Thread regarding Ford layoffs

How can this be considered a smart redesign when you put LL4s in charge of an area they know nothing about and then tell them to design the rest of the structure without input from the lower levels? I am not confident they have the right leaders in the right roles. This has become obvious in the areas that have completed the redesign. Many lower levels have unclear roles and do not know how to interface with other areas because the roles have not been properly assigned. In other areas, they are reshuffling and hiring folks. BCG is laughing all the way to the bank.

Regarding the WSJ article - Did we all not learn in kindergarten, if you tell a lie, and then tell another lie to cover up the first lie .... that it never ends well? — Ford leadership would get more respect if they just told the truth

Namely:

Employee morale is in the toilet, and sinking. We thought the pulse survey was flawed so we did a mini-pulse survey and found that without a doubt employees are not happy and don’t really believe in the leadership team or the corporate direction.

Wall Street Journal article about the pulse survey results and the low morale (from another website since WSJ has paywall):

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ford-workers-wary-of-turnaround-plan-2019-04-29

So official Ford line: all is pretty much fine at the moment, comparable to benchmark... although we won't show you the other results.

Maybe in this weeks huddle you can meet the Detroit Lions draft choices. The Big Head was probably involved in the choices. Ask him a question to evaluate the top three picks. Sorry Big Head, no Uof M res.Go getem Big Head.

Leadership certainly spun the pulse results didn’t they? Honesty and Integrity in action.

Who knows. We are being told all the tech LL6 are the primary targets. Highly compensated, have few if any reporting employees, actually do work and have knowledge so they are a threat to the good ole boy club. Listen to the rhetoric from senior leadership it is coached as empowering GSR by LL getting out of technical space and just managing people. It is really about preserving the status quo in the good ole boys club.

So who exactly is getting axed next month? I've heard GSRs aren't the primary target but they could be collateral damage and now everyone is talking about tons of LLs waiting for shifts or promotions. So where exactly are the cuts coming?

Long time Ford manager. Very concerned about Ford future and the choices those above me are making. I checked my email and the survey results are published to all leadership levels. I didn’t have time to puruse in detail. The presentation is quite nice and can be filtered by location, grade, work group. There are tips on how to use the data. The results are positively grim.

IMHO Ford made a huge mistake when they did away with the 9+ bands twenty years ago. This too was the result of some high paid consultant recommendation.

Before that there was a clear technical and managerial path. Then overnight all the 9&10 became LL6 and HR started thinking all LL were to be treated the same. Thereafter there has been a continual decline in Ford employees skill levels. Once employees realized that technical excellence was not valued they exited as they saw no tech career path. Retaining highly skilled and motivated employees is a challenge at Ford. I am now having troubles sleeping as I can see that they are selecting the technical working LL6 for separation. I feel guilt as I fought to get two of my employees an LL6 and gave them 3 motivated top achieving youngsters to mentor. Now they do not meet the need 6 reports or you are gone rule. Sad for these LL6 and sad for Ford. Sad for Ford as it will signal that the motivated technical youngsters should leave Ford as they see they will not be valued. Employees listen to actions not words.

One other thing that sticks in my craw. They have a stack of LL6 promotions that they are holding onto in my area until July. They fully intend to re-bloat. They never remove the cancerous LL.

As I am writing this I have convinced myself that I am so done with fighting the good fight. Time to retire.

In our org, they reshuffled few LL folks... couple got promoted, only one retirement in LL5 plus level. Rumor is that few contract positions will be eliminated and that will be the end of smart (??) redesign. Ford should publish number of positions at each LL level - before and after the smart re-org. They have still not announced LL6 restructuring so some anxiety still remain.

Pulse surveys are not totally anonymous. Results are shared at high level of mgmt. This is a big circus type freak show-- only difference is that in circus, goal is to amuse everyone and NOT injur anyone.

If you are in GDIA you know where it is. If you are non-GSR you know where it is. If you are GSR ask your leadership team to share with you. They should cascade results.

Where were the results disclosed?

I don't fill out pulse surveys anymore because I am not convinced that they are anonymous. Besides, does anyone really believe that Jimmy is going to read what we have to say and then have some sort of epiphany? To him, we are the problem.

If the Pulse survey does not give our leadership a clue about the company status and direction, then Ford is so screwed up.

Can someone please call Mr. Mulally. NOW. PLEASE.

@YEKI2iJ-ghc guessing that is sarcasm ;-). Did Friday’s Huddle address the results?

The LL crowd responded with 30% ish instead of 50% ish. The LL crowd has a better view of what is going on above and has been shielding GSRs.

In the past there was more consistency in responses across levels. If anything the LL5+ were much more enthusiastic than GSRs. And LL6 slightly less satisfied than GSRs

@YEKI2iJ-zrd totally agree. Survey sadly reflects day to day observations.

This is what happens when the CEO thinks he is smarter than everyone else because he has read a lot of books, and many of them were very heavy books. As Ty Webb once said "The Zen philosopher, Basho, once wrote, 'A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish".

I have complete confidence senior management will respond to these results with compassion, and give us full details to make sure we’re happy.

Sounds like a disengaged and demoralized workforce. I can remember over 90% approval ratings in the Mulally era. This is much worse than the Nasser era. Bill are you listening yet?