Weblog - Honeywell ArchivesMay 31, 2011 and previous
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Honeywell - read the original article. The Honeywell saga started first as the possible sale of the controls division to Siemens, then the merger of the whole enchilada with United Technologies and then ended a couple of days later with the sale to GE - all in less than a week! GE backed out of the merger, CEO Bonsignore was booted, Bossidy of Allied took over, and then handed over to a new, tough CEO, David Cote. Now, how is Honeywell doing? |
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Honeywell Industrial Systems - the GE-Honeywell fiasco updated Sept. 2003 in Jim Pinto's latest book Automation Unplugged. Read the Table of Contents. |
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Sunday, May 29, 2011
This is to the best tech group of guys I've ever worked with. The TPA Olathe Kansas flight safety group, where there is misery, we'll be there. When impossibility rears its ugly head, we change it's revision. As the fine oiled machine demands charts and aged WIP that doesn't exist, its multi-tasking function blockades needed parts automatically. There are people out there that respect you. As a shackled, button pushing baboon, I managed to land a job that lets me concentrate on electronics! Good luck guys. Thursday, May 26, 2011 Sorry, but MBAs don't get laid off; only the people under them that do real work gets laid off - even though it is off those peoples' backs that the MBAs jobs are secure. By sending your job overseas, or making your life miserable otherwise, they have made their jobs even more secure and are rewarding themselves like never before, at your expense. Yes, if they were laid off, they would be hard pressed to find a job that requires doing real work; but they will find other slave-driving jobs. They look out for each other like in a criminal organization. Ironically, it is easier to find a job that does not require skills, experience or common sense. Just a degree and an obnoxious attitude will do. So, don't hold your breath. Hold your nose, perhaps. Thursday, May 26, 2011 I can't wait for MBA's to be laid off - they will NEVER find another job because the US knows the MBA's are responsible for the demise of the American workplace. They can move to Mumbai, Manila and all the other hell holes they moved US jobs to. Wednesday, May 25, 2011 After 30+ years service, I got the boot from HW last July because everything was sent to Mexico and Czech Republic. I would probably still be there had I not flatly refused to travel and help the Mexicans and the Czechs set up their plants. Now with hindsight, I see that I am much better for it and am now a much happier person. I believe I went through a form of PTSD for first six months after being let go. I still maintain my contacts with friends and fellow employees that are still there, but now working in other capacities. These folk were willing to travel so HW rewarded some, not all, with other positions within the company. From what I hear from them on a weekly basis it sounds like one of Dante's versions of hell. One individual tells me that he does 3 - 4 actual hours of work a day and the rest is spent on HOS and 5S activities and he is required to keep a written log of everything he does during the day. As part of his HOS and 5S activity, he was placed in charge of the garbage cans in his area which meant painting and marking circles on the floor identifying their locations. He then was required to write a set of instructions on the proper maintenance of these cans. What a use of skilled employees! It seems as though all the MBAs they hired and dreamed up this garbage are now in a panic to save their jobs and just keep cranking out more edicts requiring more and more useless activity. As a previous poster alluded to, the product has now become a secondary consideration to "looking good" and the end customer be damned. Tuesday, May 24, 2011 I read the comments here and I think that everyone has an opinion of what's wrong, how things should be done, and that the Americans are the best of everything. The ideal situation for everyone that is faced with some form of inequality, is that we come together as a unit; it has always solved problems. Most people are using this site as a sounding board. Instead, if everyone felt that all the mentioned situations could be changed/improved, this could/would be an ideal forum for getting everyone organized to really make a difference. If we could pool our energy in a positive way and stop trying to get everyone else to start the party for us. Other companies seem to have identical situations. Look at the numbers if everyone were to come out of the "chicken"-coop". The "American Way" is to make sacrifices to change an injustice and make it be known. The new "American Way" is to blame other cultures for needing to work to support their families; what do you suggest? That they say, "I can't take the American's job" and let their families starve? We all vote; stop worrying about who's Republican or Democrat and come together to eliminate the people we're supporting; and change their benefits package. It takes one person to say "I'm tired" and to get everyone aboard and start a much needed movement. Not just with Honeywell, but with anything you're this passionate about. Best regards to everyone. Stress is one of the major killers. Monday, May 23, 2011 I decided, for a change, to attend one of the town hall meetings, just to waste a company-directed hour, like everybody else, and to meet my own personal goals and objectives of reducing my productivity to match the company's attitude. The thing that stood out most was the part where one of the managers was presenting before-and-after slides of areas in the plant that have been cleaned and tidied up. I thought, oh my God, have we become a janitorial service company? It also goes to show that the real work we do does not count for anything. There were no presentations of our recent technical achievements. WOW! It proves once again that the lack of appreciation for the technical work we do is not isolated to the leadership, but is also contaminating the lower level management, who should know a lot better. But you can't blame them, as they perhaps got accolades and bonuses for their clean-up efforts that they would never have gotten for any technical works. It seems that only one level of people employed by this company understands what we do and the gravity of doing it right, i.e. the skilled workers. And since we are at the mercy of these incompetent ivory-tower geniuses who are incapable of doing any real work, much less appreciating it, to provide us with the best people, tools and incentives to do the job right, there isn't much to look forward to but plungers and mops, and knives in the back. Even the janitorial support staff perhaps understands more of the nature of our work. Unfortunately, they are not similarly compensated in the tens of thousands and hundreds of millions like that other group with less knowledge and expertise in our work. So, what exactly do the leaders and managers do to make the company successful, while the rest of us "aren't doing anything"? I know that my manager is the biggest hindrance to my work in more ways than one. Sunday, May 22, 2011 Honeywell went from military spec for their solder requirement called MS2000 to a cheaper easier requirement called a J standard for their avionics electronics so the companies they out sourced to can afford the make its electronic parts cheaper for therm. This solder spec is not very good quality and it is not what I want to know running that airplane jet engine. Sunday, May 22, 2011 I keep hearing that H/W in Phx is getting back like over 700 engines with Turbine wheel problems. I heard the wheels were maybe worked on and or made in the Czech Republic. So much for the make-it-somewhere-else-cheaper thing! Now we in the 2101 building are losing our top gun. And he is going into the Avionics Dept. of another Div. I do not know where, but it seems maybe he is getting away from Engine/APU business for something safer and more stable? Also even some managers are going other places. Maybe something IS going to change and as we all know H/W it is not going to be for the better of the H/W employees. The day to day stupidity goes on as usual, with the more tape-on-the-floors labeling and everything exactly where it should go. More meetings and meetings. All I see during the day are good hard working people standing out in the halls in front of the boards with the charts and little meaningless numbers on them.
Lots more - very badly written, long-winded rant which I do not have the patience and time to edit and publish. Saturday, May 21, 2011 There is a great article in this week's Time magazine about Pratt& Whitney. How they figured out the smart thing is to keep engineering and highly skilled manufacturing in the US. Wouldn't that be great if Honeywell could figure that out? I wish someone would do an article on Honeywell and its push to move everything, including design, out of North America. Oh well, regrettably I do not see an article about Honeywell doing that ever appearing anywhere. Cote's dream is to just get everything out of the "developed markets" period. Well, except him and the other top dogs. Saturday, May 21, 2011 If all of you guys are really that unhappy, then stop moaning about it and DO something about it. Wednesday, May 18, 2011 It is true that Honeywell provides very sensitive, critical and high-tech components to their customers; which is why they ought to be a little more selective in their choice of labor used to design and build those products. But when you have a leadership that does not understand sensitive, critical and high-tech, or that is just too stupid to give a damn, but rather think only like clothes hangers, and toaster salesmen, as that is all they are capable of, then there isn't much that the rest of us can hope for. Forgive them as they are not capable of thinking of things more complex than clothes hangers and toasters. It is also true that our products aren't any cheaper to the customer, but somewhere along the way the customer is going to realize that the quality of the products that they are receiving are not what they used to be, and that they never seem to be delivered on schedule anymore either. If the leadership believes that they must cut cost to remain competitive, then they better hope that cutting quality and missing schedules is also making them competitive. But then again, they can always offer the customers a free toaster to appease them! By the way, for decades, the Japanese and Europeans have been providing superior quality products and services to their customers. What better way to counter that advantage, than to drastically lower the quality of our products and services further. How is that for a brilliant competitive strategy? N.A. corporations seem intent on making the business principle of customer-satisfaction a thing of the past! Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - Re: Microsoft, Intel - prices did not really reduce, and profit margin went up. This is not different from our industry. It is Cote's job to increase the share value. Conveniently it also increases his personal fortune. Company focussing on shareholder value translates to the board paid in stock. One word: Greed. Try to fight that with words. Tuesday, May 17, 2011 Everyone needs to remember the original rationale behind outsourcing versus modern reasoning: It used to make sense that if you wanted to sell your widget cheaper in the US, you would use cheap overseas labor that would lower your cost to market for the widget. This works most often for clothes hangers, toasters, flip flops etc. at Walmart. What people don't seem to understand is that complex high-end systems that Honeywell and few other outsourced companies produce don't sell any cheaper to end consumers now than they did when they were made here in the US. The only thing that changed was the profit margin. By getting rid of the US workforce, Dave Cote and the stockholders increased their profit margin per unit sold, whether it be avionics systems, or building automation systems. The bull@%$ phrase that these companies use to sell outsourcing to those that are going to lose their jobs is that the organization "needs to remain competitive" and of course we, as Americans, are suppose to feel guilty about costing so much in comparison to our overseas replacements. When Honeywell, GE or Microsoft send work abroad, the prices of their products do NOT go down; the profit margins GO UP. This is what they mean when they say "remain competitive" then they add "globally" to the phrase to account for a workforce overseas that will be doing the work. They use sound bytes like "going global" or "thinking in terms of a global market". I think on some level that's supposed to make us feel as if we are not worldly enough and we are too selfish to think beyond our own backyards. And somehow it's our fault that the only way the company can survive is to flee overseas. It's all marketing and it's all a scam being run on the American workforce. As far as bringing jobs back to the US - It's likely Honeywell and others will follow the Intel and MicrosoftT model. A huge percentage of Intel and Microsoft's workforce operating here in the US is H1B visa holders. Intel and Microsoft love this; the average H1B visa worker makes 30% less that their US-born counterpart. Monday, May 16, 2011 Ask yourself the question: Why did I buy a Sunbeam kettle and toaster "Made in China"? Did you feel "unpatriotic" by doing so? How would you react if a stranger lectures you on betraying your country? And did you replace the Sunbeam by a model "Made in US"? Copy & paste your answers to same questions translated to our industry. I inserted my own answers:
Q: Why do our customers buy Honeywell made in China?
Q: does Cote consider It unpatriotic to move manufacturing to low cost countries?
Q: What does Cote think when criticized on this blog?
Q: Will Customers change their behavior? My wife saw this great ad for Emerson smart kettles featured on Oprah. It has integrated toast, microwave, bake, fry, functionality, all one-touch, ease of use and no wires. In case of defects, it fixes itself or dials up the service hotline via Twitter. It is a bit pricy but, according to the ad, after 1 months, 4 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, the smart kettle transfers money to my bank account monthly. There are some rumors about poor safety, but what can seriously go wrong with a kettle that predicts failures? After all Oprah is using it. It is not clear if it can actually boil water. My wife is totally excited, she made up her mind so who am I to oppose. Made where? Not sure? Ireland maybe? Who cares? Monday, May 16, 2011 To the poster who said, "Basically "the emperor has no clothes. They will not admit that there are problems." It's not that they won't admit that there are problems. It's the fact that self-preservation stops them from doing so. To voice concerns over problems would be inviting unwanted attention from higher up and being labeled "A PREVENTER" which would most certainly guarantee you a PIP on your next review and a permanent vacation. Not all Honeywell VPs are weasels. I once briefly knew VP in Phoenix who was not afraid to voice his opinion on the idiocy of wasting vast sums of capital on the money pits of Mexico and Czech Republic. Notice I did say that I "briefly" knew him. Sunday, May 15, 2011 We shouldn't get too excited, too quickly, that the work is coming back to the U.S., as that would require the application of common sense, and an admittance of very poor judgment in the blind obsession to cut cost at the expense of all else, and the suppression of corporations greed that ignored all else. As we have seen so far, corporationsâ leaderships are not capable of any of these virtues. Nevertheless, there may be more signs that the wheels may be starting to come off the outsourcing and off-shoring wagons of corporations. Not that the corporate geniuses will ever admit that they are. But they may not be smart enough to think or know that something is amiss. They have never been known to learn from past mistakes, or to apply lessons learned. They must have attempted outsourcing perhaps a dozen times over the past two decades, only to find that it is not worth it. The initial cost savings is always overrun by the poor quality of the work and the additional cost to fix and/or redo everything in-house, resulting in cost and schedule overrun, and dissatisfied customers, every time. This time, and understandably so, they have used the economic crisis to cut cost, but narrow-mindedly at the expense of all else, and they may now be creating a credibility crisis with their customers. That will inevitably force future programs and customers to seek out product suppliers that do not minimize the importance of quality, reliability, schedule, etc. The customer-deserves-the-best is lost on corporations. But the previous attempts to cut costs was before the cheaper labor in India, China, Czech Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, Puerto Rico etc. Now the cost is less, for now. The quality is questionable (still have to fix and/or complete some of work coming out of those places), and the schedule, while impressive at first, seems to be trending towards the same old (normal) cycle time, or worse. It's now taking ten weeks for one of our new vendor/manufacturersâ off shore entity to inform us that they have questions on the data that was sent to them; the same data that no previous vendors or manufacturers had issues with for the past 25 years. They have never applied any urgency to our low volume orders. It's just a lot worse now. In the electronics industry, changes are inevitable and frequent. And while the changes are mostly absorbed in work done in-house, and the schedule is usually recovered, every minor change effected on work done elsewhere automatically and invariably inflates cost and schedule, exponentially. Such is the nature of the beast! For a while there, it seems that the work that came out of off-shoring, for instance, were done in impressive time, and were of reasonable quality. One could not help but wonder though; how did they do it so quickly? Were they working 24/7? It turned out that they were working 24/7, and were not burdened by the switching over of processes, guidelines checklists, etc. Sadly though, they are not being paid for overtime. But all good things must come to an end after those impressive probationary periods. No need to impress, once the work is secured. And for how long does one feel obligated to be underpaid, or to work overtime without pay, or give in to the pressure to do so, especially with the competitive job market improving in those places? People just aren't staying long enough to become experienced. Oh, but the corporations don't think that experience count for anything anymore. Oh well! So, the cost may still be competitive, for now. The jury is still out on the quality (it takes some time for that to be realized), but the cycle time seems to be falling to more humane and normal levels, given the more humane and normal efforts being applied. Where are we heading with all of this? I recently purchased a Sunbeam Kettle and Toaster. Yes, they were from Walmart, and yes, they are made in China. After a few uses, the kettle leaked half of its content, and the toaster, at max, just doesn't toast. They were competitively priced, but that's about it! We just need to look at the customer service lines at businesses that sell products made offshore, to get an inkling that the wheels and the wagon just may not be heading in the same direction. Saturday, May 14, 2011H How naive are you? China's wages would have to grow more than an order of magnitude or more before they become "expensive". And at that point, the work will just transfer from China to some other country that is cheaper, maybe South Africa or Peru. Whoever is cheapest, that is where the work goes regardless of if they can actually do it or not. Saturday, May 14, 2011 Anybody who's getting ready to celebrate the return of a very small percentage of previously outsourced American manufacturing jobs - either now or by 'Chinese parity' year 2015 - better wake up to the sobering facts: Just before those jobs were eliminated and sent overseas, they paid MIDDLE CLASS, one-earner, family-of-four wages - with great benefits. When/if they come back, those same jobs will pay $14/hour MAX - and MAYBE with mediocre benefits. Saturday, May 14, 2011 I have been with Allied/Honeywell for over 25 years. I would love to leave, but it looks like my age is a hinderance to that. Anyway, yes the company continues to surprise me with dumb decisions. I deal with babysitting engineers from emerging markets. I am also in meetings all the time with VP's of Honeywell. Basically "the emperor has no clothes". They will not admit that there are problems. The emerging markets can do no wrong and the problem is always that it was a 'mis-communication". I would love to be surprised by Honeywell making an intelligent decision about something, but I am not holding my breath. A good friend of mine got to leave the big H after 20 years and now works for a bio-medical firm. Much better environment and a company that thinks it makes sense to have people actually work together. Oh, and they make money and say thank you to the employees with money and just a positive atmosphere. So, my suggestion is to get out if you can. Friday, May 13, 2011 It makes you wonder what would have happened if Honeywell had not spent all that time, effort and money to move the manufacturing to China and had spent those resources on investment in the U.S. in the first place. Honeywell would have been in a fantastic position. They would now have all of the talented engineers that were laid off from rival companies working for them. They would have had a loyal and devoted workforce, modern equipment and a large head start in R&D. In short, they could have conquered the manufacturing market while the other companies are busy trying to acquire what they lost through greed. Unfortunately Honeywell is an "Us Too" company that simply copies the "leadership" of others and, as a result, they are going to spend more time, effort and money to struggle to try and get back what they have lost. It is a classic example of mediocre leadership, inflated ego's, greed and a lack of planning. That is going to be Dave Cote's legacy. Friday, May 13, 2011 This must be why I am still hearing chatter about Honeywell bringing manufacturing for it's US plant customers back to the Houston, TX area. With the rising wages in China, the rising value of China's currency, the growth of their middle class, and the ever rising cost of transporting goods made in China for US markets, the plan to move some manufacturing back to the US is the best news I've heard in a very long time. We also need to stop transporting technology out of the US. A great success story was given by President Obama yesterday. The US has increased it's market share of electric batteries from 2 to 40%. So, "Yes We Can!" if our CEO's let us do it in the USA! Thursday, May 12, 2011
2015 is considered to be the difference point where it will no longer be cheaper for the US to manufacture goods for the US in China. Wednesday, May 11, 2011 May be chickens are finally coming home to roost. I have no feeling of schadenfreude over this, but feel really sad that a company like Honeywell has devolved to this level due to its intentional blindness to the screwed up managers that it has.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 So many people get the "walk of shame " in this place, that it's no longer fun anymore. In the good old days, upper management would make it their personal goal to walk you to the door, and you could take your cup on the way out. This function then became the domain of HR who would at least give you a call after your immediate manager gave you the talk. Terminating a temp was done by someone a little higher than supervisor. Now it's just sad and pitiful. If you are a permanent staff member the managers are nowhere to be seen and some HR person will talk to you on the phone with someone (now its your co-worker or the new kid they brought in to replace you cheap) in there just to make sure you get the hell out. With a temp, they get a call from their agent telling them to vacate the building. Wednesday, May 11, 2011 I left Honeywell Phoenix in 1997 and it was already really screwed up at that point. Multiple levels of useless managers that did nothing but protect their kingdoms. My immediate manager squelched me because I was better than him so I left. Tuesday, May 10, 2011 I have to sympathize with so many of the posts here, because I also know some people who feel like they got a raw deal from Honeywell. My own situation is different though. I worked in manufacturing for Honeywell Canada for 15 years, then moved to Phoenix and worked another 22 years before retiring late last year. I have a great pension, somehow managed to save money and I still have a lot of friends from Honeywell that I socialize with. Retired and golfing in Palm Beach FLA. I don't think Honeywell is any better, or any worse of a company to work for than any other in the US. You just need to be smart about planning for the future. But I do realize everyone is different. Monday, May 9, 2011 That comment about the work atmosphere 15 years ago really hit home. That's exactly how we used to be. We were exceptionally good at our jobs, knew what we had to do and did it. We knew this because our division was very profitable and management told us so. Management provided objectives and turned us loose to accomplish them. Esprit de corps was high. We worked hard, but we had a good time while doing so. Then the bozos took over. We went from being treated like capable professionals who knew how to get results, to being treated like the stuff you scrape off your shoe. Instead of being given objectives and autonomy to accomplish them, we are now told which foot to lift, how high to lift it, and where to set it down. If a shoelace comes untied, approval to re-tie it must go through four levels of management. As often as not, we're told we didn't need the shoelace anyway. But if approval is received, then only the special management-approved knot must be used to re-tie it. Turns out it's a slip-knot so they'll be able to grant approval many more times in the future. Strangely, management has decided that the Chinese are much more capable of tying laces than we are, yet for some reason their shoes keep falling off. At this point management instructs us to teach the Chinese how to tie shoelaces, but the reward for a job well done in this culture is termination. Today, we spend more time fumbling with our shoes than we do solving real problems. Esprit de corps? What's that? Operational efficiency is a fraction of what it was before, but I'm comforted by knowing this must be EXACTLY what management wants, because they alone created this mess. I guess as long as the good times keep rolling in Morristown, who cares? Sunday, May 8, 2011 Appealing to the internal chain of command may be an exercise in futility and frustration, especially if you are on short-term contract. It is hard enough for full-time long term employees to win their case against a bureaucracy totally biased and increasingly discriminating against its employees. This company now views it employees as liabilities and have absolutely no respect for them, and when your immediate manager is even nastier it can be downright disconcerting. Understand that when you criticize an idiot manager, you are in effect criticizing the idiots who are responsible for hiring/promoting him or her, and since this company has now become a dictatorships where criticisms of any kind are absolutely not tolerated, you will be branded a traitor, and if they had their way, be shot. Managers have been forced into submission and cannot rebel and are left to take out their frustration on targeted employees. Ironically, while your manager can treat you unfairly, you cannot reciprocate against him or her, but you can against the company by changing your attitude towards your work. So the company suffers for the manager's indiscretion and the managers don't give a damn one way or another, except to have more reason to screw you over. Sunday, May 8, 2011 Better yet let Phoenix media know that you are being bullied at work. Bring in your religious organization, civil rights organizations - the works. Teach this bully a lesson he will never forget. And make some money off of their illegal behavior towards you. Sunday, May 8, 2011 - Re: Threatening supervisor: Tell the supervisor that you'll let the CEO & BOD know he is threatening you. Bring it up to legal resources both inside & outside the company. Don't let this bully push you around. Sunday, May 8, 2011 I am a contract employee at Honeywell. I am halfway through my 1 year contract. As more people quit, not only in my division but also other divisions, I am being told to take on their work. I currently doing three separate jobs and am being told by my supervisor that if my pace doesn't pick up I will be let go. Truth being told that's probably the best thing that could happen to me at this point. Sunday, May 8, 2011 I have decided that my health is worth more than working another 5 years at Honeywell. I have set my exit date, contacted the people in Morris Town, and if all goes as planned I'll be out of here before the 4th of July. Of course, I will give them about the same notice they would have given me. I am not telling my supervisor, or anyone else. Will be my July surprise. I will make sure I have removed all my tools and my papers and then just leave for the day and have it all setup for the next day to take my last floating holiday. I'll just come in that day to go right to HR and sign the papers and never look back. I will be so much better off than this stress on a day to day basis. I have looked into retirement South of the Border. I can live real good on my pension and my dividends from the financial company I moved my Honeywell funds into. People, be informed: You do NOT have to be 59.5 to take some, about 50%, of your 401K out and roll it into a group fund that will pay almost double the dividends you have been getting from Honeywell. Talk to a financial adviser. If you are over 59.5 you can pull out like 99% of the money in your 401K and get it into something safer than just the one high risk of H/W. I'm now into like 40 different company funds and my dividend checks have almost doubled. DO NOT leave all your eggs in the leaking H/W basket. The stock looks great and has been going up, but there are way too many rocks in the road and the H/W basket is made of glass. I so wish that thousands of H/W workers would pull their money out of the plan. That would send them a message, maybe! Oh well, my pain and stress will be over in about 6 more weeks and I will only miss the good times from about 10 or 15 years ago when we did not do any of this stuff and got out about double the amount of work we are getting out now. The people were hard workers but we had fun and still got the work done on time. I used to really like my job, and liked to build and fix things. But it is so screwed up that you just can't do a honest days work anymore! We fought over the years to do our jobs better and faster until we have nothing left and they say, "Why aren't you making the numbers?" It's kind of like the old Cheech and Chong skit where the Gestapo agent is asking the (old man) to (sign the papers) and the old man keeps saying, "I cannot sign the papers." And the agent says, "It is ok, just sign the papers! The papers only say that you have not been mistreated." Again the old man says, "I cannot sign the papers." And Gestapo agent screams at him and asks, "And why can you NOT sign the papers?" And the old man looks up with tears in his eyes and says, "Because you have broken both of my hands." And there you have it, in a nut shell! This is the hardest decision I will have even made. NOT the leaving H/W, I can see that very clearly now. If I don't get out of here soon I will just keep getting sicker, mentally as well as physically. Because I am leaving a few years early I really can't afford to retire here in the USA. I have traveled much and really enjoy the people and the climate away from this stress. It's so laid back and relaxed South of here. No, not Mexico - way South of there, like Panama, Peru or Chile, even the North East coast of Argentina, or South coast of Uruguay. Easy living and so reasonable to live there. So they don't have a circle K on every corner and you don't have 10 or 20 different types of breads to choose from in a store. Lots of retired Americans down south! Life is just so low key and I AM READY! As Arnold said: "Hasta la vista baby (and) I WON'T be back!" :) Thursday, May 5, 2011 The Naked Truth: If you haven't yet figured this out, Honeywell is NOT an engineering company. There are only approximately 19,000 engineers out of a total of 140,000 or so employees. Honeywell exists merely to perpetuate the careers of bull*** spewing, technically incompetent and largely sociopathic managers. Your career is deader than bin Laden if you remain on the "technical track" at HON. Thursday, May 5, 2011 - to the person who posted about their father who retired: Do you think that anyone at Honeywell gives a flip about your parents? No, they don't. They use people and discard them when they are done. Sorry this happened to you, but this is what the USA has become a country controlled by corporate CEO's, just like Oligarchs control Russia. There is no difference. People do not matter to Honeywell. Profits, dividends and reports to the shareholders are all that matter. Wednesday, May 4, 2011 My father retired from Honeywell 7 years ago after working for Honeywell for 30 years. He retired earlier than he wanted to, so he could keep his pension and retiree benefits including medical benefits for his family. He was told that both he and my mother would be covered until they were eligible for Medicare. Well, now he's about to turn 65 but my mother won't be 65 for another 6 years. Now they're being told that as soon as he turns 65, he'll be eligible for Medicare and she'll be able to keep her benefits (as a courtesy to him as a Honeywell retiree) for only $750 a month. Of course all of the money he lost out of his 401K and company stock could have paid the premiums but since that is all gone I can only assume that my mother will have to try to get Medicaid (although in Arizona she probably won't be able to get anything) due to her ill health. Thanks Honeywell for taking such good care of people who worked for you. By the way, my mother also worked for Honeywell for 20 years before being laid off. Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Our corporate and political leaders are the ones responsible for carefully guiding us into the worst recession ever, due to their short sightedness, selfishness, greed and just plain stupidity. They got away with it and are even rewarding themselves now. And while they survived and, mostly, fully recovered, the rest of us are still suffering. Now they are on the direct path to finishing the job and taking the corporations down with them this time! History has shown that most of these geniuses don't learn from past mistakes, but only keep introducing newer and more devastating ones to the mix. The growing dependency on foreign "everything" (oil, money, labor) seems like the smartest way to facilitate that end, i.e. "the end of America". U.S. corporations think of out-sourcing and off-shoring as the miracle drug that can cure all of their ills. But all drugs have side effects, and sometimes the side effects can cause several other symptoms in the drug taker. And like some drugs, the side effects of the dependence on foreign "everything" may not be immediate or temporary, but may have more lasting and devastating consequences. Let's hope that they change their prescription before it's too late. But, no matter how bad it gets, those leaders have more than enough money to survive any storm and live happily ever after and thus, no need to worry about anything, especially the future. Besides, share holders don't care about what these leaders can do for them in the future. They are basically day traders. Wednesday, May 4, 2011 I know that our political leaders are definitely stupid. On the other hand I know that our corporate leaders are EVIL to do this to their own country. The Evil corporate leaders control the stupid political leaders. Puppets on a string, lemmings to do their bidding, patsies for the shareholder dividends. The worst part of all this is that we the US citizens have been letting this happen. Tuesday, May 3, 2011 We seem to think that companies are just unconscionably sending their work abroad, and ought to stop doing that; but it is not that simple. They are doing it because they are getting the work done elsewhere for a fraction of the cost to the company. Once they got a taste of it, there is no stopping or turning back, despite the risks or long term consequences. If India and China can find somewhere else to get the work done for a fraction of the cost, they will be sending the work to those places as well. But those countries are also engaging in anti-patriotic and anti-employee practices in their own way by using foreign labor in their effort to save money. They are using and abusing foreign workers under the guise of shortage of skilled labor, when in fact those foreign workers are really just cheaper labor, or slave labor with no rights. So, while U.S. corporations are outsourcing their work to cheaper labor to cut cost, those cheaper entities are further exploiting even cheaper labor entities. Honeywell outsources to Celestica, then Celestica outsources to Asia, and the Asians use slave labor. In the mean time, the quality of the work is relative to what they are paying. The big difference in the N.American application of this strategy is that quality, schedule, customer satisfaction, respect of employees, employee loyalty, etc. does not matter at all anymore! High-tech workers are given the same considerations as call-center workers. You will find that defect and return rate of low tech or consumer products made in China are extremely high, but still cost effective for companies because of the very low cost of labor. And having to repair or replace products several times may still be cost effective, but at the cost of all else, especially customer satisfaction. Corporations donât care about all else. And the strategy behind the corporations' efforts is if there are laws in the area that you operate that limits the amount of abuse you can inflict on your employees. So then, open shop in areas where there are no laws, or little or no employee protection. Some vibes coming from some of those off-shore entities seem to indicate that Honeywell may be also starting to export their abusive ways to those employees as well. Remember that the customers are cost cutting too and expect their products and services for less, and may not realize that along with their schedule compromises they may be unwittingly compromising on quality, etc. i.e. until the planes start falling out of the skies. We, ourselves, are now purchasing lower quality products to save money, or willing to wait a little longer to get something for less, or shopping around for cheaper services. Unfortunately, such is the corporate world. Never mind that their standards should be much higher as they may be dealing in critical, sensitive and high-risk products. They have now basically lowered the standards on everything to kettles and toasters. Remember when the standards of our products for military applications were much higher than that for commercial applications? Then they lowered it to commercial level to reduce cost. Now they have lowered everything a few more notches down. The foreign entities will slowly get better and better, but they will most certainly be getting more expensive even more rapidly. It's called supply-and-demand, combined with that stubborn human trait called greed. So, where is all of this leading to? They are leading to the fall of the American empire. The growing dependency on foreign labor and on foreign money, together with the growing addiction to foreign oil (we haven't learned anything from the oil dependency) should put us squarely in the cross-hairs of the entities that are anxious to witness our downfall, even if it will take them down with us. They can survive in mud shelters and on rice, like they have before. Can we? China is holding about $1.2 trillion of U.S. debt. In fact, foreign countries are holding about $4.5 trillion, or over 30% of U.S. debt. You don't need a degree in economics to appreciate the future implications; you only need to be stupid, like our political and corporate leaders. Tuesday, May 3, 2011 From the Emerson blog, I couldn't have said it any better myself: Ego leads to the ultimate destruction of empires. This piece says it all.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 Tax them the same way they tax us. How about doing the Brazilian protectionist thing? Works for them, why not for US? Tuesday, May 3, 2011 What you ask for would require leadership from the top. The type of leadership that would not allow CEO's to dictate US policy. We haven't elected such a person yet. Monday, May 2, 2011 David Farr at Emerson does the same exact thing. Come to think of it, so do all US CEO's. Why? Because they are allowed to get away with it. Friday, April 29, 2011 Not hiring foreigners would lead to layoffs from companies who hire in the US but are not US companies. However, this is what we can do. We can say that if you want to have your CEO, executives or any of your Board of Directors resident in the USA then you must have more than 50% of your employees also resident in the USA. For every percentage point above that quota we will add one percentage point "overseas tax" to the total compensation of the CEO and other directors. So, if your CEO or any executive is resident in the USA and you have 55% non USA resident workers we will charge every executive an extra 5% "overseas tax" on their total compensation package. Sunday, May 1, 2011 Here is Dave Cote's business model: Honeywell is providing security systems and state-of-the-art refining technologies (Via British divisions) to the Arak refinery in Iran. Thr Irainian Revolutionary Guard operates and directly benefits from this revenue; it "owns" this Company. The State Depatrment has labeled them a "terrorist" organization. The IRG directly provides training and materials for terrorist groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. These groups, in turn, kill American servicemen and women. Honeywell (Dave) sells the Department of Defence body armor, aircraft engines and weapon systen enhancements, logistics etc. to the tune of 13 Billion. Talk about a "sustainable business model" - this is it! Dave likely doesn't even know a young man or women that is in harms way, no child of his or his circle defends the country, they only exploit for their personal gain. With every soldier that dies, the cash register rings for Dave CA-Ching!. He is "our presidents favorite CEO". Where have we gone wrong? Thursday, April 28, 2011 I take this all a step further - don't hire any foreigners period. No foreign CEO's, etc. no foreign engineers. The USA has plenty of people that can do the job; we don't need any non-citizens in US corporations. This has to be a part of our changes to make sure we the USA survives. Thursday, April 28, 2011 I say vote out every incumbent. Elect people that will eliminate & ban PAC's and lobbyists. It's that simple. They work for us. Also, it is very easy to organize successful & effective consumer boycotts on US corporations that continue to outsource. Don't get mad at these political and corporate scoundrels. GET EVEN. Wednesday, April 27, 2011 The reason people are not using their voting power is because they are too easily sidetracked by the partisan rhetoric spewing from the State and national capitols. Think about it - every time a voter buys into the Democrat/Republican finger-pointing game, politicians in both parties breathe a sigh of relief because the spotlight shifts off of them and onto the nameless faceless "thems" of the other party. If voters would focus like a laser beam on results instead of promises, this could end within 6 years, the time it would take to replace all US Senators and Reps. Fail to show concrete progress to eliminate offshoring? Then BAM! Next election cycle those politicians are gone. Everyone else's performance is measured by results, not their ability to bounce babies and pose for photo ops. Why should politicians be treated any differently? Voters need to recognize that the massive loss of jobs is the root cause of most of the misery. Forget about the distractions and side issues; clamp down on corporations and fix the jobs issue, and many of the other problems will take care of themselves and fade into the background. A starting place would be to vote out any politician who accepts PAC money from multinational corporations and corporate officers. Tuesday, April 26, 2011 I agree that we the voters do have the power but for some reason people are not using the power. I think that we should vote out every single incumbent, enact the prohibition of PAC'S, lobbyists & hedge funds. Enough is enough. US CEO's have DESTROYED our country, how much longer are we going to sit back and take it? I also agree that both parties are the same. All corporations contribute to both parties and that corporations tell the politicians how things will be done. Revolution anyone? Tuesday, April 26, 2011 As I see it, 90% of the US domestic problems that dominate the news can be traced back to US multinationals' offshoring practices. Millions of jobs have been lost, the tax base is destroyed, communities and states face hundreds of millions of dollars in budget shortfalls, which have led to cuts in education and public safety, as well as proposed cuts in the present and future benefits of programs like Medicare. The globals have the politicians---Democrats and Republicans alike---squarely in their pockets, so meaningful legislative action is unlikely. It's hard to take Obama seriously when he names Immelt to lead his so-called economic advisory committee. Tragically, US-based multinationals have a long reach, and the same ruinous practices implemented in the US also decimated the economies of other countries, too. Except, of course, China and India, and the CEO's bank accounts. The endless discussions in DC and state capitols revolving around budget cuts and tax increases are nothing more than distractions; red herrings to divert attention away from the root cause. Namely, the politicians' failure to enact legislation which would restrict the globals' ability to ruin national economies. A cooperative effort among western governments to curtail such practices and enforce the duty of globals to behave as responsible corporate citizens wherever they are represented, might have prevented the current meltdown. The cynical practice of buying good will by occasionally scattering a handful of dollars around charitable organizations hardly qualifies as good citizenship when one considers the damage done by shipping millions of jobs overseas. A fringe benefit might be that pirates and plunderers like Cote and Immelt could no longer exploit their employees while elevating themselves like royalty. An informed voter is the best, and very likely the only, defense against the globals. But the battle against them won't be quick, and it won't be easy. Then again, if those who have lost their jobs would unite into a voting bloc, the results could be impressive. Demand action from your legislators, and replace them if they fail to produce. Tuesday, April 26, 2011 Saw this on the Emerson blog, it's a MUST read:
IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end So when will each one of us stand up to become a patriot for a protectionist nation? It's all about the USA being a "corporatism". Corporate Oligarchs that only care about pennnies versus being a patriot. So when the US oligarch "corporatisms" leaders be held up for what they have done to our country for the almighty profit to the shareholders. Monday, April 25, 2011 Yes , Cote would get a bonus and accolades no matter what he does, great point! Will Honeywell take part in this event?
U.S. manufacturing is in crisis, with almost 6 million jobs and 42,000 factories closed over the prior decade. Even worse, we are losing know-how and, ultimately, control over our future. While the U.S. retains important strengths, U.S. manufacturing competitiveness is slipping rapidly. There is no reason to resign ourselves to defeat or to sugarcoat the challenges we face. We possess the tools, talent, and resources to revive manufacturing. But to do so we need a national strategy for manufacturing renewal. This is the message of a new report ITIF will release on Tuesday, April 26, called, "The Case for a National Manufacturing Strategy." The report will explain the five key reasons why we need to act quickly and boldly to revitalize our manufacturing sector. Please join us for this important and thought-provoking discussion on the urgent but winnable battle to restore U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Monday, April 25, 2011 - "It's a classical management move that is so predictable." Indeed. But you left out the part where Cote is then hailed as a corporate genius and is awarded another bonus. That's also very predictable. He ought to be tried for treason instead. Sunday, April 24, 2011 USA needs to do what Brazil is doing. It's called preservation, protectionism and common sense. Sunday, April 24, 2011 Cote will blame and fire someone to justify bringing back some manufacturing to the US. It's a classical management move that is so predictable. Saturday, April 23, 2011 - Strip-mining American Jobs It is time to apply the standard of patriotism to the U.S. multinational corporations and demand that they pledge allegiance to the United States and "the Republic for which is stands. with liberty and justice for all." This July 4, 2011 would be good day for Americans to demand such a corporate commitment. Born and chartered in the U.S.A., these corporations rose to their giant size on the backs of American workers and vast taxpayer-subsidized research and development handouts. When they got into trouble, whether through mismanagement or corruption, these companies rushed to Washington, D.C. for bailouts from American taxpayers. When some were challenged in foreign lands, the U.S. marines came to their rescue, as depicted decades ago by two-time Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Marine General Smedley Butler. So what is their message to America and its workers now? It is not gratitude or loyalty. It is "we're outta here, with your jobs and industries" to dictatorial or oligarchic regimes abroad, such as China, that know how to keep their impoverished, and abused workers under control. Note that these company bosses have no compunction replacing U.S. workers with serf-labor, but they never replace themselves with bi-lingual executives from China, India and elsewhere who are willing to work for one-tenth or less of the huge pay packages executives get from their rubber-stamp boards of directors in the U.S. Just this week, the Wall Street Journal headlined "Big U.S. Firms Shift Hiring Abroad." Veteran reporter, David Wessel writes: "U.S. multinational corporations, the big brand-name companies that employ a fifth of all American workers, have been hiring abroad while cutting back at home, sharpening the debate over globalization's effect on the U.S. economy. The companies cut their work forces in the U.S. by 2.9 million during the 2000s while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million, new data from the U.S. Commerce Department show." While Mr. Wessel acknowledges that other economies, especially in Asia, are growing rapidly, he noted that "The data also underscore the vulnerability of the U.S. economy, particularly at a time when unemployment is high and wages aren't increasing." Keep in mind that, while receiving all the public services, subsidies and protections in this country, large corporations have been abandoning America by shifting jobs overseas and by making our country perilously and unnecessarily dependent on foreign governments that naturally put their own interests first. For example, the drug companies no longer have any plant in the U.S. to manufacture essential raw ingredients for important antibiotics like penicillin. In 2004, Bristol-Myers Squibb closed the last such factory in East Syracuse, N.Y. The drug industry always made lots of money here. One of every two Americans are on a prescription medicine. But the pharmaceutical companies want to make more so they have moved their production to Asia. In 2009, The New York Times reported that "the critical ingredients for most antibiotics are now made almost exclusively in China and India. The same is true for dozens of other crucial medicines, including the popular allergy medicine prednisone; metformin, for diabetes; and amlodipine, for high blood pressure. This flight to Asia raises serious questions. Senator Sherrod Brown (Dem. Ohio) held hearings because he accurately believed that "the lack of regulation around outsourcing is a blind spot that leaves room for supply disruptions, counterfeit medicines, even bioterrorism." Industrial scale production of Penicillin was developed by the U.S. war production board in World War II and many drug companies made it in U.S. plants, until the Chinese government lured the industry there with many freebies and weak safety regulations. A few years ago 95 Americans died from a Chinese produced counterfeit ingredient in the drug heparin, an anticlotting drug needed for surgery and dialysis. As Belgium drug industry consultant, Enrico Polastro, told The New York Times: "If China ever got very upset with President Obama, it could be a big problem." The Times concluded: "So for now, like it or not, China has the upper hand." Who gave China that dominant position? U.S. multinational drug companies, who along with other big U.S. companies, pushed through Congress, with Bill Clinton's support, ratification of both NAFTA's and the World Trade Organization's "pull down" trade agreements. They created the very globalized structure that they now claim they are beholden to in order to meet the global competition. Clever, aren't they? Other unpatriotic acts include the oil companies who, despite being given a rich oil depletion tax allowance to invest in energy in the U.S., invested in oil production overseas. The U.S. is now dependent on foreign sources for most of its petroleum. Don't forget the military-industrial giants that thrive on U.S. military expansion abroad and sell modern weapons to many dictatorial regimes which they use to oppress their people and endanger our own national security. U.S. multinationals that export jobs abroad, show too little regard for our country, or to the U.S. communities that sustained them for decades. Greedy corporate lobbyists continue to press for more privileges and immunities, over those held by real humans, so as to be less accountable under U.S. law for corporate crimes and other mis-behaviors. If U.S. companies continue to expand their rights of personhood through U.S. Supreme Court's political decisions (eg. the latest being the notorious 5 to 4 Citizens United case opening up the floodgates of corporate cash against or for electoral candidates), then, they should be judged as "persons" and evaluated for their loyalty to their country of creation. Since corporations are clearly "artificial" entities and not real human beings, narrower civil liberties standards can be applied to the impersonal and massive concentrations of power, capital and technology known as corporations Independence Day July 4th presents an opportunity for a national attention to the need for calling out these runaway corporate giants who exploit for profit the patriotic sensibilities of Americans, but decline to be held any patriotic expectations or values. Friday, April 22, 2011 Cote will form it in a spin-doctor statement generated by some MBA . Friday, April 22, 2011 In order for some manufacturing to come back to the US, Cote would have to admit that he made a mistake; admit that what he's been pumping for the last 10 years has been mostly raw sewage. What are the chances? Thursday, April 21, 2011 Come on, someone has to know what is going on. Is some manufacturing coming back to Houston? Thursday, April 21, 2011
Some companies are moving manufacturing back to the USA, due to several factors. including control, and costs. But they neglected to mention another major reason: counterfeiting in China.
Are big businesses next? When will Honeywell announce some of their moves back to the USA? Thursday, April 21, 2011 - Re: "This would be great news considering" Considering what? Maybe some manufacturing will come back to US. But do not be fooled by the Al-Lied Signal (Honeywell) traditional approach. They might bring back some manufacturing, but after the problems are resolved over seas and they can start meeting their shipment objectives reliably, then what they brought back will disappear in a heart beet and they will toss out the US worker on the street just as fast as they can. Don't believe me? What has Al-Lied been doing for the last 5 years? Wednesday, April 20, 2011 It's not just that application - I heard chatter about some DCS manufacturing being brought back to Texas. Anyone else hearing this? Wednesday, April 20, 2011 There is lots of chatter around several sites about outsourced products being brought back in-house. In the case of the Phoenix site, one reason for this chatter could be this recent article.
If you are well versed in the company's BS, you realize that quality is definitely 50% or more of the problem. Tuesday, April 19, 2011 That would be great news considering
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 I hear some highly credible internal chatter about Honeywell bringing some outsourced manufacturing back to the Houston area. Anyone else hearing the same? Tuesday, April 19, 2011 Where can I get a copy of Honeywell's new Severance Plan Policy? Monday, April 18, 2011 While union representation has its pros and cons, the next best thing is "solaridity" amongst employees. For instance: when the 10% salary cut was announced, the best course of action would have been for everyone to get up and walk out the door en mass. Of course that would have required some coordination, but mostly a lot of buy-in. But I feel that it could have been done soon after, and it might have had majority, if not total support, and it certainly would have sent a strong message to the company, and would have empowered other employees. And, no individuals would have been targeted for vindictive reprisal. This strategy would not have worked had things been really bad with the company (in fact it might have been to their benefit). But the fact that we were busy when they blind-sided us with the surprise attack would have made it a feasible counter attack. By accepting the first cut without much rebellion we empowered the company beyond measure, and that resulted in the extension of the cut, the implementation of the furlough, the continued devastation of our benefits, and the reduced salary increases, and worst of all, given them the power to do it all over again, any time in the future, on a whim, and for any reason they may choose as an excuse. It is also possible that they were expecting more of a reaction, and as a result of the lack of protestation; they were emboldened to do it again. Let's not forget the mitigating fact that the cut was made after every things was clearly on the road to recovery, nor the fact that the extension of the cut and the furlough was implemented when everything had gotten a lot better. For that reason, they can choose to do it again at any time, and we will be partly to blame the next time. Most, if not all of us, would have understood the need for the cuts, had they been done 6 months or a year earlier when they would have been justified and warranted, as things were bad, not so much for the company as a whole, but some sites were slow. Would the counter attack have been worth the effort? It might seem so. Based on these afterthoughts, we can be more prepared the next time they come to knock us over from behind and steal from us. They may be strategizing as we sleep. Suggestions were made for people to call in sick, take stress leave, etc., and some may have done so, but the impact of that strategy is minimal to negligible and may have made those individuals attractive targets for reprisal. The "solidarity" play is the ticket! Let's be prepared and be assertive next time. It is our right! Monday, April 18, 2011 - WYSIWYG Yes. Become inactive. but stay just barely with a pulse to avoid being pushed to the "outer-L". Now is a good time to find a good job, while you still have time on your side. Sunday, April 17, 2011 I say, don't stop reading this blog, and don't look for another job, especially if you are beyond hiring age. But, do take action by becoming inactive. That seems to be the only viable option the company has left us with to compensate ourselves for decades of loyalty and dedication. Otherwise, exercise your legal options. Friday, April 15, 2011 Totally agree with the advice to consult with an attorney prior to being axed. I didn't, and wish I had. First, if possible try to mentally prepare yourself for the "event." When it happens you will most likely be in a state of shock and your mind won't be working normally. Expect to be treated coldly and impersonally. Like an animal on the way to slaughter, you are suddenly in a situation over which it appears you have no control. But you still have some, so be ready to use it. Second, Honeywell expects and capitalizes on the employee being shellshocked when they shove a bunch of paperwork at you for a signature. DON'T SIGN ANYTHING regardless of what they tell you. Don't volunteer any information. Don't say anything unless it is to inform them that you're not signing and when do they need the paperwork returned? Chances are they'll balk and complain, but stand your ground. Termination proceedings are carefully choreographed to get what THEY want. Don't give it to them. You relinquish a lot of control when you hand over a signed document. Third, consult your attorney again if you wish. If not, don't be bashful about crossing out and editing in your own severance terms instead of blindly accepting theirs. Be aggressive. It's a negotiation. In the end, you'll still be kicked out the door but at least you'll be giving some push-back. Fourth, remember that it's not your fault. Honeywell is completely screwed up top to bottom. It's become a place where the abnormal has become the normal. Where independent thought is discouraged and only the sycophants, backstabbers, BS'ers, and yes-men seem to survive and prosper. Where being an employee means being willing to suffer death by a thousand cuts. You didn't bargain for this when you took the job, did you? Longterm exposure absolutely damages one's mental health. Your outlook on life and inner peace and happiness can only improve once you put Honeywell in your rearview mirror and find a more wholesome place to work. Friday, April 15, 2011 Excellent advice - if you can't beat then join them & beat them with their own unethical moves. This story needs to go to national media for exposure. Not all's well at Honeywell. Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Some advice: Stop reading this blog --Take action, get a new job at a better company. This is a hopeless situation. Before you give notice, get at least a couple of hours consultation with an attorney, preferably one who is experienced in employment law and civil rights. Even better, if you know anyone who is a professional HR specialist (not Honeywell), talk to them about how to lay out your case. Believe me, they absolutely know what is going on. What HON is doing with the 9-block, bad reviews out of nowhere, picking on the higher paid and older workforce, PIP's, mental harassment, etc. is stupid, but it is not illegal (in the USA). There is no law against stupidity. However, there may be some tactics you can use in your personal situation, depending on how egregious and what state you live in. You work for the money, nothing more. Get the hell out and try to maximize your sanity and keep your own personal goals in mind. Good Luck ! Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Amen to the last post. They are all dumb idiots. Every single one of them. And it's no different at the competition. If you don't believe me go look at their blogs. I really think that MBA's, or should I say MBS-ers, are at the root cause of all of these problems. My head wants to explode from all of this insanity. Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - To the last person who posted on 12th April: Stupid management and brown-nosing is just as bad in Prague, that it just makes me want to walk around the office carrying a bucket in case I ever need to puke. It is a miracle I lasted over 3 years there, and I'm just glad to be leaving soon, as I really do have the stupidest manager imaginable. I reckon over 90% of Prague employees are so fed up. I know for sure that all of my close colleagues are. But it just seems as hard to find a job in Europe at the moment as it does in the US. This is the worst company I have ever worked for and I will definitely never even think of approaching huge corporations for employment again. I could add more horror stories about Honeywell in Prague, and probably will in the future, but for now it's time for dinner and then watching some football (or what you guys call soccer). Wednesday, April 13, 2011 in my 25 years at Honeywell, I've come to the conclusion that it is run just as good as our federal government. Or should I say just as bad. Tuesday, April 12, 2011 With over 25 years of working for H/W under my belt, I can 100% say I have never, never worked for a more F'd up company in all my life! I am doing everything I can to get away very very soon, or I will go insane or I will have to take a 2x4 to one of their stupid heads! The sheer stupidity of management and some of the brown-nosers is way beyond belief. Do they really think all the everyday and most times 2 or 3 times a day meetings and the bosses looking at all those stupid boards with the ever growing charts and graphs is really going to make the average Joe worker really try harder ? How many little dumb ass fresh college kids have they hired, at about 40 to 50K each, to think up this B/S. They seem to come up with something more stupid every day. And now the newest thing to label damm near everything that does not move, and more tape on the floor and around all work area's. I swear they are doing everything they can to make us fail so they can say, well you can't get out enough work so we are moving it to China, or Mexico, or The Czech Republic. I hear there are BIG warehouses down in Mexico full of parts the were produced down there that will never make it here because they are so screwed up that about all that can be done with them is to melt them down and maybe start over. We keep waiting and waiting for good parts, and I have also gotten some new parts that were made by a new vendor that some of the operations were skipped and then they told me to build it with that part. Can't understand why someone has not gone (over the edge) yet and had a major fight with one of the bosses that are pushing this! I just hope I am not near when the poor guy snaps! I can not see this going on much longer. The one time a while ago then people started really getting mad and they started talking about a union - wow the company really straightened up their act quick, of course times were better and people were not so worried about finding another job like now. So the only way to help yourself is to get away, retire early if you can, never give up hope that there is not a good job out there if you just keep looking and applying. Do not give up. Tuesday, April 12, 2011 The Honeywell managers would do well to understand organizational anti-patterns. A good summary can be found in this wikepedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-pattern
Cash cow: A profitable legacy product that often leads to complacency about new products Design by committee: The result of having many contributors to a design, but no unifying vision Escalation of commitment: Failing to revoke a decision when it proves wrong Management by perkele: Authoritarian style of management with no tolerance of dissent Matrix Management: Unfocused organizational structure that results in divided loyalties and lack of direction Moral hazard: Insulating a decision-maker from the consequences of his or her decision Mushroom management: Keeping employees uninformed and misinformed (kept in the dark and fed manure), let to stew, and finally canned. Stovepipe or Silos: A structure that supports mostly up-down flow of data but inhibits cross organizational communication Saturday, April 9, 2011 Tough to prove age discrimination. The company will drag out the process as long as possible, and is not afraid to engage the courts. Historically, on the Bendix/Allied Signal side, the company has lost several age discrimination suits. It does not stop it. Age does not seem to be the driver; it is salary level. Of course, age seems to track right in there with it. There are two primary drivers in the selection process. (1) The position has been eliminated. This is often known well in advance by the management, and individuals may be moved into the position specifically to be the target to be let go. Generally for higher salary positions, i.e. also older. (2) The 9-Block outer elbow. Okay, there will be a few on the outer elbow because they just belong there, and should probably be let go. However, there is also frequent mandates to managers to have a specific percentage of their staff on the outer elbow, and often are told who they are by next level up that have no idea what these employees do or how well they do it. Strictly dictated based on salary. This puts that individual on the path out the door. Anyone that finds themselves there shoud be preparing for their next employer. These people are almost always at the highest salary level for their grade, coincidentally the older employee. So, you have a high salary and poor performance history as the reason for termination, not age. Friday, April 8, 2011 Age discrimination is definitely cleverly disguised as the earlier post stated. The company's loss in a multi-million dollar age discrimination suit a few years back taught them to be more careful. As the product lines were transitioned to Mexico and the Czech Republic there was much scrambling among the employees to bid on the remaining posted openings. All of these went almost exclusively to younger employees with those age 55 and over not even getting the courtesy of a sham phone interview. Another odd thing we observed were job postings would suddenly be yanked from the list. Were they not getting the "right" kind of applicants? I doubt those positions went unfilled. Friday, April 8, 2011 Is age a common thread? I think so. But HR is shrewd and takes pains to be sure the terminations do not have that appearance. At our location, Hon can't move production lines to China fast enough. Every time a line leaves, so do hourly jobs. The age distribution of the lost hourly jobs is all over the place and appears random. But into that mix they slip in exempt employees, most of whom had no relationship with the lost production line, and most of whom are around 60. It's almost never young exempts. HR proudly provides terminated employees with paperwork showing the ages of those terminated in an attempt to "prove" no one was singled out by age. But the pattern is undeniable: After years of moving jobs to China, the average age of the remaining exempt employees is younger.An HR VP somewhere probably received a bonus for this ploy. Thursday, April 7, 2011 Hi everyone, I have a friend who has been a long-time Honeywell employee, 30 years, I believe. He is going through similar experiences that I've read about on this site. He'd like to get some sort of "cashout", but that sounds laughable given what I've read, with no union, no professional contracts and no civil service protections. He's 62 and wonders where he could find work in Arizona or New Mexico, someplace better than H-Well. Any suggestions? Thanks and good luck to all of you. I've recently gone through something like this at work where I got sick enough to take a leave of absence, where management was more than willing to grind employees into the dirt. Just a suggestion: Is age a common thread here? Thursday, March 31, 2011 I'm the first post on March 21st, and I seem to have triggered a landslide of comments. It's a small consolation to know that this is a problem for other people all around Honeywell, because when you can't complain to your boss, their boss, HR, or anywhere in the food chain, you truly feel alone. During the last few months of my stay they hired in a new leader who had been in the consulting business for a large number of years, and immediately I heard whispering from the middle managers that she should "learn her place" and "shut up and fall in line". I don't think she signed up for this, and if she's smart, she'll bail out eventually as well. The grass IS greener on the other side. Rarely - but in the case of my leaving Honeywell, it definitely holds true. Wednesday, March 30, 2011 I just can't beleive all the negative things I'm reading on this log. I've been here at Honey(not-so)well for 10 years now and would never have beleived any of this stuff if I hadn't been here to see it all for my self.
