Thread regarding Ford layoffs

I always wonder what would Elon do if he were to take the CEO spot at Ford. Think about that for a moment and then you may discover the real problems within the entire organization.

@ 1vdvtB8C You hit the nail in the head - so much effort has been wasted on Performance Review, with no difference on the ground. The constant change in how and what PR should be makes it pretty useless. The fact that if my LL5/6 gets a bad review, so will I gives me zero incentive since I don’t have any control over my rating (Maybe we never had to begin with).

Chasing a carrot on a stick only works for someone long. All we hear is that we're making money here, and losing money there, and we all need to do more. True Motivation develops with a promise and realized reward. The culture at Ford, and this site is evidence of it, is one of uncertainty at best. Regarding my objectives, I was told that if my director fails, we all fail. There's no consideration for individual contribution in that style of leadership. Why would I do more than the person sitting next to me? Not to mention that the goal post is moved at will by management. Remember the changes they made, after our objectives were established, to reset the goal post by declaring that 100 is the new 90, three quarters of the way through the year? It's not about young or old. The senior workers are tired and bitter, and young workers are reacting as you would expect. It's about how people are treated by poor leadership, including a CEO that's not entirely focused on Ford, and apparently doesn't even drive a Ford.

What did Mullally do right that was felt at the individual contributor level?

What was different between the engineers you worked with then vs now?

When dis you feel the tide changing?

@1ppv+1vdvtB8C are you small in stature wear a white suit and yell "BOSS THE PLANE"..
Just about every program has been cancelled... Sorry but the senior management team is clueless.. About time WS starts to call them out for what they are..

Post ID: @1jhn+1vdvtB8C

The Ford+ Transformation Plan has been stable for a long time now. The benefits of it are now coming to light. See the recent press release for documentation and proof.

The OP makes some good points, excluding the comment about unmotivated young workers. The the lack of pride and motivation applies to workers at every age. I mentored and sponsored employees across the spectrum and glad many are still contributing. The problem with Ford now is we haven't had a leader since Alan. Mark replaced Alan and got retired after only three years...you know the rest. For Ford to not only survive but thrive, we need a real leader who is capable of bringing all stakeholders together and can execute a strategy that doesn't change every quarter. Sadly, we have been running the company to achieve quarterly results for too long. I'm blessed to have retired in December 2022 after 35 years with the company with the lump sum. It's really sad to see how poorly the company is performing.

I was always happy to share my knowledge and mentor the younger engineers. I gave my management a recommendation; I take on training a replacement for my TS position before I retire. I worked in ICE. I was cut in 2022 because ICE was not the future according to Fooley. I had 24 years experience on my components.

When I started at Ford the older knowlegeable people made themselves as alooft, mean and unapproachable as possible no matter how polite I was. I searched through tons of documents wasting time to understand how things worked because it wasn't spelled out of course. Knowledge was a currency the older workers used as leverage.

Even though I was laid off, I will always be proud that I left specifications for the next person.

And if we are being honest, your generation destroyed the economy and any notion of the American dream but I digress - that dream was never made for those who look like me.

This company is so dysfunctional. It's a fun take to assume that younger workers are unmotivated - when a lot of the teams I work with, mine included, operate on a need to know basis. All this does is gatekeep the knowledge for the older/established workers.
Hard to blame people who have no control over how things operate. Plus, mgmt is entirely out of touch. We're under the 7 onion layers of stupid red tape and big opinions of people who have no idea what the work looks like.
Faster, better, sooner and now only goes so far if the employees aren't given the opportunity to do something correctly. Like sure, you can get it fast, better and sooner but then we're all in trouble when it's not meeting expectations.

And, all these young people grew up watching their parents struggle with layoffs and hardship. Why would they be loyal or excited about working when they know what the outcome is anyway. Even the best workers with historical knowledge are cut. There's not much incentive to get passionate about something that always feels temporary.