Conference 7.286::digital

    In a situation such as today in our business where downsizing
    is occurring, it is not unexpected that people will be more
    careful/prudent. Who are you appealing to - the often-referenced
    invisible set of management? Those of us who aren't invisible
    are quite aware of the trauma going on...
    

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    What's that saying?
    
    "The nail that sticks up....gets hammered down"
    
    You can almost SMELL the fear.
    
    Mark A. Aicher  (member of non-anon)
    
    

    One has to wonder if the NMS is just a license to do as "they" want
    with no regard for policies and procedure. 
    
    It seems that the idea that this company does wants right has gone the
    way of not needing reciepts for under $25.00.
    
    FJK

    Last October, Jack Smith commented on the number of anonymous entries
    the DELTA team was receiving.  He was dismayed that so many people
    felt at risk if identified.
    
    After hearing Smith's message, I signed my name to my DELTA entry and 
    discovered first hand why so many choose (wisely so) to enter ideas or 
    suggestions anonymously.  If your note may threaten or even threaten to
    threaten anyone's empire, leave your name off.  (imho)
    
    I am reluctant to submit even this entry; I don't need any more grief.
    
    Sad but true

    re: .6
    
    Perhaps you should send a copy of your suggestion and a summary of the
    grief you received directly to Jack Smith...

>    re: .6
>    
>    Perhaps you should send a copy of your suggestion and a summary of the
>    grief you received directly to Jack Smith...

:-)

    re: .8
    
    ;^)

    My original note grew out of sheer frustration.  I am a 14 year DEC
    vet. with less than one year in present job--have been moved 3 times:
    WJO to ACO to BXC to BUO, with another move at the end of the year.
    I've gone from funded to non funded to funded to ?????.  
    
    Why can't this company get it's act together before it impacts the
    lives and finances of employees, not after some decisions been made.
    As for the NMS, what's the difference between that and the old, old
    management system.  I feel like note .2, it's safer to sleep like Rip
    Van Winkle, maybe when I wake up it'll be all over.  In the mean time
    I'm sitting UNDER my desk and keeping quiet.

Re: .6, DENVER::GRAY, Therese

� Jack Smith commented on the number of anonymous entries the DELTA team was
� receiving.  He was dismayed that so many people felt at risk if identified.

 What is DELTA? I must have missed this.

 Thanks,
-Tom

    Re: .11 
    
    Tom - DELTA is this company's Employee Involvement Initiative.  Most of
    our efforts have been in the US Country because it is difficult to
    engage both Europe and GIA management though we do have contacts in
    all of the geographies.  One of our services to the
    company is a centralized process "hub" for ideas and proposals from
    individuals and teams that need attention by other functions in the
    company.
    
    Like Therese, the author of one of the above notes, the process does
    not always run smoothly and we do step in if requested with support.
    We have found that at no time has senior management been the instigator
    of problems that employees are having, it is almost always local
    management and peers that are the problem.
    
    This is a symptom of the times in DEC, we all seem to be in hiding.
    But hiding isn't going to solve our problems.  I respect each person
    who does come forward and I respect those of you who feel you can't.
    I look forward to the day when we all feel like our primary role
    is to support DEC.
    
    Tom - if you want more information on DELTA send me a note or give me
    a call and I'll be more than happy to talk to you.
    

RE: .12

Maxine,

While I understand and would like to see DELTA succeed, the fact that 
people's jobs are threaten because they make suggestions to DELTA tells
me that your program WILL fail.  You can respect them all you want but
that doesn't put food on the table and if you were a household's single 
source of income, would you jeopardize your job?

IMHO,
Lee G.

    RE.12
    
    Thank you, Maxine, for answering Tom Rezucha's question about DELTA.
    
    RE.13
    
    So true, so true.

    re .13
    
    What I meant was I respect anyone's decision NOT to participate. I
    think that's what I wrote. :-)
    
    Personally, I do have to say though that I have been extremely vocal 
    in this job working for DELTA and never once have I gotten into "trouble".
    I credit the environment we have created for ourselves with that
    freedom to express myself.  We are working as a team with no egos,
    no hierarchy, no commands.  I only wish each of you could experience
    what real teamwork is all about.
    
    Are their others out there who feel the same way??
    
    
    
    

    I think I may have missed something.  How does submitting a DELTA
    suggestion place my job in jeopardy?  I thought DELTA was a way to
    recommend possible improvements to the way the company operates, not a
    way to offer oneself as a target for dismissal.  Do I smell a little
    paranoia?  I've had DELTA submissions accepted with no negative
    repercussions.  Let's talk about this.
    
    Fred

    A DELTA submission that is critical of a management practice is
    certainly going to come to the attention of the manager who is an
    advocate of what's being criticised.
    
    Conflicts about how to improve this company are inevitable.
    
    And with the current layoff policy it appears inevitable that employees
    who have been critical of management practices are more likely to be
    scrutinized for the value of their jobs than employees who have kept
    their mouths shut.
    
    Critics have always risked reprisal at Digital, only now the stakes are
    a bit higher. "The nail that sticks up is no longer hammered down, it's
    being removed."
    
    I've done a bit of Delta myself, more reading than writing:
    Overwhelmingly the suggestions come from a group or job function
    really, really remote from where the solution can be implemented.
    
    Safe suggestions: recycle, or compile lists and publish them, or
    anything that's new.
    
    Unsafe suggestions: suggest a change to an established business
    practice, or say that a group is wasting money.

    re: .16, .17
    
    I have made a "negative" DELTA suggestion, by your definition, and not
    suffered any reprisals.  However, I'm not a very perceptive person, so
    by the time I notice something wrong probably lots of other people have
    already noticed it.  As a result of my suggestion (and, I am sure,
    identical suggestions form countless others) a Digital function was
    reorganized so that the department which was formerly mishandling a job
    no longer has responsibility for that job.
    
    I must admit that the department which had the responsibility removed
    was not in my reporting chain, so they had no way to get back at me,
    had they wanted to.  Had the converse been true I might have suffered,
    and that is, I think, what people are afraid of.
        John Sauter