HR is there to protect the company not the employees. FACT Hours and hours of time is wasted, spent drawing lines on the floor and hanging charts on the wall, ZERO Value added, Zero revenue generated. Has the HOS "Virus" attacked accounting? I'm sure these people would like an explanation of all the down time. Maybe Cote is trying to get a tax exempt status for Honeywell, like the one GE got. Now that things have "changed", maybe GE is going to buy Honeywell again. Honeywell can't keep going down this road without some kind of consequence. Wednesday, March 30, 2011 I was with Honeywell for 11 years and, in spite of having great annual reviews for those eleven years, decided to retire prematurely in order to relieve myself of the constant tyranny of management. The latest guy was a narcisstic PhD who, in spite of his inability to listen and ruthless behavior, was selected for a senstive role in the operations function (ISC) and has now been yanked because of his absolute inability to motivate people. There are very few leaders in Honeywell, by anyone's definition, and it's still the Larry Bossidy/Jack Welch Allied Signal school of intimdation. These comments are based on my experience as a senior person with hands-on experience in three of the four SBG's. Now that the economy is turning around, good people are leaving for assuredly greener pastures (as benefits also continue to be cut) and those in charge are left wondering where the dedication went. Duuuhhhh. Monday, March 28, 2011 To all current Honeywell employees: If you have any residual respect for yourself, the only rational action for you to take is to leave the company. Otherwise, continue to wallow in self-loathing until you die or are committed to a mental institution.
Sincerely, Sunday, March 27, 2011 - To the March 24 poster who said, "HR and management may have become one and the same.": "MAY" have? Don't delude yourself that HR has ANY interest in the employees' concerns or point of view. Their only mission is to keep the company out of legal trouble while ensuring that the workforce continues to receive the minimum pay and benefits possible. If you think otherwise you're living in the past. To 'git 'er done' they have no compunction about making misleading statements, if not outright lies. They get away with this because:
Sunday, March 27, 2011 Managers sleep very well at night as they have had their conscience removed (some may hay had very little or none to start with). Either that, or some may have gone borderline insane, like the leadership. I can think of one who has certainly lost it, poor fellow. They seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that if you can't beat them (the upper-management mental cases) you might as well join them; a very sad choice indeed, especially for the devastating impact on rest of us. You cannot reason, in the least, with some managers now as they have become totally irrational! They seem to understand much, much less now about our work, or most certainly don't seem, or don't care, to appreciate the unnecessary and insane multiplied increase in complexity and insanity and thereby, the reason for the increased cycle time. Or, all of their efforts and focus are exclusively directed at servicing and satisfying the asylum inmates above them. Some managers used to appreciate and understood a lot more, or a little more, than they did before the upper-management terrorism started. Some managers seem to have become solely bonus-driven mercenaries and are totally oblivious to, or immune to all else. Perhaps they are using the repressed emotion method to deal with the insane directions they are forced to follow, becoming emotionless robots as the only way to afford them some sleep. The rest of us aren't afforded that luxury. As for concerning themselves with respect from their slaves, the choice is rather simple, and human: respect, or money (bonuses)? And while us working stiffs go home and take our frustrations out on our family, cats, dogs, or what have you, our managers have the envious luxury of taking it all out on us and saving their family, as do their managers on them. It always sucks to be at the bottom of the food chain, now, in this insane world, more than ever! It is us employees against them, all level of managers. Absolutely no buffers left in between. God, please save us from the ship of fools! Saturday, March 26, 2011 I often wonder: How do Honeywell managers sleep at night? Are they proud of themselves? Do they avoid mirrors? They know that their employees do not respect them. All these management types do is kiss up to the boss. Yes-people can't say No to the marching orders received from above. These folks come home exhausted, beaten up and downright drained of all life. In many cases their families have to bear the brunt of their venting. At home, they fly off the handle over the simplest things. They take out their frustrations on their families, the dog or cat. Then they wake up the next morning and go back to their robotic yes-person persona. Is this a life? Friday, March 25, 2011 I left Honeywell and couldn't be more happy. I'm not sure why people argue that all companies are the same. Have those same people applied for other jobs? You have time - while still employeed at Honeywell - to be patient and seek out the "good" employers. I did. I found an awesome place, in the energy sector. Really enjoy it here, making more money with fantastic management and corporate policies that really do demonstrate their belief that employees are their most valuable asset. I do not understand HW's policy for bonus (not for average worker, but for senior staff). The management incentive program (MIP) is strange. You have to work hundreds of hours overtime without pay to get only a fraction of that time back as a "bonus" by year end? The new company just gives you a bonus if the company did well that year. That's it. No complications, no forced overtime away from the family without fair compensation (25% MIPS compensation is NOT fair!). Grass IS greener. Don't be fooled by management sneaking on here to post whatever. Find out the truth for yourself. Go on some job interviews, see what is out there. Take a 6 month "leave of absence" if you have to, just go out and see what else is available. You will be pleased. Thursday, March 24, 2011 HR and management may have become one and the same. Over the past few years they have become more and more, a unified front against the employees. The unfair and discriminatory practices of some managers have always been ignored by HR, just as they are by upper management, and the practices may even be condoned by these two parties. How else can some lower level managers get away with consistently practicing favoritism and discrimination by awarding unfair and uneven compensation to some people, or one person, over all others and ignoring the quality and quantity of the work of all others, year after year? And also, how can they blatantly lie about being fair? When this injustice is occasional it may be overlooked. But when it is practiced consistently by the same person, with clear evidence of ethics violation being ignored, then it becomes intolerable and unjustified. The fact that upper management and HR reviews our performance data, or so they claim, and this practice continues unabated by some managers, is proof that they are either blind, or there is collusion that stinks to high heaven! Also, the company seems to have rewritten the prerequisite for managers and HR representatives in that they must now tow the company line without question and with unwavering loyalty, and this has turned some managers into the meanest SOBs. Unfortunately, if a manager was not predisposed to such despicable and unethical behaviors (and some are), they are now forced to either convert or eat dirt. As such, they have now become helpless and are being manipulated into enforcing the company's "threats", together with their own, no matter how distasteful and disgusting either is. How many times does an employee win their case against a manager in front of HR or upper management? NEVER. The company would rather lose some of their best employees, than to get rid of an obnoxious manager, no matter what the circumstances are. Of the several managers that I have served under, only one may have had any integrity, and adhered to the code of ethics, or had people-skills. I can bet that 90% of them have never been trained in some of these skills, especially if they have been promoted from within. They may never have taken a managerial course, nor have it in them to practice fair and objective evaluations based on performance. They are human after all, even though they may not appear to be of late. And yes, there is absolutely ZERO tolerance for constructive criticism or complaints, or for common sense and logic. Thursday, March 24, 2011 Never make any form of constructive criticism, NEVER. The egos of the bosses do not allow them or their big fat heads to ever even consider that they could be wwwrrr ...wrong about anything. Don't make yourself a target; just play the game at whatever level you are comfortable with and wait until your job is outsourced. Buy time is the name of my game. Thursday, March 24, 2011 The poster who talked about his confrontational exit interview with HR. Right on the money! From what I've learned over the years, NEVER, EVER call the Ethics Hotline if you value your job! This supposedly anonymous vehicle is anything but anonymous. They'll require that you identify yourself and reassure you of confidentiality and you'll not be identified. Depending on what or who in the food chain that you are reporting on, this confidentiality can go right out the window and then guess who becomes the bad person to be dealt with? Wednesday, March 23, 2011 Actually, the grass is a little greener on the other side; it depends upon where you go. I have been employed at several different places and I have to say that Honeywell was the worst. Wednesday, March 23, 2011 "No regrets" is so right. HR will NEVER write down, investigate or solve any problems because there are no problems at Honeywell. Beware the grass is NOT greener on the other side. Just go look at the competitor's blogs. Only the faces change. Wednesday, March 23, 2011 I recently left Honeywell because it became clear to me that it was only about the numbers. Managers were left to abuse employees, as long as they brought in the dollars. I'm not saying this is standard Honeywell business practice, but there are definitely people willing to turn a blind eye as long as profit was being made. In my exit interview, I brought to light a number of items, and the HR professional continued to question me as to whether I had "proof" or whether I was sure that's what the management was intending when carrying out abuse against employees. I took this attitude as a tacit agreement that managers who looked good on paper would be defended, and went on my way. No regrets. Tuesday, March 22, 2011 For years Honeywell promoted their managers from within from the rank and file troops. You had managers from first line to the top tiers that all had hands-on experience at one time or another. These people had first hand knowledge of the products, the processes and the more importantly, the people. Not to say that you didn't end up with a few bad apples in this promotion process, but they were few and were usually weeded out over time. The majority were knowledgeable, usually well liked and could deal with any problem or crisis swiftly, accurately and were adept enough to keep it in-house. These managers were not required to have a college degree because they had far greater knowledge that went far and above a degree. All of these people are now gone, many shoved out long before retirement age. Compare that with what you have today at Honeywell. Twenty-something years old mangers with the ink still wet on their sheepskins and heads full of useless knowledge that was taught to them by others who also have no practical knowledge of the real world themselves. My last 4 mangers at Honeywell were all in this category and were completely useless as leaders and were more concerned about currying favor for themselves and passing any blame onto others. Can't really blame them, since their managers and role models were of the same ilk. I will say that until my business unit was transitioned overseas, I would be threatened with termination on a weekly basis by my mangers because they themselves were threatened in a similar manor constantly. Morale and productivity were practically non existent during our last 6 months of employment at Honeywell and I can imagine that it hasn't gotten any better since. It got to the point where rational conversation and discussions were extinct; it was all screaming, yelling and threats. Monday, March 21, 2011 I find it funny how the more they cut layers of management the more they add. Sunday, March 20, 2011 They will succeed in the change in accounting because most American workers are too afraid to open their mouth & stand up for what is right. We are too scared that our job will be canceled if we have any constructive criticism - management views that as complaints because their ego does not allow for them to have a notion that they could be wrong about something! Saturday, March 19, 2011 Until Honeywell came along with HOS, I didn't realize there was something more important the building product. Share holders should be told of this crap. Saturday, March 19, 2011 Isn't it great when you can sneak one past folks? I believe that's probably what management teams at AT&T, Verizon, and Honeywell were thinking when they recently decided to change their pension accounting practices. Problem is, they're trying to sneak a big one past investors. Odds are, they'll succeed. If accounting can put most people to sleep, pension accounting could put them into a coma. Investors tend to look the other way rather than digging in -- which makes it easy for companies to sweep dirt under the rug. If you aren't interested in the accounting magic these companies are up to, at least realize that they're probably hoping you won't notice that they've pulled the wool over your eyes. Is that the kind of management with whom you'd want to invest your hard-earned money? Smooth accounting A pension is a promise to provide retirement income to employees. By law, companies are required to save as they go, setting aside a certain amount of money for each employee every year. Companies invest those savings -- much like you invest your 401(k) -- and hope that good investment returns will reduce the amount of savings required. Like most 401(k)s, corporate pension savings took a beating in 2008. For companies, increases and decreases in pension values affect earnings. If the pension plan makes money, it boosts earnings. If the pension loses money, it reduces earnings. Companies have a choice between recording pension gains and losses on an annual basis or, in a process known as "smoothing," spreading gains and losses over several years. Many companies choose smoothing, if only to reduce the year-to-year swings in earnings. In particular, when markets fall, smoothing helps reduce the immediate earnings hit. But recently, AT&T, Verizon and Honeywell decided to quit smoothing and start recording pension gains and losses on an as-you-go basis -- purportedly to make earnings more transparent. What's wrong with that? Well, for starters:
Verizon - $12.2 billion Honeywell - $7.8 billion Friday, March 18, 2011 The posts of the recent few weeks have been really enlightening, and have helped me immensely in a very personal way. Having been in Honeywell only for a short time, I was largely under the impression that my negative feelings about Honeywell's dehumanizing and alienating processes, procedures and the manner in which the management dealt with technical personnel were more a result of my prior background in smaller and more nimble companies, and that the veterans of the company had to have a different view for them to have survived so long. Obviously, then, upon leaving Honeywell, I felt somewhat ambivalent. But clearly, my impression of Honeywell is neither singular nor unique, and so it gives me great comfort, upon reading all these posts, to conclude that my departure from the company was a good thing. It's a huge beast, and it will survive one way or the other, but it is nice to be away from a place that devalues its employees in the manner that Honeywell does. Wednesday, March 16, 2011 In the latest flash of brilliance, our highly evolved and most esteemed leadership have applied all of their education, intellect, knowledge, and wisdom (but not their money) and have reached the brilliant and all encompassing, meaning-of-life conclusion, i.e., that our cycle time has not improved. WOW! Who would have thought? And some of us wonder why we are paying them so much money. Oh, I meant why they are paying themselves so much, with "our" money! Now, if they were only able to apply the most basic of common sense and logic, the reason will become very obvious, and then the meaning-of-life would seem anti-climactic. But since they are totally lacking in either of those basic elements, let's see if they may be able to grasp some miniscule amount from others. God knows we've tried to impress simple common sense upon them before, to no avail. So, most of this will be way above, or below, their comprehension or sensibilities. We'll try it again anyway, who knows! YYou have increased the complexity of everything that we do (even the simplest of tasks) by 5 to 10 times, by forcefully imposing the use of new, mostly defective, complex, and cumbersome tools, poorly thought out and unnecessary processes, guidelines, etc., in every aspect of our work. You have replaced every simple, single tier, efficient and working methodologies with multiple tier, complex and unworkable ones. You have totally destroyed everyone's morale and motivation, for a long time to come, with your unconscionable and criminal agendas of stealing, robbing and enslaving your employees. You do not encourage or tolerate any feed backs or suggestions, and definitely do not tolerate any resistance, or intelligent constructive criticism, but insist on employing draconian means to enforce your moronic and grossly counter-productive ideas. It begs the question; How can so many idiots have so little, or no common sense between them? Nevertheless, let's educate them, using more rudimental expressions. More time spent to complete any and every task means increase in cycle time. Yes, it's that simple! Defective tools, processes etc., means more defects and increased cycle time. Wasted time and effort on non-value tasks means increased cycle time. An unhappy and unmotivated work force means slower and more careless and care free workers, resulting in increased defects, and which means increased cycle time. Suspension of overtime (the schedule-recovery option) means increased cycle time. Re-doing the same thing over and over again means increased cycle time. Frustrations and time wasted in appeals to an arrogant and stubborn management means increased cycle time. The latest insulting, uneven and unfair salary increases means increased cycle time. Managers that are obviously self-serving, prejudiced, and solely bonus driven means increased cycle time. Work sharing, believe it or not, drastically increases cycle time (compare any shared work with one that wasn't, for that rude awakening). Driving your workers to do more than is humanly possible while bare-facedly robbing them, provokes retaliation, and means increased cycle time. Whereas before, we may have applied 75% of our efforts to the real work, and perhaps 25% to all other supporting activities, we are now doing the exact opposite, and that means that 50% of our time is wasted. We are now applying most of our efforts and higher skill-sets to the tasks of lesser value and lower skill sets. That increases cycle time. Multi-tasking beyond reason means that one cannot become proficient at any one tool or task, but only mediocre-to-poor at everything. That increases cycle time! Given all of that, they should be thankful that the cycle time has not quadrupled, and may have, in some instances anyway. One would never, ever thought that it is possible that the longer one does something, the harder it seems to get, and the longer it takes to get it done. Honeywell has perfected that reprehensible art. Wow! They have noticed that since the implementation of all of their stupidity, the cycle time on nothing has improved. And if they measure the cycle time from the beginning of the stupidity, they may notice that it may have been steadily getting worse. Wonder why that is? Perhaps we should use an analogy that they can relate to (or not), to attempt to get through to them. LOL! Let's just assume that your corporate jet has been taken away from you and, in its place, you are given a bicycle, a motor cycle, a car and a boat and, in addition, you have some of your money and benefits stolen from you; would that reduce your travel time, as in, your cycle time? I bet that they still don't get it! One would expect that after some time, the cycle time should naturally improve. But it has been about 3 years, and from all indications it has not improved, but rather, worsened. How is that possible? Because, it takes years to adjust to new tools, years to adjust to new processes and guidelines, and forever to adjust to the injustices meted out upon the employees. In addition, how does one adjust to inherently poor processes and guidelines that are constantly being changed and updated (as a result of being poorly thought out, and developed by the wrong people) throughout the design process? Each of these adjustments takes years. All of them together, and due to their nature, should perhaps impact the cycle time, minimally, in 10 to 15 years, if ever. I won't even get into the lowered standards, and inconsistencies, in everything that we do now, as a result of the stupidit implementation. Good luck! By the way, I believe that leadership intended "EHCOE" to actually mean, "Electronic Hardware Center of Excruciating (pain)". Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - from former Manager at Honeywell: I have been following this blog for some time and the theme is definately consistant. Honeywell has become a model for what is wrong in this country. The company and upper management have become so greedy, that they put the almightly dollar before anything else, including customers and employees, as well as the future of the company itself. They outsource in mass and cut corners to save bottom line $$ at the expense of all. I agree that a company needs to make a profit, but at what levels of excess which will have a long term detriment to the employees and the future of the company? I was RIF'd due to job elimination, but I knew they wanted to get rid of me for a while. I made good money and was destined for the old pension plan. I also did not condone some of the misdirected philosophies being touted and I expressed my concerns. At the time, Honeywell was looking to Mexicali to take over a lot of administrative functions at a significantly reduced cost. So they would use the 9 block evaluation to peg you to a spot for convienence so that it could be used against you later. Not sure how I was always in the upper blocks my whole career, but within a 6 month period I became a lesser employee ranked in the outer elbow. I can tell you as a former manager that the company will spare no expense to increase their bottom line. And the current management just agrees and follows along so they are not perceived as being "resistant to change" or "a blocker". Someday it will go full circle and the path taken with catch up to those that are left. But by then it will be too late. Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - To the poster of Mar. 9 with decades of experience: Just a note to say you are not alone. Your description of the forced degradation of performance and efficiency under the heading of "process improvement" perfectly describes conditions here. There is nothing, repeat NOTHING, that we do today that is being done with anywhere near the same level of quality and efficiency that it was 5-7 years ago. At first I viewed this as a short-term management misstep that would be quickly rectified once the consequences were evident. I never imagined that it would turn into the systemic blight that it has become. Instead of removing obstacles and helping employees become more efficient in our jobs, it seems like every day management imposes different and more complex schemes that do nothing but add overhead and increase opportunities for errors. Tasks that formerly required a day, now take 3. Defects are more numerous simply because of the multitasking necesary due to insufficient manpower and the use of unskilled temps. Instead of draining the swamp, management has channeled more water into it. It's hard to quantify, but subjectively it feels like our efficiency today overall as a plant must be no more than 50% of what it was a few years ago. Maybe not even that. A critical mistake is to not achieve a HOS goal. Therefore, one of the things I note is that much time and effort goes into very narrowly defining a goal, and then expending massive effort to achieve it. It must be achieved at all costs or else risk incurring the wrath of upper management. Unfortunately, those "costs" are scarce resources that can not be deployed to other more urgent problems because to do so would jeoparize reaching the HOS goal. In the end, the goal is achieved by throwing massive resources at it with the result that $1 is apparently "saved." Meanwhile, the $10 that another line sends out the door with each product shipped is entirely ignored. It's not the way I would run MY business, but then again, no one asked for my opinion. I know my personal efficiency has diminished considerably and it deeply troubles me. In terms of contributing to the bottom line, I know I could do much more, because I have in the past. But I also realize that the only way to survive today is to hunker down, shut up, and become invisible. Caring has become too risky and too stressful. The conditions you describe are most certainly not your fault. I, too, have thought that (and frequently hinted for) an explanation from management which would explain what it is about the "big picture" that I seem to be missing would be greatly appreciated. But so far there's been nothing more than the continuous din of management babble-speak and buzz words as each bigshot tries to outswagger the next. I fail to see how this can continue, and probably it won't. Those of us in the trenches realize that sooner or later the bubble will burst, and that the revenue from the products we struggle to get out the door will no longer support the egos and paychecks of the same management who have created this mess, and who themselves have contributed exactly nothing to the bottom line. When that happens, look for the crippled parts of the business to be sold off, or for management to begin leaving "to pursue other career opportunities." If we get lucky, maybe even the Big Guy himself will go, although the golden parachute he gets will be an insult to the remaining workers who endured his regime. Tuesday, March 15, 2011 Nothing is ever good enough for these "leaders" because all they care about is their annual bonus, stock options & performance shares. We just don't matter to them. The sooner you realize this the better off you will be. Don't give anymore than the bare minimum and just get by, because overexertion is not rewarded. Friday, March 11, 2011 I've worked for the same business for almost 30 years. We have been bought out by larger and larger companies over the years, with Honeywell being the latest. I can't believe how far we have regressed. Until Honeywell, we were always treated with respect. It was a two-way street. Over the last 10 years or so, since Honeywell has owned us, this respect has been eroded. We now have previous employees being rehired as contractors through a Honeywell-owned company (Fieldglass) with no medical or dental benefits. Honeywell's continuous improvements seem to be at the expense of employees. In addition, we must to do more with less (space, equipment, manpower) than ever. When we produce 50% over target it's still not enough. Friday, March 11, 2011 On the subject of costs, I now estimate 3x as many hours to complete a task than I did before HOS was implemented. So much wasted time to overhead, 4-up charts and meetings, just so the bean counters can daily track cost and schedule. Then they complain when my estimate for design effort is so high, so their first response is to cut my allotted hours in half and dismissing my complaints since "engineers will find a way to pull together and get it done". Not anymore! I now estimate 6x the effort so that when my schedule is automatically cut in half I am left with just 3x the effort that is really needed to complete the task. I just can't keep up with the waste and really do not want to be a part of it. If you want to know what the progress is day-to-day, sit beside my computer as I write the spec which India/China will use to design the next board, or join me in the lab debugging the junk from India/China. Wednesday, March 9, 2011 With decades of experience doing my job I can safely, though regretfully, say that my work now takes a lot longer (2 to 3x) to complete, than at any time in my career, and I have more defects than I have ever had before, and none of this is due to any fault of my own. And I am about 3 times more stressed out and frustrated than I've ever been. I can't think of any one task, in the myriad of tasks I have to perform in my job function, that has become simpler or even stayed the same. In fact, the number of task involved in completing the same job functions has more than doubled. Something just doesn't add up. I kept asking myself - why did so many people go out of their way to make every single thing, even the simplest of tasks that we perform, so much more difficult, and added so many, many more opportunities for defects, in everything that we do? How can any of it be remotely considered an improvement? And I do believe that they call it "process improvement". These emotions seem to be universal amongst the Honeywell employees, and who knows, perhaps with employees of other companies as well. But it begs the question: has all of management gone completely berserk? Are there any management types out there that can shed some light on this new age of darkness? If not, then you are definitely part of the problem, and most definitely not part of the solution. At first, I felt guilty that I am taking so much longer to do my job and that my work has more defects than before, both of which did not sit well with my ego and my drive to be proficient, efficient, and accurate in my work. Now however, after fighting it for the past 3 years, I am relieved to conclude that none of this is my fault. I also came to the sad realization that it is perhaps best to do less work, as that will at least reduce the number of defects, and my stress level. And since the difference in compensation for superior skills and quality of work is negligible, then all the more reason to resign myself to the new lowered standards, or "EHCOLE" (Electronic Hardware Center of Lowered Excellence). What an insult to the word "EXCELLENCE" in our functional title! Wednesday, March 9, 2011 You know how the Russians had a "political" officer on their ships. We have H.O.S. Officers running around. HOS is an example of how Honeywell takes an already existing idea and puts it's own spin on it. They took 5s ideas and mixed them with Greenbelt and came up with a system Hitler would be proud of. You see Honeywell is it's own worst enemy. It comes up with rules and procedures we can not follow, so in the end it shoots itself in the foot. By the way, HOS means Honeywell Operating System. Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Severance packages are a tool in a toolbox called HOS. Included also in this toolset is SIX SIGMA. Honeywell implements this toolset by first presenting employees with HOS and starts invoking the name TOYOTA (probably not so much recently). Identifying streamlined cost effective high quality approaches, blah blah blah. Second, Honeywell implements SIX SIGMA - more streamlining quality improvements, doing more with less blah blah blah. BUT WAIT! DOING MORE WITH LESS? This is the opportunity for various corporate layers to characterize "how many people do we need to do that job?" But there is a reason for this, and it's not what you might think it is, but we'll get to that later. After the real drive for SIXSIGMA/HOS is set in place, Honeywell site management starts promoting SIXSIGMA certification as career path for individuals within the organization - this is where you start to see the separation of personalities begin. Those looking to get ahead, whether well-intentioned or not, start their GREENBELT CERT process. Almost overnight, these people will generally start to assert a difference (whether founded or unfounded) between them and the people who actually do work at Honeywell. In about 3 months you end up a group of lackeys hoping to get a promotion, that have drawn a clear line between them and those who work and those who watch. They start using words like "metrics" and "utilization", carrying cameras and clipboards. They suddenly feel that they are of a different class compared to those who merely work and build the things that pay the bills at that particular site and Honeywell/Allied Signal. Things get uncomfortable at this point for most employees, but it's actually going quite well for Honeywell. At around the 6 month mark, the upper layers of Honeywell have an idea (or so they think) as to how many people it takes to do a job and MOST IMPORTANTLY HOW TO DEPLOY IT SOMEWHERE ELSE! A blueprint now exists of a particular department or an individual job function. This is where the SEVERENCE TOOL comes into play, and it's very bold. In an all-hands meeting, management declares that "in order to remain competitive" it's necessary that this particular site be "transitioned to a lower cost region". In a bad economy, the severance tool can be used very effectively to ensure and enforce cooperation from individuals and groups that are to be "directly affected by the transition". This tool was used to coerce the employees of Aerospace in Deer Valley AZ. They were told in very certain terms that they would train the foreign nationals that would be taking their jobs or they would be terminated for disobeying direct orders from management. Termination equals no severance, and now matter how humiliating and psychologically damaging this was to the North American employees, many had no choice given the economic climate. Honeywell got what it wanted. I still work at this location, and I watched this happen to the department next to mine. I was walking behind a couple of corporate types a few days ago and I overheard one of them refer to severance as the "severance tool"; it made sense a little while later. And for those lackeys who helped with the whole process? Well besides having a GREENBELT CERT in SIXSIGMA some of them got to stay at Honeywell. A little longer anyway. Wednesday, March 9, 2011 As a long time employee I saw the company go from being Garrett Airesearch to Garrett Turbine Engine Company (GTEC) to AlliedSignal Aerospace to Honeywell and with each new name change and new partner things would get progressively worse. There were many things at Honeybucket that simply drove me insane. One of them was the review process which was a complete sham. We went from being reviewed on our individual merits to having your COE's and site's productivity, efficieny and safety record added to your review. Of course that always affected your's and everyone else's final score because there was always a problem somewhere else. Lower score means less of a raise and don't even get me started on the nine block! Each person was then expected to come up with 12 solid process improvements for each year and that, of course, affected your final review score. Fortunately this was easily circumvented by forming a cabal consisting of 6 or more employees. As each person came up with a process improvement, an email was sent to the VSL, cell manager, HR generalist and the other employees in your group. This email would describe the process improvement in great detail and list the other employees by name and E number as having collaborated on it. Everyone got credit for it and no one ever caught on as to what was actually happening. Another frustrating thing was the company's dual myth of customer satisfaction and Just-In-Time manufacturing. Raw material would be released to produce hardware to meet engine build and delivery dates to major airframe manufacturers who, of course, had their own hard delivery dates to their customers. The hardware would be produced and delivered by the specified date and it wasn't unusual the following week to find the same requirements staring you in the face, only now you are being villified for having missed the delivery date and the end user is very upset! Confused? Well it seems that somewhere between the manufacturing area and the assembly line, upper management hijacked and sold the hardware to the overhaul and repair division as spare parts. As anyone who has purchased a car part can tell you, each item generates vastly more money when sold individually than it does as part a completed end unit. Voila, the books look great for the quarter, upper management gets their bonuses, a slick PR man can usually soothe the end user's ruffled feathers and the manufacturing COE is the goat for having missed a delivery date. This, of course, eventually shows back up on your review. (see second paragraph above) I am often reminded of a line from the 1957 movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" where Col. Saito, the Japanese commandant, is addressing the half-dead English prisoners, "Be happy in your work!" Tuesday, March 8, 2011 A question for you long time Honeywell employees. Trying figure how this company works is very bizzare to me and some of my fellow associates. Honeywell Aerospace lowball bid an Army contract that we worked on for 10 years with another contractor. The dog and pony show we where given was a grand thing, sort of like going to see the wizard. Considering our old company was a pretty much no-frills, barebones operation. When Honey took over, they tried to redo everything that this 15 year Army project had set in place. Then they started with our health and welfare payments and cutting a lot of mechanics wages. Our H&W payments where so screwed up I think Chinese arithmetric was being used.What a frigging mess. I noticed we have 200% more managers now. Exempt they call them. It sucks, because they get a little extra in their 401K, but the rest of us don't. You try to call the 800 - no help line for HR/pay problems. I might as well call somebody in India. Oh yeah, I do. We are on SCA contract. We figure that Honey must be losing money on this contract because we are not allowed to LWOP until we use all of our paid leave. We didn't have to do that before. One big thing we have seen is this HOS stuff. Where did they come with this, geez? We don't make anything. We service military equipment. We work in 50-year-old buildings, have 25 year GFE furniture (cold war era) nothing matches, and we have a duly appointed HOS guy who says we have to do all of this stupid stuff which is really a waste of time and money. We don't make cars and I am not Japanese. I think Toyota has enough problems as it is now. I believe that we are still contractors, and when Honey leaves someone else will take over. I know we don't have full benefits and I know when the Honey leaves they are not going to take us with them. My question is: Are there any other SCA contract people out there? Are you treated any different? Or is this how to expect to be treated by Honeywell? Tuesday, March 8, 2011 Yes! Why make all of your employees unhappy when it is so simple to make both groups (those that want to go and those that want to stay) happier, and the company comes out the clear winner! There will be more money for those that want to stay. Notice that when they made the salary/benefits cuts, it was applied to everyone, and upset everyone. And now, with the recent salary increases, some can get 0%, and some 5%. How fair is that? They just need to exaggerate the latter principle, and save more money and have a happier, healthier work force. What can be better than that? Tuesday, March 8, 2011 I think that the point was missed on severance packages. It is true that no one is entitled to a severance package, and that it is only a tool employed by companies to save money, for whatever the reason. The point is that the Honeywell leadership is so bent on saving money that, instead of taking the opportunity to do so and letting a few disgruntled employees go - those that are wishing for a package - they have chosen to hurt or punish their entire work force (good and bad, young and old). That may be a noble method in that they can't be accused of discrimination, but it does not make a lot of business or economic sense, given the long term repercussions on your future prospects. Shouldn't that be one of the primary considerations? And the point that management is considerate enough to not want to face someone about letting them go is not correct. Immediate-management has mostly lost that authority and sensitivity. And the decision is hardly personal anymore, but is being made at any level (we are just a number now), or can be made to look that way. Your name can be picked by someone that knows nothing about you, but only about your performance, age, length of service, etc. Furthermore, in the past 2.5 years, managers have asked some of their charges if they are interested in a package and have enticed them accordingly. Of the few that I know of, every one of them has opted for the package. It is that simple! Tuesday, March 8, 2011 I have to respond to those that feel they are entitled to a severance package and choose to show up to do the minimum while they wait for one. You are not entitled to a severance package. It is a benefit the company has offerred to those that the company chooses to let go for the convenience of the company. A benefit intended to carry a laid off employee for a period of time while they seek employment. If you resign, you do so for your convenience, you don't get the severance payment. If you are that unhappy with your job, it may be time for you to look for alternate employment and submit your resignation. Since your severance is capped at 6 months currently, why not just set a date 6 months from today and submit your resignation then? It would actually be better than severance since you could still put money into your 401K and get the match during this 6 month period. In addition to other benefits not available while on severance. If you are set on getting a severance package, or you won't leave, consider that you may be working for a long time and missing out on all that free time to do what you want. Simply hoping for a package is not likely to work. Try letting your boss know that you are ready to leave and would welcome a layoff notice. Maybe tell the next two layers of your management also. Sometimes letting someone go is an option to resolve an issue, but is passed by because the manager may think it would be too hard on an employee/family. Or he just doesn't have the guts to face someone and tell them they are out of work. Knowing that someone would welcome being laid off may tilt the decision in another direction. Bitching to some online blog, or coworker, is not going to help your cause. If you are serious, it is time to let your superiors know. Tuesday, March 8, 2011 Unfortunately the people that run these companies are not concerned with what is legal; they are only concerned with what they can get away with. They seem to think that it is alright to do something, as long as they can get away with it. Apparently that is called "leadership". Tuesday, March 8, 2011 "The Waiting Game" is the only way to go, especially for long-term employees, to resist the obsessive corporate bullying, and to preserve our sanity. Call it an antidote to the forceful injection of extremely harmful and destructive substances (moronic ideas) into our psyche, by idiots obsessed with converting us into moronic robots with no power to think. Would you allow your family or friends to join a cult? The reason that we feel the strong urge to resist the mindless brainwashing is because we were born, schooled, and trained to think and work hard and smart. And we have been doing that very well, thank you; i.e. until these corporate brains came along, thinking that they will have none of that kind of attitude or behavior here. They insist on rewriting "the theory of sensibility". In other words, they insist on reinventing the wheel, and this time making it square. They will not be deterred, no matter what the rest of us think. Unfortunately we, not them, are expected to ride on these brand new wheels. As a result, Honeywell will steadily become The Department of Inferior. Can someone please remind me again as to how, when and where these idiots suddenly became so much more knowledgeable, experienced and smarter than us at doing our jobs that they can tell us how to do it, and what tools, processes and guidelines are best for us? Dictators, in every walk of life, and everywhere, beware! So, we have been thinking and working hard and smart (therein lies our problem), when we should be thinking and working stupid. After all, look at the corporate leadership and management. They are thinking and working very stupid and making millions. But since we can't and don't want to think and work stupid, we (veterans especially) are left with employing "The Waiting Game". For the young, brave and strong: the antidote for an unreasonable and inhumane amount of work with an impossible schedule and all of its trimmings of poor tools, processes, guidelines, checklists, etc., is to do little or nothing! Take it from someone who knows only too well, and who has carried the weight of two for 25 years, and with superior quality work, when others were pulling half. The more you do and the quicker you do it, the more work you'll be given and the quicker you'll be expected to do it, while the laggards will always glide at a slow pace, with no pressure, and earning just as much, if not more. And there is no real measures as to how many years you may be taking off of your life by being Mr. Nice, and always trying to prove yourself, and constantly trying impress the idiots day in and day out, with little to show for it. May you find greener pastures? You deserve it! Monday, March 7, 2011 They get to do whatever they want and they get away with it. There is no accountability. The top will never admit they are wrong. Perhaps some of these complaints need to go to legal authorities? Nothing is sacred but the almighty dollar, which is not all that mighty anymore. Monday, March 7, 2011 Interesting list of 14 traits. I wonder in which trait the collusion between Honeywell and ITT falls? Honeywell and ITT have been competitors bidding for NASA contracts, and Honeywell recently lost to ITT. Honeywell's existing contract expires shortly and employees will be terminated. For many, the next step is to seek employment with ITT. But wait a sec... First, ITT refuses to reveal salary information in advance. Then, if a Honeywell employee applies with ITT, he is required to produce a copy of his Honeywell pay stub. Thus, ITT knows exactly the applicant's pay. The employee has no negotiating power whatsoever. Can you say "low offer?" Furthermore, if ITT makes an offer to a soon-to-be-ex-Honeywell employee, they will also tell Honeywell an offer was made. Why? Because no severance will be paid to a terminated employee who turns down a job offer from ITT. The employee gets jammed from both ITT and Honeywell. To further rub some salt, Honeywell reduced the severance package and turned it into an insult instead of a farewell to a valued employee. This is outrageous. Can it possibly be legal? One wonders how many other companies have backroom personnel deals with Honeywell to systematically screw employees as they circulate between employers? Back to the original question: Does this fit under one of the 14 traits? Or does this deserve a new one of its own? Which of the 12 behaviors does this emulate? Honeywell ought to burn for this and someone should lose their job. This time it needs to be high up. Monday, March 7, 2011 - "Honeywell as Fascism": As a corporate entity, Honeywell has much in common with fascist political systems. I don't mean in the immediately obvious sense (i.e. a strong dictatorial leader). For your consideration, I offer the following ideas used as a framework:
Monday, March 7, 2011 It is one thing when the company is stabbing you in the back, but quite another when your manager is personally and blatantly twisting the knife, and blaming the company for making him/her do it. That is adding insult and pain to injury, and is just plain unjust and unethical. It is so very wrong, on so very many different levels. Is there no conscience or common decency left in anybody? Sunday, March 6, 2011 Larry Bossidy was one of driving forces behind NAFTA. After it was passed, Honeywell bought a plant in Mexico that did subassembly work for us, then proceeded to triple the size of the plant, then slowly out-sourced 50% of our divisions jobs down there. Thus the "sucking sounds" of the jobs heading down there. Their latest joke of forcing us to do more with less, called HOS, which forces employees to give process improvement ideas for no rewards for the employees: It's motto should be "plagiarize shamelessly". Mind you Honeywell made $9 billion last year. Between the cutting of our healthcare (I'm sure employees died because they didn't want to spend the outragious emergency room fees for what they thought was just heartburn) and the stealing of employees ideas, that $9 billion was made from the blood of the employees, and had nothing to do with any actions of management. Saturday, March 5, 2011 The new employee strategy of "Money for Nothing" (well not really, we've sacrificed and suffered enough) may perhaps have been intended by the gods. And in the leadership's blind obsession to be cheap, mean and miserable - they may have inadvertently provided us with the opportunity to reap some satisfaction for the years of dedicated service. Let's see now, the out-source and off-shore entities are supposedly better, faster and cheaper. Therefore, that should make most N.A. employees position redundant, especially the geezers (I am one). So why are they not offering packages, especially to the veterans, many of whom are within years or even months of retirement? The answer is that they have become so damn cheap (as in penny-wise and dollar-stupid), to the point of total ignorance. The purpose of offering employees packages is to save money. It works like this: it costs the company approximately 3 times an employee's actual salary to keep them. When a company pays off an employee to leave, with approximately 1 year's salary, the company would have already saved 2 times as much, just in that first year. That has always been the strategy and purpose behind layoff packages. It has been a viable economic option employed by companies for decades. But no. Honeywell, in their wisdom, is playing the waiting game - i.e., waiting for the employees to quit or die, so that they do not have to pay out a package. Their strategy is to make the employees' life so miserable, that they will quit, or die. In the mean time, I have seen some co-workers play the waiting game with much more finesse and patience than the company can afford, and for as many as 10 years (as in 29 times salary), and do almost nothing in that time, and finally receiving a package. One even waited past age 65. Now, that guy should be the CEO! And what is the collateral damage from this "brilliant" corporate strategy? The young, talented and future prospects, with nothing to wait for, and little to look forward to, are leaving. The damage has already been done. So, we have the future prospects that could be doing the work, leaving, and the veterans who are waiting and doing little or nothing, hanging in there, playing the waiting game. How is that for an optimally productive workforce? It may be common for these corporate idiots to be lacking in morals, conscience and common sense, but our idiots seem to have excelled in the lack of business and economic sense too, for the advanced level effect. If they were running their own business, or were working at a real job... well, you get the idea! On the other hand though, they may not be that hopelessly stupid, as they are fully aware that the offer of packages this time will lead to a mass exodus, and expose the true nature and true cost of the unnecessary and unwarranted abuse they inflicted upon their employees. Saturday, March 5, 2011 As an engineer, in days gone by I could see that the work I did made a difference; that my efforts were valued. I had some authority, and what I considered to be fairly sizable responsibility. Projects in double-digit millions. Not a lot of recognition, but I was OK with that. Then along came Allied, and it all changed. New management first stripped away ALL of my authority. My ability to make any decisions regarding monetary expenditures was removed and replaced by micromanaging every step. The blunders were incredible. At first, trying to be a helpful, proactive employee, I tried to point out the drawbacks of these poor decisions. That effort earned a "not a team player" comment in my review. During this time, not a day went by but what management constantly hammered the workforce with the propaganda that our Chinese counterparts were able to do the same job as us but for 1/10th or 1/5th (it varied) of the pay. After direct experience, I knew this was NOT the case. For management to maintain that it was, said a lot about their ignorance, their willingness to perpetuate a facile lie, or both. The micromanagement continued, and the blunders mounted, and I learned to play the game:
During this time, I watched management sytematically plunder the various employee perks and benefits that had been accrued over the years. I watched Cote get rewarded with millions of dollars in bonuses, while engineer pay barely moved. Incredible talent either got layed off, or walked out the door because they were fed up. Revenue streams failed to materialize on schedule because of project blunders committed overseas, and then US employees got terminated to make the numbers. The stream of blunders and mistakes caused efficiency to plummet as precious time (far fewer employees to do the work now) was frittered away assembling mountains of reports for upper management. Weeks and months of effort was required to correct and mitigate the damage caused by inexperienced Asian employees. You remember these employees, right? The same ones who work for 1/5th or 1/10th of US engineers' pay? You'd think that by now management would begin to question both the QUANTITY and QUALITY of the deliverables received for their low-buck engineering investment. But they don't. Just keep singing the same old song. Figuratively speaking, I saw management take a finely tuned powerplant (the engineering community at red Honeywell) and change it from a highly efficient, high RPM, high-output, smoothly running engine, into a single-cylinder Johnny Popper with barely enough ooomph to get out of its own way. Through all this, never once were engineers asked for input. Never once was their opinions solicited. On Monday, we might be ordered to march North. On Tuesday, the direction changed to South. On Wednesday, attendance is required at a rah-rah session to listen to management cajole us to work harder and shove China in our faces. Thursday, the orders came to march West, followed by Friday's march to the East. By the time next week arrived, we'd gone in a full circle. Inefficient? You betcha. Am I going to say anything? Absolutely not. I fully intend to let the pointless marching continue and collect my paycheck. This was management's plan and management's execution, and they had total control. Therefore they must have obtained EXACTLY the results they wanted, right? You know these guys, don't you? The bright boys whose highly polished and framed MBA diplomas on the wall match the shine on the seat of their pants? Therefore, who am I, a lowly engineering peon, to try to show them a better way? For them, I have no respect whatsoever. And for their systematic foolishness that I've endured over the last 10 years, my only desire now is to leave at quitting time and laugh all the way to the bank. Management loves to talk about the need for change. So be it. This is not a change I willingly made; it was forced upon me and represents my adaptation in order to survive in this culture. I am WYSIWYG 2. Saturday, March 5, 2011 Honeywell treats me like a disposable commodity, so I respond appropriately. It's called survival. Still have one left in college. Tick tock, counting the seconds on the clock. Saturday, March 5, 2011 It's all due to what I refer to as MBA accounting. Bottom line is your bosses personal gains, so thus the figures get "manipulated & massaged" to your benefit. Pointy headed boss beats the heads of his MBA goon-squad to make sure the numbers come out right. In does not equal out, but it works out OK for the benefit of the boss. I just recently found out that the word "boss" derives from the Dutch word "baas" from the Dutch Colonial Times in Manhattan. Saturday, March 5, 2011 It is very easy to say 'get another job' to the bloggers who describe their real frustrations with Honeywell. However, it betrays a mentality of being a slave to the corporation, and of a view of the jobs that people do as handouts. This is how the managers want the engineers to think. This kind of loyalty will ultimately sink the company, as it will leave Honeywell with only those employees who, by virtue of their utter incompetence and lack of self worth, have no recourse but to continue to accept whatever crumbs are given to them by the managers. Come to think of it, these are the kind of people that Honeywell regularly promotes to management roles. Saturday, March 5, 2011 Amen to the post by the 23 year Honeywell veteran. The blog post tells it like it is. I also will use Hwell as long as I can and minimize my efforts, especially when it comes to providing training & support for the outsourced workers that took away American jobs. It is the only way to survive. I have no respect for any of my management or, as I refer to them, "mismanagement". Employees have had enough! Saturday, March 5, 2011 Per a previous comment, it would have been sad to know that we are capable of so much more and that some have now chosen to give very little to the company, if it wasn't for the fact that the company is capable of so much more but have chosen to give the least to their employees (and have even taken back some of what they give), on whose backs they are able to present those glowing reports by the corporate slavers of how well the company is doing and how very well they are paying themselves, compared with the mistreatment of their employees. The company's stock has gone from about $23 to about $58, and the corporate morons take all of the credits. They pay themselves well when thing are good and, they pay themselves well when things are bad, for saving money at their employees' expense. They stole much more than 10% from their employees when times were bad (but not that bad, really) and are returning very little now that times are good. How fair is that? I don't recall everyone ever getting a temporary 10% salary increase when times are very good. Yes, there was a time when, the better the company does, even though they may not share the wealth fairly with their employees, it was acceptable, as the employees' job became more secure. That was the mutual understanding and relation between employers and employees. Now however, it would seem that the better the company does, solely due to their employees' contribution, the worse they treat their employees and the more insecure our jobs are becoming. It is only fitting that we adjust our attitude and morals to compensate for that of the company's lowered morals, to balance the ignorance and stupidity. While some, if not most, have chosen to do the very least just to get by, let's understand that likewise, the company is trying to minimize compensation to the very least that they can get away with. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there and one can understand why some feel that they must adjust to adapt, especially after years of loyal and dedicated service to the company. This new attitude just seems justifiable if you know that your decades of service are now so trivial. Friday, March 4, 2011 - from WYSIWYG: By "working for free" I mean utilization score. When I called in sick for a day (first time in the last 3 years) I was told to make up the time in order to maintain 94% utilization. What!? You want me to make up the time and not get paid for it? No thanks. I used to pull the weight of 2 and I didn't mind it at all. My work for 2 was easy in the sense that I was just very productive because I knew what I was doing. I trained a lot of younger engineers and even some senior engineers. But after the corporate policies, cut backs and poor attitude, I was dismayed. Yet, given my personal work ethic, I kept at it for a year and a half. But every day just got worse. Not my managers fault; the manager is just "flowing down" (like we're the rats on the bottom to be sh*t upon) what was given to him to say in a practically pre-written speech at the monthly meetings. Every meeting was a new policy that just scr#w#d you more or brought you closer to the outsourced door. No thanks. Now I don't play that game. Perhaps it IS sad, and I again I appologize for those working 50-hrs per week. But I just can't do it anymore. The corporate direction and disrespect for the employeesIt is very insulting. If you give me a little, I will give you a lot back. But if you slap me in the face - EVERY DAY - then don't expect much in return; just the bare minimum to get by. Friday, March 4, 2011 I can't help but to agree with WYSIWYG, and the others. As hard as I have tried to resist the temptation, and tried to maintain my integrity, the company just keeps sticking more and more knives in my back, and may have finally broken it. You know the saying: You get what you pay for. Well, unfortunately, sometimes you get less than what you pay for, as punishment for being stupid. Besides the fact that they have increase the degree of difficulty of doing my job by 100 %, and expect me to do it in 50% of the time, combined with all of the corporate rape and robbery over the past 2 years, and the constant threat of layoff, firing, out-sourcing, off-shoring, etc., I have been given a whopping 1% salary increase. Sure, some are getting 0%, but some that are deserving of 0% are getting 3 to 4%. That is nothing new of course. Some managers do not necessarily apply pay-for-performance as much as they apply favoritism, biases, prejudices or plain stupidity. If one has dedicated most of their life to the company and now have knives in the back to show for it, then they have every right to be bitter and to want to change their attitude towards the company. If you are young it may not seem too bad, as you have not given much to the company yet, and cannot appreciate the betrayal. And you can leave and get another job. That is not an option for the older folks! Do understand that the people who now feel obligated to change their attitude are the ones that have given the most to the company. Those that haven't given much will not have much to complain about and will never understand. I have worked with dead beats and floaters in my time and have learned to live with it. So it will seem only fair that with the company's nasty attitude, I may be entitled to become one of them. I am earning my pay check, but the next guy is earning his for half the productivity, and 10 times the defects, and keeps getting bigger increases. I have been pulling the weight of 2 for 23 years. Call me stupid! Furthermore, while I still try to continue to do my job diligently, despite the company's nasty attitude, it has become impossible, as everyone else that I depend on in order to perform my job, have a change of attitude, for the worse, and in my frustration I am left with only one option, and that is to join them, since I can't operate in a vacuum. Now, when I occasionally lapse into that loyal, diligent, hard working and dedicated mode that I have applied to my work for the past 23 years, and the efforts to be a perfectionist (it's a hard habit to break), I have to use my recent salary increase as an incentive and a motivation to apply WYSIWYGs attitude. Sorry, the rest of you, but collateral damage's a bitch. You might as well get used to it. After all, your days may be numbered too. Such is the new corporate norm... er... greed! Friday, March 4, 2011 To the Mexico & Czech outsource post that identified serious problems: Google Boeing outsource disaster and see how American corporations continue to be penny-wise or dollar-foolish. Friday, March 4, 2011 American workers need to form ASPCAJ: American Society for the Protection and Care of American Jobs. Heck, we have the ASPCA for animals; American workers surely deserve the same type of protection. Friday, March 4, 2011 I don't know why you think you are "working for free". I believe that Honeywell issues you a paycheck, the same as everyone else. The difference is, you are not actually earning your paycheck with the attitude you put out there. I have been around Honeywell my ENTIRE life - I am a third-generation employee. There are things that could be better, but there are also things that could be a lot worse. People that decide they are only going to put forth the least amount of effort are the reason I am working an average of 50 hours a week. Yes, outsourcing is big, but there is still plenty of work right here in the US. If you think that Honeywell is taking advantage of you, then perhaps you should find another position with another company. I would be willing to bet that things aren't much better at any other Aerospace company. Perhaps if you put forth the effort things would get better. Maybe not within the company, but in your own sense of self-worth. How sad it must be to know you are capable of more, but you do the very least to get by. Friday, March 4, 2011 I am a former 30 year HW employee who's entire area of the engine division in Phoenix was outsourced to Mexico and Czech Republic. I have maintained my contacts among remaining employees and managers at several Phoenix campuses and we talk and meet for lunch quite frequently. I take great delight in the following information that has been relayed to me by a half dozen of these different sources. Seems all is not well in OZ. Much hardware and machinery is being returned to Phoenix from Mexico, and possibly from Czech Republic, and a new manufacturing center is hastily being prepared in one of the empty buildings. Can this be? Is it a just a rumor? I do know that HCMO (Chihuahua, MX) has been a disaster from the get-go. Engineers and maintenance people who traveled regularly to the site all came back with horror stories. The quality of people they were sending here for training was less than stellar. Every single one had a lacksadaisical attitude about everything; when you're dealing with rotating turbomachinery with extremely tight tolerances, they all didn't care and everything was "close enough". Half of one group that was sent to Phoenix, up and vanished. A free plane trip to the U.S. and a work visa in your pocket... who could ask for more? Beats climbing over a fence! The Czech engineers who came to Phoenix were an arrogant lot. They looked at our processes that took years to perfect and informed us that they were going to change everything because they didn't like it. A couple of them even told us outright that we were stupid. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it's best kept to yourself if you want cooperation or might need future assistance. I wish HW "the best in their future endeavors". Does that line sound familiar? You probably saw it on countless emails that informed you that someone had been replaced in their position by someone else. I love the corporate-speak for, "we just fired this guy". Thursday, March 3, 2011 You will have a long wait for better days. The only better days will be overseas. Today, this is the harsh reality of corporate America. Thursday, March 3, 2011 - To: "get a new job", from WYSIWYG: I understand and acknowledge what you have posted. But, I think maybe you would feel diferently about me and other WYSIWYG employees if you but aborbed one more fact which I failed to mention. I love my job. And what is more, I am actually very good at it. My post was not intended to be whining. I don't care for recognition, I am happy to contribute (what little I do). I do not have a bad feeling towards HW (anymore) as negativity just breeds negativity. Instead, I take a realistic view of my environment. Corporate policies have changed and they have "flowed down" their new perspectives. They want us to work for free, which I am not interested in. Continuosly work in fear of being outsourced, which I no longer buy into. Nope, I'm not going to live like that anymore. I show up to work happy. I contribute to my employer as much as they contribute towards me. Not a cent more. If things turn around, I will be there to crank up the engine. I have a lot of stored ideas that I think will be valuable. But to step out of the box, get noticed, raise the bar, etc.... right now, in this fear-driven, micro-managed environment, that would be detrimental to my career. So I am just biding my time, waiting for better days. Cheers to the future! Thursday, March 3, 2011 I'm with WYSIWYG & the last poster. I am not helping any outsourced shcmuck do his job better. I am also not helping any inept management at Honeywell look good. They are all useless. Donald Trump was on Letterman last night & he said it all about how utterly moronic America has become. Thursday, March 3, 2011 If you are so unhappy and unwilling to put forth effort in your job - GET A NEW JOB! Geez - there is no reason to punish those of us that are willing to put a little effort in to our jobs just because you don't want to. Is Honeywell the company that it used to be? No, absolutely not. But, it is a job and until you are willing to make a change to a new company (who probably won't be much better) than quit your whining. Yes, that is all it is - WHINING. Perhaps if you put a little effort in to what you do, then you might actually get the recognition you seem to desire. Wednesday, March 2, 2011 WYSIWYG: I couldn't have stated it any better myself. For me, this represents a complete about face compared to my attitude when I started with Honeywell. No, the company was not perfect then. But at least it was committed to technical excellence and I could throw myself into my work. But no more. Management's only commitment to technical excellence today is to watch it disappear into the crapper. Management acts out its charade for Wall Street. I act out my charade for management. Just do not expect me to give a tinker's damn about the future of this company because I know it won't involve me. I intend to extract the maximum possible dollars for the least possible work, and then leave. Screw 'em all. Won't be bailing out my Chinese counterparts along the way, either. If they're as bright as management says, they can solve their own problems without me. Wednesday, March 2, 2011 - WYSIWYG Ah, Engineering week! Wonderful! But I do not want to be in the spot light lest they see me doing absolutely nothing all day. I contribute the bare minimum, as they contribute to me the bare minimum. They show no interest in developing & training talent in their department (everything outsourced instead) so I show no interest in contributing patent awarding ideas like I did several years ago. No thanks, not anymore. I stay just above the line to avoid performance improvement programs, but give not an ounce more. Taking HW for everything I can before I am tossed with the rest of the North American Engineers. I must appologize to the ambitious, hard working engineers that still remain (are there any?). I am not helping you any with my minimum daily effort (barely keeping my eyes open anymore). You will now have to do my work including your own to keep your L-braket score high and receive your 2% raise. I cannot even sell my stocks, because I alreaady did a few years ago. When they changed the policy to have it market driven rather than getting 15% below price, it was no longer an attractive offer. Yep, they took that perk away too, so not only do I not invest professionally into the company, I do not invest financially either. I am a waste of space. All my motivation to be the best is gone. I am but an empty shell who shows up only to collect a paycheck and then leave the miserable sob's as quickly as possible. Yes, I mimic Honeywell's corporate direction and treatement of their North American engineers. What-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG). Monday, February 28, 2011 No love for Bonsignore here, but you must have never known the legacy Honeywell. That stock had a nice history of growth and splits. Legacy Honeywell was over 100 at the time of the acquistion and getting close to the point where the BOD would declare a split. So historically your comment is meaningless. One could blame the new management of Bossidy and Cote for the poor performance, but even that would be equally meaningless. Perhaps you missed the total market performance since 2000? Perhaps you have no idea what you are comparing. Sunday, February 27, 2011 Our last CEO, Bonsignore, made millions by buying and selling his stock while he was our acting CEO. He would sell it all off and the value would drop, then in turn he would buy it all back, knowing it would rebound just like a inside trader; mind you, he did not do this once but he did it 3-5 times making millions off his already millions in stock while screwing over the employees. In my many years of employment there I watched our stock, like clockwork, go up to $80 and split every 1 1/2 to 2 years. After this moron did this our stock would not go above $32 for at last the next 5 years. No other invester would touch after words except the employees. And what happened to this moron do you ask? He was given his millions in severance and let go. He was not even prosecuted for insider trading. Friday, February 25, 2011 Re: The new policy is that vacation is given in increments: New policy? I don't know where you have been for more than the past 10 years. Vacation is earn-as-you-go. At the end of 1 month you ACCRUE 1/12th of the years vacation. By the way, if you quit in June and have accrued half of the years vacation and not taken any, you don't get paid for it. If quitting is on your calendar, take your accrued vacation before you give notice. Now if you are laid off, you will get paid for unsed accrued vacation. Maybe you should read your benefits manuals. Maybe 30 years is enough for you and its time to leave. If you can't stay up to date on your benefits with the company, how effective are you at getting your job accomplished? Thursday, February 24, 2011 - Re: Engineer's week: A meal and prizes? That's more than our location provides. Here, engineers who originated projects that contributed substantially to the bottom line get a "certificate of recognition" dashed off on plain paper on a copy machine. Engineers who dreamed up an unproduceable, unproven gadgets that have yet to contribute one cent to the bottom line, get stock options or multi-hundred dollar awards. The engineer recognition "ceremony" turned into a political charade which demeaned the contributions engineers historically made to red Honeywell. Self-respecting engineers remained at their desks working as they did day-in and day-out, instead of sacrificing their dignity by participating in the charade. The poster is correct about the return to normal. The following week, an engineer with years of contributions and the patents to prove it, discovered that his job has just been offshored to China and gets walked to the door as an additional thank-you. That's how Honeywell values their Western engineers. Thursday, February 24, 2011 This is Engineers' Week. If Honeywell does as it did in the past, the lip service shall be duly performed with the declaration of engineers as 'valuable resource for the company'. The lucky ones will be taken out to a seventh-grade birthday-party-style gathering in the local restaurant with floor prizes of the weirdest kind will be awarded. That underscores Honeywell's view of engineers as ultra-nerds with no interests outside of office other than in making paper airplanes and mindless little gadgets. The bestowal of the honor of 'The Best Engineer of The Year' will make sure that everyone scratches their heads as to why that person was chosen. Honeywell will obviously mean well, but the engineers, if they have any self-awareness, if not self-respect, will feel as if they are being treated like little children. Of course, next week things will return to normal, and the engineers will be accorded their proper place within the hierarchy at tier seven or eight right there with the barely educated employees. That is how Honeywell treats engineers. Thursday, February 24, 2011 Every company I have worked for has had monthly vacation accrual. The policy you state is the same as every company I know of. You are honestly surprised to hear that if you quit on January 2 that you're not entitled to 6 weeks pay for your unused vacation? I wouldn't complain about ANYTHING if I had 6 weeks vacation. You see, I'm an engineer with 25+ years experience and I started working for Honeywell 4 years ago. I have 2 weeks Vac, which will increase to 3 in a year. How do you attract experienced people with that policy? Stingiest company I have ever worked for. I am actively seeking another job. Thursday, February 24, 2011 I've worked at Honeywell for over 30 years. The new policy is that vacation is given in increments - so much per month. So if I quit today I would not be paid my 6 wks vacation. I might even owe the company money if I have already used my 6 wks. Does anyone have any thoughts on why they can cheat us out of vacation that has been already earned? Has anyone ever challenged this? Saturday, February 19, 2011 It's sad to see that the once dominant TDC is no longer the Cadillac of the industry. Saturday, February 19, 2011 I find reading this blog reasuring in that I can relate to some of the comments. Being at HON for a few years now I see that I'm not the only one who has noticed a few negative things about the company. I also have doubts about it's futur success. I can't see the model being sustainable over the long term. I found myself asking to be included in the group of employees being severed in the upcoming restructuring of our group. How unfortunate when you consider the training spent on people to develop their skills. All I can say is to never let a company determine what your value is and always be in a position to determine your own destiny. Good luck to everyone. Friday, February 18, 2011 Per the LA Times:
"That's not to say that outsourcing never makes sense - it's a good way to make use of the precision skills of specialty manufacturers, which would be costly to duplicate. But Boeing's experience shows that it's folly to think that every dollar spent on outsourcing means a cost savings on the finished product." Wednesday, February 16, 2011 All the Honeywell managers who are slowly exporting whatever prosperity is left in America to Bangalore and Hyderabad should be forced to read this cautionary tale of Boeing's disastrous and counterproductive attempt to save money.
