You can’t have a “market-based culture” unless you’re actually willing to compete in the market for talent. Stinky keeps talking about building a market-based culture, but what exactly is market-based about AT&T?
Companies with true high-performance cultures usually have at least one thing going for them:
- They pay top of market.
- They offer benefits people actually want like WFH/Hybrid
- They attract top-tier talent.
- They have a culture or reputation that makes people want to work there.
AT&T has… what?… The pay is mediocre and below market. The benefits have all been stripped away. Five-day RTO makes recruiting new young talent even harder. The culture and morale is at rock bottom. Leadership approval is about as low as I’ve ever seen it… Ask around outside of work how many people would recommend AT&T to someone starting their career. That answer speaks for itself.
John wants a market-based culture while offering a rock bottom value proposition.
People work hard in tech because the compensation is worth it. People grind in finance because one bonus can change their life. People put in insane hours at companies like Google because the pay, experience, and name on the resume can open doors for the rest of their careers.
So what’s the pitch for AT&T here, John?… Move across the country, come into the office five days a week, accept weak compensation, lose all flexibility, work under constant scrutiny and monitoring… Why would a top performer choose that?
The only reason anyone is still here is because the job market has been weak. As soon as it turns, and it always does, the people who have options will use them.
That’s how markets work, Stank. People won’t forget how you treated them when a better opportunity knocks.
If leadership really believes in a market-based culture, then they need to start offering a market-based reason for people to stay.