: HR takes way too long to vette, organize interviews, make an offer and of course be competitive on the pay.
Fix the trust: I’ve submitted referrals for which Citi HR reached out to them. Told them that the posting was closed but this other posting is opened. It was the same job for the same manager with the exact job description WORD FOR WORD but the job ID was different. When asked about it to HR, that said it was a different JobID now so no referral bonus would be given. I believe this is done quite often to keep from paying out the referral fee to employees. This very thing has happened 3 times.
It starts with leadership. You can’t change Citi if leadership won’t change. Next come up with a plan for the full transformation before you just start going down a path of agile when everyone does it differently. Have one process for all to follow. Train and staff accordingly. Implement plan in phases. I transformed a company that had IT in 21 countries and was in 100 countries and was completed in 2-3 years. Citi leadership has done it in an agile fashion and that don’t work. Best thing they can do is stop and start over. But what do they know they won’t listen to anyone but their leadership who are clueless.
Post ID: @1dly+1qhEJZVW 👍
Post ID: @1srs+1qhEJZVW That would start from you.
I would start by laying off 50,000 people
I totally agree with @1hjg+1qhEJZVW , in addition to this conduct periodic skill’s assessment which helps to determine if you need to provide additional training to employees or time to say goodbye.
Right people on right job should be there.
Some folks need training on meeting etiquette.
Since this Is obviously a thread from Citi and Citi HR, Hello, Citi and HR. You obviously did NOT read and do your Homework including but Not limited to reading the VOE Comments from Employees about how to Fix and turn the Citi Titanic. Your laziness is so typically Citi-culture. So now Citi is turning to a public Internet Site to find answers instead of using the Shareholders Paid VOE results that was "analysed" by a 3rd party vendor! Another Citi Genius Move to waste Shareholder money!
Many product owners on the applications are not having technical development background, many vendor resources who are in the product owners positions lacks in technical in-depth knowledge and architectural knowledge. Bring strict hiring standards, technical product owners needs to be strong in development background.this will bring good quality story grooming and scope defining at the requirements gathering stage.
TPMs are not needed, they are unnecessary in our waterfall/Agile-Kanban combined model.
You are spending too much on shift right fixes on the applications. Do enforce and bring in new tools that can eliminate security defects during the development stages itself to enforce shift left approach, higher more technical resources rather than relying on incompetent contract employees from TCS and other vendors. These vendor resources go around and skip coding standards and introduces many defects and security issues. Train strictly all the developers to go through the application security training in programming in Java, python and SQL and UI technologies. We see even there are security trainings citi provided, many people are getting away with raising exceptions.
Short term goals
#1. Fix Hiring. Cut down all Vendors, Contractors. No more vendor or contractor conversions.
#2. DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) on Technology. Simplify what you do.
#3. Boost morale for employees with perks , good medical plans, etc
- Invest in long term growth such as cutting edge technologies and product to be competitive long term. Innovate, Innovate, Innovate.
- Identification of right talent in the right role that aligns with the strategy.
- Set up a culture and environment that is favorable for healthier debates and encourages those work towards advancing Citi’s interests.
Sell or close all the consumer segments including US retail banking. Become a stand alone investment bank, then buy another investment back (Goldman or Morgan) or merge with them. Citi will go the GE way. No more consumer banking, it will reduce risk and half the regulators will go way. That is what Jane is doing. My 2 cents.