Of course nothing will move these guys, for no matter what happens to the country and the other employees of Honeywell, the managers careers and bonuses and all the perks are assured. There is a special place reserved for these people. Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - To the blogger who writes, "keep quiet, kiss-up and don't bring too much attention to yourself". My response to that is - you get what you pay for. If we, as a society or individually, see reprehensible behavior and do nothing, we are paying nothing to combat such injustices. Some people do "pay" by speaking up or bringing to light what is wrong and unethical. Yes, their lives may even be made miserable, but in the end they can say they tried and had not played the role of a cowering dog. Tuesday, February 15, 2011 The only way to survive is to use Honeywell the same way they use us as employees. Keep quiet, kiss-up and don't bring too much attention to yourself. It's called Survival. Tuesday, February 15, 2011 Honeywell is making it's billions on the backs of it's employees. It is slowly getting rid of any benefits while our 5 CEOs make millions. I honestly think they want the old timers to quit so they don't have to pay out for vacation time and they can replace them with a contact worker. It is what you would call an impresstion company - it gives an impression it cares about it's employees, but it couldn't care less. It's only the bottom line it cares about. It is self insured, but uses the major health-care companies to run it, trying to give us, and any prospective employee, the illusion they have a choice, when they are all the same - crappy. We have a $1,000 deductable before we can get any medical work done. We have a $100 deductable just for our persciptions. Cost's us $25 just to see a doctor, while paying over $300 in monthly premiums. They have tried to steel our vacation time until they got sued. They have tried to steal our family leave by paying the $6 a month short-term disability. Some government loop hole alows companies to substitute a company-paid benefit for family leave, thereby allowing them to fire someone after 6 months along with saving the cost of 3 more months of health care. They turned control of our 401k plan over to a third party, claiming we would have better acces to it while quietly not mentioning the new fees and slowly taking our access away from it. They use this system they made up called HOS, to try and force us to come up with ideas so we have to do more, with less. Friday, February 11, 2011 - to the person who complained about "Wah, wah...": The fact is that Honeywell employees in North America are fed up. If you don't learn from or enjoy the posts, don't read them. I see no valid facts in what you wrote. Yours is an opinion and others are entitled to theirs. Friday, February 11, 2011 "Wah, Wah are we little children on a school yard playground? I am working better, harder than you, I'm better than you." These juvenile posts need to stop. Just stick with the facts. Please! Thursday, February 10, 2011 Sorry, but I have to disagree that Finance and Admin are taking big chunks of salary for "revenue generating" people. Finance, PP&C, and support positions are being eliminated faster than any other positions. The people that remain are expected to do the work that a whole department used to do. DO NOT BLAME the support functions. We work just as hard (if not harder) than the Engineering people, but get a heck of a lot less credit. Wednesday, February 9, 2011 After 5 years at Honeywell, I have seen a drastic change in attitude. Today Honeywell is:
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - from an Engineer: I am surprised that no one talks about the employeement practices of the Honeweywell HR department. Wednesday, February 9, 2011 Emerson is using the tax excuse to outsource more jobs, and at the same time pleasing political buddies. DeltaV is by no means a better product; it does come with a nicer wrapping. The EMR wireless solution is by no means better than ours; they do spent more time lobbying the standard committees. DeltaV SIS is by far a worse solutions than our SMS, they use Hima or Triconex, but fail to mention this. Fisher is great, when are we going to buy proper equivalent? CHARMS is a joke, when are we going to react? Emerson is by far the better marketing company, when are we going to wake up? Wednesday, February 9, 2011 Good managers and corporations use well defined processes to improve productivity, employee morale, and profits. Bad managers hide behind 'Process' to shield themselves from having to make any decisions that do not satisfy their personal egos and to generally make life difficult for employees in a million little ways which all, in aggregate, make the life of the engineers a living nightmare. Honeywell does not have good managers. As a result, sooner or later the good engineers will leave, and the company will be left with paper pushers and little smiling yes men whose only solution to any problem will be to send the work to Bangalore or Beijing or Brno. Sadly, it is already happening. In other words, Honeywell is a company in steep decline. Its managers and no one else are to blame for it. Wednesday, February 9, 2011 The article in Automation World is good, as far as it goes. However, it fails to address the attitude prevalent within Honeywell management - they think that the solution to every problem lies in the Far East or Mexico. It also doesn't address the fact that Honeywell (and others) have abandoned the principles that once made them great and instead have become whores for Wall Street. It has become a viscious cycle - buy a small company, offshore the jobs to China, sell the plant, and finally, lay off remaining remnants of the Western workforce to compensate for missed revenue caused by failure to deliver. All in pursuit of making the numbers, short-term gains, and looking good this quarter. Motivate employees and make them proud to work for blue Honeywell? Why, pray tell? Since Allied came in, what has Honeywell done to be proud about? What kind of employee recognition or morale booster could Honeywell possibly offer that would overcome the reality that Honeywell is a company that doesn't care one whit about its Western employees? Actions speak louder than words, and for years Hon's actions have screamed "We Do Not Value You Or Want You. You Are Part Of The Problem." How gullible do they think we are? Once upon a time, the name "Honeywell" was synonomous with technical excellence. Today, Honeywell's logo should be part of the definition of the word 'corporate greed' and Dave Cote should be the poster child. Wednesday, February 9, 2011 Read Jim Pinto's latest column in Automation World, February 2011. This specifically discusses reasons why anonymous weblogs are so popular.
During a period of recession, leadership skills are truly challenged. The solutions derive from strong management, which motivates good people to do what it takes to win during tough times. Mechanisms must be created for the workforce to share their feelings. It's the bad times that make good companies so much better during the good times. Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - Re: "...it's not better anywhere else." Not true at all. Emerson is an engineering company that consistently performs by providing better products and services. Emerson CEO Dave Farr fights Obama's tax increases rather that becoming his lap dog like Honeywell's Dave Cote. Compare their total compensation packages, company size and growth rates and see who is the superior CEO! Tuesday, February 8, 2011 That is why I say use Honeywell like they use you. Shut your mouth & you'll stay in Phoenix as long as possible. Checkout the Emerson Dilbert blogs. See, it's not better anywhere else. Tuesday, February 8, 2011 Do not apply for any jobs internally. That news gets back to your boss very quickly. Just remember, nothing at Honeywell is confidential; everything that is recorded about you is seen by everyone else. Saturday, February 5, 2011 If you complain they will make your life hell - so start applying to competitors. But, most likely they will send you overseas to an outsourced business center. It won't be anywhere as nice as Phoenix. My motto is to use Big H the same way they use me; it's the only way to survive. Friday, February 4, 2011 You can look forward to a PIP for the next two years. No new hires in Canada Aero in about eight years, give or take. I like this place, but it is long since time to update my resume. Seems everyone around here is slowly dieing off. No investment in the employees, no interest in training new graduates and engineering work shipped to China as quick as possible. Work used to get shipped out to Mexico, but I think they ended up asking for a big pay raise so they were all fired and the facility there mostly abandoned (just a guess). Friday, February 4, 2011 I left Honeywell in the late 90's and when I resigned they were furious. They wanted to know why I never said anything. I told them I said a lot but no one was listening. Looks like not much has changed. The only difference today is that you can't just resign, because jobs in the US are hard to come by. If you want to work training outsourcers to do US jobs, then you may have a great career. Friday, February 4, 2011 - To the "lucky recipient": Be sure to start a journal to track the days between your survey response and when you begin to feel the noose start to tighten. I'll bet anything your next review will indicate that you're not a "team player." Now, expect to either get dumped on with more assignments than anyone can successfully manage, or else be slowly stripped of responsibilities until you begin to be marginalized. That's how it's done. Of course, there'll never be a official link to your survey response, at least not in black and white. Friday, February 4, 2011 I was a "lucky" recipient of a request to participate in an ethics survey for Honeywell. I gave them verifiable, factual evidence of dates and events on absolutely unethical behavior where I work, and the retaliation I received for reporting it in the first place. It will be interesting to see if any action at all will be taken. If I was a gambler, I would give 30-to-1 odds that nothing will happen, except of course more retaliation. Thursday, February 3, 2011 President heads to Pennsylvania to pitch for his clean-energy plans. Any chance of Cote & H-well being part of projects that help America? Thursday, February 3, 2011 Excellent point regarding Cote being skipped over. There would have been a glaring conflict of interest anyway, because Obama was focusing in on US Corporations that are creating manufacturing, engineering, sales and support jobs in the USA. Could Honeywell fit that bill? We all know the answer is a blaring No. Outsourcing will not get rewarded by the Obama administration, and that is one of the most patriotic things our President could do. Thursday, February 3, 2011 I worked for HON in the Aero sector in Canada. The mood at Honeywell was poison; the employees felt they were not getting paid enough and were threatening to join a union. This mixed with the site doing well in a time when other sectors were struggling left them irritated and annoyed. The hiring-freeze was making it difficult because people were leaving and the positions not being back filled, so there was more on others plates. The engineering department is running on a skeleton crew now, they all have left for greener pastures. The place is micromanaged to death, numbers were presented in such a way that it made things look better or worse than they actually were. The workforce there was young and arrogant, wanting it all right now, giving no regard for anyone who has any seniority. Seems the only way to get ahead was to either leave and come back or mess up at your job and get promoted to a position of more responsibility. I am worried for the people still working there, that if they tried to bring a union into that shop one more time, they would shut it down and move the business to somewhere in Mexico. The Canadian dollar is not like it was a few years ago; it costs more to do business in Canada and be competitive. Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - Re: "It doesn't matter how much berating and chest-thumping is done on this weblog.": Maybe, just maybe, this weblog contributed in some way to Cote being skipped over for the job that Obama recently gave Immelt. If so, this weblog served a useful function. Monday, January 31, 2011 It doesn't matter how much berating and chest-thumping is done on this weblog. As long as the HON Board of Directors is kept well-fed and happy and the shareholders and Wall Street see HON meeting the estimated EPS, David Cote will remain in his seat, his salary and bonus will increase, costs will be squeezed, and the workers will continue to get shafted with the threat of outsourcing. It's all a house of cards. That's reality for you. Welcome to the new normal in corporate America. Saturday, January 29, 2011 So let's see...a guy with no particular ambition, talent, or proven ability somehow gets taken under the wing of a corporate sponsor. He rises quickly through the ranks, always being pulled along by someone above him, until he begins to believe his own press and comes to see himself as a elite corporate genius. Ultimately, he is given the reins of blue Honeywell, where he becomes the living incarnation of the Peter Principle. Witness the fact that he hasn't had an original idea since his coronation. Oh yeah, just the kind of guy I admire and want to work for. Friday, January 28, 2011 I beg to differ with the statements that the old Honeywell rewarded hard work. That's not what I experienced in my 5 years at Big H. Thursday, January 27, 2011 The funny thing about Dave Cote is that he doesn't fit the mold that he's allowed to become the norm at (blue) Honeywell. Here is an excerpt from a bio page on him:
So if you have a chance to work for that guy who graduated from a third-rate college or who earned an MBA at night school, take it. You might just find he or she is the best boss you ever had. Friday, January 21, 2011 Cote's buddying up with Obama and the DNC didn't work, because Obama chose GE's Immelt to head the President's Job Council. Tuesday, January 18, 2011 Somebody linked to an article about the Ivy League educated elites. Honeywell is even worse than that. You get to work for the semi-literate managers with degrees from third rate engineering schools who, at best, get a night school MBA while working. Or, more often, they just get an online certification like PMP in one of the MS Office components, even which is beyond their level of competence. Sometimes even non-degreed engineers are promoted to boss over technical people. If America declines as a major player in the affairs of the world, the managers of Honeywell will be among the most important and telling exhibits of why that happens. No innovation. No respect for technical expertise. No loyalty to USA. All process all the time, and that too is so badly managed that the company is a holy mess that is inefficient and demotivating for anyone who actually wants to do something. Perhaps opportunity outside the HON bubble are limited, but despite that I would strongly recommend the younger and middle aged employees to go elsewhere. The future of Honeywell engineers is here. And it is not pretty. Get out as soon as you can. Friday, January 14, 2011 Being a 35 year Honeyweller, and having been laid off several times, I keep coming back because it is still the best deal in my community. And while I hate to see what is going on with the company, the writing has been on the wall for many years. In this ever-evolving economy, it is important to shift gears into a way of life that one can survive in, and in my case, actually thrive under current conditions. Sensible life choices can create a positive lifestyle while living in a very negative economic environment. I'm always amazed at the employee who still goes out spending $35,000 on a new Silverado, knowing full well that their job could be in jeopardy. Having lost my higher paying job at Honeywell in 2001, and now coming back 6 years later, I'm earning about a third less than I was. And while my bottom line is lower, they did give me back my seniority, vacation and benefits. I'm taking advantage of their benefits, even though the 401k match ended. I moved my 401 assets to Honeywell stock last fall and so far have watched those shares climb over $8. I'm making money at Honeywell's expense. Take advantage of it. Sensible life choices has put me in a position of having everything I want and having it paid for. Those kinds of choices have also put more cash in my pocket and more financial resources in my bank than I have ever had before. And doing it on a third less. I was never an exempt employee. I'm sitting at a job which Honeywell is selling out to another company. I try to focus on the job at hand. I try to ignore the management that has put Honeywell where it is. I try to do the best I can. I hope for the best, while planning for the worst. I also have a part time job which has helped me through previous lay-offs. Good luck to all Honeywell employees because you are the best. Life goes on. Wednesday, January 12, 2011 As an ex-Honeyweller, here are my thoughts on the posts over the last few days:
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 Motivation is to hold onto our jobs for as long as we can. In the meanwhile, the fat cats still get expense accounts for customer "entertainment" like $100 bottles of wine and lavish expenses at "gentelmen's" clubs. Just lay low, don't complain and don't point any attention to yourself and hang on until they make you redundant because a low paid foreigner will do your job for next to nothing. The American Dream is now officially a nightmare. Tuesday, January 11, 2011 The corporate robbery of employees, and the recent announced recovered amount to date look like this:
Now they are returning 25% of six months of the savings plan's 2% robbery, which works out to % of ones salary equivalent for the year. But they are still keeping the other 75% for that period, the 100% before that, and the 75% of future amounts, in addition to everything else. So, the final count looks like this: Corporate got away with a measly minimum of 12.07%, and the employees are recovering a whopping 0.25%. And that is only if one is enrolled in the plan, and at the maximum allowable percentage. Otherwise, you get zilch. And everyone can't afford to enroll in the plan. It was strategically chosen, for that very reason, as the perfect vehicle to deceptively excite the crowd, while costing the company a very negligible amount. The small brains behind this "brilliant" move must be thinking that they have boosted employees' morale back to the pre-robbery levels. Are we all motivated again and ready to restore our productivity levels back to 110%? Oh yea! Monday, January 10, 2011 It's called American Management Theory - you know what floats to the top. Friday, January 7, 2011 Honeywellers will find much to relate to in this article:
Here's the money quote:
Wednesday, January 5, 2011 This might sound a little bit conspiracy theory, but it seems there is something very sinister going between CEOs and political leaders in this country. Follow me on this. When the banks crashed a couple years ago, many US companies across the board started laying off people by the thousands, even though these companies themselves had not been affected yet: sales were strong, consumer confidence was a little shaky but sales in almost every sector were still there. The government then bailed out these banks under threat of violence in the streets and a breakdown of society. The banks eventually made off with enough money to cover their gambling debts and then some and are starting out 2011 better off than years before. Meanwhile there is still high unemployment in this country - companies that laid off thousands at the beginning of the banking crisis have been running "lean" since then, and have found that they can get almost as much productivity out of their remaining workforce by threatening to lay off even more people. As a result US companies are now sitting on billions in cash, by not hiring, coincidentally many politicians have begun the drumbeat of terminating unemployment for jobless Americans. It is my belief that these companies will begin hiring once unemployment benefits across the country have been done away with. However, they will offer the same positions that were lost a couple years ago but at a 30 to 40 percent lower rate. It's almost as if the CEOs have taken a page out of the book of organized labor and, in unison, have decided to go on a hiring strike until US workers are ready to accept a major pay cut. If they can't outsource every worker in the country then maybe they can break their salaries by waiting them out. Perhaps I am being a little cynical, but is this what they mean when they say the "Great Economic Reset"? Genius. Absolute genius. Wednesday, January 5, 2011 David Cote is like every other US CEO. The bottom line is their compensation package and the Board of Directors mandate on share-price improvements. Employees don't matter to any US CEO. If they did, would US CEO's mandate their US employees to train the overseas, outsourced cheap labor that eventually take away US jobs? US CEO's are the least patriotic "Americans". How many are actually American citizens? Tuesday, January 4, 2011 When Dave Cote talks about Government and private enterprise working together, what he really means is that Government will give private enterprise lots of money and private enterprise will give that money to its executives in the form of bonuses and incentives. Monday, January 3, 2011 Corporations and Government working together? What's Cote talking about? Creating jobs? That's a joke coming fron Cote. All he has done is destroy jobs within Honeywell, moving tons of them to China (especially from Freeport Il.). What is wrong with Obama? Is he so blind, him and Cote? Create jobs? All they have done is destoy jobs. They are for themselves and nobody else. What a joke that meeting at the White House was. Watch it via the link in the December 20th comment. Monday, December 20, 2010
David Cote thinks American companies hiring US workers would be a "be a bad policy". And this man is on the deficit commission?! Thursday, December 16, 2010 What a great tag team we have in our lives! We have CEOs trying to squeeze more out of us for less in return, using the constant threat of layoffs, and governments trying to squeeze more out of that less, from us, in ever increasing taxes. And these two power, money and ego lovers are in bed together and neither of them have much of a conscience. There is a marriage made in hell as far as we kids are concerned! Since the CEOs excitedly contribute to their political cousins using the corporations' monies, and we are forced to contribute to the CEOs' financial well being, and their egos, through slavery and robbery, we are unwittingly contributing to both of these insatiable "blood suckers". What a wonderful world! Also, both of these "blood suckers" conveniently turn a blind eye to the unscrupulous doings of the other, in their dealings with us, especially the political leaders to the corporate leaders' contradictory ways. Money CAN buy anything! Wednesday, December 15, 2010 US corporations contribute to both the Republican and Democratic parties to cover themselves for all cases. CEO's pressure their people to contribute to their campaigns. Wednesday, December 15, 2010 here was a news piece today showing Cote and other CEOs heading to a meeting with Obama. The title of the segment was "Obama Mending Fences With Business". What needs to be mended? What is it that CEOs like Cote haven't gotten? What more do they want? Cote threw hundreds of jobs in Phoenix overseas and shortly afterward he had lunch with Obama. Cote has injured the local economy of Arizona, and now he's on the deficit commission??? He heads over India with Obama??? What more does he want? What rift is there between American CEOs and American government? They are getting everything they want regardless of political party. Tuesday, December 14, 2010 I have been with HI for 20+ years. After leaving for two years to work at another large corporation and coming back, I can say that the grass ain't no greener on the other side. There is opportunity for advancement or even lateral moves (for self-satisfaction) if you are a hard worker and have shown you can handle whatever they throw at you. But, you have to make it happen. They would love to keep you where you are and suck you dry. I would guess that all companies are like that. And no, I am not smitten by they way the big-shots run the company. I do believe they are flailing in the industry in several ways - I will probably be still working for HI when the ship capsizes. Monday, December 13, 2010 I am also stuck between a rock and a hard place. Too old to be marketable and too young to retire. Age discrimination is brutal in our industry. Guess I'll use the company the same way they use me. I have no other choice. Sunday, December 12, 2010 I have been an employee since 1979 (32years) and yes, the Company has definitely changed for the worse as far as employee morale is concerned. Excellent people are leaving in droves because of Senior Management practices. If I was earlier in my career I would leave now; but with only a few more years to retirement I can hang in. Honeywell's on a path to self destruction. Saturday, December 11, 2010 Get an attorney, or even better yet, represent yourself pro-se and file suit. I once did this and it's not as difficult as you may think. Tie them up; they will spend a lot of bucks on legal fees and you may get the last laugh. Saturday, December 11, 2010 - Sue for wrongful dismissal? I always wonder why people are afraid to sue for wrongful dimissal due to costing too much. That is, afraid a company's lawyers will tie it up in the courts until you are fully exhausted of money and then lose the case by default. That in itself sounds unlawful! What about this course of action, for those that are afraid of losing money in the process of protecting one's own rights & personal integrity:
Ihe above is not specifically directed at Honeywell, it is more a general statement. I always thought that the above would be a reasonable course of action if deemed necessary. Do you agree? Saturday, December 11, 2010 So, Honeywell has increased its share dividend to the share holders by 10%. This is very exciting news for the employees (losers), and a definite morale booster. And now the employees understand what the 10% salary theft, 2% furlough theft, benefits cost increases, benefits reduction, deferred raises (which is a "corporate lie" that actually meant no raises‚ and employees' demoralization is actually for, in addition to filling the pockets of the corporate gods. (Let's not forget that the share price has gone from about $23 to about $52, or ignore how many shares the Honeywell corporate gods own). Talk about employees getting raped twice! Why share even some of the fruits of the employees' labor and sacrifices, with the employees, when you can keep it for yourselves and share it with the greedy and the rich? The corporate gods and the share holders deserve all of the rewards, don't they? I can't speak for the other employees, but I am so excited and motivated now, upon hearing this news, and especially, knowing that there are PIPS, instead of pay raises in the offing, that I intend to work a lot harder to meet the new corporate objective of employees giving more and receiving less, and the corporate gods doing the opposite! Friday, December 10, 2010 Count your blessings if your first level manager has your back. My manager screwed up badly. When the point was reached where it was imminent that the consequences of his mistake would be found out, he needed to find some cover, and quickly. What did he do? Instead of admitting his mistake, he blamed me. Naturally I protested, but by that time he had already laid out his version of events to his boss and my appeal went nowhere. Railroaded every step of the way. After that I was rif'ed at the earliest opportunity. Coincidence? I think not. I probably should have sought legal recourse, but who can fight a big-bucks corporate lawyer? All the talk about corporate integrity is nothing but BS mouthwash. This never would have happened at old Honeywell. Wednesday, December 8, 2010 I am not a manager or even close, but I have to disagree that things are as bad as everyone is making them out to be. I work hard and I am recognized for that effort. Yes, I was one of the lucky few who received a merit increase in October. No, I do not kiss up, nor am I anyone of any kind of importance. I do my job and I do it well. Yes, I agree that Honeywell has stopped being a "fun" company to work for. They no longer offer the same great working environment that it used to be before being bought by Allied. But, if you do your job and perhaps offer to do more, you WILL be recognized! I am going to school full time, I have had a lot of medical appointments recently but Honeywell has been nothing but supportive. I have left before - I came back. The grass is not greener on the other side; it is just a different variety! Wednesday, December 8, 2010 Here's a quote from the article "Honeywell and Congress: Best of Friends?" (weblink below):
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 Remarkable....
Start of article: Wednesday, December 8, 2010 My first level manager at Honeywell was USELESS. He ignored my input, ignored my statements that competitors are hiring. I do agree that "corporate" hits these managers over the head and they are the mouthpieces that do corporate's bidding so that they still have their job. I also believe that there is no company on the face of this earth that cares about the employees. So many retirees come back as consultants because they know the older products in a way the new folks never will. Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - from ex Honeyweller, response to Dec 6th blog - "Companies don't care about their employees anymore." I disagree. The new company I work for cares about their employees. It is not only said, it is proven by action. I wonder if it is becaues the new compnay is based in France rather than USA and the corporate philosophy is different? And if I may, I would clarify the situation at Honeywell. When I was with Honeywell, what I noticed was that the local managment DID care; but all power to actually DO something about it was taken away from them over the years. No longer is local 1st level managment allowed to give pay raises; also no training; no R&Rs (remember those!?); no bonuses worth talking about; nickle & dimed on the time sheet to the Nth degree; forced to ask their employees to make up for all missed time - EVEN IF YOU ARE SICK. Ridiculous. No wonder productivity is terrible. My point is that the 1st level managers got your back, but it is the corporate policies being forced down their throat and so they must push it on you or lose their own job. It's a terrible environment, but that's what my impression was when I was there. Now I am glad I am gone. I miss my friends there to be sure, but I am glad to be free of that environment. The grass IS greener on the other side :) Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - from "Unreal and sickend in the UK". I've been with Honeywell Maintainance in the UK for 16 years. The morale of all staff is so low you would not credit it. We are losing contracts, not winning new ones. The whole org has changed into a dysfunctional family; bosses are replaced if they get too close to the real workers who help keep it together. We have lost some fantastic people over the last few years and all the good managers have now gone. I really don't know where we are going. All our higher bosses seem to do is self congratulate, while the middle men just bully and blame. It just is not the company it once was. It's now all fur coat and no knickers. Tuesday, December 7, 2010 If you are able to lay low and stay below the radar, you are one of the lucky few. But watch your back! If they are not pushing you to work harder and faster then they will be pushing you towards the exit. Everyone is just dying to be left alone to do their work and to stay under the radar, to the benefit of the company. But that is just not possible anymore when you have geniuses keeping a very close and very uncomfortable watch over you and dictating to you all the wrong and hardest way to do your work, and when you have 5 to 10 people pushing you to go faster, complimented with the constant threats of layoffs, PIPs etc. What else can you ask for? All of this only leads to reduced productivity. If you are the type that pushes yourself harder than anybody else can push you, then, all they are doing is force you to slow down. Monday, December 6, 2010 A lot of us are flying below the radar - it's the only way to survive. Boss gets all the credit and underlings get all the blame. Avoiding management is like walking through a mine field. Process Control roulette is not a fun game. Monday, December 6, 2010 Companies don't care about their employees anymore. All they care about is the bottom line. I lay low, do my job, don't complain because I want to retire in Phoenix. Essentially I stay below the radar so as not to be put out to pasture. Saturday, December 4, 2010 Upper management are the only people that get taken care of. Top level management does not care about any employee. We are dispensable. Anyone who thinks otherwise is simply fooling themselves. Employees need to use the company the same way the company uses them. Heck, milk them for as long as you can because the second they don't need you then you are discarded like burnt toast. Saturday, December 4, 2010 I moved to Emerson from Honeywell. I thought it would be better, but it is not. Marketing hype rules EMP. Friday, December 3, 2010 Yeah, it's hard to make a change alright - especially when you've given the best years of your career to Honeywell. I've invested years in product and process development with the goal of helping Honeywell compete more effectively with high quality products delivered on time. Now, with most of my career behind me, management hands over the fruits of that labor to the Indians and Chinese who, of course, have no understanding or appreciation of what they've been given. Not surprisingly, quality and delivery go to heck in a handbasket. In the twilight of my career, I find myself working for a company that has discarded its committment to quality and customers for nothing more than buzzwords and jingoisms. Yes, I own Honeywell stock. But its miserable performance is scant compensation for the endless frustrations of working for this outfit. Yet, the prospect of restarting a career at this point is hardly attractive, especially when job prospects are extremely limited. The only people in this company getting ahead are upper management and job-hoppers interested only in a couple year stint to put on their resume. Those who have made a career here are screwed. Friday, December 3, 2010 You know, the year Cote signed on with Honeywell for multi million dollars bonuses, that was the year we were told in Honeywell Canada not to expect a raise because the economy was bad. The writing was on the wall already years ago. I was tired of listening to all the Ra-ra-ra about six sigma, ISO and all the other BS they tried to shove down our throats. Needless to say, I moved on to greener pastures. Never looked back. My advice: It is not easy to make a change. You have to believe in yourself and don't give up. Venting on this site will not get you anywhere because nothing will change at Honeywell. It is what it is and will get worse. Wednesday, December 1, 2010 Cayman Islands?? The only people moving to the Cayman Islands are upper managment who sold our souls for a quick flip on bonuses and stock options. The only thing for us poor engineers is a spot in line of our local food bank.... Tuesday, November 30, 2010 Suggestions? What is there to suggest? Not everybody is in a position to move overseas. More and more jobs will transfer to low cost countries. The rate is increasing fast. It started with the less demanding roles: "let's free up your time so you can focus on what is really important!". Today, on a large scale, all large automation companies are constructing Mega-engineering centers in low cost countries. It is no longer limited to low level activities. Despite obvious initial lack of quality, more and more high tech activities are transferred. And these countries learn fast. Their knowledge level goes up. The low quality argument is still valid, but does not hold up against the huge profits of the 2 dollar per hour cost of an Indian engineer. Sadly enough, it isn't the Indian engineer who benefits. They are being exploited by authoritarian local dictators that are filling their pockets in the same way as US CEOs are doing over here. There only hope is a ticket to the US or Canada to live a lifestyle they would never have at home. Can you blame them? Can you blame the US trainers transferring the knowledge? Can you blame the US engineers who are patching up the crappy work so the customer does not notice? I was one of the trainers for low cost countries. Once enough people trained, there was no need for me anymore. My job has been taken over by 50 Indian trainers, trained by me, for the same cost as mine. Serves me right. Where is this going to end? My answer: It will not end. This cannot be stopped. We have long passed the point of no return. Low cost engineering centers have become the backbone of US automation companies. Removing them will bring down the whole company, and the dictators in India know this very well. They look down on the US workforce. And they are smiling. And if you think this might not happen to you, think again, you are wrong. Learn to accept the situation and make the best of it. It is going to get really crowded in the Cayman Islands.... Monday, November 29, 2010 I also left Honeywell for the same reasons stated in the last post. Now I am bounced around the world to train people that are taking American jobs away. The majority of these places are hell-holes no one would ever want to visit. Manila, Bangalore, etc. I need to take shots for all types of diseases for what to help a stock-holder to profit off the backs of slave labor. There is something very wrong with this picture. The USA does not make anything anymore at all. I predict more mergers of Process Control corporations to create the uber-outsourced jobs at US mega corporation.I think it may be time to retire to the Cayman Islands or become a Professor in Costa Rica? Any suggestions folks? Monday, November 29, 2010 I left Honeywell 14 years ago because my middle level management was inept and then they were furious when I resigned. I told them a competitor was interested in me, but they ignored my hints for them to notice me and face the issues and improve Honeywell Phoenix. Since then I have worked at two competitors and it's not much better. I might have been better off staying in Phoenix, because it's a great place to live and there is no winter unless you travel to Flagstaff or Pinetop. Next stop Costa Rica? Anyone offering relocation packages to Costa Rica? Saturday, November 27, 2010 Secret pay raises for L-1, 2,3 is true. PIP for everyone else. Morale is so low here, nobody seems interested to work anymore. No extra effort, no willingness to get involved. Nothing. Just clock in and out 8 hours later. We are walking around like human shells, not human beings. What is management going to do about this? They are in the exact same position and are leaving too. Time to go, literally. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 HON is not a "systems" company and must be responsive to whomever awards the contract. Therefore, some of what creates negative consequences for the HON people must be attributed to those like Boeing who demand "sacrifice." What is happening at these system companies and what are they asking of their people? Is the same outsourcing strategy in place and are they "transitioning" retirees from health care benefits? Monday, November 22, 2010 Yes, they have done a lot of stupid things in the 6 to 7 years prior to the past 3 years. But in the past 3 years, they have rapidly accelerated and advanced from mild stupidity to gross stupidity. Or rather, they may have only shed whatever little sensitivity or humanity they may have had. We have to accept that out-sourcing and off-shoring is the new corporate norm that has been devised to satisfy the new "corporate greed". And it is a viable and feasible option for many reasons, especially if one has shares in a company whose CEO sees this as a quick, cheap and easy way of inflating his personal financial worth and trying to satisfy his insatiable ego, and please the share holders, and meet the demands of the new "corporate greed" culture, all at the same time and all at any cost to everyone else and, all without any effort on his part. For the underlings, you have to look at it this way: you’ll be treated like dirt and may even lose your job. But, your share price, if you own any, will appreciate. For the Overlords, well, they just can’t lose. Their job is more secure, they get huge financial rewards and other compensations, their share price appreciates, they get a lot more shares, all for doing nothing but outsource and rob their employees (how much more innovative and visionary can you get than that?), and their egos are inflated beyond measure! Oh, the power - and the glory! Companies and CEOs that are severely lacking in vision and innovation see this as a golden opportunity for masking their ineptitude, and look smart instead. It is not the method that counts but the result. And at what cost is also irrelevant, especially if the cost is burdened upon the employees. But there is also hidden cost that are being ignored in all of the excitement, at least hidden for now, that will come to bear later. In fact, it is already bearing fruits by the impact on schedule, cost and quality. Yes, quality, that most critical and important aspect of any product, and that don’t seem to matter much anymore to the corporate hungry. Our standards have deteriorated and the results are TBD at a future date. Also, CEOs and companies that are lacking in vision and innovation compared to the competition may not have much of a choice but to out-source and off-shore, and rob their employees so as to be competitive, lest the truth be known that "the Emperor has no clothe!". Nevertheless, there is still no justification for becoming mean and nasty to their employees in the process, especially the experienced and productive employees, unless they intend to completely wipe them out. Otherwise, it is a short-sighted and uneducated strategy and may only come back to haunt them. These geniuses must be a disgrace to the business schools that issued them their papers. Perhaps their papers should be verified. For N.American employees, it seems that the "writing is on the wall". But, it is in Hindi. Monday, November 22, 2010 - To the original "Honeywell did a lot of stupid things 7 to 10 years ago": I suggest that you go to the bottom of this web page and click on the archives. You will see records back to 2002. You will see that a lot of the antics started back then. Not all of these people could be wrong over such a long period! Monday, November 22, 2010 - Re:"Honeywell did a lot of stupid things 7 to 10 years ago.": You must either be new or else haven't been paying attention, or else you work in India or China. Ten years ago Allied Signal bought Honeywell, decided to keep the name, tossed out the Honeywell culture and management, and replaced them with GE clones desperately trying to make names for themselves. The company formerly known as "Honeywell" has done nothing but go into the toilet since. Tens of thousands of jobs have been offshored and employees terminated, employee benefits have been raided to make numbers for Wall Street, and Diamond Dave Cote (who has yet to have an original idea) has been rewarded with millions of dollars in bonuses. The attack of "stupid" BEGAN 7 to 10 years ago and continues to this day. To perpetuate this piracy Honeywell has ramped up its political contributions to buy votes in the US Congress. That Cote apparently has Obama's ear I'm sure helps feed Cote's inflated ego, but does not bode well for rank and file employees. Monday, November 22, 2010 Oh well, this site was a nice open area of communication for a while. But it looks like HR has found it based on the recent plants. See ya. Sunday, November 21, 2010 Re: "King Radio, Bendix King, Allied Signal were not bad places to work until we became Honeywell. And they started to send all our jobs out of the country." First, I hate to tell the person who wrote this comment that "Honeywell" IS "Allied Signal". Allied Signal bought Honeywell thus Honeywell became a division of Allied Signal. Then Allied Signal changed its name to Honeywell. Top management of the new Honeywell all came from Allied Signal. Secondly, Allied Signal was formed when Allied Chemical and Signal Companies mergered, and most of the management and their employment policies came from Allied Chemical. Allied Chemical was known for very bad employment policies and treated their employees like dirt. And they still do. I retired 8 years ago when my company was getting rid of all the older, experienced US engineers because they were too expensive. I still work 32+ hours a week because all the new, young, cheap Indian, Chinese, and yes even US, engineers that have been hired have no idea what is going on. It is really amazing how many old, retired, experience US engineers are back on contract for the simple reason that is the only way to get quality work out the door on schedule. However, working for Allied Chemical ain't no fun, so I will probably hang it up next year. Unless the "owners" of Allied Chemical boot the current board and Diamond Dave, but fat chance that will happen. Friday, November 19, 2010 I agree that Honeywell did a lot of stupid things 7-10 years ago. I also know that I currently work for Honeywell and the things I see going on really excite me. We have by far the best technical solution and broadest portfolio in the industry. We also have right around 1,000 job openings in North America. I worked 15 years at an Emerson rep and the things I see happening at them now reminds me of some of the decisions Honeywell was making 10 years ago. Of course if you look at Emersons current management quite a few of them were Honeywell management 10 years ago so it makes sense. Monday, November 15, 2010 - Regarding layoffs, does it matter what anyone reading on this weblogs thinks? I saw this coming down when Obama put Cote on one of his panels. Then you see Cote on TV giving a speech and Obama standing behind him. Then the uranium conversion facility in Illinois, where the government can not step in and do anything in this matter just goes to show how powerless the Obama administration is against Cote. Or maybe Obama told the Feds to stay out of this issue? Next, the India trip, or should we call it a giant slumber party? You know your job is going to India, China, Indonesia, or somewhere overseas. So start planning and make a transition to another company, another town, another industry. I know it sounds easy the way I say it, but I sacrificed a year in a very cold icy part of the USA, and it is paying dividends now. The rewards are there, you'll have to work for them, but you'll get them. Don't wait for Honeywell to give you anything; the current management motto is 'grab all you can'. Monday, November 15, 2010 The prediction of a layoff in January or early 2011 does not fit with corporate practices. Much more likely to be before Thanksgiving, or before Christmas. Both are cheaper for the company since they would be paying for holidays anyway and effectively save that money in the severance budget. They would also prefer to get all the termination charges on the books in this current year and next year won't have to bear that burden. Saturday, November 13, 2010 As an ex-Honeywell employee, all I can say is that you are wasting time and effort complaining to management. You can't fight the system at this company and introduce change unless you are a 'C'-level person. Even managers and site directors have their hands tied behind their backs. As Rush Limbaugh said, to paraphrase, it's not that there aren't any jobs out there; there are plenty of jobs, you've just got to move where the jobs are. I did this, and so can you. Everything is greener once you leave the Big Red H serf farm. Thursday, November 11, 2010 Someone asked about SAP. We call it Stop All Production. We can not pay our vendors because the bills are sent to El Paso, TX and they run across the border from Mexico, pick up the bills and pay some of them. They only get paid if the match up exact. Our gas was cut off for a week because they didn't pay the bill. The implementation team is a joke as well. I could go on and on about SAP but I won't. No raise, unless your a block 1, 2, or 3. No raise for me. I make less year after year here. Insurance went up 17% for 2011 but I also give thanks as well to our Government-run Health Care for that. (They said it in the insurance power point). This one really got to me. We received an email before the election from some VP telling me to vote yes on a State Amendment that, if passed, it would bring our company more business. Whether I was for it or against it what right do you have to tell me how to vote? You don't know my political views. Thursday, November 11, 2010 There is some talk of pending layoffs across Honeywell aerospace in January, to the tune of 6% to 10%, and one has to assume that that could only mean that they will be targeting N.A. If that is the case, then perhaps Cote and Obama’s date to India must have been to personally deliver the good news to the beneficiaries. It is like the reading of our will. It’s either that, or they are on a honeymoon. Honeywell’s CEO seem to be able to manipulative the most powerful person in the world, on a whim, and have him turn a blind eye to Cote’s anti-American efforts. That makes Cote the most powerful person in the world now. He has blind-sided the President into buying into his outsource/offshore agenda and even has him participating, or "sleeping with the 'enemy'". Of course, the surest way to have politicians ignore others’ agenda that may be self-defeating to a politician’s principles, morals and agenda, is simply, to contribute to their campaign (ambition), financially. Anyway, it would seem that both of these idiots suffer from that malady - of the desire to please and satisfy all others but their own. The world stage is much grander than the American stage, especially for those with grand egos. The only reprieve for the N.A. employees from all of this is that, although the idiots at the top have a tendency to over react and make rash and snap decisions without much thinking or worrying of the consequences, they occasionally, although very rarely, have second thoughts when reality sets in. Otherwise, they are mostly blind and ignorant to reality. They had considered substantial layoffs for last September/October, but then we got busy and the pace of people leaving has picked up. Opportunities are improving out there, and the disgust with these idiots is ever increasing. We just need to accelerate the exodus. The top performers and most productive employees need to leave before they let the others go. A 10% cut here in N.A. could probably translate into multiple times hiring in India and elsewhere; that seem to have been the trend over the past several years. Wednesday, November 10, 2010 King Radio, Bendix King, Allied Signal were not bad places to work until we became Honeywell. And they started to send all our jobs out of the country. Wednesday, November 10, 2010 It's not Shanghai that you want to send the CEOs. Shanghai is vibrant because of its port location. Lucky because of location. Send them to the Chinese interior. They would probably build gated communities and probably improve that economy! What would be more punitive is to have expatrate passports revoked if leaving the country and live under the country of residence pasport. Tuesday, November 9, 2010 Thanks to our CEOs, I had the opportunity to help develop our business based out of Shanghai. I hate to say this, but I personally find the standard of living in Shanghai much higher than in many US cities. All luxuries are abundantly available. There is nothing in the US that I cannot acquire here, and all that at an affordable price. Shanghai is alive, buzzing with activity, and most of all, it is SAFE. You must like your CEO a lot if you want to send him here. Tuesday, November 9, 2010 All the CEOs and company leaders should have to live in the country where they send our jobs to. Such as Mexico, India, Indonesia and so on. Monday, November 8, 2010 - Re: Sad Sad Commentary: The major change happened when we went from "making a healthy profit" to "maximising profit". You could make a healthy profit while retaining a US workforce and use the "Made in America" label and flag waving to please people. Those were the days when spending money on your employees morale and well-being was looked upon as a good idea, provided you still made a "healthy profit". Unfortunately, when you are required to "maximise profit", any extra expenditure is criticised. The being-patriotic-flag-waving is thrown out of the window because it doesn't "maximise the profit" and having US workers doesn't "maximise the profit". As long as the investors do not care where their money is going, then the corporations will not care who they give the money to. Sunday, November 7, 2010 SAD, SAD commentary on the state of our country. The decline of America is being played out before our eyes. Our elected leaders are bought and paid for by our employers, who seek to end our employment by sending our manufacturing and R&D to India and China. These corporate "leaders" don't care about us or our nation, and apparently the government doesn't care either... Friday, November 5, 2010 Dave Cote is traveling with President Obama to India. Dave is going to send more jobs overseas and advising President Obama on the business merits.
Monday, November 1, 2010 I read read that LinkedIn will include a company review feature:
I hope Honeywell think it will benefit them to sign up. The rush of critical (but true) reviews would be interesting! Monday, November 1, 2010 How long will the Sensing and Control AoB employees be retained? Sensata Technologies Chief Financial Officer Jeff Cote says "We expect to realize synergies on the integration activities over 18 to 24 months." But perhaps past behavior provides another indication. This is the second automotive sensor business Honeywell has sold to Sensata. In Nov. 2006, Honeywell sold the automotive sensor business that was part of the First Technology acquisition to Sensata for $90M. Sensata announced the closure of the main FTAS plant in Standish, ME on Jan. 11, 2007. Full details here: Sunday, October 31, 2010 Our local news has just reported that Honeywell is selling it's "Automotive on Board" business to Sensata Technologies who are a Dutch company. Honeywell has said that the couple of hundred people this affects will be retained. I wonder how long they will be retained for? Probably just long enough to be able to blame Sensata when they are let go. It's a good job I left them a little while ago otherwise I would have been part of this sale. Saturday, October 30, 2010 If you go Republician in the mid-term elections - things will get worse. They're more business friendly. Please explain. Saturday, October 30, 2010 Does anyone on here have any information on SAP and how it has affected their plants? Both negative and positive comments please. Saturday, October 30, 2010 My previous post about "transition" was from a KC Plant perspective. Possibly the health plans referenced are unique to that site. I had sent questions to David Cote and there was a response. While we may feel our "contracts" were not honored, a company that is not competitive will not survive. That is not to say a CEO demanding millions in compensation shoud not have regrets when...... Thursday, October 28, 2010 So, I read the Compensation history. How stupid are we, as a population in the USA, to pay someone to tens of millions of dollars to outsource our jobs. What a gullible bunch of collective idiots we are. And if you go Republician in the mid-term elections - it will get worse. Cote is entitled to the compensation because of the system we set up. As a businessman, he is a brillaint Jack Welch shadow. But morally, he is a pig. Ultimately it is the morality that we will remember, because money has no allegiance and no memory. Wednesday, October 27, 2010 It's that time of year again - the annual financial season. Troops, you might want to look up CEO Compensation packages at Forbes.com: You can Google the rest of the competitors. We are hearing about growth but will we see it in our paychecks? Will CEO's take a pay cut? Stay tuned. Thursday, October 21, 2010 Some people have talked about the benefits of outsourcing. It goes without saying that the value of the imported goods and services gets added to the GDP of the country that does the outsourcing. On the micro level, however, for the people who lose there jobs the net benefit is, of course, negative. Even the employees who keep the jobs are also not better off, as most of the profits from outsourcing go to the shareholders and mostly to the CEO and higher level management. I have not seen any analysis that proves this for sure, but my sense is that the two significant developments in the US economy during the recent years - rising income inequality, and unacceptable level of unemployment - could both be easily shown to be caused, at least in part, by outsourcing. Thursday, October 21, 2010 I sent questions, seeking clarification on the "transition."
