4 ms·

At the last place I worked I assiduously filled out those surveys. Twice a year the executives would do an all hands meeting and talk about the result of the re

At the last place I worked I assiduously filled out those surveys. Twice a year the executives would do an all hands meeting and talk about the result of the recent survey. They would make a big deal out of all the changes they were making. After a few cycles, I noticed that the top problems from the surveys always stayed the same. Then I noticed that the changes they were claiming to make were either half-hearted or were gross misinterpretations of survey results to push their own agendas. Of course the survey results stayed the same, nothing was done to address the problems. After I noticed this, I still filled out the survey, if only because they would track me down and tell me the complete the survey (wait, I thought this was anonymous...). One year I answered 5/5 on every question. The next year I answered 0/5 on every question. The next year I quit.

stego-tech 2y ago
This employer had similar surveys, and the results plummeted after a huge RIF and never really recovered. I was asked to join focus groups for more detailed feedback, and as soon as we gave it, they silently dismantled said groups rather than update us on how the powers that be would be acting on that feedback. All-hands meetings where questions about RTO, attendance policies, and flexible working arrangements were regularly diverted and ignored. That doesn’t even get into the technical concerns I was also fielding as an Engineer, these were areas solely focused on trying to contribute a sense of objective direction to the company like the executives repeatedly bragged about inviting us to do, to “be different” than other businesses. No business is different than the others, not really. Absent accountability, the executives will always act in their own self-interest; since their compensation is mostly stock, that means they will sacrifice the future of tomorrow for the stock bump of today, every single time.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  > the executives will always act in their own self-interest; Yes, and so does everyone else, including me, including you. > since their compensation is mostly stock, that means they will sacrifice the future of tomorrow for the stock bump of today, every single time. When investors discover that a company is eating its seed corn for short term gain, the stock crashes.
  - Clubber 2y ago
    >Yes, and so does everyone else, including me, including you. Not sure why you are being downvoted. I see lots of people who are acting in their self interest by wanting to remain remote. >When investors discover that a company is eating its seed corn for short term gain, the stock crashes. Maybe. Companies have been eating their seed corn with offshoring for quite a while now. M&A and cornering the market is a good antidote for such things. People still use Google and Windows and those products are horrible now. For people who are being forced to RTO, put in your notice if you can, or at least look for another job. It's going to be a tight market for a few quarters at least.
    - WalterBright 2y ago
      If you're better than the market at predicting sacrificing the long term for the short term, you can make a lot of money by shorting those stocks. Me, I tried shorting, and got my adze handed to me. I'm not smart enough to be successful at that, and so just stick with long positions.
      - avidiax 2y ago
        The trouble with shorting is that unlike a long position, where you can just buy and hold until your thesis is proven, you have to time your short position perfectly.
    - unclebucknasty 2y ago
      >Not sure why you are being downvoted Not a downvoter, but I suspect it's because we all know that people have a tendency to act in their own best interest. But, we also expect leaders to consider the best interests of their charges, as a function of good leadership.
      - Clubber 2y ago
        >But, we also expect leaders to consider the best interests of their charges, as a function of good leadership. I see. It would be nice, but leadership like that are few and far between, and they probably get it beaten out of them. I don't think that's even taught at MBA school. When I started all this, someone told me, "they show appreciation through your paycheck." Not very satisfying, but there it is. If you're productive, they certainly miss you when you are gone.
- Spooky23 2y ago
  My favorite was an employer that did a massive “transformation” project. They brought in McKinsey to figure it out afterwards. It was probably the only McKinsey encounter I’ve had that seemed productive - the team was both interested and capable. The most amazing was a pretty detailed and well conducted survey over a two year period. It showed that satisfaction was inversely proportional to both rank and tenure, and the decline started at 6 months. So an executive or senior IC would be immediately dissatisfied. A lower level employee or supervisor would start very happy, but the luster would wear down after about 4 months lol. Long tenured employees grew increasingly dissatisfied until their personal liquidity event. They fucked up and broke out the data in a way that demonstrated that the division leads were dissatisfied to the point that it was affecting their health. No more public data presentation from that point forward.
  - sudoshred 2y ago
    This sounds like a canonical example of the reason to hire a consulting firm.
madcaptenor 2y ago
My employer has just started not releasing the results of the survey.
emeril 2y ago
My personal favorite tidbit about a company which gave surveys years ago was that they claimed they were anonymous but when I was late to submit mine one year, the CFO called me and asked me to do my survey since it was late...
- HeavyStorm 2y ago
  Vote in my country is mandatory. If I don't vote, I lose lots of rights and need to pay a fine(very cheap, token value). Are elections rigged?
  - Clubber 2y ago
    He didn't say they were rigged, he just said they were not anonymous as was claimed. Also, voting records in the US indicate whether you voted or not, but not who you voted for; that part is anonymous. Perhaps his company was similar.
  - codr7 2y ago
    Does it make any difference in practice who wins? Or is it the same money pulling the strings of whoever takes the seat? The illusion of choice is a very effective method for controlling people.
- try_the_bass 2y ago
  It's entirely possible the survey is anonymous, but they can still see who hasn't responded. Depending on the survey software, these aren't exactly mutually-exclusive things?
  - addaon 2y ago
    > It's entirely possible the survey is anonymous, but they can still see who hasn't responded. Sure —- but then you know the exact answers of the last person to respond; it’s just the delta between the results before they responded and after, and you know who they are. So they’re fully de-anonymized. And of course that means you can de-anonymize the second-to-last respondent… and so on.
scott_w 2y ago
To be clear: the results are anonymised. The only thing that the people chasing you have direct access to is whether you filled in the survey or not.

