HP is about to lay off a massive number of workers, sources tell us, with one business unit, HP Services, to be particularly hard hit.   CEO Meg Whitman and crew have laid the blame on employee costs such as their salaries. Employees say the problem is one management blunder after another.

“Around March 13, HP had an all-hands employee global webcast where Meg Whitman made a few statements that revealed a complete lack of strategy, and total focus on Band Aid fixes to staunch investor concerns and HP’s reputation,” one source told us. “The one statement that caught my attention was ‘When you have a 10% increase in costs and zero revenue growth, that is no way to stay in business. Services are HP’s biggest problem and we must immediately address it.’” Employees say that the reason HP ES has had no growth is because it’s had no leadership.

HP Services is not growing because there continues to be no investment in: a) talent ; b) new offerings; and c) HP Services is in a constant state of restructuring,” a source told us.

Then there is J.C. Penney which announced abysmal results for the first three months of this year, with sales plummeting 18.9 percent at stores open at least a year. Net losses for the period were $55 million. Executives blamed the results on the departure of deal-hunting shoppers after the company changed its pricing strategy in early February to abandon coupons.

“We did not realize how deep some of the customers were into this,” noted COO Michael Kramer about couponing. “We’ve got to wean them off this and educate our consumers.”   Did not realize how deep consumers are into couponing ?

Amber Bustanoby, a self-described “frugal mom” who writes another Coupon Connections blog, says people like her will never abandon coupons because the slips help them make ends meet. “I don’t think it’s a drug,” she said. “For me as a mom, I want to do the best I can with the resources I’m given. We live on one income in a two income world.” Bustanoby, whose family makes about $50,000 a year, says J.C. Penney’s prices didn’t drop enough to get her back into its stores. Bustanoby, like Kirlew, has appeared on TLC’s reality show “Extreme Couponing.”

History lies on the side of coupons. Macy’s once tried and failed to reduce coupons after it acquired May Department Stores in 2005, leading to consumer backlash, weak sales and a declining stock price. In 2007, CEO Terry Lundgren reinstated coupons. At an investors’ conference in April, Karen Hoguet, Macy’s chief financial officer, reminded attendees of the lesson. “People love these coupons. They love thinking they got us,” she said. “From the customer perspective, it’s been very important.”

The lingering effects of a recession, meanwhile, have made coupons even more appealing to consumers. A 2011 survey from market researcher Nielsen highlighted the resurgence of coupons, which have come “back in vogue” with a tepid economy, it said. Sixty-six percent of the Americans questioned use coupons, according to the survey of Internet users. New sites like Groupon are also making it easier for companies to deliver deals.

So how could the executives at JC Penny not understand and know their customers ?  Well first let’s remember that the CEO, who ran Apple’s stores, was successful not because of the strategy of Apple stores but because everyone wants Apple products.   Can you think of a good reason to shop JC Penny or any products that they sell that you either can’t purchase online or at another retailer.  I mean who gives someone a gift in a JC Penny box?

HP has been in a downspin because they have no long term business and brand strategy and have been ambushed by companies like Apple and Vizio.   JC Penny is not doing well because at their core they still have not given people a reason to come to their stores and shop while retailers like Target continue to attract a lot of business.

Yes mismanagement is alive an well in corporate America and what is so sad about this is that even when these executives fail they are still going to get enough money to ensure they never have to work again while someone who holds a pink slip asks “what did I do wrong?”

Meetings are a way to diffuse and evade responsibility for decisions but then there are also the people at meetings who will tell you why your idea won’t or can’t work or they will hijack your meeting with their self importance causing others in the room to remain quiet less they offend the power seeker.

Then there are those who hide in ambush.  These usually are people who tell you, before your meeting, that your idea is pretty good but when you actually present they attack you or side with someone who is attacking you and bend with the prevailing wind.   There are ways to avoid these types of people and meetings:

(1) Don’t schedule a meeting unless it is absolutely necessary.  The more people you get into a meeting the more chances people will have to sabotage you just to make you look bad for their own personal gain.

(2) If you are meeting about a new idea or process meet with the biggest influencers before hand to gain their buy and overcome their objections but be aware that may not be enough to overcome their fear that you are smarter than they are,

(3) One on one meetings are always better to gain a commitment from coworkers. Make sure, however, that you follow up the meeting with an email reinforcing key points.