Thursday, October 21, 2010 As bad as Honeywell has become, it is still the best place I have ever worked. Thursday, October 21, 2010 PIP: Performance Improvement Plan - First formal notice that they want you out. Goals are generally set such they can't possibly be met. L: Refers to a 9 Block Assessment rating. 1.Exceeds Goals and Behaviors; 9. Below standard for both. Blocks 3,6,7,8,9 are the outer L which implies one of the two are below standard. Cancelling Retiree Health? In case you didn't read the Plan, the option of changing or terminating has always been held by the commpany in writing. Thursday, October 21, 2010 How about a little help: What is PIP--is that short term objectives? What is "L"---is that layoff? What is "HOS"? I was fortunate to retire after over 33 yrs. and get on my wife's insurance policy. Am I to understand that all those who retired under threat of losing their Honeywell insurance are now losing it anyway? If so then that is a crime. But then again I'm not surprised. Tuesday, October 19, 2010 I'm a dedicated bench tech with Honeywell, Olathe and don't like being poked at or disturbed over nonsense. I and many resent the new atmosphere that hasn't produced any positive results. We aren't manufacturing frisbees or widgets here; it's called life support eqiupment! Haven't we learned that some people are just better at some functions than others? Can I please just do my job? Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Olathe closing? I highly doubt it. The place is a cluster with horrible management, but Honeywell likes running things that way. Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Hey, I'm all for the closing of Olathe. The site has produced some really evil directors that have been a havoc in aerospace over the last 10 years. If the closure of the site gets rid of these people, that's good. If these guys are given golden parachutes - then that's bad and I really sympathize with the people that really pay the price and get the job done. Tuesday, October 19, 2010 What about Honeywell in Olathe closing? They have been outsourcing products for the last two years. I know because I worked for them for over thirty years. Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Thanks for the response about the Olathe facility possible closing. Has anyone heard about a time frame of when this might happen? Will this be another Deerfield? Why are we always the last to know? I think that this blog site shares good infomation. Monday, October 18, 2010 I heard Honeywell is looking into out sourcing the complete Olathe facility line of products, and closing the facility. Monday, October 18, 2010 Has anyone heard any info about a layoff in the Olathe KS Areospace? Hear that several products will be sent overeseas. Thursday, October 14, 2010 Honeywell's political giving? A few years ago I wondered why my letters to my US rep in Congress regarding Honeywell's unfair practices seemed to receive a very lukewarm reception. Out of curiosity I looked up contributions to the guy's PAC, and there was Honeywell at the top of the list! Wondering if there was a pattern, I investigated the PAC contributions in other locations where Honeywell had a presence. Same thing. It appears Honeywell is actively buying the politicians' blind eye in order to further screw its US workforce. Wednesday, October 13, 2010 Go to ww.youtube.com and watch George Carlin, The American Dream. It's a 3 minute skit and the only thing missing is Dave Cote's name and also many, many more CEO's of America. Here's the link:
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 Honeywell locked out 220 of its employees at its Metropolis IL Uranium enrichment facility last spring. Negogiations between the union workers and Honeywell management broke down again for the third time.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 No wonder Mr. Cote can be a part of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. I smell a corruption is going on in this country.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - Response to October 11th post: Wow, those are the two best posts I have read. I can not agree more, while working at Honeywell I was very busy going on job interviews and searching for a better position. I took my time, knowing that it was out there. When I found it, I left Honeywell the next day. They would have given me no notice if they wanted to get rid of me, so it was only fair. My new job is amazing. I love it here. I forget what it is like to work for a company that cares about its staff, where people get along, where I am happy. Monday, October 11, 2010 - Re: Friday, October 8, 2010: Sure, Cote and his henchmen are throwing away American jobs. But what to do? The board won't get rid of him. The majority shareholders won't get rid of him. Even a democratic president put him on an economic advisory panel. And the impassioned comments on this blog won't get rid of him. And if they did, so what? He comfortably retires with a worst-case scenario of getting hurt when a pallet of money falls on him. Wonder what the next CEO would be like. It's not just the 20-year veteran that makes too much money - you all do according to the corporate management. It's just a matter of time before it trickles down. You can wait for it, in the meantime doing a great job to help provide the resources that feeds the cycle of lost American jobs, until it finally includes your job. Or you can choose not to participate and leave that mess. I was a part of that takeover 3 years ago when one of our owners got greedy (actually it was their children wanting to get mummy's and daddy's assets liquid before they kicked) and sold out to Honeywell. I turned a blind eye for about a year before it got to me and I snapped out if it and left. Once I put it in terms of explaining to my children who I was working for, the decision to leave was easy. If you think venting on this blog feels good, try working for another company. At a personal level you'll feel like you have your life back. At the big picture level, it's the only way to make a difference. Monday, October 11, 2010 I have been reading this weblog for about a year now, and have noticed a common thread with regard to some of the comments regarding outsourcing. I am not a rocket scientist, or an MBA for that matter, but there are some fundamentals of economics that do ring true here. First, companies outsource to decrease the costs of the goods they sell. It is not malicious or treasonous. If they did not decrease the costs of the goods they sell they would not sell them; a competitor would take the business. Second, and granted this is economic theory, the lower cost goods are better for all of us as they create more "consumer surplus", which is defined as a greater benefit to the consumer as they get the same product at a price lower than they are actually willing to pay. The only way to stop this outsourcing is for the consumers to forego this surplus and give it back to the companies who employ high cost workers. Take a look at what you buy everyday. If any of it is made outside of America, then you are the reason for oursourcing, not Dave Cote. You are wanting your surplus and to eat it too. Now, for outsourcing to work, companies need to make sure they are only oursourcing the jobs that fit the geographic area for requisite skill sets. I have no issue with sending low-value added jobs overseas in order to increase the profitability of the company (and allow me to buy a cheaper thermostat at Home Depot). My issue is that they should then take the highly skilled employee and let them develop new products and grow the company. That appears to be where we are missing our opportunity. As for the quality issues related to getting the work done overseas, yes, this is management's fault. They need to realize outsourcing is not just building a plant in Mexico and hiring a bunch of farmers to run it; it is making the investment to make sure the people they put in place are adequately trained in the jobs they need to do. If a company's management were to do this, profits would rise, creating cash flow for our more skilled workers to invest in the future of the company. Interestingly, the Nobel prize for economics was just awarded. It was awarded this year for work in Search Theory. Some of the salient points related to this are as follows:
Friday, October 8, 2010 I originaly worked for a company 5 years ago that Honeywell bought 3 years ago. Many promises were made and never kept. Our insurance benifits went from great to piss poor. I pay more now than I did before and my coverage has gone down, WAY down. I work in the South Carolina area, and from my perspective (not being an engineer or rocket scientist) it seems to me that Honeywell is part of the reason for our recession. It doesn't take much knowledge or degree in economics to understand that OUT SOURCING to over sea's companies takes away revenue that would be spent here in the USA. Why? because all those poor people that lost their jobs due to HONEYWELL closing down manufacturing facilities throughtout the US and sending them to China, Mexico, India or where ever. It just stands to reason that OUR economy is going to be the one impacted. Now for whatever reason they have (Mostly Greed) it would seem that the ones in charge need to be removed from those posistions of decision making. Just today we had a gentleman who worked for the company for over 20 years. His job was safe unitl Honeywell came in. This man never missed a day, always worked hard, was liked by everyone. He just recently lost his wife last year to cancer. He was told yesterday that they wanted him to take early retirement because they were paying him way too much for what he did there. (ets not look at all the years of experience that this man had; but lets look at what he makes. When he declinde the early retirement, they told him: Well then you're fired, we don't need you." Where is the sense in that? Face it people, as long as Dave Cote is in charge and he has his henchmen there to do his biding and dirty work, our jobs are not safe. Thursday, October 7, 2010 Just in case the investors out there are feeling a little uneasy about Honeywell's huge push to move manufacturing off of american soil, let me update you. A year after parts were scheduled to start manufacture in Chihuahua, Honeywell stands at 130 engines behind schedule. It looks like this news isn't making it to the mainstream media, as the stock took a large jump this past week. Could this be due in part to the announcement of Honeywell opening business in Iraq? I guess that the drug cartel wars wasn't enough of a challenge for Honeywell to deal with. Now they want to employ the Taliban. Could this have anything to do with Obama & CEO Dave rubbing elbows for the past Year? I hate to say it but, I think the GE/UTX buyout of the past is looking better every day. Sunday, October 3, 2010 I was RIF’d from Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix over a year ago, after more than 28 years of service. The timing of the 10% department-wide layoff was impeccable. It was after performance reviews were completed, but before they were delivered to employees. So I was denied the merit bonus I was due for the prior year’s work, based on “performance issues” in a review I never saw, despite the fact that I hadn’t had a performance issue EVER in the 28 years I was there – no PIP, no “L”, highly respected by my peers. Add insult to injury, as a manager, I was required to assist in the heart-wrenching process of identifying the others to be laid off (before my name was added to the list.) It was also my responsibility to provide data showing that our off-shored team members could cover the work remaining, just as I had tracked our ongoing required quota of work sent off-shore. Oh yes – there are goals and quotas for that. I’m afraid any political or natural disaster in India, China, or Mexico today would bring Honeywell to its knees. I was also part of a team responsible for implementing some of the new systems over the past decade; not a bad thing in itself, except that the unrealistic timing expectations and incomplete systems wreaked havoc with end users, as evidenced in comments here. Anyone who suggested that implementation be delayed until everything worked properly was deemed a “road block”. Our organization finally brought in a consultant to lead our team in the final push.; except that our “consultant” was actually a former Honeywell employee who had left the company under questionable circumstances, but was a personal friend of the VP. Sound familiar? He was successful and praised for meeting implementation goals. Unfortunately, he met those goals by threatening and berating his project team, brow-beating personnel in the department he worked for, inventing procedures on the fly, and lying to customers, suppliers, and stake-holders. And despite the ongoing loss of U.S. employees in the department, that “consultant” remained, years after the end of the project, benefiting significantly as he worked to fix all of the issues that developed as a result of the accelerated implementation (including a significant lapse in security). I am grateful to have moved on, but I sometimes wonder if I was laid off because I was an expensive, redundant, US-based employee, or because I pointed out that the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes. As far as the company helping to reassign displaced workers – not true. There was an open requisition in the department I left that I was qualified to fill. My manager got word to me through a 3rd party to apply, yet I was told by HR it was an internal position and since I had been RIF’d, I was no longer eligible. That position was filled with inexpensive inexperience. I worked with some tremendous people at Honeywell but any talent left there has been beaten down and marginalized by the reign of ineptitude and fear. Anyone still there doesn’t need to be told to get out. Anyone considering a position there should run as quickly possible in the opposite direction. There are still companies out there that operate with business integrity and respect for their employees. Unfortunately, Honeywell is no longer one of them. Sunday, October 3, 2010 - HOS-ed? Got PiP-ed? I am sorry to hear you are on a PIP, but not surprised that it is totally unjust. It usually takes a year or two of "bad performance" before they can let you go, terminate with cause. They want you to quit rather than give severance because that costs them too much money. So they squeeze and demean until you quit. If at the end of two years you have not left, then they will offer you severance, but its is only the minimum amount acceptable by law (1 week per year service). Without a Union you have no protection. I have two pieces of advice:
Friday, October 1, 2010 - to the Honeywell person on PIP: After decades at Honeywell, you aren't a new hire. You are probably up in grade, maybe band 4. You are expensive. They need to save money. Honeywell is too good a community and social leader to lay you off, because of your experience, salary, or age. Laying you off because of any of those things that imply age would be bad. They might even get in trouble. So, they put you in the outer L. and find some justification for that. Then the path is open for your PIP, and the door. They don't just lay you off, because of the number of age discrimination claims they have lost. The outer L and PIP is the new tactic. I have seen true top performers let go this way. Thursday, September 30, 2010 I have been put on a PIP by the company’s bullies. Despite decades of total loyalty to the company, exemplary dedication to my work, exceeding average efficiency in performing every one of the multiple functions of my position, exceeding average accuracy of my work, minimal sick days or other time off, all compared to my peers, this is my reward. I must now become proficient in the usage of the 101, all new, unnecessary and idiotically complex tools and processes, some of which are used only 5 to 10 times a year. While it is impossible to become proficient in the use of the everyday tools and processes because they are so many and so poor, now I am forced to master even the ones that are sparingly used. This may not be humanly possible, but such is the expectations of “humans” that have mutated into corporate animals, with a lust for blood. The real and actual work is now totally irrelevant to these bullies, as there is nothing in it for them to use against someone in order to satisfy their lust to bully, insult, demean and degrade a person into quitting, or to set them up for the guillotine, to satisfy the devils’ agenda. So they have now mandated that people, unjustifiably, be put on a PIP. And to do that, they must be forced to the outside “L”, after decades of complimentary work. And to do that, they have to come up with something, anything that may or may not be remotely related to the real and important work. Now, they have a large inventory of irrelevant tasks to choose from. This is all in addition to the normal everyday discrimination, favoritism and biases practiced by some, and, that can be the only explanation for unjustifiable salary discrepancies. Of course, one has to wonder why they don’t just lay a person off with a severance package, like they used to. It is because the new breed of mutants don’t seem to get as much satisfaction out of doing it that way. They need the addict’s or bully’s “rush” to feel the power. They have shifted their focus from the real work, and have now become, exclusively, Bounty Hunters or Mercenaries for the big criminals at the top. There better be bonuses in the offing for the “Headhunters” who have sold their souls. Thursday, September 30, 2010 When Honeywell announced last year that if you wanted company subsidized healthcare when you retire, then you had to retire effective September 2009. I called the Help Line and got a quote on what my insurance was going to cost me if I retired before the cutoff date. The figure shocked me, so I went to my insurance agent to find out what how much it would cost me to purchase medical insurance, with comparable coverage, on my own for my wife and I. Subsidized MY @$$!!! I can get it for about $75/month less than what Honeywell was going to charge me for "subsidized insurance"! Do I smell deceit? Thursday, September 30, 2010 Read a letter to President Obama from the United Steelworkers Union active retiree arm, calling for the removal of Dave Cote from the "so called" Deficit Commission: Extracts:
On behalf of the 350,000 retired steelworkers and their spouses that the Steelworker Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) represent, we are writing to urge you to remove Honeywell CEO David Cote from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Mr. Cote's cruel and calculated behavior clearly illustrates that he's unqualified and inappropriate to help decide issues such as whether to reduce the federal deficit by cutting crucial programs like social security or by upgrading the faulty military contracting process, from which Honeywell benefits. David Cote's complete disregard for working Americans, makes him unfit to serve on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. He must be removed immediately, before he can use that position to harm more working people.  Here's the link to this letterThursday, September 30, 2010 When one gets laid off from Honeywell, the terminology is "You got HOS-ed". Wednesday, September 29, 2010
...and some other, more relevant, meanings for H.O.S.
Honeywell Off-Shoring Honeywell Outcall Service Honeywell Over Seas Honeywell Often Sucks Honeywell Overbearing Stupidity Honeywell Oblivious Stewards Honeywell Objectionable Screwballs Honeywell Obtrusive SOBs Honeywell Offensive Snakes Honeywell Opulent Schmucks Honeywell Overpaid Suckers Honeywell Obsession for Substandard Honeywell Orders Sickens Honeywell Oozing Slime Honeywell Orchestrates Slavery Honeywell On Sickbed (as in “HoneySickIll”) Tuesday, September 28, 2010 Mr. Cote implemented HOS for one reason and one reason only. By getting you to work more hours for less pay, by putting into place wage freezes, by having your health care premiums sky-rocket for less coverage year after year. Every year you do not get a raise, every year you pay for your own health care coverage and every year you get no pay increases - all this money that David Cote saves for the company shows up on the corporate balance sheet as a profit. And guess what? David Cote get's a percentage of those profits. While this jerk downsizes and put's people not only out of work but literaly puts them in the streets (tent cities) he sites back with the dumbest of dumb smirks on his face. The only diference between David Cote and Al Capone is that Capone took it with a base ball bat and Cote does it legally but unethically, hiding behind board-room doors. Oh, and by the way, in our plant HOS stands for Honeywell Out Sourcing. Tuesday, September 28, 2010 I agree, Honeywell needs a Union. Aerospace is getting bullied to the point of being downright ridiculous. Your only option is to look for a new job and call in "sick" to attend job interviews. Or to create a union and get some protection. Anyone interested in starting a union? Think they will "shut the place down" if a union is formed? What do you think is happening anyway? Monday, September 27, 2010 I was told by my manager to use MY own money to purchase a Fluke multi-tester because my business unit has no budget for a new one - they have to meet the quarterly expenses quota. I was shocked that this has gone too far. We are charging customers for USD 400 per hour of service, including travel time, and Honeywell is telling me they have no money for a Fluke multi-tester, the tool of my trade? First, they cut on manpower, wherein you now work for 10 hours a day. Next, they cut your salaries. The next thing they cut on is your medical insurance. Where's all the money? PS: I bought myself a Made-in-China multi-tester that cost USD 12. What an image we are projecting to the customers, CHEAP Honeywell! Monday, September 27, 2010 Unfortunately, dictatorships do not run on “buy-in”, and they do demand “yes-yes” by instilling total fear in their subjects. There is another entity that employs similar methods as well: “organized crime”. One has to wonder how can so few make so many bad decisions? It is too bad that there isn’t somewhere that employees can report corporate bullying of employees to, other than to those that are doing the bullying. There isn’t a chance in hell that the bullies will desist from their abusive ways. Nor is there somewhere to appeal for intervention to stop the corporate almighty from their unconscionable and insensitive actions, other than to the “illusory” god, as both avenues are exercises in futility. Who would have expected that years and decades after school, towards the end of our work life for some of us, we would be dealing with bullies again, of a worse kind? I guess we are the lucky ones. While bullying is being addressed in schools, it is now thriving in the corporate world and Honeywell is becoming one of the leaders in the field. After the damages are done, the rich abusers will move on to bigger and better things to destroy. Cutting costs at any price, especially by being mean and nasty to employees, is viewed favorably, and even rewarded in the corporate world, and by the rich share holders. This is the reason why a profitable company’s stock price appreciates when they announce layoffs. Profitable yes, i.e. until the damages are realized. The employees, in the "mean" time, don’t stand a chance, and are always left holding the bag. Unfortunately, new highs for a company’s stock is now achieved by driving everything else to new lows, such as employees’ morale, product quality, customer satisfaction, delivery time, etc. (small wonder that at Honeywell, everything is in the red). Anyway, it didn’t used to be that way. They used to work in tandem. The repercussions are deferred, or TBD, and they can’t be very pretty. While unions can be a double-edged sword, in the new corporate greed culture, perhaps unions may be the only ammunition left, or the last resort, for stymieing the corporate bullies. Justice for employees have slowly eroded, or very rapidly in the past two years, to almost nothing, while, at the same time, the corporate leadership conscience has diminished to new lows, all for the sake of satisfying corporate greed. To the employees, and especially the younger ones: make your move at the first opportunity. The grass may or may not be greener on the other side of the fence, but they may be getting brown on this side, as a result of corporate crapping. Monday, September 27, 2010 Since HOS had been mentioned quite a few times lately, I would like to make the following comments with my years of experience in it:
Thursday, September 23, 2010 Change - Preach it, brother. In the last 6 years, NONE of the changes imposed by management have resulted in making anyone's job easier. ALL of them have imposed more hoops to jump through, and MANY of them have had disastrous consequences. These changes have been imposed without any input from those who understand the products and processes. Much of our time now is spent trying to recover and compensate for management screw-ups, all the while seeing our pay and benefits reduced. Those who resisted change because they were fiercely loyal to the idea that customers deserved quality products have been eliminated. The prevalent attitude among those that remain now is "whatever." HOS has produced a few marginal improvements, but at incredible cost. Every hour spent by production and non-production personnel supporting HOS is an hour not spent on production or solving production problems. And then there's the cost of a dedicated staff just to train and manage HOS. But no one dares to speak ill of HOS because they'll be out the door next. All employees know intuitively that they are less productive now, but unfortunately records from BC (Before Cote) don't matter. No one has the guts to buck the "system" anymore. Imagine a professional athlete who was operated on by Dr. Cote to try a new performance-enhancing procedure. Other surgeons more experienced than Dr. Cote warned against it, but to no avail. After the operation, the athlete is left a quadriplegic. Instead of being sued for malpractice and losing his license, Dr. Cote then takes the patient back to the operating room for more surgery. The patient nearly dies but manages to pull through. After much therapy, he regains the use of one toe. Dr. Cote holds a press conference where he claims resounding success for restoring partial movement to someone who was completely paralyzed. Is he a great surgeon or what? Thursday, September 23, 2010
China is the answer. How many answers do these idiots have for god sake? Herein lies the root cause of all of the problems: too many answers. Trying to do too many things all at once and not able to do any one nearly right. They have imposed the same detrimental mentality or mental anguish on themselves as they have on their employees, i.e. multi, multi tasking to death, at all costs, to the point of becoming vegetables. Talk about shooting oneself in the head over and over again! Wednesday, September 22, 2010 "One process fits all" is certainly a large part of the problem. The follow-on to that is management's complete and total refusal to admit they've made mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes is their stubborn insistence that China is "The Ultimate Answer" despite evidence time and time again that it is not. During his tenure, Cote has shown no evidence of creativity, just a blind willingness to commit to the identical "fits all" path that others have tried, arrogantly confident that his choice is correct. He refuses to listen to or even acknowledge that it's not working. How pig-headed and brazenly stubborn can one person be? Is there no one on the board who can control this idiot? Wednesday, September 22, 2010 This may come as a big shock to the leadership, but no employee will ever resist changes that make their work simpler and more accurate. To think otherwise is ludicrous. What employees will always resist with a passion is changes that do the exact opposite, especially when those changes are dictated to them by the least qualified people, with no consideration for common sense. When the employees are forced to suffer, the company suffers. That is something that seems to have completely eluded the leadership. They may have lost focus on their areas of expertise when they seem to have ignorantly shifted their entire focus to everybody else’s job, but their own. Yes, change is essential. Change is progress. Without change we are dead! However, change, just for the sake of change, is suicide. Replacing simple tools and processes with very complex ones is not change. It is insanity. When there is so much resistance to the changes, by all, young and old alike, then something must be very wrong. When there has never been so much resistance from so many it begs the question, why? And when the change is total and all at once, be it good or bad, it becomes overwhelming to all, and will then have the opposite effect, than was intended. Change also takes time to evolve and mature and become adaptable. Like everything else, change has to go through a prototype phase. Management is expecting instant magical results. What we are experiencing is not change for the better, but one person in-the-know-nothing’s idea of change for the better. Not exactly a wholehearted way to promote progress and embrace teamwork, or encourage willing participation. As for the comment that the hard economic times dictated that the company had good reason to shaft the employees, that is an illegitimate argument. Honeywell was doing better than most, evident in the fact that we have been very busy for the past two years, and the fact that they have squandered millions on mostly unnecessary changes during a bad times, and the fact that they implemented all of the shafting after the economy started improving. And I don’t recall anyone getting a 10% increase or bonus, or the leadership taking a cut in pay when times are very good. And yes, there are smart companies that have treated their employees with much more dignity, as they can expect more from them when times are good, basic economic strategy. Treat your slaves well and you will get more out of them! Investing in your best resources is the wisest investment in any economic environment. Too bad that the leadership seem to have lost sight of what leadership is all about, or is lacking in basic business sense, by treating their best resources as liabilities. Tuesday, September 21, 2010 The problem of HOS is not that it may or may not work. The problem is that the work load of maintaining that program is shifted to production employees who are alreadly overloaded. When there are units to be shipped and money to be made, production employees have little interest in what seems to be another flavor of the year process. HOS upkeep gets in the way of the real work. While into our second year without a raise, it is a hard sell to convince us that Honeywell is not able to give us well deserved raises. When we see the money poured into foreign sites, the excuse of hard times is ridiculous. Honeywell CHOOSES not to support the US worker and jobs continue to migrate overseas. It is correct to think that some employees don't like the changes. Changes that decrease our profit sharing match, increase our continuous improvement goals, curtail our unhealthy yet legal smoking activity, and cut off retiree health insurance that was paid for and not given are changes that one would be foolish to like. I suspect Ed King would be saddened if he could see how his people are treated now. Tuesday, September 21, 2010 In answer to your questions:
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 I have been reading this blog for some time and respect all the views expressed. I currently work for Honeywell Process Solutions have been with them 12 years. I am currently a Production Team Lead. I have a few queries:
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 For the individual applauding the $500 increase in insurance costs for smokers, be careful of what you get behind. The next step is yearly weigh-ins and BMI calculations. You end up overweight (which basically everybody in America is) and it is going to be another $500. Then after that it is going to be age. You hit your 40th birthday and it is another $500. Next comes history. What, you have a history of cancer or diabetes in your family? Let's tack on another $1000. Oh, and that cocktail you have after work a couple days a week, sorry, throw on another $500. As a reformed smoker myself I shouldn't really care about the additional $500. But I do. I didn't join a company to have the CEO position himself as the benevolent father figure and try to teach me a lesson. Until smoking is outlawed by the congress of the US this is nothing more than a form of discrimination. Watch out fat people. Monday, September 20, 2010 As a former employee of Honeywell (Alied Signal as it should have been called) it isn't a suprise that the BS is still there with the board of directors and Diamond DAVE. It is all mind over matter. They don't mind screwing the employees because the employees don't matter. Monday, September 20, 2010 David M Cote and his white-shoe cronies are addicted to money the same way a crack head is addicted to crack. They simply can't get enough. More money, more money, more money for themselves and much less for every one else. When one loses everything and has nothing else to lose they lose it. Pay back is going to be a bitch David. Hope I'm there to witness it. Monday, September 20, 2010 The retiree health benefits change was in the works before Obama was elected. Several years ago they made everybody choose between two types of retirement plan, one where they kept the retiree healthcare but some of the money going in to the account was set aside for the healthcare account and one where they lost the retiree healthcare but all of the money that went in was available for retirement pay. Any new employees could only have the second option. About a year ago they said that anybody who did not retire by September 2009 would lose their retiree healthcare benefits. Just under a year ago they told the rest that anybody who chose the first option mentioned above (retiree healthcare and pension) would now be converted to the second option (no healthcare just a pension) but the money that was taken for healthcare will not be refunded. Now it looks like the system is reaching its logical conclusion by removing healthcare benefits from workers that have already retired. It's not "Obama Care" it's actually "Cote Doesn't Care". Monday, September 20, 2010 At $500 additional per year for smokers, the rest of us are still subsidizing your nasty, self-destructive behavior. Do yourself a favor and quit before it kills you. Sunday, September 19, 2010 As a Honeywell retiree, I just got the letter stating that my retiree health benefits were being "transitioned" into letting me find a new plan. They will provide a consultant to aid in finding my own health insurance. Obama-care strikes again? Friday, September 17, 2010 I work for Honeywell in SC. We lose good hourly workers all the time; but they replace them with engineers that we don't need. We learned that now if you smoke you have to pay $500 more for your insurance. They keep taking and don't care about the people who make their money, the ones who make the parts. Whats next?? Friday, September 17, 2010 Word on the street is that Honeywell is going to ban smoking (i.e. outdoors) on their campuses. Thursday, September 16, 2010 Consider working at Honeywell? You are assuming that they are still hiring in North America. Look around, do you see any new faces in the last 5 years? No, I didn't think so. And when people get wise and quit, do they hire to fill those positions? Not in engineering. Nope, they claim we were "fat" but now with the less staff we are lean again. Lies. Yes it is true, top performances are getting merit increase. Hope you spent the last few years kissing ass to the boss.. or you get nothing but "development actions". Thursday, September 16, 2010 I am periodically asked by a variety of people seeking employment, "what about Honeywell?" My response is: Unless your situation is completely desperate, avoid working at Honeywell. If you have any self-esteem whatsoever, you owe it to yourself and your future happiness to be employed where you will have the opportunity to realize your full potential and be appreciated for the talents and skills you bring to the workplace. At present, the only reason to interview with Honeywell should be to polish the interview process itself prior to seeking employment somewhere else; hopefully with an employer that provides a genuine opportunity for growth and satisfaction. Thursday, September 16, 2010 Apparently, after the corporate rape and robberies of the employees, there is talk of some employees (very, very top performers or favorites, and promoted candidates) getting a salary increase. And as for the rest? You ought to be thankful that you are not getting a salary decrease to pay for the others’ increase, and that you still have a job. This gesture is supposed to make us all forget all of the back-stabbings, and to kiss and make up and feel like one big happy family again. After robbing us of even some of the meager incentives that we worked so hard to earn and deserved, they are very proud of the amount of dollars that they are stealing from us in their shameless and brazen act of highway robbery. There are celebrations all around. Cote is laughing all the way to the bank and away from the scene of the crime, and celebrating with politicians. He is cozy with Obama, and probably getting recognition for his “brilliance”. They make strange bed-fellows, those two; one desperately trying to create jobs and reduce the deficit, and the other masterfully eliminating jobs and increasing “his” balance sheet, through “crime”. Opposites do attract…hmm! We have to guess that these people don’t know how to measure their ill-earned dollars against the reduced productivity they have caused in their employees. They do not want to find out that the numbers don’t add up. Unlike in physics where, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, human nature being what it is, for every action there is an over reaction. Oh well, pay back’s a bitch! Tuesday, September 14, 2010 I look around what do I see? Such potential (sigh) if it wasn't for all these mid-management fools running around like Forest Gump trying to keep the site lead happy and chasing the targets. Shame. It could be a great company, LETS NOT FORGET THAT. Tuesday, September 14, 2010
They saved a lot of money in the past two years at the employees’ expense. Something has to give! Is there not even one person amongst this bunch of idiots with any conscience or basic common sense? Can they all be that selfish and so obsessed with personal gains only, over all else? Are they so blinded in their selfishness and greed to not realize that their short term gains may not be worth it, and that they are sacrificing just about everything else, especially the future? Is it the gang mentality at work here? Is there an intervention program for gross stupidity, or only for other forms of addiction? We better hope so, and quick! Monday, September 13, 2010 With the staggering amount of inefficiency caused by micromanagement, and the overwhelmingly negative work atmosphere that has resulted, it makes one wonder what kind of book-cooking must be going on in order to keep BS'ing Wall Street with favorable numbers. There's no way this can continue. Monday, September 13, 2010 Having escaped the mental asylum that is now Honeywell, I feel compelled to comment. Don’t get used to the new Honeywell as there is lots of room for destruction, and the geniuses are creating more every day. There is no worse form of counter-productivity in an organization than when the least productive people, with nothing to do (non-value-added positions), are then forced to justify their existence by creating numerous irrelevant, complex and cumbersome processes, guidelines etc., to completely slow down the most productive people that have too much to do and, at the same time adding, in multiples, more opportunities for defects in their work. The net result is that the non-productive people are now mercilessly killing off the productive ones. Honeywell has perfected the art. Instead of getting rid of some of these people or reassigning them and keeping the working processes, they chose to do the opposite: get rid of the working processes and keep the “non-working” people. This, sadly, has become the new reality. These people, with no skills to do actual work and who have had the luxury of charging to “indirect charge” numbers for decades, are now suddenly being forced to justify their existence and either have to charge to programs that are now monitoring time charged in seconds, and that are over budget and over schedule every time, due to short sightedness in securing contracts, (but that is another matter), as well as the actions of the new breed of cost-multipliers, or, find an alternative solution. And thus, the brilliantly conjured up con game called “Process Improvement”, or, in other words, the complete demolition and replacement of everything sacred, ingeniously disguised as “Process Improvement”. A perfect con-game indeed, with sustainability and longevity built in by its sheer magnitude, evident in the number of documents invented, and their complexities, or even simplicities, as some of them have no information whatsoever, but whose sole purpose is to point you to several others that may or may not be of any use anyway and, perhaps all part of the strategy to build up the massive and complex stockpiles. This “Process Improvement”, by the way, seems to have its own “indirect charge” number, the masterful re-invention of indirect charge, or a diversionary tactic, or attack from the rear. The military terms are intentional as the agendas are being enforced using military-like force and brutality and psychological warfare. The con game goes like this: a group of people invent a new and ridiculous process/guideline, or unnecessarily destroy and re-invent an old one, and then later, another group takes it to try and improve it, or make it worse, and so on, and so forth. Oh, and they had to destroy all evidence of all the decades of previous, and perfectly working, methodologies for this to work. Again, the application of the war strategy, i.e., the wanton destruction of everything and then the rebuilding, except that the rebuilding in this instance is wantonly counter productive, Essentially, what they have done is akin to re-writing the simple process for toilet usage, and now putting the toilet bowl on the ceiling. Makes everything a lot harder, a lot messier and with lots of opportunities for errors, doesn’t it? Or they have reinvented the wheel to look like a square, and now four teams are necessary to work on the four corners. In the mean time, unfortunately, all of these counter-productive, perplexing, cumbersome and thoughtless inventions are now interfering with the real work in increasing severity, as making sense of them, interpreting, implementing, and keeping abreast with the rapid torrent of changes, corrections and revisions to them, has become an additional and nightmarish full time job in itself for the poor end-users who are already being tortured with multi-multi tasking. Then there is the associated abuse, or slow painful death, used to enforce them. It’s all a form of unnecessary psychological torture to benefit the perpetrators, or traitors. The ones driven to enforce all of this on their people have now been reduced to puppets or Drill Sergeants, and are now hopelessly powerless to do anything about any of it, especially powerless to stand up for their charges, and resist the insane, spiraling-into-the-abyss directives from the slave masters with their Armageddon agendas. But there is a legitimate, albeit pathetic, reason behind the reluctance to protest or resist, as they are faced with a dilemma, i.e., how do they fight against these destructive mandates or directives that they know are wrong, when it is solely invented to provide job security for them? Ironically, the positions of the slaves now seem much more precarious than that of the masters. And then of course, there are the drivers of those people, who know even less, and must justify their existence in the new reality. They have adopted the role of gun toting slave masters, and persist in strangling the help by dictating senseless, bizarre and unreasonable policies, all to the detriment of the company. How on earth has it come to this state where a tier-3 manager insistently dictates ineffective and counter-productive measures that the skilled and experienced workers must now follow to do their job? It is one thing for these masters, not having any skills relative to the actual work, to be forced to understand and get involved with the actual work, but quite another to suddenly and magically become the omniscient authority, who knows more about everything than everyone else that have been doing it for decades, just so that they can justify their existence and deceive their superiors, who also think that they themselves are so smart. These magicians understand hardly anything of the actual work or of the people that are doing them, or the damages that they are causing by insisting on, and forcing the new measures down the employees’ throats, completely ignoring their knowledge, experience and expertise in these areas. They have also all become totally oblivious to any and all other considerations, especially the first principle of business, i.e., customer satisfaction. Nothing can distract them from blindly enforcing these destructive agendas. Reasoning or resistance so far has been futile, as none of it is tolerated. In fact, they are escalating the insanity daily. Here is an example of how far removed from reality these visionaries are. They insist on forcing the auto-routing and work-sharing of every design, even those with as little as 5 components. The EEs, MEs, EMI (our internal customers and, by extension, our external customers) have all rejected auto-routed boards due to the critical and sensitive nature of their designs. Yet we are being forced to ignore them all, and to proceed with the Master’s plan. Our objective is no longer “Customer Satisfaction” but the “Master’s Satisfaction”. Our products have gotten much more complex, critical and sensitive in every way. In a big hurry, yet, these ”experts” are behaving like we are designing cell phones, remote controls or toy planes but, at the same time, multiplying, rather than simplifying the efforts required to performing the work. They seem to think that Aerospace is just another word, and our designs require minimal or no skill. Perhaps they should push the auto-route button themselves, and let us all go. There used to be times when sensible and progressive ideas for creating and/or improving products and processes were formulated by brainstorming and consulting, by teams that performed the actual work. Now, however, ill-conceived ideas are being hatched, mandated and dictated from one almighty brain, and with absolutely no recourse tolerated. A source so stubborn and unrelenting in its blind and destructive demands, that all of the pleading from all of the employees have so far been futile. Did someone say dictatorship? This insanity demands intervention. Imagine what all of this zeal and drive, and wasted dollars from these people could be doing for the company if they were being channeled constructively, in the right avenues - like for motivating rather than demoralizing the employees, and not destructively. Monday, September 13, 2010
I've got a few things to say:
To the Retiree: Someone said earlier, "God help me - Honeywell has turned me from an eternal optimist into a jaded curmudgeon." What a powerful statement. Sadly, I feel the same way, and I've only just begun my career as an engineer. There's something terribly wrong and sad about that. They seem to have no interest at all in retaining young talent. With all the experienced folks quitting/retiring, what will be left? Monday, September 13, 2010 I left Honeywell a year ago this month after 5 years of employment. One of Honeywell's five intiatives is "People", however based on my experience I recommend a change to "People Don't Matter". I can list numerous examples of poor leadership and management, however I won't waste your valuable time. Instead, I will just sum up the whole experience by sharing that after 5 years I never even received an exit interview. I have always been sensitive the "grass is always greener..." adage, however to the contrary, since I left Honeywell I have never been happier. And if I told you where I was working and what I was doing you would be hard pressed to believe me. Saturday, September 11, 2010 H.O.S! Standardize! It's unbelieveable. You aren't Toyota and you don't have a clue. I don't have a chart or graph to plot all the WASTE from this ignorant, un-original idea. Thursday, September 9, 2010 The board of directors are just as much to blame as Diamond Dave. They have the power to get rid of him but they choose to keep him there instead. The board members have the ability to find and read this blog in the same way that all of us have done. My question to the board is, "Why are you still keeping Dave Cote?". If they answer with something about his contract then I would like to point out to them that they are the ones that approved his contract in the first place and if it has payouts for being fired then what were they thinking when they hired a guy who put in his own contract that he couldn't be fired? So, are there any board members reading this who want to answer the question? Wednesday, September 8, 2010 In my opinion, Honeywell is going down fast. I don't think we will survive for much longer. The way employees are treated is very sad; customers just as bad. After 30 years of service, I am planning on leaving the company. Several other people with 30 plus years are also planning to leave the company; it's not a good place to work anymore. This used to be a great place to work, before the demon Dave Cote came along. Why is he being allowed to commit treason? I pray that the devil demon will be exposed for all the word to see corporate evil at it's worst. Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - from a Retiree: Wha Wha Wha.... All you people stop whining. I need Honeywell to stay afloat to keep funding my pension. So all you people at Honeywell keep up the good work. Sincerely, a Retiree Monday, September 6, 2010 Honeywell's only obsessive goal is to make a significant profit. After 17 years, I knew it would not change, and I left for better opportunities, and after 6 years, I have no regrets. Stop wishing, stop waiting, stop wasting your lives. Get out as soon as an opportunity allows it. Monday, September 6, 2010 - RE: JLL: Another attempt to save money by out sourcing to sub-standard contractors. The work gets half done yet the ticket gets closed. Monday, September 6, 2010 As an ex-Honeywell employee out of Phoenix with over 30 years of service, I wholeheartedly agree with the posts below. To watch the systematic destruction of a solid (if somewhat dysfunctional) company is sometimes more than one can bear. I watched processes that took the manufacturing people years perfect being cast aside, 30-something managers with their MBA's and their heads full of crap that was spoon fed to them by people who never worked in the real world who only dabbled in theories. Each one of these little automatons goes to bed each night with visions of sugarplum CEOs dancing in their heads and each one wants to reach that lofty plateau, no matter what the cost. The reference to micro-managing to the lowest possible denominator by those that don't have the foggiest idea of what is going on, rings so true. All they are doing is reacting to the command "produce more, produce faster with less". This ultimately leads to "The Lies". Anyone who has worked at Honeywell knows about "The Lies". Each manager in his quest to please, will knowingly lie to his bosses and will worry about the consequences later because they can usually be covered by anothe lie. Example: A certain part is needed to complete either build requirements or spare part for an AOG (aircraft on ground). The material to build that part may have just been released from stores to the shop floor that morning and the manager knows that there is a 30-day lead time to produce a finished product. Therefore, at the daily production meeting when he's asked about a delivery date, he'll say "Friday". Of course this lie is then passed up the chain of command and sometimes embellished along the way, depending on who has to be pleased, and "THE LIE" could become "this afternoon" by the time it reaches the top. It's always starts as "Friday". The reason for this is that it gives the originator the time to think up a new lie to cover the last lie. The new lie will pass the blame onto the materials people and onto the shop floor as being lazy and inefficient. Also, implicating someone that you don't particularly care for, or whose job you covet, works nicely with the lie. You don't have to prove the lie, that person now has to defend himself against it the best way he can and that leads to ... you guessed it - another LIE! Telling the truth is never a good idea, as one could find themselves labeled as a PREVENTER, in which case, your days are obviously numbered. The LIE is by no means limited to Honeywell's U.S. operations. As more and more of manufacturing and engineering is shifted overseas, the LIE was boxed up and shipped with them. I heard official glowing reports as to how well Chihuahua and the Czech Republic were coming on line. The truth (unofficially) from those on the scene is that a Chinese fire-drill is better planned and executed. Case in point: Hardware produced in Chihuahua is delivered to Phoenix and is given credit for on-time delivery. It is then discovered that these parts are either unfinished or are of such low quality that they won't assemble properly. So these parts are then sent to the Phoenix shops for time consuming finishing or repair before they go to the customer. Chihuahua looks great and Phoenix manufacturing looks like the goat for having so much rework time charged to them. One always rationalizes that the LIE will run its course someday and then management will definitely see the light. You must also realize that getting to the top of the food chain doesn't mean that the LIE stops; you now have a whole new audience to lie to once you reach that position. They are called: customers, stockholders and government regulators. The latter really doesn't count as they can easily be sidestepped with lobbyists and the application of the right amount of funds to the political party in charge. Or, in some people's case, be selected by your friend, the President, for his blue ribbon panel to solve problems that you helped create in the first place. God help me - Honeywell has turned me from an eternal optimist into a jaded curmudgeon. Monday, September 6, 2010 - RE: Thursday, September 2, 2010 – “Taken verbatim from the recent Huffington Post article”: Thank God that the rest of the world is taking notice! Devastating, Demolition Dave perhaps defines and represents the worst and most dangerous form of terrorism! He is home grown. He is Corporate. He associates with the highest echelons of power in the country and thus, can operate with impunity. He is insensitive, unconscionable, dogmatic and fanatical in his drive for more power, and money. He has been terrorizing Honeywell employees for years, and re-writing the books on Corporate greed, and is perhaps now taking it to the next level by getting into positions to expand his evil ways to the rest of the populace. He is also contributing to terrorism by supplying the military, and commercial customers, with defective and substandard products as a result of the cost-cutting measures he has implemented at Honeywell to save money, mostly for himself Monday, September 6, 2010 Defects in our work have been steadily increasing in number and severity over the past two years as was predicted by all, but the powers-that-be that seem to have intended it, and the situation will only get worse. And the consequences of some of these defects are getting more and more serious, as they are impacting schedule, cost, quality, customer satisfaction, morale, etc., more than ever before. Thus, the question being asked more often now, especially by the Brilliant Ones responsible for all of this, is: WHAT ARE THE ROOT CAUSES? And the answer is: YOU ARE! Ironically, the clear and obvious answer, that even the blind can see, is: “PROCESS IMPROVEMENT” or, more accurately, forced “Process Replacement”. They have completely demolished decades of processes and replaced them with prototype processes, meanwhile testing and customizing them to suit each site and vendor as we go along, even for production-level work. All, but the management, predicted a slew of “Change (Corrections) Requests” to be pouring in. Well, they are pouring in with a vengeance! All of these new defective tools and processes have been forcibly imposed upon the employees, using draconian means by the powers-that-be. THey have no sense of the real work, and insist on telling their employees how to do their work and, in so doing, have masterfully wiped out decades of experience, lessons-learned, morale building, and you name it! All of the previous efforts that were in place, and that worked, to reduce the number and severity of defects have been completely discarded and replaced by these idiots, with their new “process replacement” initiative that consist of defective prototype tools, processes, guidelines, notes, checklists, spreadsheets, choice of vendors, work-sharing, off-shoring, out-sourcing, etc., that seem to be strategically designed to increase defects in everything that we do, and to even encourage our vendors to participate in this brilliant effort; e.g.; we are now telling our board vendor, in our PB notes (carefully and strategically added), that we will not reject poor and non-legible silk screening on our boards. How brilliant is that? Now we have received silk screened Production Boards that are of the poorest quality ever (grossly non-legible)! These Wise Ones could not see the effect of their poor decision making when they started, despite the warning signs, and now that it is staring them in the face, they still don’t get it. They are still pushing more and more “process replacement” and diversity. They are in effect, compounding the problem more and more in trying to put out the fires by pouring more fuel on them, thus “…Burning Down The House…”. If they know so much more than their employees as to how best to do the work, why don’t they do it themselves, especially when, in some instances, there seem to be five people driving one to do the work? They insist on micro-managing, by interfering right down to the lowest levels of the work process, where they do not belong. Employees are now not allowed to have any opinion, suggestions, ideas, or even to think for themselves anymore, to improve anything, or to repair the damages orchestrated by the gods. The way we do every little thing is now being forcibly dictated to us! Not only does all of this make us feel helpless, but also useless. In their bungled effort to standardize, they have now created even more diversity across the Corporation, that is tremendously nightmarish for the employees, especially the ones forced into the unnecessary and ridiculous over-kill work sharing initiative (or punishment), when each site is doing their own thing, and are forced to share every little piece of work with other sites who are left pulling their hair out trying to make sense of every little thing. And it is also especially traumatic for the poor checkers. God be with you. All of this should boost morale?! They believe that they are saving time and money, but have they bothered to measure any of this yet? Perhaps not, as the truth will kill them. And to guarantee that the defect-increasing measures do not fail, they have systematically demoralized the employees to the point that nobody seems to care much anymore about anything. God help you if you still care (it’s a lonely feeling), as it has become impossible to function, especially when your work depend on others that don’t give a damn anymore. The new employees’ motto now is a resounding, “Who Cares?" After being in this business for 35 years, and having always been told that I am very good at what I do (pardon the conceit), now, for the first time, I do not know how to do any aspect of my work quickly, or accurately, anymore. My work from the first 6 months of the “Process Demolition” fiasco has more defects in them than I had in the previous 33 years of my doing it. This would have always bothered me before, and I would feel guilty and responsible whenever I have defects in my work. But now, given the stupidity behind it all, and the geniuses responsible for forcibly implementing the root-causes, I feel totally vindicated and blameless. I should be grateful to the geniuses for removing the stresses from me, of trying to do a perfect job. Thanks! Friday, September 3, 2010 Request to all sites: Please post as to how Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is performing at your sites. Are you happy? What are the issues? Where ar they falling down on performance? Do you really need them? Are you happy with their presence? Thursday, September 2, 2010 - Taken verbatim from the recent Huffington Post article: Meet Honeywell CEO David Cote -- the most dangerous man in America. Cote is so dangerous that he's willing to risk nuclear fallout in order to demand that uranium workers agree to cutting their retiree health care and pension plans. Honeywell runs the only conversion facility in the world that can distill pure uranium in Metropolis, Illinois. On June 28, Honeywell locked out its union workers during contract negotiations because the union, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669, refused to accept the company proposal to eliminate retiree health care and pension plans for new hires and increase workers' out-of-pocket health care to $8,500 a year. Good health care coverage for retirees is especially important to uranium workers who suffer rates of cancer ten times higher than the general public due to their daily interaction with radioactive material; thus, the workers refused to give in to demands to cut their retiree health care coverage entirely. In a major concession, however, the uranium workers' union refused to go on strike in the interests of keeping the plant safe and agreed to continue working under an extension of their current contract. Honeywell, which is already making record profits, decided they could make even more if they played hardball with their workers and risked a nuclear disaster. So Honeywell locked out the local uranium workers with decades of experience operating the Metropolis uranium enrichment facility. Instead, Honeywell hired hastily trained "scabs" (replacement workers) to run the plant. Honeywell uranium worker John Paul Smith described the plan to run the plant on poorly trained scab labor as "a serious gamble." The Metropolis uranium plant is the only uranium enrichment facility in the world that can distill uranium, and it would be impossible to train workers fully on how to run such a complex facility. Cote's threats to our nation's security don't just stop there. Honeywell does billions of dollars of business with the Pentagon as a military contractor. As a member of the Deficit Commission, it is Honeywell CEO David Cotes' role to make sure that the commission doesn't examine cutting waste in the military contracting process that Honeywell benefits from. This despite a recent study by a bipartisan commission that showed that $1 trillion could be cut easily from the defense budget. A different report by the House Armed Services Defense Acquisition Reform Panel this spring showed that the military contract process has so little oversight and is so wasteful that it's actually harmful to our national security. Cote has instead pushed back against calls by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) to cut waste in the military by suggesting instead that the military cut the pay of its troops overseas (many of whom are already relying on food stamps) and make them pay for their own health care. Honeywell CEO David Cote's decision-making process personifies the shortsighted mentality of those calling for cutting Social Security. The families of the 52 million Social Security beneficiaries, whose benefits would be cut, would be forced to take money out of the economy and financially provide for their loved ones. Men like Honeywell CEO David Cote are so dangerously shortsighted that they are willing to risk things like an economic recession, or nuclear fallout that hurt everyone, even big corporations, over the long run. Honeywell CEO David Cote was the president's appointment to serve on the Deficit Commission, but a man who would threaten an entire town with nuclear annihilation in the name of corporate profits has no place deciding Social Security's fate. Honeywell CEO David Cotes belongs on an episode of the Sopranos, not the President's Deficit Commission. Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - In reply to the Aug 9 post: The young 'uns, aka kids at HON, don't realize the extent of being taken advantage of. I was one of them, so I speak from experience. Upon joining the company, I was told that the grass isn't greener on the other side. My dad was a salesman for a long time, and he taught me well about the stench of BS. I took advantage of HON for 3 years and learnt all I could and then left for another place with a massive raise. The fact that I had HON on my resume didn't matter; it was my niche. The young are stupid, and buy the HON brand name just like they love their brand name clothing. It ain't worth it... it just ain't. Now, when I give talks at my engineering society campus chapters, I tell them to sniff out the BS company HR/management tells you during interview, and tell them to ask the hard questions upfront. HON will never die, monsters evolve into new identities. Don't any of you watch movies or read books? Wednesday, August 25, 2010 S&C continues to tarnish its reputation as promise-dates are missed without updates being provided to the team members who are responsible for updating their customers. It's beyond frustrating to learn of a missed date at the same time when the customer calls to check on the ordered item(s). It's very difficult to not look incompetent in the face of such nonsense. I've run out of explanations to give. Monday, August 9, 2010 This is interesting. I guess no one wants to stand up for their identity. I do understand this position because HW will probably retaliate. I dropped out of the company almost 2 years ago because my satanic boss did everything he could to make my life insufferable. Unfortunatly he did not realize my tolerance. Finally after realizing I had no hesitation to confront my "so called" accusers (failure to satisfy internal customers) his evidence gradually dissolved. He then told me that the job was not in the office, but on site. This meant five year stints in God foresaken sumpholes with a weekend visit home once a month! I had a specialty that could only be done by a few people. I saw projects conforming to this being given to less talented new guys when I was out of work. He forced me into charging down time to ruin my record. Maybe it is true that the new kids are taken care of better because of age/cost discrimination. Finally I realized it was hopeless. When they want to get you out the door, usually if you are approaching 60 or more, they can find a way. So I take a week off to think and decide to drag up. Not the best thought-out plan, but I put in 30 years (most of them good) worked for and with some great people, was part of a team that took us on a growth spiral out of a strip center office into an 8 story high-rise, and them was rewarded as described. I miss the people (most) and I think I could have done more. But I also think loyalty and tenure should be rewarded. A caring manager could have structured a position for me where I could have used my talents and knowledge to enhance the division. Unfortunately, corporate objectives have reduced people to a necessary evil. They must be eliminated or reduced wherever possible in order to increase margin, corporate financial standing and most importantly, salaries and bonuses for the officers and CEO. This is no joke. Every company I worked for in my life said that the customer was first priority. No customer = no sale = no revenue = no profit = turn off the lights and go home. All project problems can be worked out and compensated in time, but if no one wants to buy from you anymore, YOU ARE DEAD! The priorities at Allied Signal, now the new Honeywell, place the customer at FIFTH PRIORITY! This was an objective I found insufferable. This is why I no longer choose to work at corrupted Honeywell. Misquoting Tex Avery, "It used to be so much fun, but it isn't fun anymore and I'm not going to do this anymore." I don't think this is unique to the big H. I will bet there are a lot of good companies out there that can offer you a real future and want you to use your skills to help them grow. I also think that the average company is cookie cuttered like the big H. Find a company that asks "what can you do to help us grow". Run from the ones that say "this is how we do things around here" Just a note: When I started with the big H I did it from 1200 miles away. My interview was brief. They called back next day with an offer but could not meet my current salary. They said that if I helped them, within the year they would exceed my salary. I took the job, worked my butt off, got a ton of training and strangely enough when I got reviewed, I got the best raise of my life. Good old boy Texans stand by what they say! Unfortunately, that was then and this is now. The first decade, or so, was great. Then the evil of big corporate America began to seep in. Now you have just another big, nameless financial operation where $$$$ is not one of the objectives, it is the only objective. Wednesday, July 28, 2010 I agree. Look up the definition of the word "traitor" and "treason" and then tell me how that's any different than the actions of Diamond Dave? How can anyone argue that the parent nation has not been injured (through loss of jobs, wages, taxable income, unemployment compensation, loss of technical expertise to other countries, etc.) by his actions? Seriously. Where is the line drawn when pursuit of profit becomes detrimental to the parent nation? Wednesday, July 28, 2010 Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze seems to be the unofficial Honeywell moto. Squeeze everything that you can out of your top performers to make up for the process flaws and the lack of resources, whether they be people or equipment. When someone goes on holidays there are virtually NO backups available. When equipment breaks down the process to actually get someone to repair it or to get parts takes more time than to fix. Instead of removing barriers they are replaced by bigger ones. And on top of all this they have the balls to say if our efficiencies don't go up they will ship evertything to China, India or where ever. One thing that can be said about Diamond Dave: he has probably produced the most negative motivators in modern times. DD you are nothing but a traitor to your country with your philosophy to outsource jobs and technologies to 3rd world countries to squeeze that extra 1% in profit. That will be your legacy whether you like it or not. Wednesday, July 28, 2010 A few years back when I told people in other Engineering companies that that I worked for Honeywell in the Mississauga aerospace division, they would say I hear it's a great place to work and the pay is good. The other day I mentioned it to a person and they said "How are you guys doing? I hear it's getting really bad there. Are they still slashing your pay and benefits?" I said maybe that part is done for now, but now they just want to take it ones step farther -> just get rid of us all together. I guess the fact that everybody knows really makes it a lost cause when looking for another job. They know you are desperate and will accept a sub par offer. And what the others have posted here is true. Twenty years of exceptional service/performance can be destroyed by one bad review from some manager who doesn't even know you or even met you and you are on your way out the door. And the quotas of bad reviews has to be met with the fact that their are no bad people left, they have all been let go already. The worst part is that all the good people are also leaving (by choice). I just hope the packages are generous when the axe finally falls. Tuesday, July 27, 2010 As a manager at Honeywell, I can tell you that these bad reviews are truly fabricated and constructed to meet a quota. Good performers have been axed only because they have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. The MRR 1 to 9 score is highly manulipulated. Friday, July 23, 2010 I couldn't be more happy to be gone from that depressing place. New job pays more, people are happy, great benefits and respect. Leaving Honey-Ah-Lied was the best decision I ever made. In Canada I saw people getting walked out for "poor performance" after 20 years of excellent performance. If you got a bad review at your last sit down then watch out, you are on the outsource chopping block. Thursday, July 22, 2010 Organization Announcement - Kansas City Distribution Center
Honeywell has decided to close the Kansas City Wheels & Brakes Distribution Center, and move distribution activities to South Bend, Indiana and Phoenix, Arizona locations. Through the company’s ongoing analysis of operations, Honeywell has determined that the business can maximize efficiency, improve cycle time and reduce operational costs of wheels & brakes distribution activities by integrating work currently done at the Kansas City Distribution Center into our South Bend, Indiana Wheels & Brakes facility (“make” products) and our Phoenix Distribution Center (“buy” products). This move will result in cycle-time reduction in the product flow process, as well as a related reduction in inventory. It will also allow Honeywell to maximize existing distribution capabilities in Phoenix. Transition activities will begin at some time in late summer 2010, and should be completed by the first week in November. The transition will result in eliminating all jobs at the Kansas City Distribution Center. Affected employees were notified of this decision earlier today. Over the next few weeks, Aerospace Human Resources will meet with affected employees individually to discuss work transitions and departure schedules. In the next few days, we will be communicating this action to Honeywell Aerospace customers and suppliers affected by this transition, including Honeywell manufacturing and R&O facilities currently working with the Kansas City Distribution Center. We anticipate no significant change to business relationships with customers or suppliers due to this transition. Please understand this is difficult news for Kansas City Distribution Center employees. In the coming weeks, we ask you to be sensitive and supportive of your colleagues, and remain focused on conducting your work in a safe and productive way, and in meeting our commitments to our customers. Thursday, July 15, 2010 An interesting read on our leader (Demolition Dave) from "Answers.com". He actually has a degree (BS). We know what that stands for. And note his first of four areas where business people should focus...."recognizing the importance of people". Is he talking about himself?
