that HR at Ford spies on employees. I'm wanting to ask old-timers how a young guy like me can survive at Ford more than for a couple of years. So, what does it take to survive at Ford and how do you know if your manager will stick up for you or not? What are the clues you have a bad manager?
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Exact same post on the GM thread
If you really are new hire and you spend time on this site, you should quit now, ja----s.
If you are asking at any place of employment on "...how to survive here..." start planning on how you are going to exit. Having to survive at a job means that you are not in an optimal place, and if you aren't then what the he-l are you doing? Don't ask how to survive...do what you have to do and ask your co-workers. Don't be an a-hole and do your job...for the most part you'll be fine. On another note there are very few groups in Ford where you don't have to "survive". Moral is plan on working somewhere else. Churn is real and after about 2-3 years of meeting goals (but not squeezing the cloth dry) you'll be subtly unwelcome. Just be prepared to exploit the place for 2-3 years of employment, put it on your resume, and get the he-l outta there. Best advice I can give you.
OP is a kook.
It’s cute that you think that your manager will stick up for you! Let me tell you what I was told when I hired in back in 1990. Trust no one.
Unless you've got some kind of bent to put up with what goes on there, make a plan to move on. Gather skills and other tactics. Learn. Stay 3 years max. Any automotive OEM is going to start turning on you at that point. Consider taking your skills and making them work for you, not a company as big as Ford. They don't need you. Smaller companies do. Leverage yourself. Ford will find someone else. Find work with inherent purpose. Hard to do at a big company.
How do they say HR is “spying?” Reading emails? Those are company property. Looking at your web search history, again, company property. What specifically are you concerned about?
Do a good job, but not too good. If you get excellent reviews you’ll end up earning more than your peers and in some prior layoffs they seemed to target those earning more than others in the same job family. If you do too poorly you’ll fall to the bottom and those people are sometimes targeted. Try not to be disagreeable with leadership or you’ll get a target on your back. Basically, do a decent job, keep your head down, mind your own business and keep your religious and political views to yourself and you should be OK.
In the post pension era you are hurting your career if you stay more than 4-7 years. This applies to most companies. But the exceptions would be if you are on the FnF fast track, in a union, or have a job that you really like and are willing to be paid less than market value for your skills.
Do a good job and you will be fine. Spend your days reading an anonymous layoff site and it will become relevant to you.
You have to be a member of the Friends and Family plan. That's the only way.
What is your skill? Why did you come to Ford?
Put on a blue shop coat and hide in a corner. Get a coat with someone else's name if you can.