June 29, 2010Dynamic dignity, corporate ignominy#4: Even my IPod says good-bye Part A
Here’s how I found out it was over. A trainer called to ask if she could buy PowerPhrases from me directly since The Company That Must Not Be Named isn’t carrying it anymore.
Fascinating. Did they decide this before or after I printed 15K books based on their projections? And after 13 years, why do I find out from someone I don’t know? I called to find out. I started by mentioning the call I received.
-”She better not have been planning to sell them at seminars. She’ll be fired if she did.”
Um, you kind of missed the point of my call. why didn’t you tell me so I could start figuring out how to move the books I printed based on your specs?
“We don’t share proprietary information with vendors. We just let them figure it out when they don’t get orders anymore.”
Even my IPOD says good-bye. And we haven’t known each other nearly as long.
Stay tuned for part B when I tell you the precedent which suggests perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised.
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We just let them figure it out when they don’t get orders anymore??? Hmmm. This makes me think about being a manager and having an employee once in a while just stop showing up for work (nature of the business I was in, unfortunately). They too seemed to think that we would just “figure out” that they didn’t feel like working there anymore. We did — sometimes after several phone calls and quizzing of other employees and often with much concern as to what had happened to them. Keep in mind, I was managing a quick service restaurant, meaning these employees were usually teenagers and others who had not yet had — or taken — other opportunities in their lives — also meaning I also worked with a much greater percentage of teenagers and others in what’s considered low-level employment who were more professional than the person described above.
If and when I had the opportunity to speak to these former employees again, I explained why this was not an acceptable way to leave a job and expressed my concern about how such unprofessional actions could have unintended consequences on their future chances for employment. Sure enough, where did I see the employees who have chosen to quit this way? Often back asking me for a job again, usually after finding out it’s not so easy to find a better job or even an equivalent job without even a good reference. A lack of professionalism can and will haunt you, whether you are acting as an individual or speaking on behalf of a corporation. I wonder how this person got to this level of responsibility in the company with that kind of attitude — and how this company continues to do business and make money if that is how they function as a company? My experience tells me they may not for much longer.
My questions for this person/company would be, “When a customer is dissatisfied with your service, do you want them to tell you why and give you a chance to keep their business or would you rather they just demand their money back?” and “When you lay off employees, do you tell them or do you just lock them out one day?” If company policy dictates simply locking people out without explanation and throwing customer comments in the garbage, then of course they will expect you to “just figure out” that they don’t want to do business with you anymore. They will also “figure out” one day that nobody wants to do business with them anymore.
Comment by Grace — July 1, 2010 @ 9:19 pm
Ah, Grace, you’re not that far off, unfortunately! I’ll be posting about the other way the “figure it out” philosophy plays out. I think some people never “figure it out” – they cite externals and don’t ever understand their own part in it.
Comment by merylrunion — July 6, 2010 @ 3:48 pm