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   PID: Synchronet 3.17c-Linux  Apr  7 2020 GCC 4.8.5   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.10-Linux r3.156 Apr  7 2020 GCC 4.8.5   
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   -=> Doug Cooper wrote to Dennis Katsonis <=-   
      
    DK> I wish I could do the same too.  I could change careers, but that would   
    DK> result in a drop in salary that I can't really make work at the moment.   
    DK> I can't change the company from within, because no matter how much they   
    DK> talk about "values", they are all the same really. In fact, the MORE a   
    DK> company talks about value, the worse it behaves.   
    DK> --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux   
      
    DC> So funny you brought that up.  My first real career was with a retailer   
    DC> within consumer electronics.  They were the Nordstrum of electronics if   
    DC> you will.  Instead of tile floors, carpet.  Very "feel at home" paint   
    DC> colors.  We offered every customer a pop or coffee (or bottle of water)   
    DC> when they arrived.  We really prided ourselves and consistently   
    DC> executed their version of "The 10 commandments to customer service."   
    DC> People loved shopping in our stores.  We averaged 30,000sqft in size,   
    DC> and carried everything best buy did, but also the high end shops..  We   
    DC> had no intent on selling al ot of $50,000 home theatre systems, however   
    DC> we had a high end movie theatre room set up for people to expeience ...   
    DC> actually had about 4 different type of experience rooms.  Most   
    DC> customers came in wanting the $99 speakers.  After experiencing a   
    DC> $20,000 audio system, then listing to the $99 version, they would   
    DC> typically spend an average of $1500 on at least definitive techology or   
    DC> klipsch speakers.  I fell in love with the company and the people I   
    DC> worked with, however as we grew, profits were needed to sustain the   
    DC> growth, and slowly but inevitably a lot of the "10 commandments" went   
    DC> away -- the culture collapsed.   
      
    DC> After leaving that company, I started working for Sears as a General   
    DC> Manager. I remember them stating over and over again the need to learn   
    DC> things "their way," and about their unique culture of customer service.   
    DC>  It pailed in comparison to where I had previously worked.  matter of   
    DC> fact, the company was struggling so much that their expectations of a   
    DC> well merchandised store was impossible to maintain.  I ran a   
    DC> 120,000sqft store that did 30 million per year.  We would have ONE   
    DC> employee "approved" by the corporation to merchandise the entire   
    DC> upstairs apparel area, which on it's own was a good 20-40,000 sqft and   
    DC> heavily shopped.   
      
    DC> Moving on to another local company here in Indiana -- rinse and repeat   
    DC> -- "Must laern our culture," "must learn what we do and how we do it,"   
    DC> "must learn our systems," etc... It was ALL the same, but in this case,   
    DC> their culture was a very agressive sales approach like old school car   
    DC> dealerships. Horrible experience, despite the increase in pay.   
      
    DC> My final stop was Best Buy.  Now this company really wanted me to drink   
    DC> some funky Koolaid -- build relationships, employee moral committies,   
    DC> etc.... It was tailored to 18 years olds with sensitive personalities   
    DC> that constantly needed pats on the back, and rewarded for simply doing   
    DC> their job.   This is when my mom passed and I was able to break free of   
    DC> (circling back to what you're saying ...) corporations.   
      
    DC> I think, as I babbled, to your point .. what I found in common with ALL   
    DC> of them, is that each felt their culture was unique.  Despite each   
    DC> being within the same industry and most using similar systems .. they   
    DC> each felt that they were so remarkably different that NONE of them were   
    DC> open to a fresh set of eyes who could possibly positivly impact their   
    DC> business. And most important, I've found that the cliche' "that we are   
    DC> no longer valued employees, just another disposable number," or "cog   
    DC> within a wheel," were all so true and often subtle messages sent to   
    DC> leaders as means of motivation to drive corporate goals.   
      
    DC> This is why I prefer small businesses, or interacting with those on   
    DC> BBS's, that still believe in doing great things, and the value of   
    DC> people helping them acheive it.  Like a small business with the belief   
    DC> they can create a truly unique retail store, beit true or not that they   
    DC> will succeed, the energy and passion behind the hard work to do so is   
    DC> the only type of company I'd work for again -- otherwords, I'll just   
    DC> start my own again.  More and more people seem to appreciate local and   
    DC> small businesses these days at least where I live.  And I guess, how it   
    DC> relates to BBS's, I prefer to discuss "how to gain users" then to think   
    DC> of them  as nothing more than "museums" and "archives in history"   
      
    DC> If you like the people you work with, and the work is fun, I imagine   
    DC> its worth staying as in my eperience, that experience is usually not   
    DC> recreated again when a job change is made within the same field.  Most   
    DC> of the time. Not from a corporate culture prospective.   
      
    DC> Now .. .the owning a business thing has significant advantages, mostly   
    DC> flexibility of time and more time working from home in the presence of   
    DC> family.  However, I learned over the last 7 years, it takes A LOT of   
    DC> business to make a decent personal income, as a result of the business   
    DC> expenses that become necessarry to meet demand if successful in the   
    DC> communities eye.   
      
   The company I work for is seeking a temp, and the temp is having to go through   
   three interviews to ensure they fit the "company culture".  I think people that   
   go into HR, or offer such services over sell the important of culture, because   
   they don't have much else to offer.  They convince companies that it makes or   
   breaks them, but that is not true.  I have worked in companies with a bad   
   culture, and it was due to bad managers, NOT who you hire.  The best place I   
   worked for was the best simply because I got on well with the people I worked   
   with, and we took it upon ourselves to make the workplace interesting.  No   
   programs from HR needed.  No need for centrally dictated language guides or any   
   of that rubbish.  I really don't think that these attempts by companies to   
   shape a 'culture' have any real effect at all, and certainly, selecting people   
   for 'cultural fit' is just discrimination for no reason.   
      
   They simply don't want to accept the fact that if people get on well, then we   
   don't need this ruling elite to shape our culture with their wisdom, their   
   'flavour of the day' ideologies and their control.   
      
   ... Dennis Katsonis   
   --- MultiMail/Linux v0.52   
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