HP takes steps to boost employee morale

[dArKeR]

Hewlett-Packard Co, the world's second-biggest computer maker, is trying to improve morale damaged after the 2002 acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp.

Hewlett-Packard, which has cut 24,500 jobs since buying Compaq in May 2002, is taking surveys to gauge how it can improve employee morale and is increasing the employee career-development budget to US$300 million this fiscal year from US$270 million last year, spokeswoman Brigida Bergkamp said.

"We've seen some tough times and made tough decisions as we've gone through the merger integration," Bergkamp said.

Hewlett-Packard applied to be on Fortune's list of "100 best companies to work for" and was rejected after an employee survey, the San Jose Mercury News reported earlier today.


Only 70 percent of Hewlett-Packard employees in the Fortune survey agreed management is competent at running the business, compared with 85 percent on average for the 100 best companies on the Fortune list, the Mercury News said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2004/01/29/2003096676

[el_gato]

1. employee brainwashing program

[mhr]

2. PR Techniques To Garner Support For A Magazine Ranking

Instead of doing all the things needed to actually improve the company for workers, They have decided to manipulate the opinion of their workers.

[cosmicdot]

3. how it can improve employee morale

a frequent problem in corporate america ... and, the 'good ol'boys' running things never seem to know how to resolve it ... which should offer HP a big clue on where to start ...

I can imagine that there are corporate culture conflicts (gosh, I once worked for a place that in the span of 10 years, joined 4 different cultures; and, later added a 5th one);

and, that there is an emphasis on evaluation of employees from the top down.

I would suggest ... and, they're only brainstorming suggestions ... that HP do away with conventional employee evaluation systems (good ol'boys tend to reward their own); institute bottom up evaluations, including an annual vote-of-confidence (sort of a parliamentary exercise) in how each division's management is doing, making changes accordingly (why wait for a problem to fester ... try nipping it in the bud by moving people-oriented managers in wherever needed ending the good ol'boy self-perpetuating power/control mindset self- admiration societies) ... evaluate subcultures within a division to see if good ol'boys are dominating and repressing those who don't 'fit their mold' ... listen and take action to employee concerns, don't retaliate against them for revealing truths; find ways to build community and trust ... don't depend on those 'in power' to do these things ... let some democracy breathe in the organization ... the politburo style of governing didn't work too well in the Soviet Union either ...


I had worked with HP in a buyer-seller relationship for about 17 years. They had always been a top-notch organization as far as running smoothly; and, then came the first time c. 1996-ish, when I knew something was amiss - an order turned into a nightmare ... and, a repeat order, a bit later down the road ... disaster was repeated ... nothing was learned despite my chronicling for HP the step-by-step what had happened ... and, when it happened a 3rd time ... I knew HP was no longer HP ... but, it said a whole lot more about American corporations, their failures, and how it affected all of our standards of living ...

Of course, during this time, I witnessed many of American corporations fouling up in the simplest of procedures ... it told me, we had a national problem ........