stego-tech 2y ago

This employer had similar surveys, and the results plummeted after a huge RIF and never really recovered. I was asked to join focus groups for more detailed feedback, and as soon as we gave it, they silently dismantled said groups rather than update us on how the powers that be would be acting on that feedback. All-hands meetings where questions about RTO, attendance policies, and flexible working arrangements were regularly diverted and ignored. That doesn’t even get into the technical concerns I was also fielding as an Engineer, these were areas solely focused on trying to contribute a sense of objective direction to the company like the executives repeatedly bragged about inviting us to do, to “be different” than other businesses. No business is different than the others, not really. Absent accountability, the executives will always act in their own self-interest; since their compensation is mostly stock, that means they will sacrifice the future of tomorrow for the stock bump of today, every single time.

WalterBright 2y ago
> the executives will always act in their own self-interest; Yes, and so does everyone else, including me, including you. > since their compensation is mostly stock, that means they will sacrifice the future of tomorrow for the stock bump of today, every single time. When investors discover that a company is eating its seed corn for short term gain, the stock crashes.
- Clubber 2y ago
  >Yes, and so does everyone else, including me, including you. Not sure why you are being downvoted. I see lots of people who are acting in their self interest by wanting to remain remote. >When investors discover that a company is eating its seed corn for short term gain, the stock crashes. Maybe. Companies have been eating their seed corn with offshoring for quite a while now. M&A and cornering the market is a good antidote for such things. People still use Google and Windows and those products are horrible now. For people who are being forced to RTO, put in your notice if you can, or at least look for another job. It's going to be a tight market for a few quarters at least.
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    If you're better than the market at predicting sacrificing the long term for the short term, you can make a lot of money by shorting those stocks. Me, I tried shorting, and got my adze handed to me. I'm not smart enough to be successful at that, and so just stick with long positions.
    - avidiax 2y ago
      The trouble with shorting is that unlike a long position, where you can just buy and hold until your thesis is proven, you have to time your short position perfectly.
  - unclebucknasty 2y ago
    >Not sure why you are being downvoted Not a downvoter, but I suspect it's because we all know that people have a tendency to act in their own best interest. But, we also expect leaders to consider the best interests of their charges, as a function of good leadership.
    - Clubber 2y ago
      >But, we also expect leaders to consider the best interests of their charges, as a function of good leadership. I see. It would be nice, but leadership like that are few and far between, and they probably get it beaten out of them. I don't think that's even taught at MBA school. When I started all this, someone told me, "they show appreciation through your paycheck." Not very satisfying, but there it is. If you're productive, they certainly miss you when you are gone.
Spooky23 2y ago
My favorite was an employer that did a massive “transformation” project. They brought in McKinsey to figure it out afterwards. It was probably the only McKinsey encounter I’ve had that seemed productive - the team was both interested and capable. The most amazing was a pretty detailed and well conducted survey over a two year period. It showed that satisfaction was inversely proportional to both rank and tenure, and the decline started at 6 months. So an executive or senior IC would be immediately dissatisfied. A lower level employee or supervisor would start very happy, but the luster would wear down after about 4 months lol. Long tenured employees grew increasingly dissatisfied until their personal liquidity event. They fucked up and broke out the data in a way that demonstrated that the division leads were dissatisfied to the point that it was affecting their health. No more public data presentation from that point forward.
- sudoshred 2y ago
  This sounds like a canonical example of the reason to hire a consulting firm.

madcaptenor 2y ago

My employer has just started not releasing the results of the survey.

emeril 2y ago

My personal favorite tidbit about a company which gave surveys years ago was that they claimed they were anonymous but when I was late to submit mine one year, the CFO called me and asked me to do my survey since it was late...

HeavyStorm 2y ago
Vote in my country is mandatory. If I don't vote, I lose lots of rights and need to pay a fine(very cheap, token value). Are elections rigged?
- Clubber 2y ago
  He didn't say they were rigged, he just said they were not anonymous as was claimed. Also, voting records in the US indicate whether you voted or not, but not who you voted for; that part is anonymous. Perhaps his company was similar.
- codr7 2y ago
  Does it make any difference in practice who wins? Or is it the same money pulling the strings of whoever takes the seat? The illusion of choice is a very effective method for controlling people.
try_the_bass 2y ago
It's entirely possible the survey is anonymous, but they can still see who hasn't responded. Depending on the survey software, these aren't exactly mutually-exclusive things?
- addaon 2y ago
  > It's entirely possible the survey is anonymous, but they can still see who hasn't responded. Sure —- but then you know the exact answers of the last person to respond; it’s just the delta between the results before they responded and after, and you know who they are. So they’re fully de-anonymized. And of course that means you can de-anonymize the second-to-last respondent… and so on.

scott_w 2y ago

To be clear: the results are anonymised. The only thing that the people chasing you have direct access to is whether you filled in the survey or not.