Nationality: American. Born: 1952. Education: University of New Hampshire, BS, 1976. Family: Married twice; children: two from first marriage, one from second marriage. Career: General Electric, 1974–1976, factory laborer; 1976–1996, manager; 1996–1999, senior vice president, president and CEO of Appliances; TRW, 1999–2001, president and COO; 2001, president and CEO; 2001–2002, president, CEO, and chairman; Honeywell International, 2002, president and CEO; 2002–, president, CEO, and chairman. Awards: Honorary Juris Doctor, Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University, 2001. On February 19, 2002, Cote was named president, CEO, and a member of the board of directors for Honeywell. On July 1, 2002, Cote was elected chairman of the board after Bossidy retired. Cote had his hands full: although Honeywell grossed $24 million in 2001, the company faced mounting debts, settlements for lawsuits stemming from employees' exposure to asbestos, a stock that would fall 31 percent in 2002, and demoralized management. Cote knew that running the huge company, with 115,000 employees in 95 countries, would prove challenging. He quickly applied his goal-oriented management philosophy to Honeywell, making cash, growth, people, productivity, digitization, and Six Sigma the focuses of his administration. Honeywell lost $220 million in 2002, partly because of asbestos-suit payouts, the purchase of the sensors business Invensys for $416 million, and slow sales. However, by selling other Honeywell units and cutting costs—partly by sending some American jobs abroad to Romania and Singapore, where labor costs were lower, and partly by reducing defects in production—by the end of 2003 Honeywell had amassed about $2 billion in cash reserves. Cote was heavily criticized in the press for the $32 million in compensation he received in 2002, although he explained that the amount was intended to cover options that he had lost at TRW as a result of moving to Honeywell. Wednesday, July 14, 2010 Undergraduate from the best school, business school top of my class, well liked and successful right? No, I work for a company that keeps reducing the workforce, telling you that you should be happy to have a job and never saying thanks. Box 1 Box 2 it doesn't matter. Life just squeezed out of you. No fun just toil. What a life I've made at Honeywell. Can't wait to leave! This just sucks! Wednesday, July 14, 2010 Today is my last full day and I process out tomorrow. 30 years here in Phoenix and I started when it was Airesearch. RID'd because my position has been shipped to the Czech Republic. Still a few years shy of a full retirement, but it somehow doesn't bother me. I see a light at the end of the tunnel and the pain will soon be ending. I have watched building after building being emptied of machines and personnel. It's sad to see some of the best and the brightest talent being cast to the side. It's even sadder to see the garbage that is being produced in Mora and Chihuahua. Parts are not being inspected when they come back into the country. Instead they are being shipped directly to the asembly line. If the engine assembles, then the part must be O.K., if it doesn't then it's a bad part and will then be evaluated. Unfortunately the latter seems to be the common happening. I fear for those that are left behind as Cote and crew seem hell bent to destroy what was once a world class engine manufacturer. When I hired in 30 years ago, an old manager told me that "this place makes money in spite of itself". That was then, this is now. Friday, July 2, 2010 It seems that our political leaders are even more blind, deaf, dumb and stupid than our business leaders. Even though Obama and Cote are in bed together, Obama does not get it, that the U.S. jobs situation is not improving much due to the lack of private sector participation in the economic recovery that is the direct result of the private sector not hiring in N.A. anymore, because they are hell bent on outsourcing and off-shoring all of their work. In fact, there is participation by some in the private sector, such as Honeywell, in adding to the unemployment numbers with their pending layoffs, and suicidal hiring overseas. Private sector jobs aren’t coming back, as in, gone for good. Such is the new and improved “Corporate greed”. Give them credit for seizing the opportunities of the economic crisis. Perhaps our corporate leader forgot to enlighten our political leader to these new realities. Either that, or there is a lack of communication between those two geniuses, or one of them is not forthcoming, or the other is not paying attention. Is it possible that our leaders are not forthcoming or paying attention? Or, could it just be that our leaders in either role don’t really care that much for the little guy? Now, there’s a news flash! Wednesday, June 30, 2010 Are you talking about the Olathe plant? Parts shortages, and they are laying off three buyers. Makes sense? Products that have never been reliable since they were dumped on the production floor. Large section of upper floor devoted to storage. Empty cubes abound. Our biggest moneymaking customers were rudely treated because they are commercial aviation and the plant was originally general aviation. Who spends more: a private pilot or Boeing? This plant could not have been managed any worse if they tried. As it stands, we still give them the benefit of a doubt that they are merely stupid. For a year and a half we have seen this ship sinking and no SOS is going out. End our agony and let the captain go down. Wednesday, June 30, 2010 On the one hand, I agree that Honeywell does not think that people are it's most important asset, except that as assets are evaluated as their biggest cost. On the other hand, to ask employees that "work" 50 % of their workday to collect data is non-value added is BS. The problem is the elimination of the people that would evaluate and implement fixes from the data. Honeywell takes the "lean" mentality to the ultimate - reduce the workforce by 20% and expect at least 10% growth - the math does not work - and these are the smartest people running the company. Wall Street doesn't care - fudge the numbers get the profit - move overseas - the American way. Wednesday, June 30, 2010 Please anyone that has any info on a layoff. Hopefully it will include a voluntary RIF. I work for Areospace and am hoping that all of Areospace will be outsourced. I am the most unhappy worker you will ever meet. I pray for a layoff. Monday, June 28, 2010 I got smart and left Honeyhell. I have to say that in the two years that I have worked there, it was the worst job/career I have ever had. While I loved working with my peers and suppliers, upper management had no clue on where they are going nor how to get there and thay still don't. I feel for the ones that are left because I know that their jobs just got more unbearable. Sorry guys, I had to go. I started my new job today and you would not believe how happy everyone seems. Processes are in place and wants you to be a part of the solutions to make things better not dicatated at how to do them and then blame you for when it fails time and time again. Get out when you can, there are jobs/careers that will value you as part of a team and organization. Monday, June 28, 2010 It's not "Honey-Ah-Lied". It's "Honey-I-lied". Saturday, June 26, 2010 When Allied took over Honeywell and took the Honeywell name - because Allied had ruined its name with customers - some of us said the new company should have been named Honey-Ah-Lied. The company death march of forcing out its long term employees will continue as long as Honeywell gets to write off all its lay-offs as loss of "business goodwill" and uses that to reduce its taxes every year. If the tax rules changed and companies like Honeywell had to pay additional taxes for ruining American and European economies - and got zero tax credit - the layoffs would magically stop. Because (as many of you have already pointed out), all the great cost saving from sending jobs to poorly-trained, developing nations' sites disappears when the real costs of setting up infrastructure and repairing trashy products is added in. Cotes and all his greedy minions should all be on trial for economic treason! Wednesday, June 23, 2010 So in the UK, still no pay rise. Our side is making mega bucks, but still need to hire contractors rather than replace people who have left. So lack of skills, lack of experienced people but still get hit over the head if there is a failure! Friday, June 18, 2010 I'm hearing that the RIF is planned for late July. Mostly North American operations. They will axe a token few overseas to make it seam like it's corporate wide, but N.A. will take the brunt of it. Wednesday, June 16, 2010 It seems that rumors of pending layoffs in the very near future, perhaps starting as early as next month, are in the air again. What else is new? But this time, it also seems that the layoffs will be for real, and not just a rumor. And, will most likely be in N.A. or developed areas, of course. What form it will take is not quite clear, but indications are that it will be targeted, and that it will be performance-based (the PIP at work?). They have been quietly implementing that approach over the past two years, and also playing the conveniently invented “redundancy” card, and may be about to take them all to a whole new level. Both, the “targeted” and “performance”, criteria would seem to make a lot of sense, for several obvious reasons, at least from the company’s perspective. And that is quite a surprising development on the leadership’s part, given their penchant for irresponsible decision making, especially in the past two years. Nevertheless, I dare them to offer up the standard “voluntary RIF” proposition. While layoffs have become a necessary evil in our culture, the common method employed by companies in the past, much to their own detriment, have been very questionable and irresponsible, i.e., “voluntary RIF”. Why? Because this method allows for some of the companies’ most experienced and productive employees to leave, and all of their worst ones to stay, thus fool heartedly missing their “targets” every time. Who has a better chance of finding another job, or a better one anyway? Of course, leaderships’ have been too smart to realize this in the past, until now. Believe it or not, they just might be applying the lessons learned mentality here, which is indeed a rarity. Wow! Of course, it only took them a few decades to learn this lesson! Yet, give credit where credit is due? Perhaps in a few decades they would have learnt something else that the rest of us have already known. From the company’s perspective, and after the misguided mistreatment of their employees, mostly the top performers, in the past two years, this new approach makes sense. Because, if the layoffs are not targeted, but offered up as a voluntary RIF this time around, as was the case almost every time before, there will be such a stampede of volunteers, that the company would have to beat them off with a stick and will have to solicit police escorts to manage the exodus and restore order. And who will be the first in line to leave this time around, more than ever before, and after the mistreatment at the hands of the leadership, if the company were to provide voluntary RIF opportunities? Why, some of their top performers! Why would a bottom performer want to leave a good thing, especially when not much more is expected of them? Unfortunately, in this new approach also lies the injustice that is painfully obvious and most punitive to the top performers, and most rewarding to the worst performers, now, more than ever. A top performer may never again be offered the opportunity to receive the deserved reward of a layoff package, and the worst performer is basically guaranteed one. Furthermore, the top performers are now expected to deliver more, especially after the “winners” are gone. Also, top performers have never been compensated much more than a bottom performer, relative to the difference in their performance/productivity levels, due to the unfairness of pay-equity, biases, prejudice, favoritism, discrimination, sexism, etc. Yes, these practices are running rampant. They have always been, and will always be. Such is human nature. And pay-per-performance has always been a myth, as it conflicts with pay-equity and, is rendered ineffective when impacted by the other variables. And let’s not forget that the 10% salary cut, and the furlough, served to punish the top performers more than the bottom performers in a monetary sense. Welcome to the new (Corporate) world order, where the losers are the winner, and vice versa. And why would anyone want to be a top performer in this new order? Perhaps it should only be to enhance ones resume’ and marketability, and then to high tail it the hell out of here on the next back-stabbing rampage by the leadership. They will keep coming at you. It seems like it can only get worse for you, the better you are! Nevertheless, this latest strategy by the company may be a little late in coming, and may have the opposite effect, as it has served to motivate or fast-forward some of the experienced employees’ in their decision to leave now, rather than later, as there isn’t much to look forward to, or to wait for, such as a package There may be one last vestige of an “opportunity” left for the top performers though, which may be, unfortunately, a double edged sword, if you are not indeed inclined towards leaving. And that is, the closing of your site. Sorry to be so blunt and direct. Monday, June 7, 2010 Let's just cut to the chase and outsource Honeywell's senior management. What we'd get couldn't be any worse, and might even be better, than what we've got now. Monday, June 7, 2010 So they are outsourcing warehouse, inventory and receiving now. I remember when they tried to outsource shipping. Everything went well for the first week and then the calls from customers started coming in asking where their stuff was or why they were sent the wrong parts. The outsourced company was not keeping track of shipments and so Honeywell had to send out a huge quantity of new parts at no charge. They canceled the contract and quietly went back in-house. The guy who came up with the idea of outsourcing got his bonus and his commendation even though it was a complete disaster. Here is what is going to happen: The guy that thought this up will prove that the new system is saving money by showing the figures for the first month or two. He will get his bonus and commendation and move on. After a couple of months the vendors who manage the inventory are going to keep as little as possible on their shelves. They are going to miss one or two important shipments and shut Honeywell down for a few days. Inbound parts will start to go missing. More defective parts will make it through receiving and on to the manufacturing lines reducing overall quality. Minneapolis or Morristown will send a team in to the plant to figure out what is wrong. The team will show how bringing the whole thing back in-house will save money. The team will get their bonuses and commendations and move on. Honeywell will bring the whole thing back in house, rehiring a bunch of workers who are now not so hot on Honeywell along with a bunch of new people who have to be trained. Their best workers will have found other jobs elsewhere and will not be available for rehire. I am so glad I left Honeywell. I now have a more stable job in a better environment with better benefits and a bigger salary. I pulled out and rolled over all of the money I had with Honeywell including their shares. I will never buy a Honeywell product or recommend Honeywell products or employment to anybody. Sunday, June 6, 2010 - Dear Colleagues: After an extensive evaluation, a decision has been made to augment the Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) initiative with a Third-Party Logistics solution (3PL) at Aerospace-Phoenix (34th Street). VMI and 3PL are significant initiatives in the Aerospace project to reduce cycle time and inventory. Using both of these initiatives will allow us to reduce working capital and improve cash flow because Aerospace will own much less inventory until we need to use it. In addition, our suppliers will receive real-time data on the demand for their inventory, which will allow them to plan more efficiently, improve delivery and reduce costs. VMI agreements have been reached with a number of our suppliers. Through VMI, these suppliers will assume the role of planning their inventory for our site and will keep the inventory on their books until we pull it to use in our factories. To achieve more significant benefits of VMI, Phoenix Engines has also signed an agreement with a 3PL provider to outsource some of our non-core inbound functions including: receiving, incoming inspections, delivering parts to our factory, tracking day-to-day inventory, and managing the warehouse that contains supplier and Honeywell inventory. Beginning July 12, 2010, the service provider will provide these services and serve as a link between our suppliers and our factories. To ensure a smooth transition, we are working closely with them to develop systems and processes to support VMI and 3PL for the Phoenix Engines site. As of today, all impacted employees at our site have been notified. We will continue to keep you informed as we move forward. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please see your supervisor or Human Resources representative. Thank you in advance for your support and ongoing commitment. Tuesday, June 1, 2010 The May 30 blogger is no doubt correct in his assertion that the 'old' Honeywell was a good place to work and that the 'new' Honeywell will not change. But I, for one, have no intention of slipping quietly into the night. Those who have experienced firsthand the way 'new' Honeywell craps on its employees have a nearly sacred obligation to ensure that the true nature of the beast is fully revealed. Existing employees need to be fully aware how widespread this is, so that they may adjust their expectations and career plans accordingly. And more power to those who choose a path with a company that actually values its employees instead of viewing them as liabilities to be abused at every opportunity. Potential future employees likewise need a means to evaluate what they're getting in to before it's too late. Nothing would be more appropriate than if this ultimately causes Honeywell to lose good employees to its competitors, or if potential future employees choose a competitor instead of Honeywell. Call it poetic justice. Perhaps one day the cumulative effect of these losses will become visible to the government, to customers, to competitors, and to Wall Street. Then the pitiful stuffed shirts masquerading as executive management will finally be forced to recognize that valuing employees requires more than lip-service if the company is to remain viable. Tuesday, June 1, 2010 The truth about outsourcing as I see it. It's a simple formula.
Sunday, May 30, 2010 - From: Don Anthony Husted [dahusted@aol.com]: To the posting on May 19 that said “Morristown is unaware of the level of favoritism shown in promotions and advancements” in Aerospace and Phoenix. Wrong. Morristown is well aware of it and it is how Allied operates. And to the May 20 posting that said “Remember when they said that their people were their most valuable asset.” You are thinking of the old Honeywell, not the new Allied that calls itself Honeywell. When Signal Companies merged with Allied many years ago, people who knew Allied told people at UOP that we would be sorry. Allied treated their people like dirt and only the biggest SOB’s got promoted. For a time UOP was protected from Allied because Signal Companies (fka Signal Oil and Gas) knew UOP and the UOP business model, and later by Union Carbide and later Dow Chemical. But over time UOP has gotten use to the boot of Allied on its neck, that is why you do not see too many postings from the Allied side of “Honeywell”. The ones who would post are long gone to competitors, or retired. It appears to me most of the postings on this site are from old Honeywell. I never worked for Honeywell but from what I have read it was a good company to work for. However all, you now work for Allied. Get use to it. It is their style of business. If you want to move up in Allied (aka “Honeywell”) you need to play the game. Be the biggest SOB in your department. Or find a position with a competitor who treats its people like human beings. Allied will not change, so accept being dirt, or move on to another company or retire. It will do you no good to complain to your boss or to post to this site. Monday, May 24, 2010 All of the comments on this site can either be construed as constructive criticism to be used as lessons learned for changes and/or improvements, or as unwarranted attacks to be ignored. Unfortunately, given the arrogance and mindset of the almighty, infallible and beyond reproach leadership, only the latter view will be observed, because admitting that they may have made mistakes, or that they may need to change course, or rethink any of their strategies, is akin to alcoholics or drug-addicts admitting that they have a problem The past two years especially, has shown how determined and uncompromising their decision making has become, regardless of any negative impact to the business or their workforce. But they can take comfort in the knowledge that they are immune to the consequences of their ways, a luxury that will never be afforded the rest of us. Like governments who can increase taxes and add service charges on the masses to compensate for fiscal mistakes and incompetence, corporate leaderships can similarly punish and bleed their workforce for their own miscues, without bringing any of the negative repercussions to bear upon themselves. Sadly, the luxury of this attitude does not allow any room for correction, change-of-course etc. because this will be construed as an admittance of mistakes being made. But don’t give up Honeywellers. People have been known to recover from lapses in judgment, and to even wake up from the dead. LOL. Of course, it has become very clear in the past two years that the leadership does not believe in the practice of “lessons learned” to change or improve anything. They have totally destroyed any and all such opportunities from decades of learning, only to start all over again with a whole new set of "unlearned lessons". Tch! They have arbitrarily adopted OS (Operating Systems) from other companies, with no regard for similarity, or lack thereof, of the business models, compared to that of our own. Some years ago they adopted TQ from Motorala. Lots in common there, to our industry! And that has now become totally irrelevant anyway. HOS has been adopted from Toyota Production System (TPS). And who are some of the other companies that have adopted this system? GM, Ford, Chrysler. And what do these companies have in common, besides recently producing products with record number of defects in their most critical component systems; breaking, accelerator, steering, tires etc.? They produce similar products. Again, lots in common with Honeywell! Ironically, one of the precepts of the TPS/HOS is that "MANAGERS DON’T TELL WORKERS AND SUPERVISORS HOW TO DO THEIR WORK". We, however, seem to have every level of management telling us how to do ours, and even what tools to use. A perfect system will never work when it is being twisted and distorted by warped minds. In fact, if you look at the TPS/HOS statement, you will notice that this company seems to be virtually violating or misinterpreting/manipulating almost every one of its precepts. They also, always have a tendency to force the vendors of our design tools to customize their tools in the worst ways to the point that the tools are no longer user-friendly and thus, deviate from their intended purpose, thereby frustrating the users and the tool providers. They seem to think that they know better than everyone else, about everything. Yet, they are incapable of originating any ideas of their own, but to blatantly plagiarize and then, indiscriminately butcher others’ ideas beyond recognition or use. They are hell bent in taking a round peg, then making it square, and then trying to force it into a round hole. They seem to be increasingly lacking in the capacity to appreciate the reality, that the operating system of a mechanic or a plumber may not necessarily be adoptable to the workings of a doctor. Except that, everybody has to flush... Maybe! Monday, May 24, 2010 - from the blogger on May 18th. "To all that are frustrated": Well, I did it. I found a job outside Honeywell. I'M FREE. To all those that keep saying, "You're lucky to have a job" - get over yourself, the market is opening up and good people will find jobs. Honeywell will lose some great people (although they won't care). It will hurt them in the long run. Good luck to all of you! Friday, May 21, 2010 - from current Honeyweller: Honeywell International not only treats their managers badly, the union workers are being treated badly as well - 10% pay cut, no retiree health care, raise in insurance, no 401k match, no pension for new hires, no time-and-half after 8 hours, no provisions for 6th and 7th, No seniority considerations, no scheduling, company put you where they want you. Honeywell can contract out any job, and those honeywell workers that lose to the contractors gets a 4500 severance package, No union security, no grievances, reduction in vacation, reduced holiday pay. It is no wonder the managers and the hourly cannot get along. Thursday, May 20, 2010 There seems to be a contradiction with Honeywell and how they treat their employees any more. Remember when they said that their people where their most valuable asset? Those days seem to be past. While Honeywell is buying companies for $140 million+ and sending out rave reviews of all their success, we are still waiting for some type of pay raise this year. I guess Mr. Cote and his cronies will get a bonus for screwing the workers again. Last year it was a 4% pay cut before taxes on our 401k match, and then the 3 weeks unpaid furlough to quickly destroy the chance of getting ahead in 2009 with the miserable pay raises dished out then. So do you think the pay raise this year (if given) will be retro (fat chance)? What makes me upset the most, is the attitude my mid level management that uses the economy to promote fear for our jobs. "At least we have a job".... and "what about the other companies"? Comparing us with other companies as an excuse to screw us, is like saying we should pay more taxes because Canadians do. Yes we can find other jobs, but I'd love to see a CEO that not only pays lip service to "caring about empolyees", but stands behind it. I dont' think I'll be attending anymore town meetings until Honeywell does the right thing for the people that really make the company what it is today.
Regards, Thursday, May 20, 2010 We have that same problem. Everybody who is in and gets promoted into management is from the hockey team. And guess who plays hockey? Wednesday, May 19, 2010 I'm really surprised when I look at our management team in Phoenix and see a only 35+ white males in seats of "power". Honeywell is a biased company. Aerospace is lead by white males who give the best jobs to their buddies. Morristown is unaware of the level of favoritism shown in promotions and advancements. Most of the diversity at Aero comes in the form of lower level Band 3 or Hourly workers. With VP making over $250K plus bonus, where is the real economic strength? It ain't in shop. It is the band 5's and above. What a waste of so much talent. Just because a person isn't white and male, they don't have a chance at a higher level position. I'm leaving and can't wait to start working with real technology company that believes in the strength of all of its people. One that promotes all kinds of people, not just club members. Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - from Olathe, Ks: One of their HOS (Honeywell Over Seas) guys should suggest that they take data on all the time they spend taking data. Maybe someone, like the stockholders would finally relize how much time and labor is wasted on data that is rarly ever used. The only useful results that I ever saw were that our productivity was down, mostly from taking data and not doing the real work. Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Re: "Sunday, March 28, 2010 - If Honeywell is so awful, quit playing the victim and get on with your life." That's real helpful. I notice that you were unable to refute any of the comments made here. Tuesday, May 18, 2010 That's the Honeywell way.... Spend more and more time reporting on the less and less you are doing, until you achieve equilibrium by spending all your time reporting on the nothing you are doing. Tuesday, May 18, 2010 To all that are frustrated with spreadsheets and check lists, I feel your pain. My division is so immersed in these; I can't get any "real" work done. The management spends their day looking for ways to babysit our progress, and then report out on it to their leadership (I use that term loosely) . I have never felt so underappreciated. Management treats us like we are 6 years old and have no clue what we need to do to accomplish our goals. I had the opportunity to leave Honeywell and work for a competitor. I made a HUGE mistake. If you get the chance to get out do it. I'm fed up and not going to miss the next chance to get out! Tuesday, May 18, 2010 It seems like you are a victim of the HOS. All the forms, checklists, spreadsheets, whiteboards etc. created are for visitors and Corporate VIPs to look at. They are good "tools" but HON leadership and site leaders misuse them for controls only and totally ignorant of the HUMAN side of things. Do they care? Of course not, as long as Wall Street buys their stories. Sunday, May 16, 2010 To the British chap who is wondering about, and drowning in all of those magical forms, checklists, spreadsheets etc. that will solve all of the company’s problems. Employees generally feel frustrated and stressed when they are given tasks that are seemingly irrelevant to the real work, and that can’t be of much real value, if any, to anyone, other than to add check marks to a bunch of other forms, checklists, spreadsheets etc., as was suggested, and to create work for the creators of the forms. These forms were never necessary before, and they now seem to serve only as a distraction from the real work, as they obviously have not served to decrease but rather, to increase the number of defects since their imposition, all to the detriment of the company. Understandably, the leadership is trying to reduce costs and cycle time. But how, in their warped thinking, do they hope to achieve this? By adding more and more non-value-added and time consuming tasks! Brilliant! I suppose that more work equals less time? Otherwise, the sole purpose of these exercises must be for management to exert their power over us. Management seems intent on subjugating and insulting us into kindergarten level of obedience. That is perhaps why, more than anything else, we are having issues with this. They seem to think that this is the best way to apply or utilize our technical skills. We are not trusted to do anything right anymore, but management in their wisdom, seem to trust that if we have completed these forms (which are much more important than the real work!), then the underlying project will be magically correct….What? In fact, it seems as though, if we did not complete our project, but completed the forms, we may be up for a promotion! The real work does not seem to count for much anymore! So, we must fill in all of these forms (er...toilet paper!) with due diligence, and be sure to use the right color pencils, as they have to look nice or, neither us nor our managers will get the half of a balloon, or the half of a lollipop that they do not want to give to us anyway! And, they may even tell our parents if we don’t do it. We don’t want that now, do we? Arrgh! We are being weighed and measured based on the completion of these “magical money-making” forms, rather than on how much work we do, and on how well we do our work. Our obedience with regards to this, more than anything else, will determine whether or not we will receive the 0% salary increase that’s coming to us….What? So, we must be good little children now, if we know what’s good for us. Bye, bye! Friday, May 14, 2010 - Re: May 11 - former manager to Olathe Kansas site: Thank you for documenting my case as a casualty in RIF due to manager’s personal reasons. This practice is also widespread in Honeywell Process Solutions. Only “yes” men can survive in HON. Tuesday, May 11, 2010 As a former Honeywell manager, I feel as though I can finally tell the truth about all the nonsense going down in aerospace/avionics. After moving from another site to the Olathe Kansas site, I was shocked to see the horrid conditions that had been standard practice in Olathe for years. Supervisors forced into misleading comments to associates, loss of respect for anyone not management, and a backstabbing culture thru out management. Every answer to problems are dealt with through discipline, even the most trivial of mistakes. This attitude has created a morale slide that has been going on since 2003 and has gotten noticeably worse in the past year. It looks as if Dave has finally given them permission to be the SOB’s they always wanted to be, and it is the only thing they seem to be really good at. Morale has gotten so bad because of the management team that people are asking there managers to downgrade their yearly reviews so that they can volunteer for RIF’s and be accepted. During past RIF’s employees were selected based on managers personal reasons and once they were selected for sacrifice the yearly review was adjusted to fit the situation. We were told to make sure there was an overwhelming good reason to let this person go. Many time the real reason was because the person had a disagreement with some witless manager, sometimes over quality or customer issues. Most reviews were highly falsified to avoid anyone questioning the decision to let the person go. It is amazing to look at the number of managers that have retired or moved on to other jobs due to the attitude of the Olathe management crew. Many of these folks have stated that they can’t change anything for the good and their conscience will only stand so much! I sincerely hope that all U.S companies are not managed like this. (P.S. I sold all my Honeywell stock as soon as I could). Sunday, May 9, 2010 Quote from The Wall Street Journal:
And you have neglected to mention to the shareholders, the salary cuts and deferred raises and all of the other back-stabbing measures you have “executed” to demoralize the employees for a long time to come, just to realize short term gains, irrespective of long term pains! And that you extended salary cuts and imposed the furlough when everything had already improved. And that perhaps the most skilled 25% of your work force would really like a layoff package this time, but that you are too cheap to offer packages, as they will cut into those bogus short term gains being bled from the employees (your lifeline). And that the 5% number is very deceiving, when all of the layoffs of skilled employees are in NA, and are being offset by all of the hiring of trainees offshore. We know that neither you nor the shareholders care to know any of those inconvenient truths. Nice! If you’re happy, and the shareholders are happy, what else can anyone else ask for? What…are…you…doing---Dave? Thursday, May 6, 2010 I have been free of Honeywell for 6 months, but when I was a hiring manager, you had to get approval of the CEO to hire even a temp. In addition to this not being a best practice in delegation of decision rights, I think that unless the new hire had a Phoenix address, chances are he would come under great scrutiny and the request would be denied. I know this because we got email after email announcing promotions and reorganizations among that same clubhouse full of clowns out in Phoenix moving from one job to the next, doing nothing for the company. Good luck to all you guys still there. It is so much better on the other side. When you work for a company that thinks employees are a liability and looks for every chance it gets to steal back benefits and compensation, it is enough to make you sick every day. But the good part is people on the outside still recognize the Honeywell name on the resume. It should be good until the communist Chinese begin to use some of the tech that Honeywell is moving out of the US to Asia for their first weapons R&D programs, if that has not started already. Wednesday, May 5, 2010 Honeywell is actually hiring in the US? Wow, I did not think it did that anymore! In Aerospace the mantra is: If you work in a developed market - you are lucky you have a job. And if you do not like it, then leave! If you work in an emerging market - How fast can we send your site money? And all of you get a promotion! What I do not get is: how the company is so gung-ho and sends all the knowledge out of the US, but then warns you that we have to protect the intellectual property. I see some logic flaws there. Time to get the heck out of Honeywell. Wednesday, May 5, 2010 Honeywell's management doesn't care about all the inefficiencies or whatever shortcomings are highlighted in the blog: "Honeywell’s Leadership perspectives". Honeywellers can rant, whine, or even quit for all they care. Honeywell is "TOO BIG TO FAIL". Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - Call for Referrals to Honeywell Process Solutions:
Refer someone successfully, and earn $$$$! Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) is a $2.5 billion strategic business unit that improves the productivity and profitability of industrial facilities on every continent around the world. HPS offers a full range of automation and control solutions to key vertical markets, including Energy, Pulp & Paper, and Chemicals/Pharmaceuticals, and develops/markets industrial automation systems and advanced software applications. We are constantly looking for dynamic, highly energized people to join and grow with HPS. We would like to thank you for supporting the referral program! We’re continuing our focus on employee referrals this year to support our high growth targets. We continue to request your support with these efforts and will offer referral bonuses to each employee that recommends an external candidate whom is hired. If you know potential candidates, please refer them through the formal online process as well as to the hiring manager/applicable HR person. Also, please ensure that the candidate indicates your referral when he/she applies for the position. If a position doesn’t have a req number listed, then please contact the hiring manager directly to refer your friend. Turn your connections into Extra Cash! We have positions in the US, Canada, and LAR! Referral bonus amounts can differ by position, region, etc. Please contact the regional HR leader to learn more about the bonus for a particular position. Check out the Corporate Referral Process website for more detail. Tuesday, May 4, 2010 - To the blogger who wrote "Honeywell’s Leadership perspectives": You are brilliant! Now, how do we organize that 'Sick-Out', at the end of the Qtr, so we can start slapping these management idiots in the mouth with the reality that they need us more than we need the multiple layers of them!? Please, if things won’t change for the obvious, let’s give it a nudge in the right direction! Might help....might not... but it will feel good to make them squirm, even if it's just a little bit. Monday, May 3, 2010 Well, here we go again. The rumor has it that we will once again be having a forced shut down this summer. I just wish they would hurry up and tell us. In any case, I'm going to book some vacation during their proposed "Shut Down". At least this will make it seem like a "paid vacation" See, if you do a little bit of planning, Honeywell doesn't seem like such a bad place after all. Monday, May 3, 2010 Diamond Dave hates western employees. First, he imposes endless wasteful procedures. As a result, efficiency and morale plummet. Next, more employees must be sacrificed in order to make the numbers. A self-fulfilling prophecy is created, further justifying his belief that western employees are a problem and that jobs should be offshored as quickly as possible. We have been cynically and ruthlessly forced to become non-competitive; to surrender the excellence that formerly was our trademark. All due to one guy in a position of power, and his warped perception of how things should be. He and executive management make out, while most western employees suffer. What a system! Saturday, May 1, 2010 - Re: April 29, 2010 Honeywell’s Leadership perspectives: Thank you, thank you! You said it all, for all of us. You should look after yourself first(career), then your health and your family, ignore all the BS from diamond Dave & the management team. Thursday, April 29, 2010 - RE:"Honeywell’s Leadership perspectives": Brilliant! Could not have said it better myself! It is time to hit this management where it hurts the most. If everyone called in sick on the last fiscal day of every month the bottom line wouldn't look so good. Time to disrupt the corporation as a whole, and show them (pigs at the trough) where they would be without us (soldiers on the front line). Let's get organized and put this thing to bed! Signed: Tired, demoralized and fed up. Thursday, April 29, 2010 Honeywell’s Leadership perspectives In the middle of the worse economic crisis, we chose to overhaul our business by introducing multiple and complex new tools (that were not market-ready and that can sometimes behave like a virus), and multiple new processes and guidelines (that are incomplete, inaccurate, in draft stages and changing every day), while at the same time, introducing work-sharing, off-shoring, outsourcing etc., in order to save money and time. Furthermore, we chose to do all of this at a time when we are busiest, and budget and schedule constraints are extremely challenging, and the competition is getting stiffer, and the customers are getting meaner While these endeavors may have been very wise and noble causes in almost any other economic time, we chose to do it at this, the worst time. We know that to have introduced any one of these numerous, inhumane changes and morale-killers, would have been very challenging to all involved, but we wanted to maximize the effect to a devastating and unbearable level by doing them all at once. We know that these changes should have been phased in slowly, perhaps one at a time (and some not at all), to be effective, but by doing them all at once we have managed to shoot ourselves in the head over and over again. That is not an easy feat! And all of this should eventually have the opposite effect. But who is looking? We are leaders because we do not know anything else. We have taken away all of the tools that you have spent the last 10 years mastering and are familiar with, and gave you new tools that should take another 10 years to master; but we want you to master them in 10 weeks. We have replaced your familiar design tool with 4 new ones, because the first of the 4 is so error-prone and defective, that you will need the other 3 to mask the defects and weaknesses in the first. We are way too smart to have seen that one coming. The providers of the tools could not have lied to us. Could they? No! We believe that the tool sellers are always right and our employees are always wrong. If the sales people say that their crap can take us to Mars, we can afford to believe them because it is the users that will have to suffer with the crap. And who cares if they drown in it. And who cares about getting back from Mars. The new tools and processes are so amazing that they will fix even the users that are, were, and always will be the cause of human errors (defects). We have taken your one simple process, standards and guidelines that you have spent decades refining, simplifying and perfecting, and shoved it up your rear end, and then shoved 101 new and defective processes, standards and guidelines (that are in draft stages, incomplete, inaccurate and ever-changing) that you won’t even recognize, down your throat (there is no escape!). This should take 10 years to become familiar with, but we want you to do it in 10 weeks. Never mind that they are not ready. We have created numerous "checklists", and checklists to check checklists, and have our checkers checking, checking - you get the idea. We have created this absurd environment that now requires all of these absurdities. We have added so much more to make your work much, more complex, and to multiply your old cycle time and expect you to reduce that cycle time. Are you with us? Why use one simple proven process when you can use 10 new complex ones to do the same thing? We have successfully turned our most experienced, productive and knowledgeable people into bumbling idiots. We intend to fix all of our processes that were and weren’t broken, by breaking them all, or totally destroying them, and add many, many more broken processes in the name of gross stupidity. We don’t believe in making small fixes to broken things, but believe in destroying everything, together with those that were working perfectly, and creating a whole new set of broken untested processes, to be consistent. We want you to produce perfect data/products in record time, using these multiple new imperfect, incomplete and defective new tools, processes and guidelines. We have taken your simplest of tasks and make them more complex, so that all of your years of experience will count for nothing. When we are done with you, you won’t be good at anything, except perhaps suicide. We, the leadership, know better than you, as to how you should do your job and what tools, processes, guidelines are best for you. Forget that we ever asked: "What do you need to do your job more efficiently, cost effectively, and simply?" We didn’t know what we were talking about. Forget that we always said that you have been doing a very good job over the past decades. We didn’t mean that either. Sorry! In other words, we are going to make your work so much more difficult and stressful, and we want you to do it in one quarter of the time and more accurately, while we remove as much incentives and motivation as we can and shatter your morale for good. Our objective is to maximize your stress levels and minimize your morale. You can’t have both now, can you? We have taken the very best and most productive of you, who are very, very good at what you do, and assign you to non-value-added tasks that will leave you perplexed and frustrated to death, not so much from the tasks but from the stupidity, thus reducing/eliminating your enthusiasm and productivity. We strongly believe that the Corporation is making money from the new cumbersome, complex and ridiculous tools, processes, guidelines, checklists, etc. we are creating every day, and not from our electronic hardware designs and other products. That is why we take our best people away from the real and critical work to work on these non-value-added absurdities. If the best of you were already giving the company 150% of your effort, we now expect you to give 250%, and we don’t care that you are now thinking of only giving 50%. Then we can use the “performance” card to “terminate” you. You see? We can’t “lose”. And you can’t win! If you have been a loyal, dedicated and hard working top employee who, over the decades, have given your body, mind and soul to the company, we have now ripped your heart out too! Why won’t you die? We want you to forget everything we ever taught you over the decades (TQ, DFSS Green Belt, Black Belt, Lean Engineering, IPDS 5S etc.) about reducing/eliminating steps in your processes, and reducing/eliminating defects, to be most efficient and cost effective, as we have now multiplied the number of steps in your processes 10-fold, and multiplied the number of opportunities for defects 20-fold, to make sure that we erase from your psyche any such thoughts of efficiency and accuracy, and thus, we can guarantee lower quality, and increased cycle time. Forget that we told you that quality must take precedence over schedule. And we now have lots of inexperienced people around the world, working 24/7, to help us to lower our standards. Look out Toyota, we aim to be number one! We hope that you have not noticed that we want you to transfer your 30 years of experience to our off shore partners in 30 minutes or less, while we are also transferring your benefits and compensations etc. to them as well in that time. We want you to forget what we have always said about taking ownership and pride in your work. With work-sharing, off-shoring and outsourcing etc., you don’t have to give a damn anymore. Isn’t that nice? Just when you thought that the company does not care about you, we take all of the pressures off of you. Now you can screw up and blame others. You can now stab your co-workers in the back or in the face, and they can do the same to you. This, we believe - no, we know - is conducive to a happy and productive work environment. We have to tell you that the company’s products are very competitive, but that we need to be careful so as not to become complacent, lest we become like Toyota, even though everything that we are doing is leading us down that glorious path. That realization will be felt later. But who cares about later. Not us! We are basically, politicians. We know that we won’t be around when the fall-out from all of this hits the fan. We would have been finished raping the company of its reputation and it’s experienced employees, and the remaining employees of everything else, and will have moved on by then. We don’t have to think long term, you see. We have chosen a variety of new vendors and out-sourcing entities, all of whom wants different things, to guarantee that you will never be able to satisfy any one of them. And our increase in defects should improve, i.e., increase the cost and delivery time of everything that we do. Vendors love excuses to delay and increase the cost to us. We are now providing them with plenty, with our new defects-increasing measures. We are standardizing, but yet providing different instructions from each site, to confuse the crap out of our vendors! And work-sharing between sites should confuse everyone else. We are too smart to appreciate that outsourcing technical and complex electronics’ designs is not the same as outsourcing car bumpers and tires. We believe that the outsourcing and off-shore entities are much more capable than the locals. We know this because they have failed so many times before that they will get it right this time. Right? We have excelled in “Negative Productivity” by keeping the people with nothing to do so very busy creating new processes, guidelines, standards, etc., to add much more unnecessary work to the people with lots to do (and who know how to do it) just to make their work much more difficult and stressful. That will suck the life out of them. And we are so damn proud of ourselves. We will keep you happy and motivated by keep reminding you that you still have a job. We know that you are busier than ever, and that we have gone out of our way to make your work and home life as miserable as we can, but that is beside the point. We like to remind you that other companies are laying people off, and hope that you will not notice that those companies are slow-to-dead, while we are busier than ever. We do not want you to notice that we have been quietly and subtly getting rid of people through several ingenious methods, to avoid visibility, and are brain storming new methods every day (we have “ways” and we know your “number”). After all, we are one of the “best” companies in the world. We told ourselves that, and we told Fortune Magazine the same. So how can you dispute that? And that must make our employees feel good too. We had to hide our disappointment when we did not see as many people leaving the company as we had anticipated after we have stabbed you in the back, and the face, thus you have forced us to rethink our strategy and to find alternate methods to screw you more and more, to force you out. Stubborn buggers! At the same time, we had hoped to keep some of our experienced people a little while longer to coordinate and fix and correct the “perfect” work from off shore and outsourcing, but they seem to be leaving. Wonder why that is? We are aiming towards globalization and standardization, even if it means getting there through sub-standardization. At least we will be standardized by being consistently substandard. We believe that we can standardize by adding multiple methods, cultures, levels of experiences, tools, processes etc. - just about everything that should have the opposite effect. We could have simply adopted the decades of best and proven practices from sites and methods within our business, and use them as our baseline for standardization. But that would have been too sensible, too easy and too cheap! We chose to discard the best with the worst and settle for mediocre. We have taken full advantage of the opportunities of the economic crisis and use them to shaft you really well, even though our situation isn’t anywhere nearly as bad as that of others. In case you don’t know, our new goal is to satisfy: Ourselves first, Shareholders second, Customers third (maybe), “Tools Providers fourth (or before customers), and so on and so on, and then employees last, or not anymore! We are sleeping well at nights (and also sleeping for you) as we know that you can’t be sleeping. We are utilizing to the fullest our lack of conscience and morals (never really had any) to reduce your morale. Sounds nice? Forget the saying: It sometimes gets worse before it gets better! And think: It can only get worse, for you that is, and you’ll be fine! We are diligently working to find what other crap we can we pile up on you. And if you do not like it, you can always quit. That is the point. Do you get it? We can’t be “undercover bosses” as we are smart enough to know that the truth will kill us. While we have gone out of our way to make your work-life much more difficult, complex and stressful, we have not neglected to do the same to your personal life, so as to further lower your morale and totally destroy any lingering thoughts of loyalty and dedication you may be harboring:
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Anybody playing "BS Bingo" while reading Fradin's memo? There oughta be a lot of winners after that "classic" Honeywell announcement. Wednesday, April 28, 2010 So, since Honeywell are doing so well, we all get a pay-rise by the end of Q2 right? Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Wow! Roger Fradin's message is inspiring. I am ready for another furlough or pay reduction, just say the word Rodg! Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - To the blog-poster from Australia: Your HPS division CEO, Norm Gilsdorf, was promoted from UOP (division of Specialty Materials) in 2009. Our loss is your gain - he is a terrific manager. I imagine you will find, like we did at UOP, that there are definite advantages to a big company in terms of resources and financial backing. Unfortunately, what we've also experienced is conversion to a culture where only those at the top are promoted and given pay raises. HON is "churn and burn" all the way. Having an opinion and voicing it gets you ranked a "C" player and fired or forced out. You may have some advantages, in that there are some protections against "constructive dismissal" in Australia, as there are in the UK. But here in the US, it's called "get rid of older and more experienced workers and replace them with younger, preferably offshore, employees". Read any independent assessment written on the pros and cons of Forced Ranking. HON is a textbook case on how to wreck an organization with this outdated and dehumanizing system. The number of articles in the HR journals on Forced Ranking kind of peaked around 2003 because there isn't much more to say about it -- most well-run corporations have figured out that it is no way to treat anyone you even pretend to care about. Either HON never got the message, or they simply like to have a fearful workforce with an average age trending toward the early 30's. Take a look at a presentation from one of the senior HR management at a 2009 conference: http://hrtomorrow.csom.umn.edu/past/2009/present09/Woodward.pdf Page 21: "Top 10 lessons learned" number 7: "People have to leave... Turnover is not only ok but necessary". This is fine coming from a 30-something HR person charged with swinging the ax, but anyone can pretty much see where it leads. It would be far more honest to simply fire everyone and only hire people under short term contracts. Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Message from Roger Fradin, April 27, 2010
Sales were $3.1 billion, up 4 percent from the first quarter of 2009. The majority of our Products businesses are starting to grow again for the first time in a year while our Solutions businesses showed significant strength in orders and backlog. However, our regional ACS performance was mixed. Asia Pacific delivered double-digit sales growth, the Americas was flat and Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) experienced sales decline. We are positioned to see sales improve as the economy recovers, but must still challenge ourselves to find ways to generate more revenue. Operating Income was up 24 percent from the first quarter of 2009. This solid performance continues to be driven by controlling our costs and ensuring our pricing strategy reflects the overall value we provide our customers. In addition, our restructuring actions had a positive impact on our first quarter margin rate and operating income results. We expect further market recovery and now must prepare for increased customer demand by optimizing our supply chain. Cash Flow was up 82 percent year over year due primarily to good working capital performance and capital expenditure management. These are outstanding results and builds on our strong cash performance in recent years. ACS generated $24 million in Indirect Spend savings in the first quarter. Unfortunately, we did not have any indirect spend savings in March, which is a trend that we need to quickly address. We must be vigilant in managing our costs even if our outlook appears to be on the rebound. The largest area for reduction continues to be travel, so please continue to evaluate if travel is needed, particularly when it comes to internal meetings. View our financial results and key highlights from across the ACS portfolio. ACS is a major contributor to Honeywell’s success and will continue to outperform our competitors if we focus on the global trends across our industries and our key initiatives: Favorable Trends: Key Initiatives: Focus in these areas will allow us to continue to expand our market positions in the industries we serve and outperform our competitors. Our strong customer focus, cost management and investment in innovation and process improvements continue to fuel our growth. I’m confident in the future of ACS and Honeywell and look forward to seeing even stronger results as economic conditions stabilize and eventually improve. Thank you for your dedication, contributions, and focus on delivering for our customers, the corporation and shareowners.
President and CEO Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Obama and Cote - now there's a team. As if Obama needs any more help bringing this country to it's knees. Here in our plant, we have all kinds of issues going on in H.R. Women do not get paid what men do, and now that Wall Mart employees have won their law suit, isn't it time Honeywell pays up too? After all... we were told our time-cards were getting changed a while back because Wall Mart employees had a law suit going and Honeywell didn't want that to happen to them! It seems there were problems with equal pay for equal work and if you work it right and "tell Daddy everything" you can be brought right up to the top of the food chain while everyone else has to earn their way up over many years. And how dare you bring this nasty little issue out in the open. We have people quitting daily because this place stinks so bad. It's down the road for me real soon. This place needs a few good lawyers! Friday, April 23, 2010 The recent posts are evidence of a few things that we already know:
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The famed Honeywell Operating System (HOS), which draws from various world famous operating systems including the Toyota Production System, was launched at JKM Automotive on 27th March 2009. The HOS will introduce world-class best practices into the Dynamatic® Group. JKM Auto™ is the only Honeywell Supplier in India, and, the third worldwide, to launch the HOS. Thursday, April 22, 2010 According to the website article posted on BusinessWeek:
Thursday, April 22, 2010 I have over seven spreadsheets to fill in everyday, alongside doing my work! Just so my manager gets a green tick. Oh, by the way, people won't even bother the H&S people for a plaster because it shows up Red on the Health and Saftey chart.... Something is very very wrong with this company.
