How Ballmer Calms His Troops
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Typically, conversations about sales or acquisitions at companies take plae behind closed door. The organizations themselves are not at liberty to discuss their dealings, and even when they are, fear of unnecessarily alarming their employees--"Today we talked about closing overlapping divisions and laying off hundreds, but I'm sure it's not going to be in the final arrangement, so don't worry!"--makes them choose not to. Unfortunately, this non-disclosure isn't always received positively by employees. In the vacuum of information, stress and frustration mounts as they want to know what is going on but feel they are being kept out of the loop. Mostly, they want to know that their jobs will be safe. In an email leaked to TechCrunch, readers got a peek what Microsoft's CEO told employees about their Feb. 1 bid for Yahoo, and from the looks of it, Ballmer handled it like a pro. In it note, Ballmer lays out the rational for the bid, gives credit to the work Microsoft has already done in the space, so not to undermine employee accomplishments, and even promises a soft landing for incoming Yahoos, surely a big concern. "Through our recent acquisitions of aQuantive and Tellme, we understand what it takes to successfully integrate new talent, assets, and infrastructure into our company. Leaders from both Microsoft and Yahoo! will work together closely on the integration process to ensure that we are thoughtful about the questions we ask and the decisions we make," Ballmer writes in the email. So the obvious question is: What did Yahoo's employee memo sound like? Do you think they ever had one? |
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Comments (5)
What employee is going to belive any thing an exec is going to tell them. When was the last time you saw a communication "yes we a buying out xyz, and yep, that mean all yous folks are going bye-bye and me and the other management are going to make lots of lovely dosh" !!! of course not, so why would anyone place any faith in any communication from upper management. It'd be like actually thinking advertisers are going to tell you thruth. All any of them are going to say is what they hope you'll belive, at least for long enough to get what it is they want.
Posted by Peter | February 8, 2008 1:53 PM
Wow, Peter, that's really bitter and more than just a little unfair.
I can tell you from MY experience (both in management AND as an IC) that managers try to share as much information as they legally can.
There was no conspiracy to hide the truth. Where we didn't know, we just said "we haven't decided that yet."
Now, did people believe us when we said that? No, they just kept rephrasing the questions. "So, I hear you saying you aren't sure which divisions will be impacted but what about MY job?" Hey, it's only natural.
The point of this article was that Steve B. had been as open and forthcoming as possible and that doing so was the right thing to do.
Posted by Daniel | February 8, 2008 2:18 PM
Daniel,
My view still stands I'm afraid. I too have been in those management positions and my point is directed to those in upper management, exec's etc. In fact most of those at that level are not management, they 'manage' very little, simpley passing out directives is not managment, impose, yes, manipulater, yes, manipulate for stock price most certainly, manage, no. Management, previously implied some degree of leadership (assuming one is refering to the mangemnet of people), that of it's self, you would expect to contain some amounts of integrity and honor and honesty. Little of that is exhibited in our (US) corporations now. Middle management are but the hired hands of the senior exec's. Just as concerend as the rest of us about losing our jobs, and therefore just following the instruction from above.
Until such time as we as a nation say - enough!! Enough with the gross explotation, enough!! with the obscene concentation of wealth, enough!! with the placement of corporate power above morality. Mr Jefferson and Franklin, Messers Adams, Hancock, Pain and the rest would be appalled at what we have allowed to happen. The English tyranical king and aristocracy have morphed in to WalMart, JPMC, CitiBank, Exxon and the rest of the purportrators of this evil.
Posted by Peter | February 8, 2008 4:28 PM
Daniel,
My view still stands I'm afraid. I too have been in those management positions and my point is directed to those in upper management, exec's etc. In fact most of those at that level are not management, they 'manage' very little, simpley passing out directives is not managment, impose, yes, manipulater, yes, manipulate for stock price most certainly, manage, no. Management, previously implied some degree of leadership (assuming one is refering to the mangemnet of people), that of it's self, you would expect to contain some amounts of integrity and honor and honesty. Little of that is exhibited in our (US) corporations now. Middle management are but the hired hands of the senior exec's. Just as concerend as the rest of us about losing our jobs, and therefore just following the instruction from above.
Until such time as we as a nation say - enough!! Enough with the gross explotation, enough!! with the obscene concentation of wealth, enough!! with the placement of corporate power above morality. Mr Jefferson and Franklin, Messers Adams, Hancock, Pain and the rest would be appalled at what we have allowed to happen. The English tyranical king and aristocracy have morphed in to WalMart, JPMC, CitiBank, Exxon and the rest of the purportrators of this evil.
Posted by Peter | February 8, 2008 4:46 PM
I am sure lots of jobs will be lost on both sides if
and when the deal goes through...
Posted by Mike Rayl | February 8, 2008 7:08 PM