Started at wells as a contractor and for my job I have to contact multiple people for information. Many of these people do not respond at all or only give incomplete answers and can’t tell me where to go for further information. My manager is on me every day about getting this work done that I can’t complete without their input but I don’t manage these people and can’t force them to answer. Just sending follow-ups I guess. Seems like my manager and their manager should be chatting instead of my manager trying to get me to also manage
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Crazy thought…. Systematically gather from the engineers all the process knowledge they’ve accumulated Crazy thought…. Systematically gather from the engineers all the process knowledge they’ve accumulated.
Then use Machine Learning to train on the process inputs..
Then use Machine Learning to train on the process inputs.
After training, either query the dataset directly (chat mode), or create detailed documentation.
I know, crazy.
Box= boss. Spellcheck. Ugh.
@xgp+1t7Wrv2E. As a contractor, it's useless complaining to the contracting company. They don't care. They just want to make their $$$$. Be careful too on leaving- if you wear the wrong shirt color, if you're too good, or if you're fit & better looking than your box at WF, you'll get the old back stab. That useless, unresponsive, unethical & incompetent WF manager is listed on your contractor file at WF for life & they can make your life a living H--- by blocking you from FT jobs at WF.
He/she is not your manager. You’re a contractor. You have a sponsor at Wells. Your manager is whoever you report to at your contractor company.
If you really want something done, message on teams, call them. Email.does.not.work
There are teams with 3 SMEs doing the job of 10 people. Two of those SMEs are looking for new opportunities outside of the bank. Their manager does not want to relocate, but it is either that or be let go. And the team’s Kanban lead was just laid off recently; and his replacement now has to lead 5 teams, which support a total of 20 different applications. There is a lot on their minds.
And you were saying?
WF is a broken mess. Layoffs have made teams short handed. Micromanagement has taken over. Your manager has to report what his team has completed each week so it can be put on a PowerPoint deck looking for where more employees can be laid off. So your manager wants to see something he/she can put down to help keep the chainsaw from taking out some full time employees.
I might have one task I need to complete. That task may take engaging 3-4 different teams, each with their own intake, operating with different SLAs and have differing levels of backlog in their queue. Finding their formal intake requires a lot of time of research because there isn’t a standardized method of intake for each team.
Team 1, may need sign off or some info from team 2 before they can proceed. Team 2 might not be able to respond for weeks. Team 3 may need tasks from other teams they have to reach out to for engagement.
Wells Fargo is a process he-l.
Totally normal. Welcome to the $h!tSh0w. It’s irritatingly difficult to get the most mundane things accomplished.
You get either silence until you escalate or you’ll get responses that aren’t applicable to the ask. “Here follow this Kb!” Great. Too bad it doesn’t include information I need.
You should email Charlie and demand recompense for his razing of the company.
Contractors are people trying to survive in a high inflationary environment too. Also, said contractor probably has more a little more job security than you do right now.
No one is so busy they can’t respond within 3-5 business days. Especially if it’s a legitamite ask. Are some people needy? Yes. Doesn’t mean you have to hold their hand. That is where links to instructional sites or small blurbs like “here is how you can engage us. If more detail is needed refer to your team or manager. “.
Problem is a lot of teams don’t have an engagement document so you have to escalate escalate escalate.
Yes, this is normal. I quit a couple months ago because I could no longer obtain basic data I needed to do my job.
You’re a contractor, not an employee. Do what your statement of work says and don’t worry about Wells. YOUR employer is the one that issues you a paycheck. Go complain about them.
People work in silos and are very protective of what they know. False sense of job security
OP here thank you for the suggestions. I was about ready to cry earlier this week but I think I’m over it and am gonna give this about as much effort as everyone else. Like someone else commented below I’ve seen encouraging ugh to know this won’t be my long term plan
This was one of the concerns I had about Wells Fargo's organizational structure. In my interview with WF they put emphasis on the collaboration aspect, hinting that it was a challenge. They couldn't answer questions about performance metrics and how they tie into compensation, which indicated to me that WF is a political, toxic heII-hole. Your experience just confirms my suspicions.
Welcome to the World of Wells Fargo! This has ben the standard operating procedure for years. You spend allot of time tracking down who can give you the info. you need to complete your assignments. Forget about an employee directory. Its like a scavenger hunt on steroids....
Also a contractor in a similar position and my people keep moving meetings to bump right up against my deadline so I guess this is late. I came on a temp to hire thing but at this point totally good with not working here permanently
HAAA! It's the Wells Fargo way!
Sorry but I'm in competition with my peers for annual ratings. I'm not taking the time to help anyone let alone contractors unless there is something in it that makes me shine. I didn't create this environment, Chuckles did. I'm just trying to get through the craziness.
Unfortunately many of us are so swamped that emails from someone we do not know get overlooked. This happened to my contractors. I agree with the suggestion to reach out via teams with a quick summary of what you are working on and what you need.
Yes. It’s completely normal.
Send them a quick message on teams. They will answer quicker than email. Also state who you are (new to the position etc). Most will help.
I am tired of seeing people think this is normal in "corporate" America. It is not. WF is an abnormal place. It is way behind the times. People either realize this and leave or they hang around. If you stay set your boundaries as @wpn+1t7Wrv2E suggests.
Ditto on the comment about people being busy. This is an encore here everyone is competing for limited attention of others. You need to understand people are overloaded and have to prioritize, while being not motivated enough. So your email to them is at a pile where "they will do it when they can do it" which means it is not even being read. You need to tell your manager that they need to support you by getting your client to prioritize your engagement. That's their responsibility, not yours. But you do need to do some upwards management by explaining you aren't getting the input needed from your client. If your manager can't, than go to your director.
Yes.
Yes, welcome to the corporate world. As some commenters has mentions about the only thing that you can do is document, document. documents. It probably won't help, but at least when someone lies about how they didn't know, were not aware, or whatever, you can show that they (and their supervisors) were copied on the requests.
I’ve worked here a long time and never figured this one out. Basically I just paper a couple of follow ups to CYA and note the missing information and call it a day. I’m not paid to also manage
This is a by product of working for a very large organization filled with burned out people who aren't sure if they are going to be employed next week. My suggestion is to cc: their manager and your manager on your follow-up. And also - save these email threads in a Word document so you can document your attempts and their lack of follow-up.
People are busy. You have a couple options. The first one is to pick up the phone. Tye second is to cc your manager when following up. If you really want to get aggressive, cc both managers.
The problem is that nobody wants to just pick up the phone anymore.
In short NO. This bank is abnormal. This bank is controlled by toxic information brokers who dole out information as needed.
I take it you are in tech. One of the efforts has been agile. Stakeholders were to get together and create user stories. I was amazed to see how the managers stopped this effort. Did they participate... NO... Agile became Wagile (or agile... but).
Let us take this Bilt credit card example. Shouldn't they have had a user group to determine the usage of the Bilt cc. Perhaps they would have found out the the cc users are more savvy and wouldn't carry balances. Early elicitation of requirements leads to early testing which leads to tremendous cost savings. Efficient? You bet. The inefficiencies of this bank are its management -- not the workers.