Regards Thursday, April 22, 2010 Yeovil UK is still waiting for payrises. HPD's they stated Wage Reviews in Q2... Okay, guess they mean the end of Q2! Thursday, April 22, 2010 - To the poster on March 28,2010 who wrote: "Quit grinding your axes and take control of your career.": I guess you're either a manager or some sub-level management idiot who call themselves things like 'Operations Execellance', THAT or you're some spotty young prig who's only just joined. In any case, you need to WAKE UP and learn that some people actually want the company to survive. Unfortunately its people like you who are bringing this company to its knees. Trust me mate, Cote won't save you when the shit hits the fan in your department, neither will your boss. Thursday, April 22, 2010 So because of the 'downturn' our company can no longer afford to replace anyone they lose. Instead, in some cases, pulling people from other departments to fill the gap. It can't afford to allow people to travel outside the 50 mile radius to talk to Vendors or Customers. Were not able to get anymore Temporary workers because there is no money in the pot. Most people gave up unpaid holiday last year in able to help them out so I ask myself the question: If a company can't fund or support the workers they have how can they advertise jobs in emerging market regions to do the jobs we do? And WHY? What's the hidden agenda? Has anyone else seen this happen in the UK within their department? Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - To the April 20 poster who asked, "Does HOS exist?" No. What exists within Honeywell is CYA. It's what happens in a culture of fear is combined with unrealistic expectations; responsibility but no authority. Brought to you courtesy of Diamond Dave Cote. Wednesday, April 21, 2010 I stumbled across this blog while googling and have to admit to being shocked at the strength of feeling in evidence. I joined Honeywell Process Solutions in Australia from a competitor organization a while ago and it has been like a breath of fresh air. I attended a kick-off meeting earler this year and the quailty of people and their energy was infectious. There are issues around no salary increases though and people are hoping local management can get that sorted out. I hope whatever has gone wrong in Aero doesnt happen here. Tuesday, April 20, 2010 Can you work for a company if you don't trust it or believe in it? How do you meet your HPD quarterly tasks if you have little or no faith in your manager? What does Honeywell stand for except spreadsheets and VOTTR targets? I've worked for Honeywell for a few years now and I have never experienced such a terribly unorganised, yet self-praising bunch of middle management prigs. Here is Honeywell's manifesto summed up in two sentances: "More for less" and "If you can't really meet the targets, fudge the figures". Now don't get me wrong; there is nothing illegal about what they do. You see, in the UK the Americans are deemed to be the big brother of the aerospace world. If the Americans say jump, we jump. So every week, the USA monitors our arrears and delivery targets through SAP and gets us to report back. If its green you're okay; but of its red, your manager is told to pull their finger out. So what do we do? Our manager doesn't like what he sees, an excel sheet is printed and we Honeywell mineons move the dates to get us back into the green area = Americans Happy. So after all of this fudging.... oops, should i say 'arrears management', work on a weekly basis I ask myself one simple question? Does HOS exist? Monday, April 19, 2010 My advice to you is if you like doing nothing, apply for a job at Aerospace headquarters in Phoenix. Ask to do a job related to HOS or Operations Excellence. They are still hiring, but it might be hard if you have not already failed in your current job role, that seems to be a pre-requisite for the higher paying jobs out there at least. Monday, April 19, 2010 According to Vault.com, a corp. survey website that has "tagged" our beloved HI perfectly, lay-offs are generally performed every fall. This is looked at as a standard cost cutting measure at the end of every year. In this article everything that Vault had described about this companies directive, which was written by an director level manager in 2003, has been very accurate. Not much has changed and don't think it will until it's too late and the Executive(Rats) jump from the sinking ship! Monday, April 19, 2010 Has anyone any info to share on when we can expect the next layoff in Areospace? We have orders, but cannot get parts from the suppliers. Lots of people walking around with nothing to do. Why not lay off some people? I would be one of those that want out. This is the worst coompany anyone can work for. The people that are running things do not have a clue. We are all on a sinking ship. Thursday, April 15, 2010
For your info, Honeywell's CFO has been named as one of the Best CFO by Institutional Investors magazine. Check out Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - from Honeywell, Aerospace, Canada: I'm out, I'm out, I'm out! What a relief, to be free of that place. All of the stories in this blog are true. Take note investors who come by this web page - invest in the competition. Honeywell is about to tank after their "short term gains" are exhausted. To all those hanging on until retirement, I wish you the very best of luck. To the rest of you - now is the time, read the writing on the wall. Good luck. Tuesday, April 13, 2010 No, HR does not treat their own HR managers any better. I am in HR and I recently left Honeywell Aerospace. If you want some insight on how we are treated, look at the turnover rate among HR managers and directors and I think it tells the whole story. An HR manager can contribute nothing in a company that does not value people or long term relationships with employees. It made me absolutely sick and it is wonderful to be free. Sunday, April 11, 2010 - To the March 29 poster on "Lay-off List" - If you are in the "Outer L" of the 9 block ratings, you can be sure you will be let go if a layoff is announced. I am an Aero manager, so I have some insight on this. HR is doing everything in their power this year to make us fire people in the outer L 2 years in a row. If you have had a "Personal Improvement Plan" letter recently from you manager, then I would say your time is up. I hate my job as a manager because of BS like this. HR MAKES US put 10% of the people in the outer L, and now they tell us we have to fire them. I'll bet my paycheck HR doesn't treat their staff this way. Sunday, April 11, 2010 I have worked for Honeywell in the UK for 30 years. Morale is the worst I have ever known it. No pay increase this year and engineers are leaving to find employment elsewhere. I have joined Unite the Union as I don't trust anyone in management or HR. I just hope I can hang on to Retirement! Friday, April 9, 2010 Honeywell has changed it's offer to the salaried employees at Dynamic to match those of the union employees. Happier faces today! Thursday, April 8, 2010 Yes you are right about the Honeywell access line. I was a manager at an Aerospace site and was told by HR who the "suspected" caller was on both occasions where it happened to one of my front line supervisors. HR cannot be trusted to do anything but lie to your face. Be careful. Thursday, April 8, 2010 The union employees at Dynamic are to get two weeks severance for each year worked without cap. Pensions are recognized, six months of benefits after termination. Truly precedent setting. Staff employees are to get one week severance if employment exceeds five years capped at 26 years. Pensions recognized, six months of benefits to follow. Many sad faces around here... Wednesday, April 7, 2010 I suppose the below blog from the Honeywell Middle East employee is a HBS employee. The characteristics of the Human Remains Manager (I liked the terminology) sound like HBS HR Dept. Wednesday, April 7, 2010 Under no circumstances ever call the Honeywell phone line on Ethics Violations or Harassment. My experience has been horrendous trying to get a manager to treat me like a human being. Has anyone ever seen a TV commercial where a lawyer warns people not to talk to an insurance adjuster explaining that they are looking out for the company’s best interest and not yours? That is exactly what you get if you make a complaint - a “claims adjuster” distorting anything said and never following up to verify if you were harassed. Making a claim will only get you a bad PR because you are not a “team player”, “does not support management”, and not good at “communication”. Do not try to change this organization from within because it is corrupt. Spend your energy finding a job with a company that values it’s employees. Wednesday, April 7, 2010 In regard to Cote's 57% pay cut: Sure his 2008 total comp was listed at 30MM and his 2009 comp at 13MM, BUT if you look closely, he received a 14MM bonus in 2008 that will actually be paid in equal installments in 2009 and 2010. That means the true value for 2008 was 16MM for 2008 and 20MM for 2009 (with 7MM held back for 2010). That looks like a 25% increase from where I'm sitting. Tuesday, April 6, 2010 Can some one check the Honeywell Affiliate in Middle East. Every day, it is going horrible. Please, every one is crying. Monday, April 5, 2010 Check the stock blogs. People are selling their Honeywell stock in droves because of Cote's emphasis on China over the US. Maybe the tide is turning. Monday, April 5, 2010 - To the March 29th poster: How do you know you are "on the layoff list"? And furthermore, how can I get on that list? It would be such a relief to be free of this place, it would be worth the stress of having to find a new job. Wednesday, March 31, 2010 Diamond Dave is really on a roll, and is a financial wizard. By closing down U.S. and European factories and moving them to China, India and Malaysia, cutting highly-paid U.S. employees and instead hired cheap Asian workers, and even set-up an R&D in India, Honeywell stock price hit a 52-week high as of March 31. Dave Cote doesn't care if the products are sloppy. He got all his numbers right at the bottom line. Wednesday, March 31, 2010 This is the first time I've seen this blog and I find it very interesting - considering how similar everyone's experiences are to my own. I was with S&C and was laid-off about a year ago; one of the happiest days of my life. The HR person didn't know what to do, based on the way I was responding and how visibly relieved I appeared. Like some, I was also a member of management, but that really was not much more than a paper title. Our hands were tied to the extent that nothing positive could ever be done because of the behaviors instilled by a completely incompetent "leadership" team out of Golden Valley. I use the word leadership very lightly in relation to this group. One thing I find a little surprising is - I always thought S&C was simply the worst group possible, and somewhat an exception. I still think it is the worst, probably because of my experience. But to hear the same concerns from so many other groups helps me understand how deeply seeded the problems are. It's not even complaining' it's simple descriptions of bad behaviors and actions that crippled S&C and it appears will cripple Honeywell in total. To all of those that remain, best of luck, as I know personally the hell you live in every day. For those like me, celebrate the separation and learn to recognize the signs wherever you land (or are) to minimize exposure to this type of thing again. That is without question the only real thing I ever learned during 8-years at HON. Wednesday, March 31, 2010 I am glad that I will be leaving Honeywell next week for better prospects elsewhere. In the Middle East Honeywell is delaying payments even to employee expenses. HR Department: We are blessed with a Human Remains Manager who does not even reply his calls/mails, leave alone address employee concerns.HR had conducted a survey and conveyed that the results will be broadcast. Never heard anything after the survey closed since maximum concerns were with HR. Monday, March 29, 2010 Another casualty report. Honeywell's oldest factory outside of the United States is slated to shut it's doors. Honeywell Canada has been told it's Dynamic factory will have the doors shut by the end of 2011 at the latest. The workforce was pared down from approx. 900 people 10 years ago to less than 200 now. All engineering and design support was removed from the facility last year and shopped to Minneapolis. The "Men in Black" have stated they have no compassion for the 30 and 40 year employee's and that they were lucky to have their jobs for that long. Severance is an unknown entity at this point in time. Monday, March 29, 2010 Does anyone know when we can expect another layoff in Areospace? I am hoping it will be soon....and I am lucky enough to be on the layoff list. I do not want to work for this company anymore and am trying to find another job. Such a sad place to work. Sunday, March 28, 2010 Quit grinding your axes and take control of your career. If Honeywell is so awful, quit playing the victim and get on with your life. This is enertaining reading.....I must admit. Saturday, March 27, 2010 Honeywell Aerospace is in a death spiral, and apparently leadership has no desire to stop it. They have given a large percentage of our business to the competition, have very little new avionics product introduction, and have trashed the service side of the business. Funding for quality improvement is now limited to flight safety issues only for the most part. It really looks to me like they are getting ready to spin off the avionics part of the business, but I am afraid that by the time Diamond Dave is done moving everything overseas - which is ruining our quality, reputation, and ability to develop new product- there will be nothing left to sell. Over the last 20 years, I have watched companies such as Garmin, Thales, Collins, L3, Universal, and many others take more and more of our customers away from us. Honeywell's limited efforts to compete are often too late, and too weak, because the company is being ran by finance rather than those who know the business and how to stay on top. Friday, March 26, 2010 - Re: Stock price at a 52 week high. What Dave Cote is doing is trading the long term health and vitality of the company for short term gains on Wall Street. It will not be sustainable. He is exchanging the talent, resources, and knowledge built up over decades for cheap Chinese labor. The momentum of the company will allow this temporarily, but eventually it will grind to a halt. The know-how will be gone, and no one will be left to help keep China afloat. Quality will suffer (it already is), customers will go elsewhere (they already are), remaining employees will leave (as they have begun to do already), suppliers will adapt to Honeywell T&C's by requiring COD (they have started.) Dave's house of cards is teetering, and eventually the financial whiz-kids will run out of spin. Best to not be holding shares of Hon when that happens. I listened to Dave's lies 8 or 9 years ago w/respect to stock price and paid the price. Now I'm ditching Hon as quickly as possible before it crashes. Thursday, March 25, 2010 Honeywell's stock price is at 52-weeks high. Diamond Dave must be doing something right by transferring factories and job off-shore. Or is this just an illusion? Another Enron in the making? Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - Response to a previous blog: Honeywell is run by the people in Finance. They dictate everything. There is not one person in upper management that has an engineering background. The site leaders and senior management who have engineering degrees have forgotten the Code of Ethics (see Order of the Engineer, IEEE's Code of Conduct, or Engineer's Code of Ethics/Conduct from any engineering society). In fact, when you are finally approved for a capital purchase, you will be charged 5% interest by corporate for the purchase. Then corporate can say they made a 5% profit or use it to play their "financial engineering" games. Talk about robbing one's self. The reports of HON profit to Wall Street are based on one HON division selling to another and making a "profit". All these paper profits and financial reporting games will catch up with them. Monday, March 22, 2010 Is Honeywell run by accountants/analysts or by engineers these days? Don't get me wrong as I'm not debasing them. I'm a Honeyweller and everyday I have to attend to customers' complaints on products, software that doesn't work. I have to explain to the customers that they have to pay extra or buy new ones to replace factory-defect equipment/devices. Defective products have been coming out everyday. Bad software that can shutdown a whole factory has no solution. Isn't this crazy? No wonder customers have been labelling Honeywell with a big "M" as in "Moneywell". Monday, March 22, 2010 When you think you have heard everything, something just pops up and smacks you in the head where you say you got to be kidding me. No, really! Here is the story: Mary has worked for Honeywell for 30 plus years and something happens where she is terminated. Here’s the catch: she was given a severance package, was told that they would not fight unemployment and that she had to sign a document disclosing why she was fired from Honeywell to her next employer. Really! Oh yea, the reason is so ridiculous and fabricated I can't even explain it. WOW! I am sure we will be reading about this in the months to come? Sunday, March 21, 2010 I have been a Weller for over 20 years. I used to be proud of what we produced. Sorry to say that ever since the merger, its been like watching a train-wreck in slow motion. Extraordinary rendition for Diamond Dave would be poetic justice for the substandard crap we are supplying our Troops. Sunday, March 21, 2010 I agree about the nepotism at Aerospace. For one example, in approx 2003, we decided to do quite a bit of dipping into one Director's background because the business decisions were really out of whack and excessively supporting the VP. After some investigative work, it turned out that the VP and Director were quite the set of buddies - including doing each other renovations on weekends. Just one small example. Both are now gone. Sunday, March 21, 2010 Hey, lets see the Aerospace leadership team lead by example. Let THEM make non essential cuts in their staff or forego any of their bonuses and perks. Do you think that would ever happen? Everyone knows there is no performance management out there - either you are entitled to the benefits of the "Phoenix jobs bank" or you are not- and entitlement is gained with seniority or simply having worked out there and failed in some sourcing or operations job and moved to a staff position. What a waste of money! I would not even pay someone a dollar a day to call other people and ask for "updates" all day long and host conference calls. But you can do that at Aerospace HQ and earn six figures if you made the right friends along the way. Intermarriage really does thin the gene pool; our Aerospace leadership team is living proof, and the continued decline of the quality of the decisions they make shows that they do nothing but seek each other's approval and reaffirm each other's words. To hell with the people in the field working for the customers. What a sad joke that is. Sunday, March 21, 2010 Most of the comments here were 0% pay, furloughs, etc. Honeywellers, eat your hearts out. You are on top of the food chain if you work for the Head Office just like two guys from Global Security, who are travelling in style around Asia in the name of "investigation". They travel from one country to another and staying just only for one day in each country. How on earth can you do an investigation by staying for a few hours in each Honeywell office? The main reason: One of them mentioned that he is collecting air mileage so that his family can travel for free! Sorry, Honeywellers, we are at the bottom of the food chain! Friday, March 19, 2010 - HW Aerospace, Canada: Same story here. Our pay raise was left "to be determined" but officialy 0%. I feal sorry for the local management team. They have no power anymore, and thus no ability to retain staff. Too bad because some of the best talent that has been developed over many many years are leaving in droves. Furthermore, they are not allowed to hire external talent (hiring freeze North America wide) and must depend on their globalized staff to fill in the blanks. Yet the engineers KNOW that the quality of work coming out of the offshore locations is below minimum acceptable standard (usually they just ship us a bag of parts that does not work). It will take YEARS to develope the skill set to equal the least of the staff that recently quit (to find higher paying jobs). What will the management staff do in the mean time? I do not know. Tough times for us here at Honeywell I think. Staff are so over worked due to very very lean operations. Something has to be done soon, or the breaking point will be upon us. Or maybe it is already here... Friday, March 19, 2010 - Addendum to what I wrote in March 18: Tianjin ACS factory did not experience any furloughs or lay-offs in 2009 while other Honeywell sites are suffering. In fact, Tianjin factory is quiet 5 days per month and two weeks per month for Q2 and Q3 2009. But still employees report to the factory while picking their nose in their workplace. Management told us that China is an emerging market and China will save the day for Honeywell. (Say what??) Management told us that once the company offended the Chinese authorities by instituting lay-offs, Honeywell may be booted out of the country. While the rest of Honeywell is suffering especially North America and Europe, happy days are still here in China. Friday, March 19, 2010 Hey, people. Diamond Dave don't give a hoot about your comments. Just look at the recent stock price jumps. It's increased his and his cronies value substantually. Unless you have the capacity to influence the stock price, you have no value to Diamond Dave eat - you're just anoying - not even. Watch the insider trading and see who sells off Honeywell stock. Let's face it. North America is DEAD for job growth from Honeywell. Everyone should take lessons in Mandarin and Hindi. Force your kids, at threat of death, to learn these languages if you have any brains and sense of survival. Forget engineering or other manufacturing based skills. They are useless. If you have full command of these two languages and English - your kids will rule the world! Let's face it. With the huge USA debt load, there will be no future in the USA for the next generation. Friday, March 19, 2010 The blunt truth is, during his tenure Diamond Dave Cote has brought nothing original - absolutely nothing - to Honeywell culture. Everything he does is copied and ripped off from other corporations. He has no creativeness, no originality, no imagination, no people skills, no technical knowledge. Due only to his position he has instilled an atmosphere of fear which has enabled him to initiate and perpetuate his rape of Honeywell's vitality, up to and including its most valuable assets, its employees. This fear extends all the way from Dave's immediate worshippers to sniveling, weak-minded self-important first-line managers who enjoy strutting like peacocks while mouthing the company line, but who, when faced with common-sense questions from workers, wet their pants and turn mean. Diamond Dave has repeatedly stolen from the employees and bled the enthusiasm, the energy, the vitality, the experience, the skills, the knowledge, the loyalty, the can-do spirit; in sum, the "quality", from a once-proud company. All this for paying a few pieces of silver to Wall Street and pocketing his bonus check. In exchange he has left disorganization, confusion, frustration, distrust, scorn, fear, low morale, dissatisfied customers, damaged careers, damaged communities, a damaged country, and a damaged corporate reputation. Again, all to pay a few pieces of silver to Wall Street and line his pockets. Well, Dave, aren't you quite the guy? It took a really exceptional "leader" to pull this off. Now please leave Honeywell TF alone. Please. Whether Honeywell can ever return to being the company it once was remains to be seen. Considering that the talent that has been laid off or quit, rebuilding the skill-sets, knowledge, and talent will take many years. Rebuilding the enthusiasm and trust will take much longer. Friday, March 19, 2010
Layoffs are bad for businessExtract from latest JimPinto.com eNews, referencing this Honeywell weblog.At Honeywell, pay-freezes are the rule, and employees are slaves to spread-sheets while jobs are steadily outsourced to India and China. Meanwhile, CEO Dave Cote was on the list of top-paid CEOs in 2008. In 2009, Cote's incentive plan was suspended, and bonuses for top executives were canceled. But still, poor "Diamond Dave" (as Honeywellers call him) pulled in only $13.2M, compared with $30.8M in 2008.
Thursday, March 18, 2010 There are no lay-offs at Tianjin-China ACS factory. No furloughs since 2009, even though those guys are not doing anything and the factory is quiet. Thursday, March 18, 2010 I work at a site that services 2 major airlines. We have furloughs and shut downs to support internal goals that just have nothing to do with making a profit or serving customers. Then we all earn OT the next week. This is crazy and makes no sense. The least informed employee among us can sit down and see the foolishness of spending $3 to save $1. But I guess since we have CSR's now that do not speak English, the customers have nobody to complain to. The pay cuts for our managers were a joke. Cut their pay 10% and watch their work performance decrease 50%, and who can blame them? I guess it will never matter to someone who does not work at a plant; but for us to see it, it is very sad. The emails and slide presentations and townhalls are all a bunch of BS. Nobody believes anyone in Phoenix is anything but a liar working to keep his or her own staff job safe. Nobody makes a decision, nobody tells us the truth, nobody makes any sense anymore. It is a shame. All we needed was a strong leader, one who could communicate a vision to us and motivate us to work hard for a purpose (and no the value of our executive team's stock options does not count). All we have are liars and thieves who communicate with spreadsheets. They wont even let us make survey comments about the decision makers, I guess it is better to talk to other Phoenix people at HQ than the guys out here with the dirty fingernails doing the work. You people in Phoenix at Aerospace HQ should be ashamed of yourselves. Cowards, all of you! Thursday, March 18, 2010 I work in the UK and we all feel your pain. We've heard (even though we shouldn't have) that we are to have a pay freeze for the next three years. We were a small, dynamic company in the lighting control industry. We were in the right market at the right time and business was (still is) booming. We were acquired by Honeywell about 2 years ago and now, morale is at an all time low. We can no longer react quickly to new customer requirements, we now have what is laughingly called Velocity Product Development. It is a collection of spreadsheets, PowerPoints, systems, processes and meetings specifically designed to hamper any attempts to launch a new product quickly. Still, unless we all move to India, we probably won't have to worry about it for much longer. Our parting gift will be a new acronym for their collection, ESAD. Eat Sh1t And Die. Thursday, March 18, 2010 I'm gone from Honeywell. Recently I went to a Town Hall meeting at my new organization. Wow! What a world of difference when compared to Honeywell's in the presentation, tone, attitude, forecasts, investment philosophy and approach. I couldn't believe it! Funny how it goes. What goes around, comes around. Honeywell closed my career along with many many others. But I ended up in a position where I definitely influence whether Honeywell gets our contract. Guess who will never never get the contract? This is the ultimate in justice and stiffing the Leadership Team (whether they are still there or not) that un-necessarily putting all those good people out of work - we're not talking unprofitability, but just squeezing out a few more gross margin points by outsourcing to Asia. I know because I have all the financial statements. Another item. When I joined my new org, others came to me and told me of their impressions, as they hear it on the street, about what is happening at Honeywell. Let me tell you that at the street level, the impressions were so bad, that even I, an axed and piss-off Honeywell employee, ended up giving some defense - but not much. But they had their facts right on - especially with their wives, brothers, sisters and cousins, fathers, mothers, etc... working at Honeywell. Honeywell is a destroyer of communities in North America - and communities will remember for a long long time. This is irrespective of the public hype. Those of you that are still at Honeywell can dismiss this as a single disgruntled voice. No doubt, one voice will not make a difference in your life or in Honeywell's profit. You will still get up at 5:00 AM, kiss your wife goodbye, get in your car with ultimate enthusiasm and cry at the top of your voive: "What can I do for Honeywell today?" Good for you. But be aware that Honeywell has stabbed so many people in the back - that they are all working against you. So remember your 10% pay cuts, hating to drive into work and Diamond Dave pep talks - you're lucky to have a job! I wish you luck and I commend your loyalty. Thursday, March 18, 2010 Why does it seem that the majority are surprised by "any" of these actions by Corporate management? This is Allied Signal, and this is what they do: Take a strong company, and bleed it until it's so inefficient that it's good-name is ruined across all markets. But, the stockholders and executives continue to reap the bounty of modern-day corporate piracy. So, if you're vested like many of us, you deal with the BS and watch it all go down! Thursday, March 18, 2010 I left Honeywell Aerospace in May 2009 after three bittersweet years and went to another major defense company. I can say that the grass is greener outside HON, contrary to upper management's thinking. I do miss my amazing and talented ex-colleagues, but I have not had to attend any meeting at the new company. No management muddling at my new employer, I can get parts, no one in corporate in Phoenix makes decisions on capital purchases (decision is made locally), health benefits are better (same plan and provider as at HON), need I go on? The straw that broke my back at HON was my manager telling me that my 1.4% promotion raise was justified as gas prices had come down to $2 a gallon. WTF? I was treated as another plug-and-play engineer, another EID, another metric, another statistic in the HON mantra of Sick-Stigma. I am one of the rare younger engineers in my niche field. But I was just another EID. Not anymore! Wednesday, March 17, 2010 I heard that the engineers in the Czech Republic got "nice raises". But of course, there's nothing available for North America. Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Torrance Aerospace site - no raises, but boy are we lucky to be here. Honeywell is a (third) world class employer, we are all grateful and will accept the next furlough order that comes from King Dave, knowing that he courageously shares in our sacrifice, just like our former illustrious leader Rob Gillette did. It just brings tears to my eyes. Or is that the nausea coming up from my stomach? Wednesday, March 17, 2010 No payraises at Specialty Materials. Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Phoenix facilities - no raises. Possible furlough(s) to be announced tomorrow (3/17/10). Tuesday, March 16, 2010 No pay raises at Allentown (Aerospace). No surprises, either. Tuesday, March 16, 2010 No pay raises in Aero, but we did add a few new directors, VP's, and Ops Excellence power point jockeys at Phoenix HQ. I hear there may be a furlough if they need new carpet or office furniture in the executive suite, also. Tuesday, March 16, 2010 No Pay increase at AERO Toronto, ON. Possible two more furloughs. Tuesday, March 16, 2010 No Pay increase at AERO Albuquerque, NM. Monday, March 15, 2010 ACS is waiting until the end of the second quarter. Monday, March 15, 2010 UOP will not give a raise. It will be "looked at" again in June. Monday, March 15, 2010 No pay increase at Aero Plymouth, MN. Furlough first week of 2010, possible furlough in July. Monday, March 15, 2010 - Attn: All Honeywell's followers: We are curious to know how many employees, or divisions, got a raise this year. We at Sensing and Controls got 0.00 $, plus the 10% cut last year. Has anyone heard if the cut may apply this year again? Remember, you must act like you like your job... Sunday, March 14, 2010 Let's see, a salary of over $13 million for a man who only knows 3 words: "Offshore", "India", and "China." He's still overpaid. Friday, March 12, 2010 I wonder when they decided to drop their bonus? If they decided late in the year then that would explain why they never publicised it. Friday, March 12, 2010 Apparently Dave Cote did the right thing last year, as mind-boggling as that is. I can't understand why they wouldn't have publicized this more.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 When Diamond Dave Cote goes to India he receives the red carpet treatment. Literally. He and his limosine entourage get a traffic-stopping police escort from the airport through town, just like a visiting head-of-state. Once they reach the "campus" he is greeted by specially installed red carpet. India figures nothing they do will be too excessive for DD. And why not? Over the years he has stubbornly held to his belief that India (or China) will be The Solution that will make him a genuine Honeywell Hero, despite mountains of evidence that indicate otherwise. So despite lackluster mediocre performance, he continues to reward India by handing over thousands of US jobs. Face it, in his version of Honeywell the only job that matters is his, and he has surrounded himself with sycophants who refuse to tell him otherwise. Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - A new UOP poster here. While in the process of shipping as many engineering positions as possible from Illinois to New Delhi, we were given an unexpected accounting reprieve from the outsourcing executioner. At the start of 2009, the internal cost of a Delhi engineer was changed from a ridiculous 30$/hour in 2008 to a more realistic 70$/hour for 2009. The folks here were very optimistic that we could compete at this "price", since we were only about 40$ more an hour. This says a lot about the efficiency of our well trained (millions of dollars spent) eastern counterparts. If it would have stayed that way, we could have shut them down. When the final accounting was done for 2009, it seems the current cost structure didn't exactly make the New Delhi office seem like such a good idea. Diamond Dave said it was a good idea, so it has to be, right? God forbid someone grow a pair and tell him otherwise. So the internal cost of the Delhi engineers, who for the most part can't tell their backside orifice from a spiral wound gasket, has been cut in half for 2010. And the poor schmuck that priced them at their real cost for 2009 is probably unemployed right now. You want to know what the sad part is? At over 100$ an hour internally billed, we could still compete with these guys priced at 35$ an hour. We really can. But we will not be allowed to in the interest of DD mandated globalization - we will be redcued in number until we are ineffective as a whole. Our efficiency has increased dramatically because of reduced headcount with the same or more work to be done. We stupidly sacrifice to get it done because that is the way UOP taught us to work. It is part of our culture that Diamond Dave seems hell bent on destroying. Tuesday, March 9, 2010
and they are lucky to have me! I am a smart, driven, unique, and useful software engineer, and they are lucky to have me!
Monday, March 8, 2010 Sad but true. In my position, I attend/participate in a quite a number of Aero leadership meetings. I've heard it over and over... we must do what we can to move the jobs overseas - that is the first desirable option. But then the next topic is usually around "we have a lot of thin spots in our skill sets. How can we recover these people?" Without strong ethical leadership at the top, this rudderless ship is doomed to circle the toilet bowl... Sunday, March 7, 2010 Source: Seth Godin's Blog:
Sunday, March 7, 2010 I am sure that someone in Honyewell senior management (or one of their minions) reads this blog and probably thinks it is simply some kind of peanut gallery throwing garbage at our illustrious, award-winning leader. In my opinion, some of the most articulate and HONEST people around are contributing and I say: "thank you". Folks, Mr. Cote is the anti-Midas. As far as we're concerned at UOP, he has taken a nearly 100 year old company, installed his apparatus and pretty much turned it into an ATM machine, which is rapidly running out. This is just a continuation of what has been happening under Allied Signal since the 1980's but now the machine is starting to be unreliable and it's time to get out the blowtorch. I have never seen such a "political entrepeneur" in action before, it is truly a sight to behold. I have met the kinds of investment "analysts" who run around attending roundtables, roadshows, conference calls and the rest of the crap that Wall Street likes to parrot back to investors in Morningstar, Forbes and so forth. Forbes used to be a somewhat believable magazine but is pretty much a tool for the "we love us" crowd. They must be either stupid or short sellers. Whoever runs any company in such an unethical way has no business advising the President of the US. That being said, the president himself likely is doing this for show anyway. I hope Mr. Cote enjoys a good discussion with his other advisory board member, Andy Stern (Service Employees International Union President) Mr. Stern can work out a deal to get those American scientists and engineers good janitorial jobs. Friday, March 5, 2010 It's not just Aerospace, either. Every aspect of Honeywell that Diamond Dave touches has been turned to crap, although he is revered in India and China. Guessing that love affair will end as soon as they begin to realize how merciless he is. Thursday, March 4, 2010 I always think that Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) is the worst, and Aerospace is always 90% better than us. Makes me feel a little bit better now, because I got laid off last year. Thursday, March 4, 2010 Like many others on this blog, I too just recently left Honeywell Aerospace for other opportunities. In the last all-hands meeting from the President of Aerospace, Tim said that upper leadership will not be taking bonuses this year. Why do I get the feeling that upper management's ideas of no-bonus will not match the no-bonuses at lower levels? Time will tell and soon. Last year the rank and file took a 10% pay cut for half the year, and when they gave that back, they furlowed the entire Aerospace company for the first full week of 2010. Cuts at Corporate, nope! The primary goal is to offshore as much as possible at all costs. The idea that Dave Cote would be on any advisory board for the US Government is very SCARY, unless he is going to offshore the Senate and Congress? It would be a good idea for someone to question the number of jobs he has created in the US in the last 5 years, verses the number that he has sent to other countries. After that question is answered honestly, the entire truth would be on the table. Of course at that level of management and politics, the truth is different than the working class version of truth. Thursday, March 4, 2010 I don't do a lot of blogging, but reading through this collection of comments, this may be the most negative employee forum that exists on the Internet. The thing is, I think almost everything I have read is true and I agree 100%. I left Honeywell last year and actually began working somewhere that I could contribute and have a career (with things like pay raises and promotions, which by the way are still regarded as important employee incentives at good companies). I think everyone should get out there and look. The good employees don't have to put up with the kind of garbage doled out in Aerospace and served up as leadership and strategy. Thursday, March 4, 2010 I think that it is totally fair that we are able to slam Gillette, Speranzo and Vidano on this website. These guys have had a negative impact on tens of thousands of people (including families). In the pre-Internet days, these guys would operate in secrecy and no one would really know what went on. Today and here, their actions and behaviors can be evaluated and judged by all. It's a 360° review that we were forced to do at the site level, but were directed not to evaluate senior leadership. Funny how rules are only for certain people! Wednesday, March 3, 2010 - To the post complaining on Mar. 1 about Aero HR: It's not HR. They are simply doing what they are told. HR doesn't dictate policy. I wouldn't blame the Aero HR VP, but the Aero SBG President. I'm so glad I am out of a place where employees are considered the biggest liability that must be disposed of at all costs! The rest of you should leave the first chance you get. It will be the best move of your life. Wednesday, March 3, 2010 - To the Tuesday, March 2, 2010 posting on Unions: I agree with you in that Unions are a force that HR really listens to. I can tell you that the unofficial policy at our site is not to do anything to upset the Union. Give them everything they want. The problem is that Honeywell, at the executive level (Phoenix Aerospace), has a serious anti-union stance and is not willing to work with them or any other organized group. Because I am Management, I have seen Aerospace Corporate powerpoint presentations that sites having unions are to be "contained" or "eliminated". I can probably give you the server where to find this presentation. Eliminated means "transitioned" or closed. Aerospace has seen some of this activity through Gillette, Speranzo and Vidano (the real CHAMPION of Site Closures). I've been on a number of Collective Agreements. Let me tell you that the number and depth of derogatory comments that I heard at the Corporate level at midnight to 3:00 AM negotiations from "intelligent" people would make your ears curl. I have never heard such derogatory language from "intellegent" people. So I came to th econclusion that you don't have to be "intelligent" to be Honeywell Leadership. All you have to be is a bully - with an education less that high school. All you have to do is threaten everyone on a daily basis with their jobs - and you will be successful. Cote's bible! Or, is it Honeywell's culture? Wednesday, March 3, 2010 Cote is doing to Honeywell what he did to TRW and they were glad to see him go away. He was on that 10% reduction with them and almost crippled several internal departments with the reduction demanded each year. God help us if Obama picks him for a political appointment. Tuesday, March 2, 2010 I totally agree with the comment below on unions coming in. I have been to training classes that are supposed to help me identify union activity. I am supposed to tell why unions are not wanted. You know what? I am to a point where I would encourage people to get a union. HR doesn't want one so they can keep screwing us with no pushback. Evil will triumph when good men do nothing. I don't see another alternative to pushing back on HR, unless we have the numbers of a union. If we push back by ourselves, we are labeled as troublemakers. Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - "Stealing from the employees." That is the clearest and most concise description of today's Honeywell that I've seen. Thank you. And just when you think you've seen it all, when you think they've taken all there is, they find something else to pilfer. Again, and again, and again. Monday, March 1, 2010 I really can't understand the Phoenix area Aero HR policies. For HR being sooo afraid to have unions come in, they seem to be doing everything in their power to encourage one to come in. As a manager, I would expect HR to give me the tools I need to manage my group. Instead, HR says 10% of my group are poor performers that I must begin documenting in order to begin the termination process (yes, we have forced distributions that HR wont admit to). This year, Steve Kelley HR VP says 5 of the 9 blocks in the 9 block are "outer L" and they must be put on a PIP (personal improvement plan). The PIP states you must improve or be terminated. So even if its your first year in the outer L, you are now on a PIP. You get a PIP 2 years in a row, and you are gone. I really believe HR is tasked with reducing headcount without having an official layoff. No one could be so insane as to come up with these ridiculous policies unless they were intent on reducing headcount. And giving generous raises to the non-U.S. sites this year, while we get nothing is the ultimate insult. We are training those people. The sad thing is, I enjoy my job and the people I work with. I respect the Engineering management. HR is just ruining this company and making me look elsewhere. What value does HR add to the products we sell? NOTHING! Monday, March 1, 2010 - To add to the comments: I've since left Honeywell after a very long career there. As a consequence, I knew no other life. Life was very good prior to about 2001, but then it really went down the tubes very fast - but I didn't know it. When I was going home it was like replaying a nightmare. I only realized later what Diamond Dave, Gillette, Speranzo and Vidano did to the organization - for their own self benefit. Where I am now, there is no crap. Yes, there are issues as in any organization; but this place loves my contribution. At Honeywell, I was not loved - even at the senior level. Most of the problems came from the really tight centralized and autocratic control exzerted by Phoenix. There is even a case where a hamburger flipper became a Director. Can't say more - but the "hamburger flipper" words were by the fellows own admission on a multisite telecom. Honeywell WAS a good placeto work at - until Diaond Dave arrived at the scene. We know, that as a Republician, Diamond Dave really does not like the the heath benefits paid. So you have seen an annual paring back. Monday, March 1, 2010 As a manager at Honeywell, I can tell you the layoffs have multiple effects:
I am not based in Phoenix, so as far as management goes at Honeywell I am a nobody and my opinion is not important, but outside the castle walls things sure look different. What are you guys doing out there? Sunday, February 28, 2010 After seeing how Honeywell treats its employees, I feel an obligation to advise graduates and anyone else looking for work to skip Honeywell and look for a place where employees are valued and careers are possible. Honeywell has become a stagnant cesspool of despair where noxious gasses bubble to the surface in the form of periodic new directives from Diamond Dave or one of his lemmings. Some of us are stuck here, but we at least can do others a favor and help them avoid getting trapped in the slime. Sunday, February 28, 2010 Word on the street has it that the major airplane manufaturers no longer wish to have Honeyell on their platforms. What does that say for the future of the Honeywell Aerospace division? One by one our customers are leaving. If corporate relies on mergers and acquisitions for growth, they will surely fail. If any of these new aquisitions have Boeing or Airbus as a customer then they (Boeing/Airbus) will undoubtably leave. Diamond Dave's strategy is not only affecting employees, but customers as well. With an unmotivated workforce and a less than satisfied and dwindling customer base, it's no wonder that the stock is not performing to its potential. Has Wall Street caught on to Honeywell's propaganda machine? We can only hope so. Only Dave Cote's exit will give Honeywell any chance of turning things around for employees, customers and eventually the shareholders. After all, without a dedicated, highly motivated workforce and a satisfied and stable customer base, why would anyone want to invest in Honeywell? Sunday, February 28, 2010 I heard that Honeywell Aerospace will be doing lay-offs soon, combined with more furloughs. I am thinking the lay-offs will affect individuals who have 6 or greater on their performance. Any truth? Saturday, February 27, 2010 No raises this year! 25% MIP payout! I think everyone should be updating their resume and looking unless they want to continue to make involuntary contributions to the Dave Cote foundation and the Aero HQ Phoenix jobs bank for washed up managers. Though I guess the continued on the job training on power point BS and conference call buzzword bingo may count as "vocational training for the learning impaired". Maybe a tax deduction for that? Outside of ideological extremists or the US Government (who are both looking more and more alike these days, by the way), I cannot think of any causes less worthy to send money that I rightfully earned. I know life is not fair and to accept this, but I cannot believe that Honeywell leadership is not even interested in the APPEARANCE of fair treatment to the employees who worked so hard to keep our company profitable, wait are we still making a profit. Oh yes, I forgot, we are making BILLIONS of dollars and nobody gets a raise but senior executives. Friday, February 26, 2010 According to Bloomberg News, in 2008, the second-largest contributor to PAC's and political candidates was Honeywell International Inc. Honeywell gave $3.1 million for 2008, up from $1.6 million for 2006. Or this, from The China Post - Honeywell International Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Cote, whose corporate political action committee gave US$3.1 million to federal candidates and parties for 2008 campaigns, was invited to meet with President Barack Obama about proposals for an US$816 billion stimulus package. The whole purpose of CEOs and the corporate PACs making donations is to get on that guest list for whoever is running government. The whole purpose is to befriend whoever in the end is going to win so they can have access. It goes beyond this. If you check the federal candidates for office who received contributions from Honeywell, you'll find many of them from districts and states where Honeywell layoffs have hit the hardest. You can't even complain to your congressman or senator with any hope of consideration because they're already in Honeywell's pocket. Getting on this commission is no coincidence. It's about payback. It's about power. We've already seen how Diamond Dave manipulated the company for the benefit of upper management and to the detriment of the US workforce. What's next? Thursday, February 25, 2010 - On the topic of Cote on the deficit commission. Cote is the only Republician in this group. Remember that Republicians lost the ellection! They are in the DOG HOUSE. Congress is so divided that this Cote panel will have no teeth. So I would not worry that Cote will actually make a policy impact. But what I am concerned about that Cote will use this potential appointment to raise his personal profile with the wimpy Honeywell Board of Directors - a form of nepotism to enhance his personal benefit. What I would closely watch are the political contributions that are made subsequent to Cote's tenure. Pay more attention, not to what Cote contributes, but what his VPs and Directors are told to contribute. In the past I Googled on what Speranzo and Vidano contributed - among others. They were amanzingly similar and followed the pack. These are of public record. I'm wondering if there was any collusion or unspoken dirrective? Thursday, February 25, 2010 Cote for the new federal deficit commission? First thing he'll do is offshore all the little people's jobs, then give all the upper managers a bonus. Then he'll give Honeywell a bunch of no-bid contracts, (of course he'll still have shares in the company). So much for "Change we can believe in". Thursday, February 25, 2010 Well, Well! No raise, and I hope that Diamond Cote has large pockets to cart our money away. $ billion dollar company, and we cannot have a 1% raise. What’s up with that...? How can one Aero space site be completely controlled by the personnel in the H.R group (one individual). Doesn’t Cote know that, if it weren’t for the little people, his pockets would not be running over? Why doesn’t Cote invest his bonus money into his employees (the little people)? Thursday, February 25, 2010 Dave Cote will suggest that we outsource the entire Federal Government to China and Mexico. Tuesday, February 23, 2010 Good! Maybe if Cote goes after our top heavy government, he'll learn a thing or two.......and leave us alone for awhile. Tuesday, February 23, 2010 According to Business Week: U.S. President Barack Obama is considering Honeywell International Inc. chief executive officer David Cote for the new federal deficit commission. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-22/obama-said-to-be-considering-honeywell-chief-for-deficit-panel.html Why would Cote be considered on the list? We need to stop this from happening. Sunday, February 21, 2010 Call it the GE/Allied Signal culture, but the personification of that culture is Cote and the board. It is them upon whom the responsibility for the demise of legacy Honeywell rests. When the day comes (and it will) that talent and abilities become the differentiators between successful companies and those who merely wish they were, Honeywell will finally realize that they squandered the most important resource they ever had -- their employees. At that time one can only hope that there will be an accounting, and that these fools will be forced to leave after receiving the full measure of scorn they so richly deserve. Thursday, February 18, 2010 What built the legacy (red) Honeywell, and what has been destroyed by the Allied Signal/GE culture, is not a specific person or policy, but something simpler, and much deeper. It is the fact that management across the business no longer realizes that character is more important than personality, that education isn't the same thing as wisdom, and that business ambition that is untempered by common sense and experience is dangerous and unsustainable. Tuesday, February 16, 2010 Yes I also wondered how Vidano and Speranzo in Aerospace Aftermarket lived with themselves, carrying out Cote and Gillette's orders to hurt other people and do the wrong things for a company that was so many thousands of peoples' livelihood. It makes you wonder why people compromise and do what they do for money, and where their souls are. But then, Honeywell never paid me the kinds of bucks those guys earn, so I guess I will never know. Insignificant people like me actually have to look people in the eye when I tell them something and stand behind it with my actions. That used to be called leadership, before Honeywell became what it is today. I wonder if they live in such self deceit that they actually have no regrets. "Just business", they probably tell themselves. They will all be judged, and their arrogance or connections or money wont do anything to save them. I hope they find their way, even if it means finding a new beginning outside of Honeywell, before it is too late for them. Tuesday, February 16, 2010 This is so typical of the new Honeywell culture. Sleep with a potential customer, kiss his @$$ and promise him the moon. Then deliver an inferior product and lie, lie, lie to cover things up. The amount being spent to fix problems that were caused by either a bad design or something that we knew we couldn't deliver, staggers me. But like the best of politicians, management puts a great spin on things and makes it sound like we had to do it for the good of the company. Meanwhile profit margins go down and our formerly "top" customers say, "I've had enough" and give good money to our competition. But as long as Diamond Dave gets the thumbs up from the shareholders, then all must be good at the OK Corral. Monday, February 15, 2010 I have worked for Honeywell/AlliedSignal for 24 years. I have been in the manufacturing business for 33 years. Never, never have I been so demoralized as I am today. Our leadership (Dave Cote, et al) are traitors to the people that made this a premier company, and to the Unites States of America. My only prayer is that I can hold on long enough to make it to retirement in 2 years! I used to think this was a GREAT company - but no more! The middle level leadership is unable to speak the truth for fear of being terminated (many good leaders have already left) The only thing that matters is Cote and his bonus. God have mercy on his soul! Monday, February 15, 2010 Here is what there are going to say at the investor conference... "The economy has been bad during the past year, and we have seen that reflected in our sales figures. However, we have done better during this recession than we did during the last one, so the company is in good hands. We see very little growth for the first half of this year, but it will pick up in the second half of the year. To show you what a good and solid company this is, you will see that our free cash flow is still high. We have positioned ourselves solidly in the (insert buzzword here) market..." They will talk about high free cash flow and being poised for the future. They will not give anything definite and will dangle the carrot of growth at least 2 quarters out from where we are currently. They will talk in nebulous terms about investment and potential growth without giving any real numbers. They cannot give real numbers because the numbers show that investment in R&D has plummeted and their skilled workforce are leaving in droves. It is just going to be a whitewash of unverifiable statements such as "we are invested in our future" and some numbers obtained by some questionable accounting, or by giving incomplete information about how the numbers were obtained. Investors will go away feeling happy; Dave Cote will have pulled the wool over their eyes once again and the stock will stay about where it is now. However, as the recovery starts to pick up the pace and Honeywells numbers do not show as much growth as the rest of the economy, the investors are going to start asking questions. At that point, Dave Cote will say that he has navigated the company through hard times and that he is going to retire and spend more time with his family. The resultant bust that Honeywell goes through due to Dave's complete mismanagement of the whole deal, will be blamed on the new CEO. Sunday, February 14, 2010 I have been with Honeywell quite some time, and am sad to see what has been taking place recently. It is OK for a company to care about profit; that is why they exist. But there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. I have been reading these blogs with some interest for the past year or two, and am amazed at how negative everything is. There is ample opportunity at Honeywell that is not realized without taking it from the working people, especially while increasing rewards to the senior leadership team. We furlough only to ramp up to the next week. We cut pay on lower level people and leave the executives alone. We do not buy new equipment and instead enter into expensive operating leases or "maintenance agreements" that cost the company 3 times as much. We have hiring freezes but email after email comes out of Phoenix HQ announcing reorganizations, new directors, new VP's, new program managers. What's the difference after all, when they are the same people milking the system year after year? There are some good points about working at Honeywell, though I have yet to find anything good about the type of leadership that comes from our Phoenix HQ. There is a complete lack of diversity there, since they spend their whole lives out there in the desert and have no perspective on what happens outside of Phoenix, which now is most of the work in Aerospace. The plants in Phoenix are not leaders in efficiency, HSE, cost, quality, human relations, or delivery. It is a shame that this happens right under our so called leaders' noses. Anyone that remembers engines knows what I mean. Do as I say, not as I do in my own house. This type of hypocracy must end. Are we here to turn a profit or not? If so, empower the people closest to the action to make decisions like hiring, firing, captial spend, etc. and hold them accountable. Funny how that actually works at other companies. If you want mindless lackeys running the plants in the field, pay them all $40,000 and keep on with your spreadsheets, conference calls, and micromanagement, because the managers that are WORTH more than that have had it and are all probably out looking. I say - start with the bloated Phoenix gravy train and start setting a higher standard for the rest of us. The jobs bank out there has to come to an end, and the tenured managers/directors/ OE specialists/HOS specialists/ etc.. out there doing nothing but making slides and hosting conference-calls need to be held accountable or eliminated. Have you ever heard of a VP cutting his staff to set an example? Or is that just what is expected of a plant manager or program manager? This has to come to a stop sooner or later. I hope you guys wake up out there... Saturday, February 13, 2010
Check out this little jewel of information - Saturday, February 13, 2010 All of these sound bits accurately reflect the angst and demoralized state of the most valuable part of Honeywell - its employees, AKA intellectual capital. Honeywell only cares about profit, which is clearly evidenced by the amount of time devoted to monitoring and managing its finances. There are no real long term business plans for growth and IR&D. Instead it’s the same old thing day after day of what’s our revenue and gross margin numbers and what are you doing about increasing it? And my favorite management attempt at motivation…. “Well if you don’t fix it we’ll find someone who will, and you're out!” Friday, February 12, 2010 So, Honeywell is having its Annual Investor Conference on Monday, February 22. It's the dog-and-pony show, where major investors are lubricated not to sell their shares. But going into this meeting, Honeywell shares have declined significanly and can't seem to sustain an upward trend. Normally you would fire the CEO for this performance. Focus of the meeting are presentions for China & India. If you look at the metrics of growth for these areas versus North America, North America has actually out performed since 1975. This ia also the concensus by economists. The expectation is that they will out perform in the coming years. But if the US comsumer is not buying, these economies won't go anywhere. Friday, February 12, 2010 You can't go wrong with Trane. When I have to get service because of down-time on my chillers, I am able to call the technician directly on his cell phone - even on long weekends. No hastles. As you can guess, long weekends is when the equipment usually has issues. Go figure. When I call Honeywell for a tech, I always got an answering service or they bogged me down with quotations and purchase order requests. How do you get that administrative support on a long weekend? What I missed telling you is that I am a Honeywell employee - on the same dammed team! You wouldn't know it, though. The experience is like dealing long-distance with China. Johnson Controls is even superior to Honeywell when it comes to customer service. Johnson Controls also has direct access to techs when there are issues. The paperwork is always taken care of later and it is always fair. When you call them, they have a live person on the phone who really knows her stuff. The issue here is company orientation. Others, with their structure, are truly oriented to the customer. Honeywell is oriented to the Accountant first, and maybe the customer later - if he pays a premium and if they have time. Note that Speranzo (a hot topic in previous blogs below) forced all of us to switch all of out services to Honeywell - a method of forcing internal Honeywell sales inspite of quality of service. We knew that Honeywell would only turn around and re-source the contract to Trane and Johnson Controls after taking a healthy profit. So this is the problem with Honeywell. With all the high level rhetoric, the place has lost contact with the people on the floor that know best. ALL decision are centralized in Morristown or Phoenix Wednesday, February 10, 2010 I came across an article today concerning Honeywell http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x210267296/Marshfield-energy-audit-under-way-after-officials-decide-against-hiring-Honeywell. Does anyone know about the "shoddy workmanship and overcharging" mentioned in the article? Wednesday, February 10, 2010 I think we have far too many directors and VP's and people who say they are managing the business in Phoenix and not enough people servicing customers or doing the work. Aerospace is so top heavy it is ready to collapse. How many people do we need doing "operations excellence" or telling everyone "we are just resources, you own these processes and the progress"? These people are part of a bloated cost structure that makes Diamond Dave think the answer is laying people off. Aero headquarters is a jobs bank for mediocre managers, the only thing you need to be eligible for the welfare program is an Arizona zip code. Monday, February 8, 2010 Diamond Dave couldn't do "Undercover CEO" because he is so stuck on himself that there are pictures and video of him everywhere. I would know that weasel if he showed up one day for me to train. I might have to even give him a forearm shiver or two as well. He wouldn't want to be exposed for being such a scumbag. Hopefully that show will help these CEO's realize that the people you treat so bad are the ones keeping you in your position. Monday, February 8, 2010 After working 29 years at Honeywell I have nothing but regrets. I sometimes feel ill just thinking about coming to work... so much stress. The employees are treated less than human. I treat my dog better. I pray everyday that they shut down this plant and outsource everything. I tried to take the RIF but was not lucky enough to get it. I would just quit even knowing that there are no jobs out there if I could only get unemployment until I can find another job. Getting a job here was the worst mistake I ever made and I would not advise anyone to work for Honeywell... ALL I want is out and a way to support my family... will keep praying for another layoff. So many people I work with feel the same way. Pray with me. Sunday, February 7, 2010 I bet Diamond Dave Cote would never have the ball to do CBS' "Undercover Boss". Sunday, February 7, 2010 - To the poster of Feb. 3: Consider that what has happened to you since UOP was bought by Honeywell is a microcosm of what has been happening to the rest of us since old Honeywell was acquired by Allied Signal (and other companies that have been purchased since then.) We feel your pain, because we've been experiencing the same thing, only longer. To Diamond Dave, employees aren't resources; they are a drain on the company's profitability. Something to be screwed, used, and abused to benefit stockholders, until they are eventually disposed of with the trash. As painful as it is, you guys would be well advised to forget any and everything you may have felt about company loyalty, and depart asap. It will only continue to get worse, with the attendant negative affect on attitudes and mental health. Diamond Dave wouldn't have gotten the message even if you stood up and left the room en masse. Here's how Wikipedia defines 'psychopath': "A personality disorder whose hallmark is a lack of empathy. Researcher Robert Hare, whose Hare Psychopathy Checklist is widely used, describes psychopaths as "intraspecies predators who use charisma, manipulation, intimidation, ..... to control others and to satisfy their own needs. Lacking in conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse. What is missing, in other words, are the very qualities that allow a human being to live in social harmony." Psychopaths are glib and superficially charming, and many psychopaths are excellent mimics of normal human emotion; some psychopaths can blend in, undetected, in a variety of surroundings, including corporate environments." Sound like anybody we know? Sunday, February 7, 2010 I just found this blog this morning and find it quite interesting. Most things are pretty accurate. Gillette ruled by fear and now he's gone, but don't think that environment is gone because it didn't start at his level and Cote is still here. For those of you much earlier in the blog who say "Honeywell" messed things up when they took over, you are sorely mistaken. Even though the press called it a merger, make no mistake Allied Signal "bought" Honeywell. They only kept the Honeywell name because it had better brand recognition. As a 25+ year heritage Honeywell employee, I can guarantee you the management style that took over in 1999 was nothing like heritage Honeywell, so please don't try to say this company represents what Honeywell was all about. John C. Honeywell has been rolling in his grave ever since that dreadful day. Also keep in mind there are no heritage Honeywell people in exec. management - they were all driven out by Allied Signal and GE - the clones. With that said, I agree that morale is at an all time low - and we've had rough patches before, but nothing like this. I try to keep a positive attitude thinking the worst is over, and every day I go to work I am unpleasantly surprised that it isn't. Our product quality continues to fall beause of standardization and the fear factor discussed elsewhere in this blog (everyone in middle management being afraid to say no - that won't work in our business). I'm sorry but I will say it - one size DOES NOT fit all (and that's why my management keeps me away from exec mgmt because they know I won't keep my mouth shut). Building things for Space, Missiles and Munitions is a far cry different than building things for commercial or even military aircraft (much less Home and Building controls). The government should be really worried. Especially about outsourcing. I get involved quite frequently in "what-ifs" and am appalled and amazed at the things our exec management even wants us to consider, especially in the business unit I work in. If Honeywell executives had their way, the entire company, except the executives in Phoenix and Morristown, would be outsourced. The government needs to realize that Honeywell is no longer a company who really cares all that much about the Defense and Space business. They don't care about your requirements or your needs. They'll take your money, but other than that they don't care, make no mistakes. And the ones that take all the punishment for late deliveries, overruns, failures, etc. are the dedicated workers, who are told by upper managment to "fix it" but aren't provided the tools or the envirnoment to do so. Even though there are still a lot of empoyees left who care about doing a good job, the stress level is driving a lot of good ones away, because they can't compromise their personal values to satisfy management goals. Even though the economy is bad and it's not a good time to change jobs (something HI mgmt definitely takes advantage of), even though it will have negative effects on retirement, I can tell you I am out looking. And yes, I have already commented on the White House contact-us website. Saturday, February 6, 2010 I will say it again. We all se what is going on with Honeywell and all the major corporations in America. Amreica is being sold out by them. If Obama is focusing on jobs now. He has to hear us. Go to www.whitehouse.gov and email the President with a link to this weblog. There is strength in numbers. We, the people, ARE America! And we have a president and Congress and Senate that works for us. Make some noise, people. Friday, February 5, I agree with the comments on Aero leadership. They just keep recycling the same people in Phoenix, we will never go anywhere. Rob Gillette got what he deserved and the First Solar board is now asking themselves why they spent so much money on a guy who is such a dud. Maybe he got over there and figured out it was more difficult than shutting down factories and moving them to China and Mexico. Wednesday, February 3, 2010 Diamond Dave was on a little press and politics junket to Des Plaines on 2/2. Touting the new "Honeywell" biodiesel that UOP developed, he had some allegedly non-corrupt US House Rep take a spin in a big Chevy truck powered by the stuff. While The Man himself was here and wasn’t too busy overtly pressuring senior management to join the HIPAC (Honeywell International Political Action Committee), he took an hour out of his time to have a little talk with about 400 UOP employees. I say 400 because the “conversation” was limited to one live room with a limit of 300 and two satellite rooms in Des Plaines that had limited capacity as well. It was not broadcast or available via telecon anywhere else. The meeting started with the usual stuff that I gather is common from The Man. He talked about the stock, the dividend, and the Wall Street analysts that he would love to be able to coerce by any means into driving the stock price higher. Then he talked about how important the stock was. Then he talked about the importance of the stock some more. He did also mention that he also has to consider customers and employees at some point, but I believe that was because his handlers told him to do so in that little ear bud we could not see. Surprisingly, I can’t say it was boring. It was more shocking than anything that he was facing a room full of people and couldn’t even pretend that we mattered. I guess he may be sociopath enough to tell the truth as he sees it and think everyone else feels the same way. He also talked a lot about “bad companies” versus “bad times” and attempted to convince us that this was all due to bad times. Seriously, why waste a crisis? Most of the rest of his delightful time with us was devoted to Q&A, which started off slow. Who wants to complain to glittery Diamond Dave Cote when he’s standing right in front of you and has the power to make you a distant memory before you even leave the room? But the questions eventually heated up. I didn’t take notes and do not have a great memory for the spoken word, so I’ll summarize his answers to the top few questions as best I can recall:
I guess it boils down to a basic philosophy difference: real customers and real employees versus faceless shareholders represented by analysts that have no moral position in what transpires between the employees and customers. UOP culture focuses on the customers first, then the employees, and the shareholders have historically benefitted from the success of the former pair. Honeywell culture focuses on the shareholder with no consideration for the customer beyond what money they have and zero consideration for the employee. I fear greatly for UOP, its customers, its employees, and their families. Diamond Dave does not. Tuesday, February 2, 2010 The damage that Gillette, Speranzo (VP Integrated Supply Chain) and Vidano (VP Aftermarket Service)have caused, is trancending. The damaging trio! Gillette went to First Solar. Look at the stock FLSR. It's in the dumpster as when Gillette abandoned Honeywell for First Solar. Speranzo wanted Gilletts's job, but didn't get it - so he went in limbo looking for a new career. Tim M. had no place fo Neal. Vidano also abdoated to Defense & Space - with the depature of Gillette. I wonder if he will live up to the title of Champion of Out-Sourcing in Defence and Space - with th egouverment looking iover his back? It's amazing how damaging, fickle and irresponsible these executies are. While they were in place, they reigned through fear! This is their legacy. Monday, February 1, 2010 It's amazing what a place like Honeywell can do to you. Last Christmas I was doing a bit of Christmas shopping, like many people around. Normally I go about my bsiness, spread a bit of holiday cheer and even hold doors open for people. But, in this one case, I saw a lady that purchased a Honeywell humidifier. And for some reason, the characteristic red and white box markings just set me off - an event that has never happened before. Instead of just passing by and rushing to my next destination, I stopped, took the lady aside and explained to her why she should NOT buy a Honeywell product - like the humidifier. Clearly the origins of this spontaneous eratic behavior were in the antics that Aerospace execs would play - who are all gone from Aerospace today - Gilette, Speranzo and Vidano. The latter of these came to be known as the Site Closure Champion. Word always went out prior to his visite for everyone to be on their best behavior - because his reputation preceeded him. Great environment! <> The point is that every persons job outsourced you have one less salesperson for Honeywell product. You will tell 2 people the good news, but tell 10 people the bad news. Monday, February 1, 2010 The funny thing about the Secretary of Treasury visiting here was - right behind him, literally, there were 3 Honeywell employees from Mexico videotaping a line they are sending South of the border. Sunday, January 31, 2010 I just emailed the President and copied the address of this blog with a plea for help. Again, go to www.whitehouse.gov and go to the "contact us" web-page. If enough of us do this, he will at least hear us. Saturday, January 30, 2010 Working as a CSR in S&C, it is very difficult at times to hear so many customers express frustration as to the inability to supply products on-time and on a consistent basis. Once a week it is expressed that the brand of Honeywell will never be purchased again because of the high prices and inability to produce the parts in a timely manner. Jobs that are scheduled to take 4 weeks often take 6-8 to complete, and customers refuse to accept the time that engineer's may take to do their part before production gets the job on the floor. We've seen orders be in the engineer/design phase for 30-45+ days and then have the 4-10 week lead time on top of that. Try explaining that to the engineer at a major university or NASA, Parker Hannifan, Baxter, etc., etc. every day. At times all you can do is tell the csutomer they have every right to be upset and hope they don't yell at you too much before hanging up on you. Honeywell seemed like a mess when I started, and, after reading this blog, I see the the inadequacies are all over the company and not just limited to my location. Now with rumors of more lay-offs and furloughs hovering over the whole company, what I thought would be a great career move by joining Hoenwyell turns out to be more of a dead end with no future. After seeing people with 10, 15, 20 or more years be let go, there is no reason to think my job is safe. Friday, January 29, 2010 I see that EMAI held their kickoff meeting in Monte Carlo this week. This makes the effort of enforcing the furlough total BS. Friday, January 29, 2010 I think someone should contact Michael Moore and have him do a documentary on how Aerospace is shipping high tech (or at least as high tech as you can go when a company won't by new equipment and wants to use duck tape and coathangers for maintenance) manufacturing jobs to Asia, which will lead to the Chinese developing an aerospace industry that will one day allow their Air Force to challenge ours. Well, at least we will have highly paid people at AERO HQ in Phoenix who can make power-point slides to describe their progress to the general public. Good thing we are expanding the number of people in our company who work THERE. What business does Dave Cote have at the white house, begging for money, when he does not even try to pretend that he cares about new hires, expansion, or capital purchases in the US? Friday, January 29, 2010 The president claimed to keep jobs from being outsourced in most of his election speeches, but yet we are still hearing about more positions disappearing. Employees are being forced to travel to Mexico and train individuals to take more American jobs and nothing is being done about it. Sometimes I wonder if we should be afraid more of Bin Laden, or Dave Cote and his actions. I also wonder if the president even cares. All of them since H.W. Bush haven't done anything about NAFTA and the destruction of what made our country great: Manufacturing. Friday, January 29, 2010 - Comments to "whitehouse.gov": Got it. Done. Who's next? What next? Thursday, January 28, 2010 If you really want the government to know what is happening at Honeywell e-mail the president on www.whitehouse.gov. Tell the president about outsourcing at Honeywell. If enough employees do this maybe someone will listen. Today one of the presidents advisors is at the Golden Valley plant in MN. Thursday, January 28, 2010 One can only hope that when it finally comes to the government's attention what Cote and the board have done to their US employees that there will be sufficient punishment involved to make it hurt...and hurt bad. Traitors. Thursday, January 28, 2010 Officially / Unofficially. The new policy is there are no progressions(being promoted in your current job). Of course they do not have the guts to tell all the worker bees. The only way you can get a promotion is to apply for a higher level job. And, of course, there are not many new job posting. In all the surveys, the US employees say there is no career growth opportunities. This new policy sure helps. NOT. Plus, no merit increases this year too. It just keeps getting better. Honeywell Management figures that in the US it is hard to get another job. "You are lucky you got a job and you should leave if you do not like it". Honeywell's new mantra. Wednesday, January 27, 2010 At 9:29 PM Jan 27, 2010, Obama said in his live speech that it is time to slash the tax incentives for those companies that ship jobs to China. This applies big time to Honeywell in a big way! Honeywell is one of the largest exporters of jobs overseas - they do it very secretively. It's time to hang Cote ("Et tu, Brute") & his Board of Directors and piers and their outsourcing policies. We need to recognize that these people are evil and do not have the interests of the USA employee at heart. USA is becoming second place to Germany and France - who are seriously re-investing in their economies. Just listen to the convesation about replacing the US dollar with the Euro as a currency standard. It may be crazy to think this would happen, but with the increasing US debt and 10+% unemployment, a lot of countries are really nervous about holding US dollars. Cote is so passé - so 20th century, so OLD - like the dinosaure of GE Capital of Jack Welch age. We know today, after the GE crisis, that Jack used GE Capital to mask (cook the books) many of GE's problems. No one talks about Jack anymore. Neutron Jack has been neutronized! It's 9:55 PM. I don't see Cote rubbing sholders with Obama as he did when Obama started his term. Has there been afalling out? See this evidence in previous blogs on this website. So that was the State of the Union address. People are out of work in America! How long will you stand for it? Why does Cote use Americans to work against Americans? Cote uses American Transition Teams to ship your jobs to China. I had spoken to one transition team member. He had told me that he was on 26 transitions teams. That means product move was being planned at 23 sites. Perhaps you are one of them? Monday, January 25, 2010 - HOS- Honeywell overseas: Good luck USA.! Dave Cote and most of his "crew" will be long gone before we see the full impact of the hemorrhaging of jobs. They are heroes to the stockholders today but will be seen as the sleazebags they really are in the future. I hope they can be happy in some of those third world countries that will own our jobs. I guess with Dave's bonuses he could always buy his own county. It seems like a very long time since I worked for a company that I could be proud of.