(4) If people are checking eMail or drifting during meetings than call them out on it and ask them to please not multitask while you are discussing this important subject.

(5) If you provide lunch you are going to have more people at the meeting than really need to be there.  Everyone loves a free lunch.

(6) Always follow up every meeting with a meeting summary of key points.

(7) If someone is trying to power steal your meeting call them on it.  I worked with a Director who always made the meeting about her even when it rarely touched on an area within her responsibility.

(8) Cover your ass all the time.  Be aware that no matter how good  your idea to the company, customers and shareholders there is always going to be someone working behind the scenes to sabotage you.

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You might go out and have dinner with business colleagues, even have them over to your house for a meal but you have to be careful to protect yourself because when it the organization starts to look for scapegoats it will be you instead of him/her.

There seems to be this fallacy that you can lead others when you have no direct authority over them.  While it is true to a certain extent people usually try and please their supervisors and if their boss is in direct conflict with something you’re trying to do guess who wins ?

The reality is that there are very few people who are willing to stand up and say “it was my fault and I accept the responsibility”.  I have taken the fall for others but that is because I believe a good manager takes all of the blame and none of the credit.  I protect those who work for me and do not jump on a bandwagon to point the finger of blame.  Rather I try and understand what went wrong and how we can learn from it and become a better organization.

If you want to earn respect of those working for you and lead than you have to learn to protect your people and make them better by what they learn.  If you’re not making mistakes then you’re not taking risks you’re just following what others do and thus you become a cog in the machine that produces stuff of little value.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking someone maybe your friend when your career is on the line.  If this happens your best goal is not to get even it’s to confront the person via a one on one and let them know that you have drawn a line in the sand.  This puts them on notice that they can’t deny responsibility for their own actions and that you are going to be keeping an eye out for their performance.   Lead by example but never forget that some other people are out to protect themselves and they are willing to throw anyone under the bus who gets in their way.

The working dead are people who don’t have careers, they have jobs.  They are not using what they learned in college which is ironic because most of them still are paying off their college loans.  They come into companies with big ideas wanting to make a difference but somehow they are  absorbed into the company culture that slowly drains their drive and enthusiasm with endless meetings and reasons why “we can’t do something”.  They are there because they were offered a good salary and they stay because of fear and because they are addicted to the automatic deposits in their bank accounts even though their benefits are being stripped away slowly.

How much did they pay you to give up on your dream ?

There are a handful of companies that I would love to and be proud to work for.  One is Google which realizes that the better they treat their employees the better these employees treat them.   I believe that today you have to treat your employees better than your customers because it pays a very high ROI.  However a lot of companies don’t believe that at all.   They burden employees with really bad benefits and raises that are offset by the cost of living.  They then act like they did you a favor by giving you a 3% raise while senior executives get huge salaries and bonuses.  This is not the future of the corporation; it is the destructive force within the corporation.

I know that the job market kind of sucks right now and that a lot of companies are looking simply to put people in positons to check off boxes but that is no excuse to give up on your dream.   Map out what makes you happy and where you want to be and what you want to do.  Title doesn’t matter and yes compensation does matter but more important and perhaps the most important is that the company you work for shows you in its actions that values you and wants you to stay with them.

Never let  your dream become just a fantasy..the choice is yours.

Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.

Related articles

• What causes people to really love their work ?(richsmanagementblog.com)

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• Employees will eventually have more to say about where & how they work(richsmanagementblog.com)

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• Why Taking on Your Employees’ Goals Pays Off(openforum.com)

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I love to be challenged by work and feel great when I overcome an especially difficult challenge.  That is what motivates ME more than anything else but I have to admit that at times it’s easy to become distracted by poor managers, work stations that have no privacy and political coworkers who will do anything they can to undermine your efforts.    The objective is to stay focused on what motivates YOU and to to keep driving towards that objective because there are a lot of thing that are not under your control that you can’t change.

Believe it or not a lot of people would love to have a semi private work station like this because we all need some time to concentrate and be alone with our thoughts

Here are some things to look for in a great company or job..

1. The company has low turnover yet they are also acknowledged as an industry leader.  Be wary of people who take root at companies because to them it’s an easy paycheck and they know what they have to do to “just get by”.

2. The ratings of the company on Glassdoor.com are really poor.  OK it’s pretty subjective but overall they can give you a sense of what to look for and questions to ask in an interview.

