#employeeengagement

Why did all FTE not get yesterday’s email? Multiple on my team had no idea what the lot of us were talking about. Not that it wasn’t just a pathetic excuse for “transparency”.

Pretty much every team experienced JEs. Lost a lot of tenured, experienced people. Doesn't even feel that great to still be here with things looking so grim. Still no official announcements from leadership - just word of mouth.

Ex-schwabbie here wondering if employees are planning to group together and participate in the general strike tomorrow. As you should know Schwab is deep in bed with Trump and is so cosigning the atrocities happening at home and across the world. I'm just curious but not necessarily encouraging a strike... Just something to think about...

I'm so tired of ki-ling myself at work when it feels like no one even notices. I could do the bare minimum and get the same thankless result. It's frustrating to realize that going above and beyond here doesn't get you anything but more work. How's that okay?

Now if you volunteer, they’ll donate. “It was the right thing at the time to have that” speaking about Vol for Vaca.

Sending an employee survey the day after massive layoffs is so tone deaf and par for this company. No point in even filling them out as it’s obvious senior leaders don’t care.

why do we keep filling out pulse surveys to never see the results? why bother with the charade?

Looking back, did your life and career turn out the way you expected by 2016?

I'm done going above and beyond. From now on I'm just doing exactly what's required and keeping a low profile. Putting in extra effort here has never been appreciated, so I'm stopping.

I just keep refreshing this page on my phone. Productivity this morning is zero.

Of course, under Alvind and the Pipmunks, IBM didn't make the top 10 companies to work for in the US, but maybe they were #1 in India for Alvind's National Vindaloo Curry Toilet Infrastructure. And don't forget the Krabanaugh contributions.

Link --> https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/the-10-best-us-companies-to-work-for-in-2026-according-to-new-glassdoor-report/ar-AA1UEQqi?ocid=msedgntp

For anyone who has a large balance of Standout points (Point Perks program) you may want to use them now, just in case you get whacked over the next few weeks.

Perhaps addressing the rumors by confirming or discounting them would allay fears.

Its been interesting to see the small and not-so-small ways that people have been tuning out since Charlie Scharf took the helm and the never-ending march of layoffs started. From small shifts in attitude and lowered enthusiasm, to slow walking projects, all the way up to people drawing hard boundaries on their time, and what their teams have the resources to deliver. I can't remember the last time I talked to someone who was enthusiastic about being here, or actively trying to make things better.

Who’s actually walking out tomorrow and who’s just going to stand in the parking lot for ten minutes before realizing it’s cold and they have bills to pay?

Can’t wait to see the "movement" take place between the end of lunch and the afternoon meeting. Groundbreaking stuff

DW in the first Your Growth Powers our Future” video: “I am very fortunate to have the career that I had with the company. I think early on, I was lucky in that senior managers took an interest in me and made sure and made sure that I got some of these experiences. “ (referring to a diverse set of roles across the org).
So admitting his career was built on luck and being deemed a hipo by senior management early on. If you’re lucky enough to be a chosen one early on, you’ve got it made. Perhaps you started with the right manager over you that was also a high flyer. Or you made a connection with someone by happenstance and they took a liking to you. Guess that’s life.

Pretty bad when a company doesn’t trust its own employees, managers, senior directors that everything is monitored—-in excel lol

Yes, excel spreadsheets! lol sometimes even MS Forms.

Let’s suffocate the employees and ridicule their every move then wonder why the business is failing. People who micro manager have no business as managers, more so, no business as a director, senior director, especially the VP positions. All this goes to deaf ears. Let’s make another “anonymous” employee survey.

The training program is a total mess. The new people end up confused and unable to do the basics, which means the experienced staff has to cover for them. It just feels like a huge waste of everyone's time and makes the initial problem worse. What's even the point of it?

When is the next VoiceEX survey? Folks be careful. They say the comments are anonymous but being that we are assigned a PIN number, common sense tells you that you can be identified by your unique pin. If they really want to know about a particular comment someone made on the survey, they can easily obtain it. My guess is they will avoid all questions related to work/life balance. They already know what they’ve done and how the majority feels. That’s something that can’t be denied.

You guys got it all wrong. It’s all about saving the youth from isolation. Fighting traffic, fighting for office space and waiting for the next round of layoffs is needed to save humanity! See and hear for yourselves. :-(

https://www.wsj.com/video/series/wsj-leadership-institute-leaders/why-atts-25-billion-plan-demands-a-new-corporate-culture/91BB8221-DDDA-49CB-B565-5356447B351F?mod=WSJvidctr__pos0

Verizon’s Recent Outage Exposes a Deeper Problem: Treating Operations as a Cost Instead of an Asset

Verizon has long positioned itself as a leader in network reliability and resilience. However, the company’s most recent network outage has raised serious questions about internal priorities—particularly following Verizon’s decision to lay off approximately 13,000 employees last month, many of whom came from operations and technical organizations.

