During my stay at GE, every finance knucklehead from the CAS program was a CFO. The time to re-brand the title is long over due. The mindset of these people is of an analyst, but the title of CFO balloons their pea sized brains...
Just my 2 cents... No other org I have worked in have I not seen so many C F***ing Os.
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Most CFO's & CEO out there today are "Ham & Eggers!
@2wgl+16JiRLDx I agree with all that you said but it stops short of what I feel needs to be done. They need to let everybody go from the top all the way to the bottom who doesn't perform. Even if you can't push a broom or drag a mop correctly, you need to be shown the door. The Unions need to realize that either you save just the seniors because they've just been here longer and that's just how it works or you save your most valuable and productive people. Unproductive slugs don't improve anything. Especially senior slugs who are protected. You can't collect dues from employees when the employer closes up shop.
If GE needs to succeed, they need to to stop treating outsiders as dirt and their so called "leaders" as blue eyed boys/gals. I have seen so many businesses ruined by these CASholes and all they get is "expanded" roles to ruin another aquistion. Time to FIRE them and set an example. No preferential treatment to any CAS/FMP/OMLP/ITMP. If they don't perform, let them go. I have seen first hand when these leaders leave GE, they are exposed and get fired in new orgs they move to. Having GE on your resume screams "don't hire"
I had the misfortune of working under a CAS who was made VP way to early in their career. They made a huge mess in software by putting too much pressure on people, giving unrealistic deadlines and throwing half baked product into production just to show the CIO in a presentation how much they had "delivered". When things went predictably south, the VP left GE to pursue an "outside opportunity".
I have similarly worked with DTLP/ITMP program members who were d—beats. A couple of them I would admit were good but rare. Frankly I think CAS, DTLP and Crotonville has played a major role in ruining GE.
I continue to be surprised how many VP, Director, C-suite execs who keep leaving GE to "pursue opportunities outside the firm". These folks are all extremely well paid and I would think they would stay with the company through current difficult period rather than just abandoning the place once the gravy train runs dry. But that shows how poor the quality of executive leadership basically is in GE, IMHO.
Probably the biggest negative about GE is that many decades ago it started to form this belief that they are different in a superior way that allows them to successfully operate by a totally different set of rules. Operating by these rules would doom any other business if they were to play by them, but GE is special and so it doesn't apply. The only gift GE had is that they were able to holdout the longest and that created the appearance of being highly successful. While others died, GE appeared to thrive. You can only fake it for so long before it all falls apart. Only outsiders can truly fix this but a lot of insiders better be prepared to give up much of what they've been able to squeeze out of GE over the years.
It is why so many leaders are coming from the outside which is a good thing!
CAS, FMP, Edison, etc. Programs provide no value to GE.
Couple that with Crotonville and GE is all internally trained and we see what the result is!
A CAS graduate becomes a VP in 5/6 years. Insane.