3. It’s not about title it’s about being challenged and being part of something very special.

4. People dress casually in jeans or tee shirts and meetings are not the rule of the day.

5. When you ask people “how do you like it here” they convey emotionally how great the company is rather than give you standard interview answers that are in the job description or company statement.

6. People are proud to work for the company and wear company logo gear.

7. After interviewing you would give anything to join their team.

8. Your education is going to continue as you learn from the best people there.

9. The company will pay for you to get an advanced degree or go to classes.

10. It’s not about the money..it’s about being happy at what you do.

Employees at Google get free lunches

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I keep hearing stories about how irrelevant resumes are today and how people are getting their jobs through social media but pretty much 99% of all jobs are applied for with a resume.   You can pay someone a lot of money to professionally do your resume but frankly if you’re willing to put in the time you can do just as good a job if not better if you remember that a resume’s intended purpose is to get you a phone call or interview.

I never have and never will take credit for something I didn’t do because I am proud of the value that I have brought to brands and companies and I believe they speak for themselves.   I also believe that the business world is too connected to lie about what you have done because eventually someone somewhere is going to learn the truth.

I am a damn good Internet marketer and consultant but there are a lot of things I bring to any job that I can’t express in a resume such as my ability to quickly diagnose problems and find customer centric solutions (ohh I like that a lot I have to use that on my resume).  I also am a very good listener but where I really excel is in my ability to drive business forward while eliminating the bullshit distractions that we have to deal with everyday.

Now a lot of people will tell you to customize your resume for the job you are applying for but I have had a lot of HR people tell me that they can see right through that and often it results in your resume being tossed in the round file.  The best thing to do is just tell the truth about where you have been and what you have done.  Once you get in front of people you it’s then up to you to convey your enthusiasm for the job by telling what you have done but more importantly how you did it.

Resumes are always going to be relevant for job seekers but in today’s job market you also have to understand that HR people are usually overwhelmed with resumes for open positions.  Even if you know in your heart you can do the job and it maybe a great fit there is no guarantee that you’re going to get a call back.  Hang in there and keep pitching; refine your resume over time but never ever try and be someone you’re not and never ever take credit for something you didn’t do.

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As a marketing person I find that I am learning new things everyday about how consumers interact with brands.  As a manager and consultant I feel it’s my job to keep my colleagues abreast of some of the changes but more importantly what they mean to them and their businesses.  You could spend 8 hours a day on the Internet and still not have the time to read everything you need to read and today if you don’t stay up to date you’re at a competitive disadvantage.

How can you, as a manager or business person, stay abreast of industry and market news ?

1. Use a browser with an RSS reader attached to it.   I use Rockmelt which has the RSS feeds on a sidebar.  They help me to stay on top of industry news the minute it breaks whether on Twitter or Mashable.

2. Bookmark the sites that provide you with the best information and go to them regularly through the day.  RSS feeds are great bus some sites have a lot going on and you always want to stay on top of the news.

3. Be wary of subscribing to eMail feeds unless you have the bandwidth to go through everything in your inbox on a Monday morning.

4. Absorb every bit of information you can and save the important information to websites like Instapaper.  Instapaper allows you to save webpages by simply clicking on bookmark in your menu bar for reading later of reference.

5. Don’t take time off.  I know work-life balance but the truth is that we live in a very competitive world today and if you want to stay on top of your game you need to spend time on weekends catching up on the news that could effect you and your business.

6. Get on Twitter.  You mean you’re not on Twitter and don’t monitor Tweets of industry thought leaders ?  Shame !!   Don’t feel that you need to follow everyone who follows you, just follow the people that post information that you find relevant or links to breaking stories.

7. PDF articles from the Web and eMail them out to colleagues but also include a summary and recommendations.   A lot of browsers allow you to take webpages and turn them into PDF’s.  I have found this very useful.

8. Enroll in a business book summary program.  Who the hell has time to read all these books ?   Book summaries are a great way to get to the point in 4-6 pages.

9. Be wary of trade shows.  The trade show industry is an industry in itself.  Before you spend $2,000 to attend a trade show ensure that you are going to learn something there not be presented with a hidden sales pitch for a new vendor or service.

10. Embrace new employees and learn from them before they become absorbed by your companies culture.

Remember it’s up to you to stay on top of your business trends.  It’s one of the ways your personal brand can cut through the clutter.