While Verizon has not officially attributed the outage to workforce reductions, the connection cannot be ignored by those familiar with large-scale telecommunications operations. Network outages are rarely caused by a single failure; they are the result of systemic conditions that develop over time. Staffing decisions—especially within operations—are one of those conditions.

Verizon’s Network Runs on People, Not Just Infrastructure

Telecom networks do not exist as static systems. They are living environments that require constant monitoring, tuning, and intervention. At Verizon, this responsibility falls primarily on operations teams—network operations engineers, field technicians, escalation specialists, and incident managers.

These teams are not peripheral to Verizon’s business. They are the business.

When experienced operations staff are reduced, remaining teams inherit:
• Larger spans of responsibility
• Slower response windows
• Reduced redundancy in expertise

Over time, this weakens the network’s ability to absorb and recover from disruptions.

The Overlooked Consequence of Verizon’s Layoffs: Talent Disengagement

The impact of Verizon’s layoffs did not end with the employees who were let go. Among those who remained—many of them high performers and subject-matter experts—a different effect emerged.

Fear.

Highly skilled operations professionals began reassessing their future:
• Some actively started searching for new roles
• Others secured positions elsewhere and left quietly
• Many stayed, but with divided attention and growing uncertainty

These are often the individuals who carry critical institutional knowledge—people who know how Verizon’s network behaves under stress, how legacy systems interact with newer platforms, and how to prevent minor issues from escalating into outages.

When these individuals become distracted or disengaged, network reliability suffers, even if headcount numbers appear sufficient on paper.

Operations at Verizon: Viewed as a Burden Instead of a Strategic Advantage

A broader issue underlies this situation. Like many large corporations, Verizon has increasingly treated operations as a financial burden rather than a strategic asset. Operations are often categorized as “non-revenue generating,” making them frequent targets during cost-cutting initiatives.

This mindset is fundamentally flawed.

At Verizon:
• Operations prevent revenue loss
• Operations protect brand trust
• Operations ensure service continuity for millions of customers

Without strong operations, every other investment—5G, fiber expansion, edge computing—rests on unstable ground.

Why Outages Become More Likely After Cuts

Network failures are rarely instantaneous consequences of layoffs. Instead, they emerge after:
• Knowledge gaps widen
• Response teams become understaffed
• Early warning signs go unnoticed
• Decision-making slows under pressure

By the time an outage occurs, the root cause is often months old.

For Verizon, the recent outage should not be viewed as an isolated technical event. It should be understood as a predictable outcome of deprioritizing operations.

A Critical Moment for Verizon

Verizon remains one of the most capable telecom companies in the world. But long-term reliability depends not just on technology investments—it depends on the people who design, operate, and protect the network every day.

If Verizon wants to uphold its reputation for reliability, it must reassess how it values operations—not as a cost to be minimized, but as a core asset to be strengthened.

Because in telecommunications, operations are not overhead.

They are the backbone

Hey all, Are having these certifcates helping you with your job. Or advancing to elsewhere in the company? Can't seem to advance where having them and using the concept is helping..

Does anyone believe their division head pushed RV and the executive committee to provide higher raises this year? No need to name the division head, just name the division. It will be interesting to see if anyone believes their division head pushed for higher raises.

what is something out of the norm that they’ve never done before that you’re noticing that’s happeningy? Is this something out of the norm for you and this time of the year?

I’m asking you to message your director, your executive, your head of department to voice your frustrations. Let’s be real we have proven the remote model works very well. Acquiring BBVA and FirstBank, launching the new PNC website, onboarding over 11 million customers to a new user experience, beating earnings on a consistent basis, consistent dividend increases, record net income multiple times, becoming a top 5 national bank, and most importantly for the executives - a record high stock price less than a week ago. Let’s be real on another front, this announcement is driven by politics, power and greed. Don’t fall for the excuses. Well my friend Jamie Dimon did it, so why can’t we? Our shareholders don’t like empty buildings. Yea right our shareholders care about one thing only, ROI. (See above) Don’t fall for the corporate buzzwords that PNC loves to slurp on. “Being in the office fuels collaboration, sparks innovation, and helps us grow–individually and collectively.” In realty from someone who was five days in office, being in office fuels distractions, a longer commute, a reduce in W/L balance, and our carbon footprint (remember PNC loves the carbon footprint buzz-phrase). When a director or executive visited our floor, we were never approached or asked questions and if we tried to introduce ourself it was at the most a quick wave hi and goodbye. There was no collaboration. You took the time out of your busy schedule to come visit us and we couldn’t get a word in. Which is ironic because here we are yet again at a time where we are not given a chance to get a word in.

Long time FTE

Were you honest with the latest Glint Survey that came out today for the all staff meeting next week?

I was, and will it impact me future? If it does then I know for sure this company is not the last place I will ever work.

