| Network Technical Manager |
I landed out in Information Technology by chance not choice. The
company had downsized and I was unfortunately the 'last one in, first
one out' at my previous department. Fortunately, I had MS Office skills
and that got me in. I landed a job in San Diego, which was good for
me. I figured someone would have to be a computer genius to work in
IT. This is not the case. The assignments are menial and many tend to
work from home. Those that show up land out having meetings or just
visit one another to pass the time. The pay is well and people can set
their own hours. Since SBC is in 13 states across the U.S. I work
early in order to interact with my peers in the East and Midwest.
Everyone sits in a cube and works in a "Dlbert-like" atmosphere. I
never liked that cartoon because I could not relate to it. I now do. I
came from Marketing and External Affairs and we were always kept very
busy.
The Company has an on-line suggestion plan. I have often suggested
that ??time in motion?? studies be made to figure out that they do not
need half the people they have in this department. To date, nothing has
been done.
SBC acquired Pacific Bell, Ameritech and Southern New England
Telephone. They have imposed their corporate culture on the three
companies they acquired. This is good and it is bad. It is good for
uniformity sake, but it is bad because there is no ??personalization.??
One of the core values of Pacific Bell was ??We Value the Individual.??
That is no longer true. There are many good managers in jobs where they
do not belong. SBC tried to say it was going to ??job match?? the
managers. Well, they said it, but didn??t do it.
It is a very diverse company. In fact, it may be too diverse. If you
go to internal web sites such as Career Path (where management jobs are
posted) to eLink (where attendance is posted) and others, you will note
pictures only of people of color ?? no white people. I am a person of
color (classified ?? Hispanic) and am not saying this because I am
against diversity. It just seems too much.
The ??Peter Principle?? seems to be alive and well as far as advancement
is concerned. Many good people have left because of having to work with
individuals who are incompetent and have no clue what team player
means. Or they work for a tyrant and are afraid to go to HR because of
repercussions that are not supposed to happen.
Am I bitter or a disgruntled employee? No! I have 24 years of perfect
attendance and have won many awards. I used to like it, but no longer
feel it is the same place. It would be nice if they would open their
eyes to the abuse and made random checks at different locations.
Whenever a higher-up is coming around, there is plenty of notice and
everyone is briefed the day before and all the stock questions and
answers are set. All they see is a bunch of people hard at work ?? even
the ones always working from home show up.
All in all, I would say that the place is not the good ole Ma Bell it
used to be. They receive awards as ??most admired company.?? This must be
something they put a lot of money into.
Will it change? I don??t think so.
Feel free to contact me if you wish.
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