The worst kind of manager is someone who knows that there are problems, either with people or processes, and refuses to take action because he/she doesn’t want to make waves.  This person of inaction can petrify an organization and cause a lot of problems.  Here is a great example; you talk to a Director about a person working for you only to find that others have also complained about this person yet nothing has changed and more importantly nothing has been documented.  This means that a new manager is going to have to deal with someone who is known for causing problems while the Director keeps his/her hands clean of the whole situation because he/she just wants to ensure that deliverables keep on date. What would you do in this situation ?

The other worst kind of manager is someone who plays good cop/bad cop.  They tell you what you want to hear but then they also tell others what they want to hear so problems don’t get addressed.  I have seen this more than once as office politics trumps personal job satisfaction and even what is best for the company.

Of course there are micro-managing managers, managers who change projects and priorities on a dime and managers who act like they are your best friend but come review time they pounce on you leaving you to ask “what in the hell just happened?”

Here are some ways that you can deal with the worst kind of managers:

(1) Document everything: including emails and always send an email summary of private conversations you had with your manager.  Keep a personal file and never let it out of  your site.

(2) Keep pressing forward.” Don’t let the past keep you from achieving the job of your dreams.  Learn to manage up and make your job YOURS.

(3) Be positive toward yourself.” Choose to be happy if you know that what you are doing is the right thing.  Don’t let a bad manager bring you down to her level because you’ll regret it later in life.

(4) Be careful about complaining to others who “pretend” to be confidants.   Like in the movie Goodfella’s “those people who are going to whack you come to you with a hand and pretend to be your best friends”.   There are a lot of people who are business colleagues but very few who are friends.

(5) Always tell the truth: Never be afraid to say you screwed up and never ever cover for a bad manager because in the end they will be found out and it will cost you in reputation.

(6) Change jobs:  Don’t give me the BS about how jobs are hard to find they are out there if you’re willing to take the time and effort to look.  Forget about the job title and to a certain extent the money.  Ask yourself “which job is going to let me live the life I want to live and allow me to really contribute to my companies success?”

(7) Learn how to manage up: Understand what communication is best to send to your manager and which communication is only going to cause more problems for  you.

Life is too short to work for really bad managers and directors.  You have a choice to improve your situation or continue to take the torture of working for someone who just doesn’t understand that people like to be treated like people not just employees.

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The opposite of fear is hope. In an environment of hope, intelligent teamwork becomes feasible as everyone focuses less on “What should we do?” and more on “How can we achieve what we really want to accomplish?” Hope also allows a group to collaborate together to make a sound decision rather than trying to second guess what the boss wants.

The key, therefore, to making great decisions is to create the kind of environment where teams of people can work together cohesively to generate outstanding results. Great decisions always bring out the best in people and galvanize them to reach for even more impressive results in the future. To create the kind of environment that will foster great decisions, bring more structure and transparency to the way decisions are made.

Specifically, there is a ten-step process for making great decisions which can and should be applied. These steps have been honed by Fortune 500 and high-growth companies over more than a decade of real world experience.

Once you have this ten-step process in place, you can overcome any obstacles which may prevent your organization from making and then implementing great business decisions.

Many factors can cause workplaces to be dysfunctional, but misplaced blame and unfair allocation of credit may be the most damaging. Aggravation, anger and resentment often plague employees who work in this type of poisonous environment. Bosses who refuse to take responsibility when something goes wrong and insecure co-workers who insist on stealing the spotlight typically create an atmosphere of distrust, disillusionment and fear. The problem becomes magnified during difficult economic times when people worry about keeping their jobs.

The “blame game” is typically at the root of many organizational issues.

The way individuals deal with credit and blame affects their productivity and relationships.

Failed managers tend to handle interpersonal dealings poorly, frequently overlooking those who deserve credit while refusing to accept personal responsibility when things go amiss. Blaming other people is counterproductive, and the person placing the blame can suffer as a result. Researchers found “when individuals blamed others they were actually worse off for doing so – both emotionally and physically.” A person who becomes known as a “credit hog or an unfair blamer” will lose others’ respect.

Often the distribution of credit and blame has little to do with an individual’s actual abilities or accomplishments. Staffers who sense injustice may take fewer creative risks and avoid difficult decisions for fear of retribution. Those who enjoy their jobs typically feel appreciated; those who hate their jobs do not. Credit is so important that some employees attach more significance to a job title than to a hefty raise. People want fair treatment and acknowledgement of their work, even amidst general praise and approval.

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