It's done.
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Onward and upward?.... I think you mean Onward and Downward
Onward and upward my As$. Onward and downward .....
Tonight I was making small talk at a social event with a person I just met. He asked where I worked and I said Staples. His reply was "not for long." I suppose he was referring the sale and the changes to come. Then he followed up with the statement that what happened was a long time coming. It had been a toxic company since the start and the management since founding hasn't helped. He said not to feel bad. After all Shira just put the nail in the coffin. Guess it's time to get the resume circulated. I am not sure if listing Staples is a good or bad thing. The reputation is not good. Since I have been in the Staples bubble I haven't noticed as much, but the perception out there is not great.
Check out the big brain on 1xho! Talking all about Staples with all the facts like that...ha! Staples!
And now, here is what to expect from PE
You are always for sale – Unfortunately there are negatives to working for PE held firms. This is one of the most unnerving for some and where public firms who are more stable have an edge. PE firms are in their line of business to turn companies around and make money, similar to what individuals used to do before the housing crash when they would “flip” homes. Many of the companies that PE firms acquire are in financial trouble and in need of a turnaround. The unfortunate part is that changes in ownership may mean changes in strategy and lack of long term vision for the owned company. Lack of direction and vision can quickly lead to stagnation and high levels of chaos within the organization.
Constant people changes leading to a toxic culture – As I stated in a previous section, many of the companies that are acquired by PE firms are struggling financially, but not in every case. CEO’s and their teams are rated on their financial results and those that do not perform well consistently are exited. Or at least that is how it should work in theory and most often how it works in the publicly owned company world. In some cases you actually have PE firms that leave bad executive teams in place. Why would the PE firm do this? One reason is the cost to replace a CEO can be huge and also upset the entire organization with subsequent leadership changes. Another reason is that the PE firm may want to leave a CEO and his team in place because the status quo is good enough for achieving the PE firm’s financial goals (taking out equity especially if the company is not struggling initially). When this happens you may run into a situation where those below the executive team are trying to affect positive change, but are chastised, blocked, and even exited for their efforts by the “do nothing” leadership team. This dysfunctional approach leads to high turnover, some of which is voluntary and some forced by the poor leadership. One thing is for certain, once the waterfall of people exits begins, it takes significant stabilization to stop it and may lead to the organization's downfall.
If you are considering employment at a PE held firm ask them their turnover rate, how many people have left in the past 6-12 months, and for what reasons. Glassdoor.com is an excellent web site that gives prospective employees of a company the ability to see past the corporate acting that happens during the interview stage and find out what employees really think about their employer. Also check to see how many people are promoted from within versus being hired from the outside. If you find that everyone is being hired in from the outside, and the company has a high turnover rate, this is a huge red flag. It may mean that they hire from the outside, keep people for 3-5 years, and then exit them once the “new car smell” wears off (Yes, there are companies that do this!). The key is to do as much homework as you can on the prospective company before signing on. You do not want to work for a company that changes people like Formula One race car tires every few laps.
Lack of career advancement – One of the struggles for smaller companies is the ability to offer meaningful promotional opportunities to their workforce. Bigger companies have an advantage of size in this area where they can serve up a role at another location or even the corporate office. This allows for the development of talent that the company has invested significant, time, money, and training. Unfortunately smaller companies only have so many rungs on the ladder for many employees. You may find that you are in a senior manager or director level role and report to the top person in the company within your department. Eventually you are going to hit a career plateau. You will then have to decide whether or not you want to stay and wait your turn for the next job, which may take years. Alternatively you may be forced to take your new set of skills and experiences to another company that can offer you advancement which many end up doing in the PE owned company world. At the end of the day the smaller PE owned firm offer a lot of authority and freedom as opposed to a larger company but may also be career limiting due to size.
That has already been in the cards. Numerous replacements with younger, lowered paid AE's and Sal's.
Now comes "draining of the swamp"... and an end to high paid workforce in SBA. They will all be replaced with much lower paid folks.
Onward and upward.