Failure Stories: How Your Company/Employer Failed
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Here is my story.
I worked at a manufacturing company in for almost 15 years. I started as a shipper/receiver then worked my way up to become an equity partner (by verbal agreement, but I quit before any actual legal paperwork was provided, as I caught the owner lying and descending into a pattern of terrible behaviour...aka drugs and vices).
Over the years we went from a small player to a major player and invested in groundbreaking tech that we were very early adopters of. Our industry advances pretty rapidly and every 3-5 years there is a major shift in the way things are done, more automation, IOT functionality and consolidation among competitors. We would invest in new technology pretty much on par with the industry norm, but after we made our last investment into the latest and greatest, we had a hard time adapting to it and made many mistakes along the way. The equipment we bought didn't really do what we were told it could do by the salespeople, so we had to pivot and reinvent our offering. We decided to focus on our core products and that bet paid off, we eventually solidified our offering as a provider in our niche and things started to pick up in terms of sales and overall output. Over the course of 4 years, we had some pretty steady turnover among frontend and backend team and we opted to not replace them, instead, we put more duties on other team members, gave them raises and incentivized them to perform at a higher level. This worked for a while, but eventually, everyone got burnt out and started complaining that they're overworked.
What did the owner do when the ship was sinking?
Nothing, they let it sink and decided that by doing nothing they would be able to blame others - the CEO has been saying they are sick and dealing with serious health issues, but has never told anyone what they are and no one can get a hold of them. The president is the one who has to deal with upper management issues, but they don't have signing authority so nothing really gets done in terms of major decisions.
How did employees react when they caught wind that the company was doomed?
They're all looking for other jobs, key team members quit (I was the first), and others followed. They all asked for raises, some got them, but others didn't and they all conspired, and now they all do the absolute bare minimum required to stay employed. Most of them are hoping to be fired so they can get severance - all are long term employees - but they're also afraid that the company will become bankrupt before anyone is let go.
What did the employees do in the final days before the company closed?
The company hasn't closed yet, but all employees are asking me to open my own business and hire them. Some are also diverting work to competitors and collecting commissions on it behind the back of their employer.
I worked at a manufacturing company in for almost 15 years. I started as a shipper/receiver then worked my way up to become an equity partner (by verbal agreement, but I quit before any actual legal paperwork was provided, as I caught the owner lying and descending into a pattern of terrible behaviour...aka drugs and vices).
Over the years we went from a small player to a major player and invested in groundbreaking tech that we were very early adopters of. Our industry advances pretty rapidly and every 3-5 years there is a major shift in the way things are done, more automation, IOT functionality and consolidation among competitors. We would invest in new technology pretty much on par with the industry norm, but after we made our last investment into the latest and greatest, we had a hard time adapting to it and made many mistakes along the way. The equipment we bought didn't really do what we were told it could do by the salespeople, so we had to pivot and reinvent our offering. We decided to focus on our core products and that bet paid off, we eventually solidified our offering as a provider in our niche and things started to pick up in terms of sales and overall output. Over the course of 4 years, we had some pretty steady turnover among frontend and backend team and we opted to not replace them, instead, we put more duties on other team members, gave them raises and incentivized them to perform at a higher level. This worked for a while, but eventually, everyone got burnt out and started complaining that they're overworked.
What did the owner do when the ship was sinking?
Nothing, they let it sink and decided that by doing nothing they would be able to blame others - the CEO has been saying they are sick and dealing with serious health issues, but has never told anyone what they are and no one can get a hold of them. The president is the one who has to deal with upper management issues, but they don't have signing authority so nothing really gets done in terms of major decisions.
How did employees react when they caught wind that the company was doomed?
They're all looking for other jobs, key team members quit (I was the first), and others followed. They all asked for raises, some got them, but others didn't and they all conspired, and now they all do the absolute bare minimum required to stay employed. Most of them are hoping to be fired so they can get severance - all are long term employees - but they're also afraid that the company will become bankrupt before anyone is let go.
What did the employees do in the final days before the company closed?
The company hasn't closed yet, but all employees are asking me to open my own business and hire them. Some are also diverting work to competitors and collecting commissions on it behind the back of their employer.
What did the owner do when the ship was sinking?
How did employees react when they caught wind that the company was doomed?
What did the employees do in the final days before the company closed?
Your feedback is appreciated, and I have a story about how a company I worked for failed, but would love to hear others.