Retired Manager Monday, January 25, 2010 Is there a nation wide freeze on raises? Or is it just the Olathe, Kansas location? Most of the employees at that site have long since stopped believing anything the managers say. (Oh and don't forget to do your yearly code-of-conduct training.) Sunday, January 24, 2010 I currently work for Honeywell in New York. Honeywell acquired the Pittway Corporation (Ademco) back in 1999 and I have slowly watched the jobs move to Mexico and China. Instead of leading the market with new products we now follow. I have seen many competitors’ products being analyzed so we can design an equivalent product. The smart ones in my department left a few years ago. Engineering is slowly being moved (hardware/software/QA) to China and India. I have heard our raises this year will be 2% but they will not be given in April (April fool’s day!!), they will be pushed back a few months. Furloughs may also take place after the first quarter. I also heard the building will be empty in about 1.5 years when the lease is up. Morale is low but most of us really don't care anymore. If you work hard or do the minimum you are treated the same. Sit back, do the minimum and job search. I will not help transfer my job out of the country.
Sincerely, Saturday, January 23, 2010 VOTE! VOTE Your conscience - VOTE for your brothers and sisters around the world! VOTE! Saturday, January 23, 2010 This isn't directed so much at Dave Cote, as it is towards the Board of Directors. I work in one of your facilities. I have worked there for a long time and I plan on trying to do many more years until I retire. I have pretty much given the best years of my life to this company. I have given up time with family on holidays so I could cover for a guy who just happened to have the opportunity to spend Christmas with his. I have been with guys who trudge through the muck of a creek at 1:00 AM on a very very cold night out of concern for their neighbors and their health and security during an environmental excursion. I have seen guys come to the aid of a fallen coworker and go above and beyond in their efforts to revive that friend and coworker. I have lived and bled with the guys for a long time. Ok? See where I coming from with this? So let's cut to the chase. You have taken away my retiree insurance plan. You have taken away half of the 401 matching percentage you contibute. For those lucky enough to even be able to participate, that is. Some poor bastards don't even get that. You have, after have giving us 2% raises last year and week long furloughs, announced that this years raises are going to be reassessed at the end of the 2nd quarter as to whether the company can aford it or not. And, all the while sending out SM updates about the millions and millions of dollars to be made over the next 3 to 5 years. All this as the economy crumbled and the cost of living shot up through the roof. Now don't get me wrong, I really thought the million dollar aid package and the humanitarin flights to Haiti was I a very kind response to peoples suffering. You should be applayded for the effort. So with that said, let me conclude with a question...... Shouldn't one of you guys at the top really let Dave Cote and your other cohorts know that there has been a building collapsing for a few years now, and it is landing on me and my family. Both, my family at home and my family at work. How about a little charity around here? Friday, January 22, 2010 - To the individual who asked about the 2009 Honeywell Proxy statement: No, the board's comp package is on page 15, they took a little over $2MM together, around $250K each. Not bad for attending 5-6 meetings per year. Page 25 outlines the merit increases in base pay our officers qualified for and received, a year when no hourly or mid level managers were eligible. Page 28-29 outline the ridiculous bonuses officers, including Cote and Gilette, received. Page 36 outlines the nearly $80,000,000 in salary, stock, and bonus our CEO and four other top Honeywell officers combined earned in 2008. Page 51 shows their golden parachutes, or how many millions they would get by getting "dismissed without cause" or for other reasons, like a buyout. I guess that is what a RIF is called when you are a big-time executive. The employees I laid off last year got squat. I am not saying all executives do not earn their pay, not at all. I am sure many of them worked very hard to achieve their goals and try their best. But in a year when my family's already meager income was reduced 10% and we had to put groceries on our credit card, the fact that these guys not just took home millions, but accepted RAISES for hitting cost targets that were partially possible because of wage cuts simply disgusts me. The fact that they are all hell bent on moving our manufacturing base to China to continue meeting these targets (vs. improving what we have here in the US and EMEA) infuriates me. Leaders should share sacrafice and lead by example. Or at least be smart enough to pretend that they do when so many people are watching. To hell with them all. Friday, January 22, 2010 You bet! I'm glad the blogger noticed, I did the calc. and total of senior management compensation plus board of directors (each is paid about 2X the average US board salary) comes to roughly $75 million if I throw in some of the perks, etc. If you divide that number by the 2008 income from operations, I come up with about 2.5 percent. If a mutual fund charged this kind of management fee, I think it would be very questionable. This is beyond belief Thursday, January 21, 2010 I'm not a financial wiz, but after looking at last year's proxy statement, did the board of directors rape the company for over 70 mil? Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Customers screaming for their parts. But some customers like United Technologies and Pratt & Whitney have cauht on long ago with their policy to get off of Honeywell programs and parts. Their attitude is: "Anybody but Honeywell". And they have just cause. Wednesday, January 20, 2010 After this week through overtime, mostly everybody on the shop floor will have managed to make back any lost wages due to the furlough. And at time-and-a-half we only have to work just over 26.5 hours. Not a bad deal! Sure, our on time delivery is down to 50% and our profit margin is non existent. But our middle management is the best in the business at cooking the books and making excuses. Customers screaming for their parts. Who cares. It's not like they can go to Walmart for a part. They are getting screwed and there is not much that they can do about it. You've got a sweet deal Dave Cote! As for us, we're just lucky to be working under you. Wednesday, January 20, 2010 I recently had to do an RPS (Rapid Problem Solving) - over-used & huge waste of time. It was about why deliveries were being missed for a certain part number. What it came down to (already known) was that a cell was hogging the test equipment, basically 24/7, and we had no time allocated to it. But during the proposed fix I was told to not mention this. I was "advised" to instead propose that we dedicate more techs to testing these parts. No one ever questions how we could test these parts if we still didn't have access to the test equipment. So, your bonuses are safe. No need to purchase more test equipment. The problem has been swept under the rug! P.S.Military programs should be very worried. Tuesday, January 19, 2010 Interesting, reading all these posts. As an ex-Honeywell employee I can only say I'm glad I left this dysfunctional outfit. Believe me there is life after Honeywell. No more corporate ra-ra-ra and all these BS Townhall meetings. I will never work for a publicly-traded company again. The guys on top of the ladder get the big Bonuses, the guys at the bottom the shaft. Look no further than Wallstreet. These "Spindoctors" walked away with Millions in compensation. Good luck to all of you. Finding another Job is hard work, but if you really want a change you have to be determined and believe in yourself. There are better companys out there; just don't give up. Monday, January 18, 2010 Yes. At my site it got to a point that we could not even buy a 2"x4" piece of lumber without being on COD. Reason was that Honeywell (Phoenix) actually exceeded the 90-day pay period. So the supliers clamped down one after the other to COD. It would have been easier to get petty cash and go get it yourself - but even petty cash was eliminated. Your only option was to pay for it out of your own pocket and really risk it not being paid on a expense report. No one had enough faith in Honeywell to assume that this expense report would be paid. I'd rather buy a 2x4 and wack the Aerospace Leadership in the head - really disconnected from the needs of the floor and day to day needs that they themselves requested. It must make a business leader look stupid to report on a leadership or sales call that he can't ship product because shipping lumber is not available for the shipping crates. But, no leader will be caught dead reporting this on a telecom. So, we end up taking expensive labor ripping apart wasted crates and rebuilding new ones - a process that costs a lot more than having the right materials in the first place. Way to go, Aerospace Leadership! Aerospace Leadership needs to start supporting the floor - not in conflict with the floor. Monday, January 18, 2010 When and where? And what do we do when we get there? Monday, January 18, 2010 Yes, we can do this and join as a 401k employee share band. Lets get together at the Annual Shareholders Meeting and ask tough questions! Done? Monday, January 18, 2010 - Regarding the 75 or 90 day terms: This is Honeywell’s way of maximizing profit by, essentially, getting a short term loan from their suppliers. Remember from Economics 101 Time Value of Money? In essence Honeywell needs to maximize profit from finance gimmicks not sales of quality products that are profitably priced in an open market. Pity the small Mom and Pop companies that can’t tell Honeywell to “go pound sand”. This strategy is a slow death to them while turning down Honeywell’s orders is a fast death. Sunday, January 17, 2010 Has any employee thought about leveraging the votes associated with our collective 401k shares to make our voices heard to the board of directors, specifically on executive pay? Coming off our furlough, seems like the time for this is about right. I think we could have all exercised our right to have a say at the shareholder's meeting or get something on the ballot that would at least force the company officers to share in any type of pay cut or furlough they pushed down to lower level employees. Or better yet, show them what a wage cut feels like by forcing the board of directors to allow shareholders to vote on this. Go to the company website, investor relations section and view the 2009 Honeywell proxy statement. This is a public document and is official communication from Honeywell to the investing public. Pages 20-53 of this document outline our CEO's and his cronies disgusting pay package. Pages 20-30 outline how Dave and his boys NEED a competitive pay package related to business results, not like we do, we are just lucky to have a job, right? It even mentions the same Honeywell behaviors that we supposedly all work to, but it manages to justify raises for the guys at the top and NOTHING for the people whose backs they stand on. Funny how they tell us these lies and then steal our merit raises and base salary and then cash their options in the next day. Grotesque that our board permits it. Page 37 of the 2009 proxy statement outlines the "perks" that the company pays for. Over $900,000 for things like the use of the company jet and company bought life insurance and Dave Cote's home alarm system. How many engineers took a 10% pay cut in 2009 to pay for this? Page 51 shows Diamond Dave's $14.85 million golden parachute, which he would receive if he was ever terminated by the board for any reason. How many weeks of severance did we give the machinists, CSR's, and forklift drivers affected by the last RIF? Not even close to this.... What about the over 50's that were forced to retire because Honeywell did not want to help them with medical insurance they promised them years before? This information is public and on our website. We should print and post it in breakrooms all across the company. It is grotesque that our leaders in Phoenix and Morristown can be so arrogant, greedy, and selfish while honest people suffer. Somebody needs to do something. These guys are stealing not just from us, but from America. And its all right here under our noses, down to the last cent. Can we band together as shareholders and use our 401K shares to push the board to vote on reducing executive perks and compensation? Anyone know if we can do this? Sunday, January 17, 2010 The net-90 terms is going to kill us. There are suppliers who are now holding us hostage if we do not pay in 30. Their terms are "want your parts pay me in 30 or else". The supply base is onto our game. Most of the Honeywell companies were small to begin with and use suppliers local to their area who had the expertise to make the product required. We recently had to attend a webinar that all new orders had to be net 75 and if not took PHX approval. DO these guys have nothing to do down there??? I am all for doing what is necessary for the company but we are now negotiating from the end of a gun on all of our contracts. I equate PHX with the wizard of OZ. They are running a company based upon theories that are not practical in day-to-day business. When you expose them they run for cover. I have exposed a few and they know I document VERY WELL so they leave me alone most of the time. Out here in the real world (away from PHX) we get the job done. Saturday, January 16, 2010 Ditto the earlier comments about permanent commitment being around CAPITAL and NEW HIRES. I cannot even get a plumber or a welder to come out to our site because of our payment terms. It is pitiful that a major corporation has been reduced to gimmicks like "paying net 90" to make cash flow look good. How about making a quality product by people who are treated well? That may lead to cash flow from our customers? Withholding cash flow from small US-owned businesses will do the trick for only so long. It is a disgrace. Saturday, January 16, 2010 Apparently Servicon employees at Honeywell were notified today that they need not report to work the week after Easter. Happy Furlough! Friday, January 15, 2010 - Re: Jan. 11 Here in Toronto... I got laid off in Vancouver recently and totally agreed with you on the low morale, HOS/VSMs/metrics hiding inefficiencies. It makes me feel better that most of us can see the company is going down fast with all the “yes” management from top to bottom. Friday, January 15, 2010 Red Headed stepchild? Everyone is a stepchild next to the phoenix golden boys. I work in Aerospace Aftermarket and I can't understand why our leaders come from Phoenix engines, a complex that was evidently so well managed that it is shutting down and moving to Mexico. And it was not even a union plant, not that you would have guessed it was union free by visiting. Yet everyone outside of Phoenix is always judged by higher standards. What a great training academy for manufacturing managers who feel more comfortable with acronyms and power points than making their employer a profit! Now they are all directors and VP's, leading Aerospace into the twenty first century. Do as we say in Phoenix, not as we do in Phoenix... Put THAT in a spreadsheet matrix! Thursday, January 14, 2010 When the earthquake hit China, Dave Cote was quick to encourage employees to give to recovery and aid efforts. Of course it was was to show good faith to his growing interest (of siphoning America to the Chinese). Now that Haiti is in trouble, do you think he'll do the same? I would actually be surprised to see an all-employee email asking for Haiti relief. Wednesday, January 13, 2010 In the Town Hall meeting, Cote said the company's actions are actually benefitting America. Yea, just like in the 30's when they said cigarette smoking benefitted your health by encouraging deep breathing exercises. Tuesday, January 12, 2010 Here at Honeywell Aerospace, Tucson, we have always been considred a "red headed step child" to Phoenix. We have no resources or people left here. We are less then half the employees we had 15 years go. Most of the Engineering work is "overseeing" engineers overseas who are doing the work we use to do. Hardware, software, Test Equipment- everything.Manufacturing moves something to Mexico or overseas each month. There is no morale. Tucson has ben told by Aerospace VP's, "You're lucky you still have a job. And if you do not like it - then leave." A wonderful place to work! I do not see Honeywell getting any better. I have been at Honeywell 20+ years. Time to leave. Tuesday, January 12, 2010 I think the only way to draw attention to this is to find some organization (not affiliated with a labor union) that communicates with Congress to promote investment in America's manufacturing infrastructure and seeks to stop this type of activity. Honeywell should be LEADING something like this, and with the amount of Government contracts and business we have, we are eating at the trough of military sales and service, and selling out our employees that work on the commercial side where we can to move skill sets and capabilities out of our country, perhaps forever. Someone needs to mobilize an effort beyond the plight of just one factory because a pattern that spans multiple congressional districts has been emerging for several years now and we cannot make it stop by talking to Phoenix or Morristown or complaining on this blog.. Any ideas? Monday, January 11, 2010 It's interesting to hear the same stories from our cousins down south. Here in Toronto the morale couldn't be lower. One minute we are told to use airlines to travel and help our own business, and the next minute we are given a 1 week furlough. Sorry Dave. I can't travel if I lose 10% of my wages. But then again, you don't really care, do you? So our plant isn't the only one that needs new equipment or repairs. You can only lean out a process so far with antiquated technology. But it's amazing how the middle managers can hide the inadequacies under the carpet to make any HOS driven changes look good. The sad truth is that efficiencies aren't going up, but the VSM's will do anything to fudge the metrics. But then again Dave, you don't really care, do you? I thought we were the only ones complaining about the management Gods of Phoenix, but after reviewing the previous blogs I guess it's true. We are all fed (mis)directions by the same blind, dumb, tentacled octopus that is the Aerospace leadership. How they know our needs from thousands of miles away I'll never know. Oh but they must be smart with all their MBA's. Surely Diamond Dave would never leave a division is such incompetent hands. But then again Dave, you don't really care, do you? I'm sure that this coming year you will get your well deserved bonus, more stock options and a standing ovation from the stockholders. I almost forgot...I'm sure that many families in China and India will also thank you. Ain't capitalism great! BTW. I'll make sure to post some MIS on our bulletin boards up here in the great white north. Remember. There is strength in numbers. Wall Street...are you listening? Monday, January 11, 2010 One of the other issues is even if you find someone with the power to make change happen in Honeywell they are paralyzed with fear because they know that if they make a mistake (or it looks like they made a mistake even if it was not their fault) then they will be fired. They don't even have to make a mistake, they just have to do something that upsets someone higher up. Monday, January 11, 2010 -Re: Jan 11 "management make changes": That's great in concept, but in Honeywell centralized management system, I don't know who these people "with power to make changes" are. They certainly aren't in the HPS level, or even ACS. Do you really think Fradin can make any changes? He can't spend a penny beyond AOP. Only Cote has that Authority. Monday, January 11, 2010 Simply don't understand why managment, and those with power to make changes, can not see what is happening before their eyes? HPS is losing business and clients rapidly due to competition providing better service and more relevant technology. Yet we are told our systems and technology is world leading - but someone's forgot to tell our customers who simply don't believe it. Please Please Please take some action. Sunday, January 10, 2010 There obviously are some very intelligent and experienced bloggers on here. What can we do other than "bail"? This obviously is not the climate to be hunting for a new job. Nor does that address the real concern of allowing these guys to sellout our country. What constructively can we do? Friday, January 8, 2010 Diamond Dave, his parasites, *and* the dim-bulb political enablers who either are on the take, or else too obtuse to grasp the rape that Dave and other CEO's are perpetrating right under the pol's noses. Capitalism is a great concept right up until it's exploited and abused. No one ever imagined that the Internet and global communication would make this level of corruption possible. Friday, January 8, 2010 Smaller companies are where the growth will be, both in AMERICAN jobs and in returning to the local economy. I worked for Honeywell until 2009 and went to work for a medium sized company and am amazed at the no BS approach to results and the sense of commitment to employees and being a permanent fixture in our community (hiring, training, capital investment, vendor relations, etc...) When I worked at Honeywell, I felt micromanaged from all levels, could not understand the ridiculous focus on census and internal metrics (vs. profitability and customer metrics), and felt that management was letting the walls and foundation of not just our plant but our company's manufacturing infrastructure, rot and crumble. We were all tenants in a public housing project waiting for eviction and told how lucky we were just to have a roof. I did not appreciate that. I strongly feel like the smaller, more nimble companies are going to eat Honeywell's lunch, because a company that treats people like disposable short-term assets (with things like pay cuts, furloughs, no pay differentiation based on performance) will not do well anywhere. It is a shame that Honeywell is fixated only on the number of Americans working at its plants (and hell bent on driving that number to zero). But I think they will find that Indians and Chinese who are treated like crap dont appreciate it either and will walk as well when they see an opening. The only sad thing is that these bright people will take Honeywell processes and technology to other companies overseas who will then use it to put even more pressure on American manufacturing by eroding whatever advantages we do have. It is happening already in China and India by Honeywell's own admission. All of Honeywell's and especially Aerospace's leadership should be ashamed for their arrogance and and blindness and what they are doing to our country. Honeywell could be a leader in investment in training and technology and in building back up the US manufacturing base, instead, they choose to lie to innocent people about the future and sell them out. Anyone can say they are investing in our future here, but if you want proof, don't listen to the talk coming from Phoenix and Morristown; look for the capital expenditures and new hiring. Been a long time since most Honeywell employees have seen activity in either of those areas. Good luck to all you guys still on the ship. Just make sure you jump before it sinks and sucks you down into unemployment. Thursday, January 7, 2010 Elmer Ambrose Sperry (400 patents), Henry Ford (over 160 patents), Steve Wozniak (Apple IIE Patent). I’m sure it’s safe to assume that neither one these people ever said they wanted to be businessmen when they grew up. They had talent knowledge and great ideas that eventually contributed to the economy and the quality of life for millions. These people became wealthy CEOs, but they earned it. Conversely, the only thing Diamond Dave ever invented was a new way to screw people who actually work for a living. Dave and the twenty Business majors underneath him are locusts-parasites that seek shelter in large well-established tech organizations that other people built where they can set up shop and begin the slow drain. Thursday, January 7, 2010 I agree. This is happening in large corporations like Honeywell, nationwide. Our country is being raped and pillaged by these greedy CEOs. Make that be our one bonding cry. "BUY AMERICAN!" and support your country, your family, your neighbors, your friends. ENOUGH! We have power in numbers. Thursday, January 7, 2010 I second that on BUYING American, and I have been trying as much as possible. You can find American made jeans, shoes etc. if you search the web. Wednesday, January 6, 2010 We NEED to buy ONLY American across the board. Tuesday, January 5, 2010 Just to add to the person who wrote they were handing in their notice first day back in January. Well done! I too left over a year ago and have looked back with no regrets as my life has changed dramatically for the good. I guess this is a message to all the put down, bullied and undervalued employees, that there is life outside this badly-run company. Instead of writing how pissed off you all are, take some action, put yourself out there and move out. The only way of bringing the CEO and the over-paid management to their knees is to ship out and leave them to drown in the shit pool they have created. Maybe there is a form of justice after all. To quote another infamous kill-or-be-killed company, 'Don't think, just do it' Read this article - tell us how many signs relate to Honeywell:
Saturday, January 2, 2010 Re: "Aren't some of these CEO's guilty of treason or at the very least a treasonous act?": It certainly seems that way. I would love it if just once someone would bring charges against one of these traitors so the damage they've done to the country where they claim "citizenship" would get some publicity. At minimum it might put in place some standards of conduct and shove a wrench into this "anything-goes" behavior that's deemed permissible under the banner of globalization. If India or China are good enough places to send US jobs, then they should also be good enough places for Cote to go live. Thursday, December 31, 2009 I am getting out of Honeywell :-) I am going to be handing in my notice the first day back after the new year. My new job pays more and has much better working conditions. A message to the people still left at Honeywell... Even though the job market is bad it is worthwhile to keep looking. Honeywell pays very poorly when compared to other places and the depression you are feeling right now goes away with a new job. I am going to take my engineering talents to another company, somewhere that does not see me as a liability whose costs are to be minimized. It's a pity because I leave behind several processes of which I am the only person qualified to do them. Oh well, that's Honeywells problem not mine. On a related note, I will be taking my retirement out as a lump sum, I do not trust Dave Cote and his "pals" enough to let it sit at their mercy until I retire. Thursday, December 31, 2009 Is there a way to forward this blog to Dave Cote's email at Honeywell? Wednesday, December 30, 2009 According to Wikipedia: In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation. Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aided or involved by such an endeavour. Outside legal spheres, the word "traitor" may also be used to describe a person who betrays (or is accused of betraying) their own political party, nation, family, friends, ethnic group, team, religion, social class, or other group to which they may belong. Aren't some of these CEO's guilty of treason or at the very least a treasonous act? They are not only selling their employees out, but they are selling out their very nation. Sunday, December 27, 2009 MIS cries by disgruntled employees, pathetic management and a company that has not brought any differentiated products to market for over a decade now = a further slippery slide for HWL. The rise and fall of HWL automation will be studied in the MBA classrooms next decade as a lesson on how bringing great products to market and then simply milking the installed base with no repsect for the customer or adding value to their businesses is no way to run a business long term. Your competition, mainly the "blue guys" in Austin AKA Emerson Process management, will claim more market share when the financial crisis abates. HWL employees - you need to MAS (make a switch) and not simply cry MIS. Saturday, December 26, 2009 I have been reading this blog with interest over the past months and I cannot help but wonder if you have it all wrong. I see Cote and all of the other like minded CEO's as corporate terrorists. They are doing more damage to this great country than was ever done from 9-11 right up to present day. All 9-11 did was stir us and the Brits into invading Iraq and Afghanistan. I grant you that these two actions did the weapons industry good because we managed to clear out all of the old stock and get in some new stuff, but we have not solved any thing by invading those two countries, and as soon as we leave both governments will be over thrown and radicals will rule the entire region. Cote on the other hand has been effectively maneuvering a lot of the development and production out of the U.S.A into India and China, although this has not reflected badly on the company at this moment in time it will be interesting to see what happens to Honeywell when the growth stops, Cote squirms his way out and the company implodes. It would not surprise me to see China step in and buy the remnants thus acquiring all of the technical data they need to take another step up the technology ladder. I also read in a previous blog that Honeywell source code, generated in India is turning up in other companies software. It seems to me that Honeywell has lost internal control of the operations within these regions (Globalization will do that for you). With what China spent on the last Olympics they could buy a company like Honeywell out of chump change, especially when the share price falls through the floor, but all the general public can see is someone (Cote) living the American dream (some dream). Friday, December 25, 2009 Honeywell has what it calls it's 12 Honeywell behaviors which in theroy sounds good and should encourage moral & ethical behavior. But for some reason most if not all of Honeywell's managment team from the top down to the site level seem to believe that it is a tool which allows them to lie, cheat, and steal about their employees to other employees to get what they want i.e. more money in their pockets and or their own job security. The Human Resource segment at Honeywell is what you could call a joke, if not just plain old B.S.! There is nothing Human about it and they really do not provide any resource to Honeywell's employees but rather provide and feed a hostile work enviorment which at times drives employees to lose it emtionally and physically! One could make a case that Honeywell is the new age MAFIA corporate style! Friday, December 25, 2009 I'm soon to be an ex-Honeywell employee from the UK, thank God. Over here we were strongly encouraged to take up on Furlough and I do mean strongly encouraged. To be honest, me and my partner who also works at Honeywell. signed up for this; it cost us around £2000 but it was worth it - well that's what I thought anyway. Unfortunately, the site leader was and is still, corrupt to the level that the only word I can use to describe his is gluttony. For example, using a pool car at weekends to save his fuel costs, pocketing the money from scrap metals and packaging wastes, using company expenses system to pay for nights out by getting his managers to use their Amex cards, getting contractors to pay for servicing of his car and nights out, and the list goes on and on. Whils most of us have had to suffer the financial pain of supporting Honeywell in the endeavor to support other sectors of our organisation who are struggling. From an individual point of view, how fair is this? Wednesday, December 23, 2009 I have hated labor unions all my life, though I have worked with good people who were union employees and respect their beliefs. One thing I see across Aerospace now, is that ISC management policies and attitudes like the ones we have, are a driving force for people to unionize and give organizers the credibility to bring their campaigns into our plants. By this I mean :
Unions are not the answer. But if anyone in the Phoenix leadership circle reads this, reach out to the people in the field, the managers, the CSR's, and the engineers and let's work together to put Honeywell back on track. It is not easy, but lets take some first steps. We work in a culture where we know we can be terminated if we say ANYTHING that goes against what the Phoenix team decides or says in public, but that is not how progress is made, it is how insecure or scared leaders lead. Lets make it right and try to communicate in 2010 so we can gain back the ground we are losing, each and every day, with our employees and our customers. Wednesday, December 23, 2009 The idea of waging a campaign to "make it stop" is an idea worth pursuing. I have noticed around my facility that slips of paper bearing the letters "MIS" are starting to pop up on whiteboards, metrics boards and in more obscure places as well. Maybe if the idea takes off Dave and his minions will get the hint. Only time will tell. M I S = Make It Stop Sunday, December 20, 2009 Mr. Cote, What a wonderful CEO you are. Based on the earlier posting, AERO saved $60 Mil in 2008. You should be proud of this outstanding achievement in this horrible economic time. What a thinker you are. With that $60 million savings, you have managed to dump on the street, approx 1100 employees contributing to the foreclosure and unemployment rate in the very country that has allowed you to make millions. You are a great American. What is worse is that this is a conscious effort with little or no real effect on the stock price. Now that is an achievement; destroy the very workers you depend on with no effect on the stock. That $60 mil for a company which makes revenues in the billions has no real effect, what is the stock price? Did it jump $15 on the news? The answer is no. It went unnoticed, but managed to destroy lives of real people and contributed to the burden this country must face. In fact it managed to get you a reputation for taking that raise of 55%, created mistrust throughout the company, which will slowly destroy this company from the inside. This time it is different. Those left behind will not easily forget as they have done in the past. I have no loyalty for someone who would take such action when the country is hurting. In fact this goes not only for Honeywell, but for all the CEO’s and those VP’s that take the corporate jet each day to visit their paramours at the cost of a years salary for the average employee. Yes you deserve it, because you are all great contributors to this society we call America. Mr Cote, what would we do without such progressive thinkers as you to lead this countries economic power? China will never surpass the ingenuity of the American workers, which make your salary possible. Why not just lay off all of us and then you can report a bigger profit and take a bigger raise, and we will all just say nothing, because your are different and better then the rest of us. You are a great thinker and a great American... Saturday, December 19, 2009 The best way to tell if layoffs are coming after the holidays at Aerospace ISC is to look for the announcements sent out via email about new directors and VP's. As I struggle through my pay cut and look forward to the first (probably the first of many) furlough next year, I wonder where I missed the bus to the Phoenix Jobs Bank, where the same sorry set of characters plays musical chairs while our manufacturing infrastructure is gutted. This is shameful. Saturday, December 19, 2009 We were told in AERO that the salary reductions saved $60 million in 2008. Dave Cote received an increase of $30 million, I understand. Our CEO and CFO hightailed it out of Aerospace earlier this year (don't know why ,since THEIR pay was unaffected). Will someone tell me what we are sacraficing for? Or for who? Friday, December 18, 2009 A modern corporation must recognize that they serve the three people constituencies of stockholders, customers, and employees, and that none of these are more important than the other. Unfortunately, Neutron Jack earned fame and fortune by guiding GE for 20 years, while he ruthlessly gutted customers and employees in favor of stockholders. Allied Signal learned from GE, and has taken Honeywell down this same path. I now make a point to never buy anything with the GE name on it. I have found GE quality has been seriously degraded. At the same time this was occurring, GE bragged about their Six Sigma program. How can it be that Six Sigma, with all the best of intentions, results in reduced quality? Simple, because management is only driven to increase short-term profits and only views Six Sigma as another marketing tool! Honeywell used to be a great company to work for, and we made great products while serving customers. Unfortunately, those that are harvesting the company in order to prop up short-term profits will appear to shine as long as profits continue to rise. Only when customers and employees begin to rebel will any changes be made - and then it may be too late. Friday, December 18, 2009 Maybe management will begin to get the message when the letters MIS (Make It Stop) begin to appear on bulletin boards, in conference rooms, and break rooms across the company: The employees have finally had enough. Friday, December 18, 2009 - To the writer of MAKE IT STOP. The capitalistic model works very well; however it does not work when you have corruption. Which unfortunately is reaching a peak in this country. Just look around: the SEC is keeping its eyes closed and allowed the market to get out of control and crashed the world economy. Companies, especially Honeywell, told us that in order to save jobs we need to take a furlough - and then did the lay off anyway, reduced the 401 contributions and took away the health care from those about to retire. Well, why not? What are you going to do about it? The banks right now are doing what ever they want, like raising fees or making mistakes. Customer service is, "what are you going to do about it?" They know you can't re-mortgage, so you are stuck and they can do what ever they want. Just as Honeywell is able to cut your pay, your savings, lay people off and what the hell are you going to say about it? Absolutely nothing. Honeywell knows that, and they can do whatever they want. Let's just say that you know someone who was wrongfully fired just weeks before retirement. You can't take them to court; by the time the case is heard, you will first run out of money, or you will die. Besides you have seen the whistle-blower from NASA or BA; they have no job, just a few minutes on 20/20. What a protection law that is. Nobody can organize anymore, because there are no patriots left in this country. Although you have power in numbers, there will always be that one idiot that will step up thinking that he/she will finally be recognized and get a nice 9 block review, rather than standing up for a greater good. Honeywell is not the only company which knows this. They all use the 9-block, just look around. When ever cost of fuel goes up, airline ticket prices go up and they should, based on the model. But look at your 9-block model, it’s the same at GE and across the country, everyone received a 2% raise, evet the best performing divisions. Why can’t I go to Honeywell and ask for an increase in pay? Now lets look at the term performance raise. If the worst and best divisions get the same 2%, how is that based on performance? Or no matter what the COLA rate is, we all get 2-3% raise. Hmmmm, what a performance evaluation that is. If you fire all the B and C performers, somehow next year they find more. Must be the folks from the above paragraph. Just some food for thought - Cote takes a 55% pay increase, when you take a furlough. Yes, Make It Stop. Monday, December 14, 2009 The focus and emphasis in these blogs are on Honeywell; but Honywell isn't the only company practicing this grave exercise of betrayal of their countrymen under the popular buzz jargon of "globalization". There are many others. Beware, all you naive and puffed-up imbeciles hiding behind MBA's and titles. When Marx is finished and is satisfied with the damage you have inflicted on your countrymen, your ally, whom you didn't recognize, will dispose of you like a dog. Yes, in exchange for quick wealth, you were duped and used into dumping and disenfranchising your fellow American partners in labor. Monday, December 14, 2009 Anyone who thinks that the management will not take full advantage of the saving made by furloughs, lives in a dream world. No one cares about the day-to-day problems - they are just interested in the quarterly figures. Next year, just be prepared for 26 unpaid vacation days. But relax, they still expect you to work those 26 days. And, for the record, these furlough days were in place so as not to layoff your brothers and sisters, and yet there is going to be a mass culling taking place before our Christmas holiday begins. Honeywell's policy of savings-savings-savings does not apply to the people. They have to save themselves. Monday, December 14, 2009 First came the Toyota Production System (TPS). Then Honeywell shamelessly pirated the program and turned it into the Honeywell Operating System (HOS). Now we have the next logical step---MIS. Make It Stop. How wonderfully appropriate. I hope it catches on, because it truly is the only way to get upper management's attention and end these abusive tactics. Sunday, December 13, 2009 A small suggestion to all of those with Honeywell Aerospace who will be blessed with time off without pay the first part of January -- make it stop. Program managers and Project Control analysts are receiving direct messages from upper Aero management that missing milestones, hardware deliveries, or revenue targets due to the small inconvenience of this furlough is NOT ACCEPTABLE. The phone calls from numerous customers and and messages from Program Management indicating that schedule push-outs and deliverable targets are at risk are going unheeded. It is the opinion of management that we should all line up and work the extra time to assure that all January targets are met -- for free, of course, since paid overtime is not part of the Honeywell way. Well, MAKE IT STOP! Let the milestones slip, the revenue targets slide, the deliveries can be late. The only way to prevent another furlough in July is to put the pain in the only place Honeywell management seems to understand -- their bottom line. Make It Stop! Saturday, December 12, 2009 - Re: "and you reward our ideation by...SHIPPING OUR JOBS to China?!" The bonus! You forgot the BONUS. It's not about whether it makes sense or not. It's about someone making their bonus under the guise of saving money. And every single time this happens, it weakens US manufacturing and strengthens China's. Cote gets a fatter paycheck and the politicians look the other way. Great, ain't it? Friday, December 11, 2009 I am glad something like this weblog actually exists. I worked for Hand-Held Products from 2005 until we were acquired by Honeywell in 2007. We were a privatly owned company and did a majority of our manufacturing in upstate New York (yes I said NY...even with the taxes). I dont think we had the leanest operation ever, but we had some good stuff. Well, after Honeywell bought us, they came in and looked at our operations from an HOS perspective and really liked what they saw...especially a 3 line SMT operation that was value-stream aligned and scheduled 100% by Kanban. Next thing we know some "accounting" team says it will save millions to move to China.... Bye bye manufacturing in New York. Here is where the story will turn your stomach. I took a position in HOS as a Lead NA Specialist. The first worldwide knowledge-sharing event we login into shows the SMT operation from some Honeywell plant in Mexico... guess what...they had the exact same pull system design we had 2 years earlier. My boss had the brass to ask the knowledge sharing team where they got the idea and they said from NY plant that you are from. So let me get this straight. We do better than your sorry excuse for lean called HOS ever thought of doing, and you reward our ideation by...SHIPPING OUR JOBS to China?! I am glad to be out of there. 1 week removed and I am sleeping better already. Dave Cote couldn't manage a Taco Bell. Thursday, December 10, 2009 I see that the Brits lost their RGM this week, I wondered how long it would be before they realized that someone from turbo chargers couldn't run HBS. It makes a change to fire the head honcho just before Christmas. It is usually the foot soldiers that get dumped on. Lets hope the new RGM has some better ideas. Wednesday, December 9, 2009 There were layoffs today at UOP, Cote's favorite experiment in how to get the biggest bonus out of ruining a company. Nothing newsworthy (or more importantly reportable to the state), maybe 1% or less, unless you are one of the poor souls let go. The layoffs also left one of the best-selling UOP technologies with no domestic assets allocated to do design work. Zero. It would amuse me to see what the suits are telling the customers - and the bankers financing the projects - who pay a premium for premium technology when asked who is designing their units. If it is made in China, wouldn't an astute consumer expect a sticker or something somewhere to convey that? Might there also be an implied lower price to reflect the lower cost, or God forbid lower quality, of not using a domestic asset? Is UOP to become the WalMart of licensed refining technology? Probably not. Cote will hopefully be tarred and feathered before this happens to another UOP technology. Saturday, December 5, 2009 Having read the below comments, I cannot help but feel that it is time for many Honeywell employees to start looking around for a new job and use their experience and history to find a better job! I recently left due to the obsessive workaholic culture they have created and haven't regretting leaving one bit. My main concern are the amount of experienced knowledgeable people who have left after me which has created a vacuum within all organizations. It is easy to whinge about the Honeywell leadership and Dave Cote getting share options and bonuses but I think the main danger are the middle managers who appear to be totally ineffective, useless and protect their own jobs by treating their employees appallingly. The amount of middle management who appear untouched by headcount reductions and geographical relocations amazes me. (Aerospace's obsession with the Czech republic for example). They are masking the true impact on morale and the direct effect it has on the customers, whose opinion doesn't seem to matter anymore. The amount of pain that Honeywell has made on it's existing and past employees should be returned in one way or another as I find it disgusting that a company this size should be allowed to get away it. HR? Don't even go there! Saturday, December 5, 2009 That's just the sort of junk that Honeywell pulls, saying "Thank You" to everyone who participated in the 10% salary reduction. Did anyone have a choice? I certainly did not. Wednesday, December 2, 2009 Last week we received an email from HR that the furlough "savings" for whole EMEA region were 20M euro, and a "thank you" to all who participated. Peanuts compared to the +28M dollar compensation package of Diamond Dave for last year. Monday, November 23, 2009 - Re: the Nov. 21 post from Aerospace: It sounds like the demise has been spread equally. Sensing and Control is equally deficient. Had we been run so inefficiently before the Allied takeover, we would have been out of business long ago. Fortunately, new management under Cote arrived just in time to save us. For years we had practiced operational excellence, getting really good at what we do. Cote's "improvements" sent us into the Dark Ages. The loss of efficiency and productivity was staggering. Initially, heroic attempts were made to retain some semblance of the high standards we'd had before. But when it became obvious that upper management did not share the same standards, one by one most people decided the heck with it. Management plays their metric games. Temporarily focus on quality, a small improvement is noted, a few managers get promoted, but cost suffers. Temporarily focus on cost, a small improvement is noted, a few managers get bonuses, but inventory goes up. Focus on inventory, a small improvement is noted, the plant manager gets a promotion, but delivery gets worse. Focus on delivery, and quality diminishes. Management keeps the cycle going, filling their pockets with every cycle, cadres of Powerpoint junkies meticulously plot each imagined microscopic gain, management touts their successes, yet there's no real net improvement. Despite managment's lofty BS, we're still in the Dark Ages compared to where we were in the 90's. Meanwhile, production lines for highly complex products are jerked out and sent to China. It doesn't take a genius to imagine what happens there, but you'll never hear of those lines again. Those problems and performance issues are well hidden. Cote claims the gains on paper of such moves, and then buys a new company to do it all over again. He's turned Honeywell into a private piggy bank for himself and his upper echelon cohorts, while 0% and more layoffs are the standards for the workers. You're absolutely right: Polish the resume, and then get out of this sinking ship with your dignity intact. Then spread the word to help others avoid this quagmire of futility. Monday, November 23, 2009 I'm free! Alright, long time reader, 1st time poster, so I might as well say a few things. I was not a senior manager but was at a leadership position at a site level, so I know a lot about how corporate thinks, since I was involved in implementing the AOP for the site. Honeywell is obsessed with headcount. It's always about headcount. I've been in so many meetings where corporate tries to "trick" you out of headcount by saying you should be at a certain level, even though they told you to hire a few more people for special programs (not just HOS). You have to absorb all those unnecessary people you were told to hire. You get worn down when they try to chip at your headcount at every single meeting. It's never explicitly stated, but it's clear that Honeywell regards employees as it's biggest liability. You have to do everything to get rid of them. The longer they stay, the more benefits they earn and severance costs will only increase. You must get rid of employees as much as possible. Honeywell thinks and treats it's employees like parasites that must be removed at all costs. And who cares about customers, Honeywell fires salespeople and changes sales incentive mid year all the time! Just get your headcount down. I'm glad I got out of that crazy world! Sunday, November 22, 2009 That style of management is not exclusive to Aerospace. ACS and the other divisions have it too. Saturday, November 21, 2009 Honeywell Aerospace Senior Management views on a few things:
Saturday, November 21, 2009 How many people does it take to run a good company like Honeywell into the ground? Less and less every year. Saturday, November 21, 2009 I just erased a long ramble about the management mistakes Honeywell has made in just the last few weeks. But I thought better. I can just thow out a few actions and let them speak for themselves:
Friday, November 20, 2009 I want to thank all the contributors who have written here. It does helps some cope with the overwhelming weight of working for Honeywell. In fact it's apparent that Honeywell is not the only company, as evidenced by the other blogs here and all over the net. We see CEOs getting 55% pay increases and, as reported on the news just this week, an ever evident and disturbing trend developing where now the pension funds are now grossly under funded as the board members retire and receive $3-5 Million in retirement benefits, yearly. Yes yearly. This has now been identified as a trend, which means that more companies will be reported - thanks to the folks in Washington who are supposed to be watching the required pension minimums. Seems even the pensions are being ignored by Washington. This may be the next big bomb to drop on the economy. All this, while your job is moved off shore. This has happened because they make off with the money and leave the US workers with the bill. This now is much bigger than just losing your job. The greed in this country has been allowed to do what they want and now they want it all, even during retirement. Currently 2% of the population controls 98% of the money. How much more do they need? This is much bigger than anyone alone. We need to act now without delay. There is no way they can get away with if we can form a group to protect us and our children. There will be more on this in the very near future here and on Yahoo. This is very disturbing trend and who knows how deep this will go. Those of you who have jobs right now, that does not mean your retirement will be there, or your job. Once it's gone, it's gone, and there's nothing we can do. But, if we stop this now, maybe we can save some. Friday, November 20, 2009 Frankly, I was stunned by the comments concerning Honeywell on this Weblog. (Repressive communication practices forbid the utterance of such comments out loud.) Yes, there is something very wrong with this company. I too wonder how Dave Cote and his immediate staff can sleep at night. Yesterday evening, (November 19th), well after most of the U.S. employees had gone home, a smiling bodiless CEO level film clip was e-mailed across Honeywell Aerospace announcing a mandatory unpaid furlough for thousands of Honeywell employees the first week of January. The senior Aerospace workforce (many of whom had already experienced a mid-year 10% wage reduction)had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and this was it. Furloughs and pay reductions were utilized in 2009 to "save jobs and cut cost across Aerospace". Bonuses and awards have been flowing into the pockets of the corporate executives for the cost savings initiatives since these initiative went into affect in late Q2. While the working level of the company struggles to make financial ends meet, the perts and bonuses at the executive level are presented to the finanicial news media as evidence of a strong and vibrant company. (One executive is flown home every Friday from the Aerospace Corporate offices in Phoenix to his home in California. The Gulfstream jet and crew reflect a $40k a week contractual obligation to the company. Let's consider that cost in light of the average yearly pay of an Aerospace production employee now faced with a loss of 6% of their wages going into the new year.) Aerospace Management is fixated with metrics. They have invested a ton of money developing tools to extract metrics from a business enterprise system purchased for millions of dollars which is unable to provide basic reporting functions. There are dozens of tools costing more millions of dollars now feeding and extracting data in an non-integrated fashion from the enterprise business system. Tons of metrics, reams of data, but little information that provides for an understanding of what is really happening in the business. From a production standpoint, the enterprise system has effectively brought multiple Aerospace sites to their knees. Factory production rates are down. Build and ship operating plans are based on targets set much lower than those which were achieved five years ago -- oh, but yes, the metrics say we are hitting our current production build and revenue targets. Hence, the enterprise system and organization structure are functioning as advertised. Overhead rates are staggering. This reflects a top-heavy management structure that has become completely disconnected from the day to day workings of the company. Culture of fear? You bet. A recent survey from Human Resources requested opinions regarding management -- however, the survey pointed out that corporate executives were "outside" the scope of the survey and one could only discuss one's immediate supervisor. It is not unusual to hear directors inform program managers that "they don't take action items". A company which was an industry leader in "teaming across all levels" has effectively disengaged upper management from managing projects. If there's a problem, it is the responsibility of the Program Managers at the project level to resolve it before it can affect the bottom line of the business. The organizational model lends itself to chaos. The divisions between operating functions is counterproductive. Program managers have no authority to direct resources. Resources are managed by unique operational units with the production and engineering functions on unique ends of the spectrum. Program management is responsible for engineering revenue and cost but has no control of the resources required to perform contractual work. Program management is responsible for maintaining production delivery schedules, but has no voice with regard to materials management, production flows, or hardware test schedules The military sector of Aerospace is a particular concern. It would behoove the government to "should cost" every cost type contract currently in progress within Honeywell Aerospace. It would also behoove the government to review aircraft hardware and software safety and reliability given the massive outsourcing to foreign countries of hardware design software engineering jobs within the company. There is plenty of low-hanging fruit to get government auditors engaged. The business enterprise labor charging system is suspect and would provide a good starting place for government review. Yes, the phrase "World Class" is a matter of perspective. Tuesday, November 17, 2009 Well, the management and board pay no attention to the employees; hopefully they will pay attention to the markets. However, I doubt if they will, they are all on some massive ego trip. Tuesday, November 17, 2009 If you had asked me 10 years ago if it was possible for a single person to gut the vitality out of a company the size of Honeywell, without hesitation I would have said: of course not. I thought there were enough checks and balances to prevent it. Likewise, 10 years ago, if a community announced a Honeywell facility was coming to their area, they had reason to celebrate because of the jobs it would bring. Reality turned out a lot different. Now, after 10 years of endless cuts in order to meet the numbers Cote promised Wall Street, the vitality is gone. Esprit de corps left a long time ago. And instead of looking forward to Honeywell's presence in a community, the reality is that, when Honeywell arrives it means that another company has been bought out and jobs (and tax revenues) will leave. I don't have an accounting background, but it looks to me like Cote turned the vitality of the company into bonuses for him and low paying jobs for inexperienced people in China. Monday, November 16, 2009 Thank you bloggers, you're helping me make it day-to-day, because I realize the problems are everywhere, not just at UOP. Pretty atrocious, isn't it? What we see is the "life" being sucked out of work. Fear is everywhere and the furloughs and benefit cuts are making it pretty near impossible to stay productive. The only thing that keeps me going is that as a relatively experienced workforce (WAY too well-educated and experienced for HON), there are still some brilliant and dedicated people here in our division. Not for long, I'm afraid. I notice that some of the financial sites are starting to pick up on the 100 % negative nature of this blog. For any of the management or board of HON - hey, wake up - how about that stock price? Do you think the culture has anything to do with that? Sunday, November 15, 2009 We received an email saying that the furloughs for our division are over. Unfortunately they said that they will continue to evaluate the need for furloughs in the future as sales have not improved. Saturday, November 14, 2009 I read the various company blogs on this site. The interesting pattern across companies is that, with the exception of Siemens, and especially Honeywell, most discussions are rather positive or at least competitive in discussing various technical virtues of their products. These are rather healthy discussions. Honeywell blogs, in particular, are laser focused on the company's persistant negative management style, the micro-management, Cote's culture of FEAR, weak Board of Directors, the constant closure of North American sites in favor of Asia, cuts in benefits and working hours - along with plunging employee morale. The complaint is the same across multiple Honeywell businesses. Wow, you people at Honeywell must have a real hard time getting up in the morning to go work in this environment. Your days must be full of stress and you must be afraid to leave work at the end of the day. Proof is that there have been ZERO positive blogs on Honeywell. So, as the expression goes, "where ther is smoke, there is fire" - must be true. Bless you all for your heroic efforts - inspite of your jobs being always under threat by your managers, that you are told that you are lucky to have a job, and that you have to work half the evening and not have time for your wife and kids..... This Thanksgiving and Christmas, pray for your Managers so that they will see the light. Pray that they will have a conversion. Then go home and hug your kids and be thankful that you still have a job... Because next year WILL be different! Friday, November 13, 2009 Welcome to Dave Cote's Culture of Fear. You can do all that, and do it well, but there will be no raise, no promotion, no job security. Your job will still be offshored. The only thing you've done is incrementally helped make Dave successful. Once you're gone, someone else will be there to Lay-It-On-The-Line for Dave until they, too, are gone. The only person who comes out ahead is good old Dave. What a racket. Friday, November 13, 2009 Management has short term vision. Employees are expected to be on the job at all days & hours of the week. Vacation time you are expected to be available to emails, conference calls or to even cut short and come back to work! The culture demands you be a workalholic. No personal life ever! No fun on the job, no perks, no frills. Critism is all they give to employees. Never, a word of encouragement or appreciation. Tuesday, November 10, 2009 As a former Honeywell employee, watching the evening news tonight it was said that the banks are up to it again. Not one credit-card company to date has put in place the new laws. Before the new laws come into effect Feb 2010, they are increasing interest rates on their best customers and demanding higher FICA scores for new applicants. I saw a video where a bank CEO was filmed at a party saying, "they just take it when we raise rates." Honeywell is not much better then the banks or any other large company. Nobody really owns the company and it's just a money tree for those in power. Watching Executive Vision on CNBC, (yes I have been watching a lot of TV) it became even more obvious that they are just people with no better education, vision and very little leadership skills. When asked, "What are you doing in your business, what strategy are you using to be more profitable for this tough market condition?", they all replied, "We needed to restructure, we needed to get waste out of our business, we negotiate our prices with our supplier and we want to retain our brand name (what ever that means)." So up to this point each CEO has been running inefficient businesses and never before talked with their supplier? Show me how smart you are and do it without cutting jobs and increase profits in this tough market. Earn your keep. It takes no brains to run a company when times are good. They just keep taking away the benefits our parents got. It seems our parents fought to get those benefits and we are letting the CEO take them away one at a time. How stupid do we need to be to take this? Enough is enough. Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Major player in the 'green industry' my foot. It's another gimmick to ensure Diamond Dave's bank account gets greener while he continues to offshore even more jobs. If anyone write letters to their politicians, they should protest the continued enrichment of CEO's at the expense of American jobs. These traitors need to be held accountable, and legislation is the only way. Sadly, personal responsibility and integrity aren't enough to do the job. Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - To the November 09, 2009 post: Last year Diamond Dave begged all of us in a corporate-wide email to write our congressmen asking them to pass the stimulus and bailout packages. Some of the people I worked with did end up writing to congress asking them to release the money for fear there might be another economic depression. Now I understand Honeywell is positioning itself to be a "major player" in the new green industry. Hmmmm, guess where the dollars for green industry will be coming from? By the way most of the people that I worked with, including the ones that wrote their congressmen, were recently laid off. When I was younger I remember someone telling me that a Recession is when your neighbor or coworker gets laid off - a Depression is when YOU get laid off. Seems rather poetic in a sick way. Monday, November 09, 2009 I remember early in Cote's tenure as CEO he had one major task on his plate: Resolve Honeywell's asbestos litigation problem. This was one of the many problems that came along with the Allied merger. He failed miserably, and ultimately came with his hat in his hands to the Honeywell employees begging them to write their politicians to pass legislation favorable to Honeywell. After Diamond Dave's reign of terror, I wonder how many of those letter-writing employees are left, and how many were terminated as a thank-you? Of the ones left, I wonder how many of them would write a similar letter for Dave today. For that matter, I wonder if any of today's employees would write letters for Dave. Or if he's smart enough to not even bother to ask. Saturday, November 7, 2009 I heard an interesting expression recently. It's "misbehaving MBAs". And herein is the problem. Just as in any endeavor, you have MBAs using their education for evil rather than good - in the same way as bombs are used constructively for contruction and roads; and destructively for IEDs. However, there is no one to take these misbehaving MBA's child-like mouth sucker away, or give them a time out like you would with a two year old having a fit, or an ocassional spanking. MBAs have no true professional association. They are not legally licensed for their conduct. There is no real professional body that governs their code of conduct and can regulate their behavor. They are freelance mercenaries of the business world with allegiance only to the almighty dollar - that is hired guns. The money makes them soulless and hollow! To the blogger that asked to stop bashing MBAs and go after titles: I'd say that if you are so proud of being an MBA, put it in your will to have MBA stamped after you name on your tombstone. Pre-write your obituary to show how many jobs you eliminated or outsourced. You are too much of a coward to do this. I've been to far too many funerals to know that these behavors don't have any impact on real people, and you will be forgotten very quickly. What matters is those that had a sense of true community and made a true contribution to their community - not because of money contributions, but because of the human heart. Friday, November 6, 2009 You are right about there being "different kinds of smart". There are $60,000 per year smart and $20,000 per year smart. Dave Cote is firing the $60,000 per year smart people and hiring the $20,000 per year smart people who are all overseas. There's a bunch of us engineers who are going to walk away once we find another position at another company. We are all actively looking for work elsewhere and swapping job leads. Once the economy picks up you will see an exodus of talent from Honeywell. Dave and his bunch are making decisions that mean more money now but will cripple the company in the future. He and his cronies will then leave the company and declare victory (Mission Accomplished) and leave the next poor CEO to try and pick up the pieces. I predict a long period of financial trouble starting while Dave is still CEO as he extracts the last dime from the dried up husk of the once proud company. Friday, November 6, 2009 Unfortunately, for US employees the longer this farce continues the more the question comes down to: Am I going to help Diamond Dave bank a bigger bonus this year, or am I going to act as a loyal American and walk away from this mess? Dave and his crew of micromanagers only have one game plan, and that is to offshore jobs to Bangalore and Nanjing as quickly as possible. Hand over your jobs to overseas locations, and then further waste US resources by providing endless support to help them be successful. It is incredible that this has been allowed to happen. But the politicians have bought the lie from the CEOs that companies must do this because: 1. They need to remain competitive, and 2. Overseas employees are better educated. The fact that CEOs, including Diamond Dave, also contribute heavily to political campaigns is not a coincidence. Remember Diamond Dave standing next to Beaming Barack earlier this year? But if Nanjing and Bangalore are such hotbeds of excellence, then why do projects undertaken by these groups require so much hand-holding from the US? Could it be because there are different kinds of smart? Cote goes to bed at night with dreams of fattening his paycheck by sending more jobs overseas. The worse he makes American employees look, the more justification he has, the faster the jobs leave, the richer he becomes. He gets to live large at our expense; layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts, reduced benefits, reduction or elimination of severance, etc. and the damage to communities that results. Cote and the board are managing the company for the benefit of a few at the expense of many. Institutional shareholders apparently give little thought, and typically vote their shares to support management. Employees are powerless - with the exception that we can just say -- NO MORE. And walk away. This has to stop. Thursday, November 5, 2009 Well I just looked at my "furlough" paycheck and it raises a question for Dave and his lackeys, ... How the hell do you sleep at night? As an employee and, more importantly in this case, a stock holder, I have to say that Dave and the Board have got to go. Fire the bastards. Wednesday, November 4, 2009 I agree in principle with those who object to painting all MBAs with a broad brush. However..... I've had experience with these whiz-kids also. The usual scenario is that they show up out of nowhere to help "fix" so-called financially troubled product lines or locations. Typically they've been given God-like authority, and begin to order changes without bothering to learn the facts surrounding the existing situation. Trying to apply common sense and reason with them is futile. Apparently their assignment is to shake things up, and this they do with great gusto. And then they leave, apparently successful -- with a notch on their calculators -- headed to "fix" something else. Except the fix wasn't real, or it wasn't permanent. For example, they'll focus on lowest possible part cost, and indeed, will find lower cost parts. Great cost savings. Except quality and delivery go to hell. But they notch a 'job well done' while those left behind try to clean up the mess they left. Frankly, my impression of a lot of these folks is that they are technical wannabees who couldn't cut it in the technical world. I'm trying to keep an open mind. I hope somewhere there are MBA's that have their acts together, and someday I'd like to work with them on a job, just to see the difference. Wednesday, November 4, 2009 People keep referring to MBAs as though "MBA" was the job title. Stop it. Focus your angst at the position, not the pedigree. Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Here is the problem with MBAs at Honeywell. I know that there is a "boiler room" type of these in Phoenix, trying to figure out strategies on how to squeeze & close sites. The problem is that it is a "boiler room". They are of like mind and like purpose, where dissension is probably questioned. Because of the high centralization in Honeywell (like in the Aerospace Group), these individuals never personally feel the consequences of their recommendations. There is a new regulatory wave coming over America on executive compensation. There should also be a new wave for MBAs. Their employment contract should also bind them that after they implement their decisions, they should be knocked down two levels for 3 years to experience the consequences of their decisions. This is the main problem. MBAs never personally feel (in their families) the consequences of their decisions. I know this to be true because I've been on many Honeywell strategic planning groups. In these sessions, what happens to individual employees is never discussed. When the topic comes up, it's always deferred to HR an a nuisance detail for them to take care of - and we move on! I agree that Honeywell is a large company and can be hard to manage. All the more reason to bust up the company into smaller pieces. It will create far more innovation that Diamond Cote can muster up in in his Town Hall meetings and award programs - which few people attend at the site level. The proof that Cote is ineffective in this is the poor stock price. There are too many centralized Corporate layers that really reduces effective decision making and productivity - like spending half of your day preparing metrics and the other half day explaining them - (personal experience). Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Honeywell is a Jekyll-and-Hyde company. For most of us, our work is about products and services. We assume Dave Cote's should be, also. Guess again. His work is offshoring *our* jobs. What the hell kind of a business is that? And by making us look inefficient (think of the time wasted on HOS, Six Sigma, etc.) the more justification he has. What a racket. Tuesday, November 3, 2009 We will stop bashing MBA's when they stop bashing us. Having a degree of higher learning is not a bad thing; it is when this piece of paper is used as a spring board to total hell that we have a problem. If, as you say, it helps with "better understand the basis for the decisions that are being made" then why has it not helped people like Dave Cote? Everyone I know that has a position of upper management in the world of Wall Street, carries and flaunts their MBA. And yet, the American economy is spinning down the vortex to hell. I know a lot of MBAs who are actually smart, but they use this for the betterment of mankind. As soon as you're given a position of money, you tend to lose the information you have learnt and proceed to act on greed. Greed has never been known to produce a design of longevity. When you look at the CEOs who have MBAs, and the fall of stock shares linked to these CEOs, you can only come to one conclusion. Diamond Dave and friends need to learn that history has a bad habit of repeating itself and this is our Roman Empire. Tuesday, November 3, 2009 I agree on the MBA bashing thing, if anything an MBA education allows me to see MORE poor decisions being made in even MORE areas of the business and makes me angrier as our upper management in AERO ignores fundamentals of keeping a company healthy long term- things like talent management, R&D, customer relationships, and developing manufacturing capability using labor cost as one criteria, not the only criteria. The managers playing musical chairs in Phoenix are completely detached from the reality that our customers and our plants see and should get involved before our already hollow brand name becomes worthless. And by the way, there were greedy self serving idiots in business school, so there are plenty of those running around with MBA's to be sure, we just need to make sure we all understand how badly some of them are hurting our future at Honeywell. Tuesday, November 3, 2009 How about we stop the silly MBA bashing. They are not all like Diamond Dave. I am a technical employee, but have 2 business grad degrees (including the MBA). I pursued these degrees so that I could better understand the basis for the decisions that are being made. I felt like stupid decisions were being made with little knowledge or skill, and I wanted to know why and maybe jump in the mix to do something about it. There are a lot of great classes to help you understand the mechanics of business and strategy. I suggest those who bash the MBA and claim victim-status while decrying *anyone* who pursues advanced business degrees, try it for themselves and stop the incessant victim-whining. Add some skills and take over some of the management jobs if you really think you can stomach it. MBA!=The devil's seed. With all that said - I have to completely agree that the leadership has to go! They are sacrificing an entire company for next quarter's results. And since the company is so large and covers so many communities, they are wrecking communities and families all for the SHORT TERM QUARTERLY RESULTS! Honeywell is not much different from other companies that go whoring for the Wall Street analysts fickle and uneducated approval. Honeywell touts the Hometown Solutions as part of it's community improvement initiatives.... screw that. How about you look down the road and beyond your golden parachute and figure out how to bring innovation back while giving a rat's ass about the American worker... or the country for that matter! Honeywell is traitorous in how it sends high-tech (and high-tech knowlege/jobs) to countries who HATE the US. Cote should be tried as a spy. Cut the BS (i.e. HOS and watered down Six Sigma). TREMENDOUS (I can not emphasize the magnitude of this) amounts of waste are found there - chop heads within upper and middle management. Now. For crap's sake, Aerospace spends most of its time reorganizing the same idiots into different formations - my opinion is that's how management hides from the axe. It pisses off the customers and messes with productivity. Set a target ratio of direct:indirect labor and cut your indirect, starting at the top. Learn to communicate outside of PowerPoint and funny words that make you sound smart and sophisticated. You sound like a jackass to this MBA. Monday, November 2, 2009 I'm looking here and other places on the web. Common theme on Honeywell is Cote's excessive compensation package relative to poor stock performance. Cote is looking so greedy. The greed is looking so overwhelming that, even if he launches any altuistic initiative, there will be questions as to his motives. From what I see, when the Devil hands out hus Continuous Improvement Greed Awards, Cote will be sure to win - right behind Madoff, and others. During Cote's many years, the stock price has gone down year after year and it has underperformed the S&P 500 since 2002. So, why are the Board of LapDog Directors keeping this weak performer? Honeywell adopted the GE policy of firing the bottom 10% of performers. Why is Cote still there? Monday, November 2, 2009 Common sense doesn't play a part in Dave Cote's world, the only thing that matters is Dave Cote. He doesn't care how many people he puts out of work as long as his total compensation package keeps going up. This is where the board of directors is as much to blame as Dave. The board could hold him accountable but they don't; they could replace him but they don't; they could reduce his compensation but they don't. Have you ever wondered why they don't do those things? Maybe there's a connection between all of them? Monday, November 2, 2009 It just goes to show that people like Dave have turned an MBA into a worthless piece of paper. I have no idea what BS is taught in MBA class, but common sense and logic is not on the agenda. I will explain simple logic so that even an MBA will understand:
