IBM Employees Comment on Palmisano Who Received a 57% Approval Rating as CEO
With Tuesdays news that IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano is expected to hand over the reins at the end of this year to the Company’s first female CEO, Virginia Rometty; Glassdoor – a jobs and career community – looked to more than 2,000 company reviews from IBM employees to see what it’s like to work at IBM under Palmisano. The reviews also give insight into what advice employees have to offer Rometty and other senior leaders as the company looks to the future.
IBM garners a 3.0 (OK) company rating and CEO Samuel palmisano has a cumulative 57% approval rating (43% disapproval). Company ratings are based on a 5-point scale: 5.0 = very satisfied, 1.0 = very dissatisfied.
Interestingly, Palisano’s received an all-time high approval rating this quarter (Q411) – 71% approval, 29% disapproval.
Provided below is Palmisano’s approval rating by quarter along with recent commentary from employees. Ironically, one employee recently wrote, “Put more women in leadership roles.” – IBM Employee (Washington, D.C.).
Recent Employee Commentary
“Executive management at IBM is excellent at creating a winning strategy for the company.” – IBM Senior Management Consultant (New York, NY)
“Highly layered management. Sometimes makes you wonder what certain roles are for.” – IBM Inside Software Sales (Smyrna, GA)
“There’s plenty of competition and as large companies go, plenty of processes and bureaucracy as well.” – IBM Managing Consultant (Armonk, NY)
“IBM management has done a very good job of adjusting the business based on the projections for the future coming out of research. We spun off our PC business in 2004 (?), way before the PC market became soft, and invested in software products that help customers reduce their operating costs by “doing more with less.” These decisions have enabled IBM to grow revenue and profit in a tough economy.” – IBM Client Representative (Washington D.C.)
“Anyone joining today’s IBM needs to realize there is no such thing as job security regardless of top-notch performance ratings.” – IBM Employee (location/n/a)
In advice to senior management…
“It would be nice to see and put a face to a name with upper management.” – IBM Management Consultant (location n/a)
“Continue to focus on clearing out the dead wood – in other words, the twenty plus year career people that no longer look to add value, just collect a paycheck.” – IBM Senior Management Consultant (location n/a)
“There are definitely some leadership issues with management. It might be time for IBM’s senior management team to start replacing some of the people running the internal software organization.” – IBM Senior Management (Ottawa, ON)
[ SOS ] Complaint about Human Rights Violations by IBM China on Centennial
Please Google:
IBM detained mother of ex-employee on the day of centennial
or
How Much IBM Can Get Away with is the Responsibility of the Media
or
Tragedy of Labor Rights Repression in IBM China
Welcome the new boss, same as the old boss.
Any employee hoping that new CEO Virginia Rometty will make any positive changes for IBM employees needs to rethink that position.
Rometty herself has stated that she helped develop the strategic 5 year plan executed by Sam Palmisano and intends to continue on that course.
We have seen where that course has taken IBM employees.
When Sam Palmisano became CEO in 2002 the IBM US employee population was 154,000.
Now it is an estimated 98,000.
We saw resource actions tear through most business segments. Countless thousands were forced out in management initiated separations through the flawed PBC process. We saw employees that were ill targeted for dismissal. Older employees lost their value in the eyes of the executives and were pushed out the door.
Rometty, a champion of off shoring has led the charge on shifting work from the US to low cost and low wage countries.
IBM workers, humiliated in being forced to train their offshore replacements, watched as their work moved to the Philippines, to India, to China, to Brazil and many other countries.
The course Rometty took was to reject the expertise and value of IBM US employees, off shore the work they were doing and then fire them.
Workers outsourced to IBM from other companies fared no better. Whole IT departments were sold to IBM and IBM quickly transferred the knowledge to off shore workers and then terminated the US workers.
IBM talks about hiring in the US, with tax payer money of course, but refuses to say how many of the new hires are L1 or H1b visa workers.
The Alliance@IBM CWA has always recommended a different course.
A course that values US employees and rewards them.
A course that gives workers a real voice in the company they have made successful.
A course that brings democracy into the workplace through representation and a collective bargaining agreement.
It is time to change course to one that values IBM employees and grows the US economy!
The way to do that is by organizing and joining the only organization that advocates and works in the interests of employees.
Alliance@IBM CWA