Do employees get early access? Is there a way for employees to buy? HELP!!

After giving the return-to-office mandate several months to be fair and well-intentioned, it’s clear this policy creates significant friction without delivering any meaningful benefit—particularly for employees who were hired explicitly as full-time telecommuters. We are now expected to spend personal time getting ready in office attire, commuting, badging in, navigating parking ramps, security checkpoints, and elevators, only to sit alone in a cubicle all day with no teammates in the same state, let alone the same office.

On top of that, there are no assigned desks. Employees routinely arrive to find reserved desks already taken, workstations missing basic equipment, and time wasted simply trying to locate a place where they can do their jobs. This is not collaborative or productive.

Requiring people to sacrifice hours of personal time and incur additional costs to sit alone on video calls all day is not improving productivity, engagement, or morale. It is creating widespread frustration and disengagement. Employees are openly unhappy with this change, and when asked by peers about the policy, they are candid in sharing how illogical and counterproductive it feels. This approach adds inconvenience and resentment while delivering no measurable value.

I've be at NM for a decade, working in tech. Idk if it's just me, but I feel like the recent reorg emails and town halls have been more fluff-filled than I've ever experienced at NM. I've been genuinely shocked at how many words are said and written without actually conveying anything of meaning, or adding any clarity. I don't remember it being this bad. Is this a testament to the age of ChatGPT where we're now seeing our leaders convey purely AI-generated fluff? Or is this just a testament to new SLT members not being as personable as previous years? I know I'm not the only one feeling a bit unsettled by recent SLT communication, but I don't know how widespread that feeling is.

Verizon CHRO: Retaining Top Talent!!!

Mind blowing: McKinsey, high performers deliver 800% more output than average employees.

Proven tips to retain top talent:

1. Overpay to keep your top performers
2. Make recognition the default
3. Listen to what energizes your team and lean into it
4. Address toxic behavior immediately
5. Be soft on the person and hard on the problem
6. Trust people with as much autonomy as possible
7. Implement meeting-free days
8. Normalize frequent feedback
9. Remove friction to let your top people thrive

The age of pizza parties and ping-pong tables as retention strategies is over.

Use these 9 tips to invest meaningfully in your highest performers and they’ll reinvest in the business tenfold.

What does everyone think of this ridiculous week of career expo training? My only goal at this point is to not lose my job - forget about all of this BS!

How are you all doing at the Wisconsin stores?

Do you enjoy your actual role and what you do for the bank

Context: hired 9 months ago and had a meets rating during my mid-year review (~3 months after starting). Today I had my year-end review and received an IM rating, specifically for "communication".

Is this common for new hires to receive an IM rating on their first year-end review? Not only that, but for something so general as communication?

Details: my review did not mention any specific instance of lack of communication. Just a general statement of how some of my superiors felt I lacked communication that led to delays. So of course my review states an action plan on how to improve my communication, obivously without knowing what the problem even is.

What's even more confusing, my review has a glowing summary and notes from my manager for an array of things. From actively leading young talent to preparing me for a promotion by mid-2026. Not to mention assist in leading a new segment in for my group that will lead to massive growth for our market.

I don't even know what I'm asking, just needed to rant and put this out there. Anyone been through something similar or at least let me know wtf is going on with my IM rating?

I was snooping around Viva Engage and came across a community called “Facilities and Real Estate Services”. From a post on 12/17/2025 there is a Workplace Mobility Overview deck.

On that page 5 of the deck, there are additional sites for the RTO timeline:

Wausau (WI012) - Return date 1/12/26
Metairie (LA013) - Return date 1/12/26
Draper (UT027) - Return date 1/12/26
Atlanta (GA019) - Return date 1/12/26
Columbia (MD101) - Return date 1/12/26
Richardson (TX023) - Return date 2/9/26
Cypress (CA120) - Return date 2/9/26

Has anyone heard more about this?

Hey everyone! Tell us about the new grades.

This latest request to fill out a form in preparation for a town hall at the branch level is a classic example of a "disconnect" in leadership. After two years of managing a team, a leader is expected to have moved beyond surface-level resumes and into an understanding of their team’s specific strengths, career aspirations, and personalities. When a manager asks for a bio this late in the game, it signals that the recognition might be performative and just a check box that she did it.
We now know we are just a set of bullet points and that she is more concerned with the optics of the meeting than the reality of our team’s work.

Read this article about the CEO of Waste Management, who regularly shows up to early-morning safety meetings, rides with frontline crews, and spends time in the field talking directly with employees and customers.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-90-billion-waste-management-071200219.html

It made me wonder whether we’d ever see anything like that at Fidelity Investments. Would Abby Johnson meet with advisors or phone reps, sit in on client calls, or get out of the C-suite and actually see the business up close, instead of managing the firm through dashboards, executive briefings, and carefully scripted town halls?

Feels like two very different ideas of leadership. Curious how others see it.