But like I said, Dave Cote would not know common sense if it smacked him on the head. And if you are making notes, MBA classes are packed with lots of Daves. Monday, November 2, 2009 So how do we, the people, stop these global corporations from eventually assimilating and offshoring every manufacturing job in the US? It seems that as soon as a small company develops a unique or exceptional product, they eventually get assimilated by the Borg. Then manufacturing is sent to China, more people end up without jobs, and the CEO's get richer. Where does it stop? Why is this OK? Monday, November 2, 2009 Great article on the activities of the former AERO CEO, who cut all our pay before leaving to go pillage another company. Guy fails Dave Cote's acid test (probably hung on to too many American manufacturing employees), so he gets run out along with the CFO this summer, but no worries, he is back to his old tricks at First Solar. Sunday, November 1, 2009 Honestly, in reading all the blogs, you have to believe that Cote is the top "Hitler of Honeywell"... in that Cote is the top "Killer of USA jobs". So there are no apologies here. You look at Aerospace and S&C - and you see a cosistant pattern. There is a phrase: "If you live by the sword, you die by the sword". The stock price is the ultimate vote. Honeywell's stock has been doing crap. I'll bet that is Cote resigns, the stock price will go up. Time for the old tired horse to leave for some fresh new and visonary blood. tried of the same old business garbage from Cote that no young peoson believes. Sunday, November 1, 2009 NW Illinois loses presssure transducer jobs to China - not because China has demonstrated any particular ability to build this complex product, but only because Cote perceives he can save a penny. Technology and processes developed by years of effort by western engineers is again handed to the Chinese on a silver platter. But after all the moving and support costs are considered long-term, will it truly be cheaper? Oh, that's right: By the time the true cost is known, Cote will be gone. In the local newspaper the Honeywell mouthpiece talks about how much Honeywell values its employees. Apparently only if the employees happen to be Chinese or possibly Indian. Actions speak louder than words -- Honeywell's US employess are nothing but an expendable asset to be sacrificed in Cote's relentless pursuit of glory. Sunday, November 1, 2009 The Los Angeles times has an interesting article on how upset the Army is with Honeywell over its "saving energy building retrofit" contract. Along with the story about Quincy this does not look good for Honeywell. How many times do you have to mess the government around before you are taken off their vendors list? Saturday, October 31, 2009 NWIL More jobs being outsourced to Communist China. The Honeywell S&C idiocy continues.... Sunday, October 25, 2009 When I saw the post about the source code my first thought was "What can I do about it?". I figured out that I had 3 options. The first option is to tell my boss who would say "That's nice but we cannot do anything about it". The second option is to find who deals with the control software and tell them but then I would get chewed out for not going through the chain of command. The third option was to ignore it and go back to playing games, surfing the internet or looking for another job while Honeywell pays me. I chose the third option because, in the end, nothing I do will change the way Honeywell management operates. It's sort of like re-arranging deckchairs on the Titanic, nothing I do can alter the course of the ship or do anything to raise my salary. Sunday, October 25, 2009 Source code leaking? This should surprise no one. We repeatedly stressed to management our concerns about the security of proprietary code if projects were outsourced to India and China. Their response: It will be OK, trust us. Then the next round of layoffs eliminated more stateside programmers. When management is unconcerned, why should anyone else care? It does absolutely no good. Thursday, October 22, 2009 Honeywell you have a problem - your software source code is leaking. Until recently I was working for a small engineering consultancy, they were outsourcing software development to a small "specialist" company in Bangalore. The last batch of (C) source code I saw (PID control module and OPC server) still contained the Honeywell comments and change log. Thursday, October 22, 2009 Unfortunately, Dave Cote is hiding behind the grading curve. In an economy where used car salesmen with Ivy League degrees can gamble other peoples money, lose it and expect everyone else to pay it back, and then expect and receive a lottery scale bonus, Dave in contrast, looks like a decent hard working CEO who is just trying run an honest business. Honeywell execs are acutely aware of this, and they will push it as far as they possibly can. When, or should I say if, they ever garner the attention they so richly deserve, they will rationalize it in yet another eloquently worded press release. Something to the effect of "at least we weren't as bad as those guys". Thursday, October 22, 2009 - To the Oct. 20 poster: Yes, it is amazing. It's as if someone told the CEO's that outsourcing was THE ANSWER. And from then on they approached outsourcing as if it were a free lunch, not smart enough to realize that nothing is free. All they did is replace a condition of known issues with one of unknown issues. I would estimate that 3/4 of the technical experience at Honeywell is gone, not to mention the talent pool at other positions. Absolutely nothing functions as well as it used to. Individual empowerment is non-existent. Micromanagement is extreme, and fear and paranoia are rampant. Just when you begin to think that everything possible in the way of employee "satisfiers" have been removed, management comes up with something else. Every day is slightly worse than the day before. Upper managment seems to be the only segment of Honeywell (at least in the US) that is prospering, and the disparity between then and the rank and file employee is growing rapidly. It is patently obvious that they have gorged at the company trough only to enrich themselves at the expense of the vitality of the company. I hope that one day there will be an accounting, but I'm not holding my breath. Tuesday, October 20, 2009 It is amazing the similarities that I see from this discussion and the discussion we had at Hewlett-Packard in 2000. A history major (Carly Fiorina) was running HP, the gem of the Silicon Valley. She was being talked about in the same fashion as David Cote. I had nearly 20 years at HP at the time. Fiorina started outsourcing, and trying to buy her way out of bad decisions to the tune of $19B in two or three different deals. The discussions were almost identical to these about Cote. Fiorina cooked the books, and within 18 months after she took the job the street was saying her bloom was off the rose. Then she laid off the first 6000, saying there were 6000 new hires when there was a hiring freeze on. Guess what? The 6000 laid off were 76% long time employees with more than 15 years service, over 40, making over $75k/year, not the 6000 new hires. This was the first layoff in the company's 60 year history. I was in the first 6000. Then she spent $19B for Compaq, a company in so much trouble that they were actually only weeks away from going under. That was one week after she cut the 6000. 9 months later another 15000 were cut, then 6 months later another 8000. All told, there were nearly 56,000 cut from both companies. The true value of the deal was a little over $2B, not the $19B she spent to buy it. It took 5 years, but she was fired in disgrace and has not worked since. Sometimes it takes a while, and it is painful for everyone involved, but they do get it in the end. I remember I was driving down the road, when a report aired on NPR, saying Fiorina had been fired. I was so overwhelmed, the only thing I could do was scream at the top of my lungs, and shake my fists in the air. I had to stop the car because I began to cry uncontrollably. After that it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from me. But this conversation sounds a lot like those times. Just remember, life is not lived at a job. You are, even though you aren't Honeywell. Monday, October 19, 2009 It seems that even NASA is fed up with Honeywell. They received a 70% award fee for the last 9 months on the NENS contract. Monday, October 19, 2009 Do a Google search for "Quincy" and "Honeywell" to see a very interesting news report. This is the face of Honeywell today. Saturday, October 17, 2009 If everything goes the way Dave Cote/Allied would like it to, there will only be a few locations left open in the United States, a few multi-office suites. Some offices serving as design and engineering houses and the rest will be inhabited by executive types like Dave and their paper-pushing lackeys (Six Sigma Loyalists) whose job it will be to watch over remote operations from afar. As the academic infrastructures of various LCRs throughout the world develop, eventually they will be able to produce their own engineering and design talent. Provided they will be willing to work for a fraction of their U.S. competitors salary (and they will be), Allied will likely outsource the remaining US engineering segment to them as well. At that point the process will be complete, Honeywell will exist in the U.S. on paper only - that is as long as there is still an advantage to be had for a corporation having U.S. citizenship. No one says Dave Cote/Allied will necessarily get this far, but this is likely what they have in mind. Friday, October 16, 2009 I agree with the Oct. 15 blogger. Allied was a company with serious legal and environmental problems that seriously needed to clean up its act. Muddying old Honeywell's reputation with Allied was, in my opinion, a mistake, and nothing but a transparent attempt to leave the "Allied" stigma behind in favor of a name with a better image. Dave Cote is nothing but a one-act play, repeated endlessly. He's never produced anything original; just warmed-over Jack Welch BS. When there are so many enlightened CEO's out there who truly earn their money, it is puzzling to me why the board of directors continues to settle for Cote's stunning mediocrity. Unfortunately, if/when they finally wake up, you can be sure Cote will receive the mother of all golden parachutes. You have to wonder how many more people will lose their jobs to pay for it. Thursday, October 15, 2009 Whoa! Wait a minute - Allied Signal took over Honeywell and everything moved to Morristown. They just kept the Honeywell name because it was well known. That Allied Signal culture was bad fromn day 1. Honeywell was a really good company to work for until the takeover. Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Cote has to go. He's done nothing for the stock price, and blaming others for the poor stock performance is really unbecoming of a CEO. You would expect this excuse-giving at the lower ranks. Cote has also hollowed out American facilities with all the outsourcing - something that he is directly responsible for. When I see the folks around Cote, all I see is smiling and nodding heads - there can't be any opposition at the Board of Directors level. A lot of companies are going through a leadership clean-sweep during this economic crisis. I would feel more comfortable if Honeywell did a clean sweep also. Cote has been in place and responsible for the stock-price falling from $60 to $30. He has little or no responsibility for any upside. Even the dividend payments are relatively poor. You can actually do much better in dividends and growth potential elsewhere. Also, Cote has never done an independently-conducted employee satisfaction survey. That left with Bosidy. These little thing reflect on the poor opinion/value he has of employeees. This poor opinion of employees especially permeates throughout Aerospace leadership. Wednesday, October 14, 2009 It's sad but true; Dave Cote and his cohorts are raising profit margins in the short-term, but sacrificing the long term future of the company to do it. Dave will bail out as the tide turns, and it will be left to a real leader to pick up the pieces. It is painfully obvious, now that Dave Cote rode the coat-tails of the economic boom in the last decade. Now that times are tough and we need real leadership, we find that he is an empty shell, spouting the same worn out phrases he has been using for a decade. Now he stands up at the all employee meetings and talks to empty rooms, giving phrases full of hot air that are no longer relevant, desirable or useful. He is hanging on and waiting for the stock price to go up so that he can say what a wonderful leader he is. He has blamed the stock-price going from 60 to 30 as being a function of the general economic downturn. When the stock price goes up by 5 cents he will say to the world "Look what I did". As an industrial leader Dave Cote is a failure, I would not trust him to run a lemonade stand. The rest of his "leadership team" are just as bad too; no new ideas, nothing but spouting the same corporate phrases that Dave does. They are all sucking the company dry with their massive compensation packages. The 10% or more cut in pay we all took this year did not affect Dave or his lackeys. In fact, he kept his 55% raise. Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Well, at UOP, I can only reiterate that our company has changed MUCH for the worse. Even the CEO, Carlos Cabrera decided to call it quits earlier this year. No need to repeat the details of numerous other blogs. However, there is one curious item, and probably the only good thing as far as I am concerned: Honeywell loves patents and instituted a relatively good monetary incentive program (UOP basically for years gave nothing, then decided to have a nice dinner for 1, 5, 10 patents, etc.) It is probably kind of token, once taxes etc. are taken out. This bonus doesn't start to compensate for the loss of pay in terms of furloughs, cut in 401K match, loss of retiree medical insurance. That being said, I tend to agree with the earlier comment that when it comes time to sell your division off, the IP gets assigned some value. And you're quite right, that is where this management style seems to lead in the end. Wednesday, October 14, 2009 As a Jack Welch fan, Dave Cote and the 10 or 25 people working just under him are committed to outsourcing. Hiding behind code phrases like "competing in global markets" and "doing what is best for the stockholder" have allowed people like Cote to create profit margins and bonuses without having to understand, participate, or contribute to the workings of these types of organizations. Dave Cote, and the legions of MBAs that hope to be like him someday, don't even have an intellectual curiosity about what science and engineering can do. To them it is a daily obstacle, and they resent having to interface with technical types. Why bother trying to understand the "widget" or much less, trying to imagine what the nextgen widget will be, when you can just cannibalize the process and the people who created the widget? I believe that Cote will continue to outsource Honeywell. If these divisions fail to perform, Cote will opt to sell them for their IP. There are plenty of organizations that would like to buy Honeywell patents for cheap. Eventually he will hit the eject button, leaving behind a has-been brand name. Wednesday, October 14, 2009 I blogged earlier, and should have added: The old AlliedSignal lost a hold on the way we did business. At that point, Honeywell took over and ruined the way we did business. Not sure exactly who or where they came from. I am from the United days, all the way to the Honeywell days. Honeywell has been a real dissapointment to almost all of its employees, except for maybe a few new to Honeywell. It is felt not as the new way, but a company to be proud to work for. Before we became Honeywell, we were happy. This was a dramatic change that was not part of the way we had been used to for so many years. Wednesday, October 14, 2009 I worked for Sundstrand, AlliedSignal, and right before that Honeywell when AlliedSignal took over. This whole take over is not what any of the previous-to-becoming Honeywell ever was. Anyone I talk to abosolutely has seen changes that we never had before. All the way up to the Founder, and the ground Prox Product VP. Since Honeywell, everyone thinks Honeywell has been the problem as EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR THE WORSE. We have seen 90% or more change for the absolute worse. It used to be a company AlliedSignal people really liked. Now it is like micro-management all the way, with NO ONE liking it. We are like robots, just doing our jobs to get paid, with no enjoyment or feeling of satisfaction on how well we do. Like working at a Library. Everything changed so much in every way shape and form. Everyone that has been here for years has never seen such a sad place to work. Since Honeywell, it has truly not been a place where people are happy. We only just do our jobs, and are not at all proud to be Honeywell. Most everyone feels this way; 100% do not like it. Especially, the ones who have been here for a long time. The leaders we had, are not the ones we have now; that changed shortly after we became Honeywell. Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Gee, the shareholders must be out for Cote's gut. With all the trouble that GE has been through, GE shares have outperformed Honeywell on a percentage comparison basis. Honeywell shares have basically been stuck in the $30-$40 range for the majority of Cote's reign. Also, almost a decade for a CEO is an awful long time - too long for things to smell under the covers. I like it when CEO's are wacked every 3-4 years. It keeps the dung pile fresh! Monday, October 12, 2009 Interesting news from JimPinto's eNews No. 273 - 12 October 2009 For sale:
(Click)- GE will emerge as next big automation player
Monday, October 12, 2009 It is apparent that the commitment to excellence that was part of the old Honeywell culture no longer exists within the new Honeywell. Old Honeywell emphasized customer satisfaction, quality products, quality processes, and retention of quality employees. New Honeywell emphasizes acquisition of new companies ->offshoring production-> slash and burn headcount reduction -> and minimal attention to customer satisfaction and product quality. Sure customers complain. Sure they take their business elsewhere. But by then Honeywell has harvested the low-hanging fruit and moved on. Note that employee satisfaction isn't even a blip on the radar. Repeat the above cycle with more acquisitions as necessary to 'make the numbers'. As long as a supply of candidates for takeovers continues to exist, Honeywell will continue to rape and pillage its way through formerly high quality companies. Employees are nothing but cannon fodder to be swept aside on Dave's march to the bank. The only thing that will interrupt this cycle is when the employees of newly acquired companies immediately walk out the door in protest, before they are coerced into participating in the offshoring process, thereby causing a financial setback. Nothing else will get either Cote's or the BOD's attention. Unfortunately, such action runs counter to human nature, a fact which Cote exploits to the extreme. Monday, October 12, 2009 I worked for Honeywell IAC in service for over 33 years and am now retired. Wow,was it a great company when I started. I can't count the additional hours I worked off the clock, to get my customers back on line. And the rest of the techs in my area did the same. Right around the 20-year mark (Bonsignore ) things started changing. It became more difficult to give my customers the service time they deserved. After the Allied Signal takeover, everything really went to hell. We would have all these meetings about customer satisfaction, and then the wheels would stifle you in their quest for that monthly P&L quota they had to meet. It really became a joke after awhile. I finally had enough and retired. I now work part-time for a small automation service company, and have 90% of my old contracts. My customers love it because now I'm there for them any time they want and I don't have to deal with all the BS from the bosses. If I'd known things could have been this good, I would have have retired 10 years earlier. Sunday, October 11, 2009 I think that the HR VP in Aerospace who told us all on a conference call that people were 20:1 in favor of our 10% pay cut, should be drug tested. Friday, October 9, 2009 HOS (honeywell operating system) is a total waste of resources and time. They say it is intended to provide accountability to the process, but all it really doing is bogging down the employee with check lists upon check list upon check list. HOS is nothing but micro management to the hilt. It sucks from an hourly employee's point of view. Friday, October 9, 2009 Yes to the last entry! When Honeywell (Allied) took over our pulp and paper products (CD actuators) they destroyed our good name, our sales plummeted, and our employee headcount is half what it was. Friday, October 9, 2009 I used to consider that Honeywell was a good reliable brand name - for heating controls, refinery control systems etc. However, my company was taken over by them about 2 years ago, and I now have a completely different view of the brand. One to be actively avoided. I now have the view that most products are probably made by low paid third world staff, fronted by disillusioned staff in the West. Do old Honeywell staff (ie people in Honeywell before the take over by Allied Signal) feel the same? Did Allied Signal steal the good name? Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Everyone should take a look at the websites of our competitors- note that many other Aerospace firms are hiring instead of working to idiotic "census" targets and telling people they are "lucky to even be here"- things that do nothing for profitability or morale and only protect poor performers from their managers becuase they know they will not get a replacement if someone is managed out of the company. All employees get email messages every week about new directors and VP's at AERO headquarters, so maybe the headcount restrictions are only OUTSIDE Phoenix and these big cheeses are not counted in the "census". Regardless, given the fact that some of our competitors are hiring again, the good employees can leave, but the poor performers can stay becuase their managers know if they are fired there will be no replacement. Funny thing though, our Aerospace CEO left the company after cutting all our pay, but they backfilled that job right away. Not what I would have thought in a company that has more Vice Presidents and Directors than machinists and welders but hey, what do I know after 10 years with the company? Plus the "incentives" for early retirement chased out a lot of our legacy knowledge and experience. And to top it off with pay reductions and cuts in our 401K that senior management does not share while our CEO Dave Cote rakes in millions of dollars! Wow, we are just getting better over time with this strategy and really building our talent pool now! Or GE's talent pool I should say. But I guess it does not matter because the people whose jobs are actually part of Honeywell's future plans probably blog only in Hindi, Bengali, Spanish, or Chinese. Thursday, October 1, 2009 What Honeywell wants is cheap, expendable labor. Yes they do... It is called outsourcing: Mexicali, Indonesia Malaysia, Tianjin, India and many more in the works. Just think how much money they are saving, so Dave Cote's bonus will be more than last year ($19 million). I can't wait to see what Santa brings him this year. Thursday, October 1, 2009 I agree with several blogs here. I have worked for several different companies during my career, big and small, and I have to say that Honeywell is the worst. We are a Fortune-100 company that spends less on its employees than most cash-strapped startups. I have never been so badly treated by my employer than I have with Honeywell. Talk about bait-and-switch; the HR department are masters of promising one thing and delivering another. The management here are clueless and pathetic, sucking up to their bosses because they know they will be fired if they say something that is not part of the company line. The pay raises are a joke - somewhere between 0% and 3% and there are no bonuses for the workers. Honeywell lies to its employees, takes away what they promised to give and then expects the employees to believe all of the junk that management spews out at the quarterly meetings. I do not have a career at Honeywell, I have a job. I will be moving on the moment I can find a position at another company. Honeywell doesn't want talented people, they cost too much and the leadership team (who couldn't lead their way to the bathroom) might have to sacrifice something in order to keep them. What Honeywell wants is cheap, expendable labor. There is no planning for the future. Nothing is done that does not show a profit within the same quarter. Right now the company is living off its reputation and its existing products. It is also living off the employees 10% cut in pay to show an artificial amount of spare cash for the investors. Once they run out, the death spiral will begin, the top execs will take their millions and leave, and everybody else will be hoping that we can get someone who knows how to run a company instead of someone who only knows how to suck a company dry. Wednesday, September 30, 2009 Honeywell is a ROTTEN company to work for anymore. I feel sorry for the employees, and even more for their customers. Management could care less for the customers. If Honeywell folds tomorrow, management is set with their pensions, stock options, 401k’s, etc. Every month we have dissatisfied customers come to our facility to see why we are not performing and living up to our commitment. Our site managers will have meetings to come up with an action plan, and tell them whatever, while they are here. When the customer leaves, management goes back to their spreadsheet and reports to justify why they are the best thing that ever happened to this company. Then they prepare for the next customer to call and complain. Like Dave Cote, they blame a downturn in the economy to justify why they do what they do! Tuesday, September 29, 2009 - To the "I spent a year training technicians to take our aerospace jobs": I'll bet the reality as to why you and your colleagues stayed has more to do with being outright threatened with a loss of your severence pay and benefits if you did not cooperate. So, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. But it is crafted by Honeywell lawyers. The shocker is that the HR folks are very open on these threats. Honeywell calls this "management" - a form of making you do what you really do not want to do in the first place. Monday, September 28, 2009 My colleagues and I spent a year training technicians to take our aerospace jobs to Asia. It was very hard to do, but we many of us couldn't see leaving Honeywell at the time. We were all laid off in June. The few that kept their jobs were the game players: Those who spent their entire day emailing colorful excel spread-sheets to the bosses describing everything they did to support the company while doing nothing to contribute to the project that paid the bills; those that played fellow employees against each other in order to create chaos and mistrust; and those that managed to make friends with the person that drew up the "let-go-list" - most likely the boss. It seems that if you work hard in America these days, you get screwed in return. At my next job, if I hear the word transition, I'm heading for the door. Tuesday, September 22, 2009 I am an engineer by training. I used to work as an engineer. Today, Honeywell treats me like an errand boy. The way things used to work, there was trust between engineering and management. Management would outline project goals -- cost, quality, and schedule -- and ask engineering to review. Engineering would adjust the variables if needed, and re-run it by management. Iterate again if needed, then proceed. 99% of the time this produced results that met or exceeded the goals. Not today. Today, there is no trust, only micromanagement. Management establishes the project goals mostly without input from engineering, and especially as regards costs. Engineering is given a budget with no opportunity for input. Without exception, the budget has been insufficient to support the quality and schedule requirements, but there is no negotiation. This approach has resulted in a continuous string of project failures. Rather than adequately fund the project in the beginning, management prefers to underfund, believe the illusion, and then pour resources towards the job once it becomes a crisis. This has led to missed schedules, missed quality objectives, missed revenue streams, and ultimately a blown budget and employee layoffs. Had but a single failure like this occured on my watch in the past, it would be mentioned in my review. If I racked up a consistent record of failures, I would have been asked to leave. But the Honeywell management of today apparently either doesn't understand or doesn't care that these failures could have been avoided. Instead, those who caused them get promoted. I have never seen anything like it. If this is indicative of the way all large corporations are being run, it's no wonder the economy has tanked. Monday, September 21, 2009 - Re: The September 21, 2009, blog: I agree 100% with this commentary. I've experienced it myself. I had an opportunity to leave but I chose to stick around for the benefit of helping out my co-workers in a closure. In retrospect, big mistake. Ali Cote and his gang of forty thieves gutted the place brutally and continue to do so elsewhere. Have no love for Honeywell and have no love for your coworkers. If you have an opportunity, take it! A year from now you won't regret it. Monday, September 21, 2009 If you work for a company that is purchased by Honeywell, my advice to you is to leave immediately. Regardless of the promises made and the depictions of a rosy future, conditions will never again be as good as what you presently enjoy. Leaving is difficult. But it's also difficult watching your company be slowly dismantled and shipped to China. It's difficult seeing efficient operations trashed in favor of bureaucratic red tape; your competitiveness ruined by imposed inefficiency. It's also difficult to be assigned to help move lines to China, and be coerced into doing so by promises of a better severance package if you stay and help instead of giving 2 weeks notice and leaving. Do you aid and abet Diamond Dave and his gang of thieves by helping send more jobs overseas, all for a few extra dollars? Or do you leave before you're put in that situation? When we were taken over, I bought into the propaganda, and only too late realized the truth. My bad. If I had it to do over, I would leave before the ink was dry. Sunday, September 20, 2009 Honeywell is just a name front these days. The caring and quality have long since been abolished, like most of the quality employees. The more smoke you blow, the higher you rise in the Allied Honeywell organization. Thge new motto is : The Bottom Line, whatever it takes. Show Profit any way you can. Cote will drive this company into the ground, quality wise, to get his ego trip (bonus). AFter many years Engineering for Honeywell, I hate to see what is going on now. Then there are the HR folks that don't have a cluie about morale. They just cover all their actions with lies and PIPs on folks over 50. I feel for the employees that are stuck in this mess. I hear all the time, "This is not your father's HOneywell." What a pity that the Honeywell reputation has come to the current ruthless agenda. Thank God for the US companies that still support the US workers! Thursday, September 17, 2009 - On the "'disgruntled' point": Ah! Looks like we have a classic Honeywell Blue (AlliedSignal) VERSUS Honeywell Red. Blues were all by the numbers and metrics - no matter what. Reds was more customer oriented. But I do remember a foul air around the Blues - one of a drive to assimilate the Reds and hence the start of a lot of transitions. The terminology became so extensive that an order came down to no longer use Blue or Red in any communication. Out of this was born The Power of 'one" in the word Honeywell. Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - From 'former Honeywell engineer': Maybe I missed the original 'disgruntled' point. I still think it's funny to respond to the no-sympathy poster by calling them a Cote. I didn't start with Honeywell, but I did spend most of my career at the company that was bought. You can split hairs on who has more 'longevity' and I promise this is my last post so you get the last word. My point is whatever company you were at, including classic Honeywell, is not really the same company anymore (in my opinion, such as it is). Is anyone who stays at a place sending out it's current jobs and expanding outside helping their coworkers? I'm not so sure. I recognize the need for 'food on the table', and accordingly I commented about those who had other options. If it's clear that there is to be no growth, why help them stay in business and watch your coworkers get axed. I chose not to, I saw this forum where opinions were being expressed, and I shared this apparently unpopular opinion. But I think it's a point of view worth expressing and I wish I could do it more elegantly. All the last word posts to various sub-themes here seem to be from Honeywell-proper folks, so I'll stop. Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - To "former Honeywell engineer": You are "amused" by the positions of the remaining Honeywell employees and the statements of the blogger in response to "disgruntled" because you are not an ex-Honeywell engineer. You are an ex-taken-over-by-Honeywell engineer. Consequently, you have no real longevity with Honeywell which has led you to completely miss the point of the response to "disgruntled." You further disparage one employee who had the audacity to "...work even harder because, unless he did that, he felt that he would be letting people down." You mean his co-workers? Another: you took issue with was one who "...helped to set up the production lines in China, whose work replaced many, many employees... I wonder if either of them considered their decisions on a larger scope." Consider - you mean like food on the table, a lifestyle for their families, the realization that Honeywell is really not playing by any different rules than any other similarly sized corporation? I can appreciate your disappointment with how things have turned out for your company once absorbed by Honeywell. It rarely goes well, and God knows I’m not defending Honeywell’s practices. But you really should steer clear of commenting on what or why a long-time Honeywell employee thinks or acts the way they do, because you are speaking from within a context you really know nothing of.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The message system for this weblog is now operating correctly.
Saturday, September 5, 2009 I'm a former Honeywell engineer, having come to Honeywell when they bought my company. It was hard to imagine a better career than what I had, but eventually it was harder to imagine contributing to Honeywell and watching what they do with it. It hurt to leave, and I was as close to it's core as one could want to be, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I'm amused by those who continue to stay with Honeywell, who by their continued loyalty are helping to fund the loss of American jobs and ensuring that Cote et al will never want in their futures. I share the general sentiment of the 'no sympathy' poster, but I find I still have some sympathy. It's the sympathy you have for a prison convict who's spent so much time on the inside that upon fair release they can't cope with the world, or the sympathy one has for an insect who can't resist the blue light of a bug zapper. Both of those descriptions are how I see my ex-coworkers. I wish I knew how to help them. At my company I saw good people do a job search, and in the already tough local pre-recession economy they had great offers in hand. And like good institutionalized folks they decided instead to stay and try to make it work. One of them said that he'll work even harder because unless he did that he felt that he would be letting people down. Another even helped to set up the production lines in China, whose work replaced many, many employees. That's just two examples. I wonder if either of them considered their decisions on a larger scope. I think the unhappy Honeywell folks, particularly the ones whose good companies were bought out, should consider that their old company is gone. Yeah, the customers, products, and cubicles are largely the same, but it is not the same company. I won't go as far as saying quit (though that's the advice I would give my ex-coworkers), but consider where your contributions are going now and how they're being used. Consider what Honeywell does to its employees and customers. Consider what they'll do after you successfully retire. There's no legacy that will be continued. To the Wed. 9/2/09 poster: Maybe you're misunderstanding the post to which you so strongly responded. At Honeywell, people at our level calling someone an MBA flunky is akin to loudly calling someone m*****f****r anywhere else. Perhaps your strong reaction suggests a part of that 'no sympathy' comment landed close to home. Or not. I'm just another blogger, just as right or wrong as any of the others. Wednesday, September 2, 2009 Diamond Dave! I love that association. It gives me a vision of Dave smiling at you, squinting at you out of one eye and then, suddenly, you see a star-burst flash of light from his eye-tooth - just like in cartoons. Paint the picture next time you see him on a Town Hall telecast. It as good as Neutron Jack. By the way, these days I actually hear stock analysts starting to put blame on Neutron Jack in the way he used GE Financial - which ultimately destroyed GE's stock value and forced a dividend cut. I guess that "Straight From the Gut" will flow into "To the Colon" and "Straight out the Rectum" once historians finish their work. \ Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - To the poster of the 'disgruntled employee' comment: You either are Dave Cote, or an MBA stooge trying to sound like Dave. In either case, I'll type slow; please try to follow: Many, if not all, of the posters are those who have given their all to the company. Some are longtime "red" Honeywell employees who have the perspective of what the company used to be prior to the Allied Signal takeover. Others are from smaller companies who have had the misfortune of of being bought out since the Allied takeover, and who have no knowledge of prior Honeywell culture. In either case, many of us have, or had, satisfying careers in which we were dedicated, creative, responsible, reliable, stable, employees, often for fairly long periods of time. We are the ones who "know", who have the real knowledge, what it takes to run a factory, what it takes to truly delight customers, how to build quality products, how to value employees. We know it, because we've lived it and done it. We know the stuff you MBA types will never know, because you simply don't get it. We are are also embedded in our communities, have kids in schools, serve in our churches, volunteer in the community, have relatives in the area, etc. These are exactly the things a wet-behind-the-ears MBA stooge fresh out of school knows nothing about. So when you come along spouting off about being disgruntled and that we should just move along and take what's left of our careers elsewhere, you show what a truly stupid, vapid, insipid management-quality idiot you are. We're all of us watching companies that we care about, and have poured heart and soul into, being dismantled and disintegrated in front of our very eyes. We see firsthand the hours of waste, the lack of individual empowerment, and the management double-speak, if not outright lies. On a daily basis we see our company become a little bit less than it was the day before. And it tears our hearts out. Most of us come from companies that were far better run and more productive than the farce that is Honeywell today. We came from companies that truly cared about employees, that gave genuine reviews instead of the fill-in-the-box joke that constitutes a review today. We're from companies where individual input and feedback were actively solicited and acted upon. The only empowerment that exists today is that we're empowered to do *exactly* as management dictates. Otherwise, it's FIFO. Were you taught that acronym in MBA class? Mr. Poster, my suspicion is that your comments here will be given all the respect they deserve. And that'll probably be similar to the respect Cote's mandatory-attendance quarterly video conferences receive. Tuesday, September 1, 2009 - To the "out of sympathy for you" guy: As you live by the sword, you die by the sword. This is justice. You are obviously well into the Honeywell culture - as I was at one time. I'm no longer with Honeywell. Let me tell you, it's like a breath of fresh air after leaving. I have seen too many good co-workers happy in their early days, who come out like wet-noodles by the time they left - and have now recovered elsewhere. For all the jargon, that Honeywell cares about its talent, is a load of donkey-dung. You are used, until you are spit out. It's not that these people were not valued at the site level. The site knew the truth because they were there every day. The problem with Honeywell is that it is so centrally controlled, that you dare not have any original ideas or try some innovation at the site. These "wild" ideas disrupt all the functional-metric reporting, and play havoc on the weekly conference calls. No one has the courage on these conference calls to suggest a novel idea. The conversation have a boss-subordinate tone - dressed up as business accumen. If you don't play the good subordinate role, there will be a private call placed from VP to Site Lead and you will be talked to... One of the other problems with Honeywell is that the company really does not do a good job of vertical integration, wherein you can really add value to the customer and also enjoy expanding gross margin in delighting the customer. Instead Honeywell chooses to compete at an operational level, even within its own businesses. The result is that the product is moved from North America to Asia. Great operationally, but customer focus is lost. We know of some cases where the customer refuses to deal with these long distance affairs and insists on local representation. Tuesday, September 1, 2009 As a long time UOP employee, I take issue with the idea that we are "whiners". This used to be a great job - no I mean a great career - but since Honeywell has taken the reins, morale has fallen through the basement. The problem with the opinion of the writer of the "love it or leave it" blog post is that he fails to acknowledge the fact that many of the employees have been here for 15 to 20 years and have gotten locked into the job because of decent wages and a bad economy. As I prepare to work my last few years before retirement, I do so with a heavy heart because I fear I am seeing Honeywell rape, pillage and plunder a once great and noble company. I also kind of figure that that weblog post was written by a management yahoo tyrant just trying to keep all the lackeys in line. Hey, give me a break! Tuesday, September 1, 2009 Well, you see - a blog is exactly that, a blog. In this instance, it's about Honeywell. If we are upsetting you, then you should stay away and not get involved with something beyond your comprehension. Most of the people blogging here actually work for the company, and are true Honeywellers who are so sick of how the company is slowly disintegrating, especially after putting so much of there lives into it. Monday, August 31, 2009 To All disgruntled Honeywell employees who whine endlessly on this weblog - If you cannot put up with your employer, quit working for him and get yourself a new job. Failing which keep your grievances to yourself and give us readers a break. Please note that we have run out of Kleenex and sympathy for you. Sunday, August 30, 2009 I think that if I am prepaired to enter in to the share scheme, and commit my mony to buying shares at my risk, the least Honeywell can do is to back me up, instead of cheap-skating out of it. You talk the talk, but you do not walk the walk. Thursday, August 27, 2009 It's too bad we can't post audio & video on this site, like YouTube. I'm certain that there would be some juicy management material. It would be far more powerful than just the words. We've seen YouTube videos make main stream TV headlines. It will elevate the activism on your site. In a democracy, all views need to be posted out there for scrutiny. Let's stop hiding it behind Corporate doors! There are no longer any closed doors.
Thursday, August 27, 2009 Does anyone hear about rumors that Siemens is buying Honeywell? I heard from the customer.... Thursday, August 27, 2009 I would just like to say to Mark R Jones, SVP Human Resources that instead of addressing me as "Dear Colleague" when explaining how the company is going to assist Dave Cote to get his yearly bonus by reducing the number of matched shares in the options scheme, he should have started the letter off with "Dear Putz". Thursday, August 27, 2009 "Ducks on a pond" pretty well sums up the entire Honeywell situation, doesn't it? A pretty appearance for topsiders, while beneath the surface morale is nonexistent, rampant inefficiency is everywhere, and management types with their polished MBA's flounder aimlessly. Wednesday, August 26, 2009 You must realize that the code of conduct is implemented by the management to blow smoke for officialdom. It is not implemented to help the rank and file employee. It is there to make the senior management look good to the prying eyes of the outsider. Imagine a mirror-like pond with a duck swimming across it; to the outsider it looks serene, but under the water there is one hell of a lot of movement going on to keep the ducks head above water. Unfortunately the duck is in serious need of a life preserver. Tuesday, August 25, 2009 I would like to address the issue of Code of Conduct. Honeywell is very serious about this. Annually, everyone is required to go through an online refresher and quiz in order to gain certification. And yet, we have excutives that behave poorly on telecoms and feel justified to cus and swear for everyone to hear - across all borders. We know that they are in a position of power and recognize that their requests are important. But, it really takes away from their credibility when they resourt to foul language on the phone. It's demeaning and a form of bullying. VP Integrated Supply Chain - we know that you are in a significant position of power, but you really degrade your influence and supposed intellect with a mouth that my mother would wash out with soap. It's degrading. I'm sorry to have to report this. It's not my nature. But the justice is that, today, these type of people can no longer hide in positions of power as a result of the internet. There is a peotic justice here. If anyone disagrees, they can post their opposition here. Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - To the Contractor ...should you go with Honeywell... Yes it is true that the rank & file Honeywell employees will go to the ends of the earth to help the Customer - but not at all sites. This is done inspite of Honeywell Management, not because of Honeywell management. Here's why. Contract management will argue with you on the terms & conditions forever. Materiel & Purchasing Manager will nickel & dime you, ask you to hold the inventory and then cancel your deliverables by more than half - leaving you with the cost of inventory. Finance Manager will then promise you 60-day payment, but actually pay in 120 days - or COD, if you really get tough and are important enough. It got so bad at our site that the guys that supplied us with 2"x4" lumber for shipping and crating would put us on COD. Also, there are so many programs that are shoved down the rank & file employees. Many do not even make sense when pushed down that far. Doing high level math in a Design for Six Sigma program makes no sense at the assembly technicians level. But middle managers (like puppets) don't have the courage, or have extreme fear, in telling the upper levels to STOP. This is because there is a metric on completion of the program that is of a higher calling to Cote - and no one wants to stay in the way of the golden metric. If you do, you get calls from the site leaders, functional leaders, six sigma leaders, etc... as to why you are not complying. So why stand in the way? I've experienced this personally. All the rank & file guys & gals want is the tools to do their job properly. Many times they do not get them because of cost contrls made by Managers that are responsibile for productivity - but have zero hands-on shop floor experience - that is: paper pushers. SAP is another issue. Honeywell has been trying to implement it across all sites since 1998. You can fill a mining grade dump truck with the amount of PowerPoint presentations that have been made on this. A delay excuse is always found. Let me tell you, though, that SAP will make a site leader's life really difficult. You will lose independence and flexibility because there will be a hornet's nest of Corporate MBAs watching your activity from thousands of miles away. There will be no hidding! SAP should normally be considered a positive productivity tool. But because of the military mentality at Honeywell, you will be accused first and asked questions after! Monday, August 24, 2009 If you really are a customer with this concern, raise it to the executive level of Honeywell management. They have long since proven they don't listen to the employees. But they do listen to customers. Especially when it involves possibly losing revenue. You might just help us both. By the way, should you go with Honeywell, I know the employees will work themselves to death trying to make sure you get what was promised. As a workforce, and God knows why this is, all things considered, you won't find a more dedicated-to-the-customer group. Monday, August 24, 2009 I am a customer, and am in a process of starting a big FEED with Honeywell, UK in few weeks time. I am shocked to see all these comments about Honeywell, that the morale within employees is low in the UK. I am now thinking a lot about this, and I am worried about the quality of work that my company will get. But, it's too late to cancel the PO. Sunday, August 23, 2009 Do you not think that the whole financial blueprint that is used to run a business has been proved a failure. With the collapse of the banking and financial systems you do not need much more proof. The only problem is that no one knows what to do to fix it. All they can do is push through all of the outdated concepts while they have the chance, using recession as a smoke screen. Cote certainly does not have the kahunas to steer us through the choppy water. The rest of the management can barely check their change at the checkout. This problem runs through all businesses that use the "MBA" management structure, it is time to throw away the manuals and start again. Let us dump all the systems and theories that throw a spanner in the works. Let us start with:
Friday, August 21, 2009 Honeywell is like a blood donor who was paid to donate his blood. He liked having cash on hand to impress his friends, so he kept donating blood and flashing the cash, right up to the day he fell over dead from lack of blood. Honeywell management has sacrificed the vitality of the company in order to appease Wall Street. In reality, the company is withering. First and foremost, a factory needs to produce and sell quality products at a profit. The boys in suits calling the shots have overlooked this small detail. They've got a lot of tricks to make money; too bad they forgot (or never learned) how to operate a factory. Thursday, August 20, 2009 Honeywell has this bad business model, where they spend half the day generating and processing reports - one report in i in different outputs. If one report records that you lost $50, and the other report records you lost $50, a third report will also report you lost $50. Now, if you are so stupid, the 4th report should record that you lost a $100 because you have just wasted $50 printing and reviewing the last 2 reports. But alas, this is not so bad. Because what you do for the other half of the day is just as stupid. When an order comes in (one a week if we lucky; if you don't have sales people, don't expect the customer to come knocking) it undergoes heart surgery. Every planner wants to put his finger in it. Well, that's the okay bit; it's how they do it that just baffles the mind. Let me give you a typical order being processed: A sales order clerk somewhere enters an order into some central system. It is then allocated to the correct manufacturing centre, which is the right thing to do. But, at this point a report is sent out the the factory order person, who will enter this into the factory system. At this point we have done the job twice. The factory computer will blow out a bill of materials to get said job done. Hang on to your seat, I might lose you at this point. A master scheduler will now generate many reports for people who don't exist, and then bitch and complain because no one is responding to the emails. Then they will schedule a job (that at best has a 60 day lead-time on parts) into the quarter, regardless of how many days are left in that quarter. This job is then passed onto the planners and buyers, who will generate more reports. And then it starts getting weird; each person at this point will fill in a speadsheet, justifying why they ordering the part, and add the lead time to the report. A meeting then happens, where all the planners and all the buyers (even those who have nothing to do with the job) discuss fancy charts that have zero value. Usually at this point, someone has to state that they may have to work overtime to get the product out the door. It now becomes the job of one of the planners to hide the extra cost until someone can be found to accept the blame. Remember, up to this point, no actual work has been done to get the job started. The first thing they have to do is to pay the vendor for the last load of parts, because the vendors are just a little sick of waiting 90 days for payment. The parts have to be flown in, at a much higher cost than recorded, just to make the deadline. At this point, more justification has to be added to the spreadsheet. Color coding is put on the spreadsheet, so that each person is on the same page. Too bad that each one has a different meaning for the colors. So another meeting is called. At some point in this process, they have to start saving. So then they spend a couple-thousand dollars, looking at how to save 10 cents, and more reports are created. Once the engineers get involved, they just open another can of worms. And then the planners are back, updating their spreadsheets. After all is said, and not done, we have basically given the product away. We are in the red - but hey, we did a good job, it went out on time. Too bad it's such crappy quality. It is going to cost us in warranty costs to go out and fix it. Now this is the kicker: Our systems are designed to take an order and explode it to all its required functions. All they have to do is follow whatever the computer churns out. There will be no overtime; the job will be done right; time will be allocated correctly for testing and we will save money. But the again, what the hell do I know about business. I'm only an analyst. I don't have an MBA, and if I had to justify my existence, maybe I would be that stupid. Thursday, August 13, 2009 Cote's back at the easy-trough with Q4 pay reductions at SM even when things are looking up in Q3. Any analysts out there listening? Tell him enough is enough. He's going to kill us with his need to please you bunch of magic 8-ballers. Friday, July 31, 2009 At what point in time will someone with power make a real decision? We all appreciate the reminders on how not to contract Swine Flu. What we don't appreciate is the refusal to accept the reality of the situation - HPS are strangling themselves in a muddy pool of self denial, while our competition happily skip past Bracknell, Manchester and Aberdeen with pockets stuffed full of orders from all those "loyal" customers who are fed up being treated with distain, apathy and arrogance.What's the response from the blinkered management and those covered in moss because they've not moved from their desk in last 15 years, "We're Honeywell. The stupid customer doesn't know what he's doing" Wake up! the customer knows exactly what he's doing. As St Paul found the light on the road to Damascus our faithful SESP victims have found the light of Emerson, Yoko and many others too bright to resist. Look to the example of BSA and Honda in 1960's. BSA had had a monopoly on racing bikes for years and due to arrogance and ignorance refused to believe that the new kids on the block, Honda were a real bike company. After all what could this new shiny bike offer? Better value, better reliablity, better service - but it didn't have a BSA badge. So why would any one want it? MMM! BSA disappeared from main stream within a few years, to be resigned to the nostalgic musings of those whose memories have nothing better to think on. Sound familiar? "We're Honeywell. That's enough to get business look at our history." Sorry, no marketing, no sales strategy, no connection between service and projects (in fact exact opposite with too many piggies trying to feed from same trough), no acceptance of market demands. Take OneWireless as an example, often repeated mantra that Honeywell has the best technical wireless system is lost to an unlistening public, who cares? Customers believe the Emerson hype and sales figures, which are all that matter, proving Honeywell are so far behind it's past embarrasing. You want a wireless network for your home? Do you buy Linksys Premier Home System because it's worth £1000 to get extra 5m range and ability to connect 15 devices or do you happily accept free router from your broadband supplier? I hope those with the ability to make changes are listening. HPS is sinking, morale is zero, sales team are demotivated -just tell the truth that there will be no comission scheme instead of pretending the figurs are still being worked. August and no targets set? Come on. Please stop pretending you are listening. Honesty can be hard to accept, but if you've not worked it out let me make it simple: Honeywell Attitude = No Customers = No Job for you and me. Thursday, July 30, 2009 - from "Sick in Freeport": I am completely disgusted with this company and "management" at this point. Freeport's plant 4 has always been more a place of making ones self look good and protecting ones friends rather than making parts faster, cheaper, and with better quality. Nothing has shown this more than the most recent episode, in which a team leader proved to have more power and influence than supervisors, cell leads, and the value stream manager. This team-lead knows nothing about the machines and will admit that troubleshooting is beyond their meager skills and abilities (unless you count being recently married to a cell lead in a different plant to be a good TL ability). This person is disliked by virtually all who work with them, short of the engineers and supervisors who meet them at the bar every Thursday evening. The reason for the dislike is because the TL knows nothing about how to lead, and refuses to adapt or change to new conditions that require new strategies. The TL has been turned in to HR numerous times for offenses that would get others fired, but the drinking buddies always come to the rescue. The TL has even been turned in to EEOC, but the spin doctors were there once again. This person for years has had more authority than the off-shift supervisors, and has been able to over-ride their decisions on a frequent basis. This is the only team lead in Freeport who has their own little office area, not even close to being on the floor where they are supposed to be. The TL spends hours in this area talking to their buddies and plotting against those who are trying to actually make improvements and do their jobs. This while the operators are ignored (until they make a mistake that is, then they face the wrath of the TL, who I have seen yell at and berate operators [and even other TLs] with no repurcussions). Last week this TL was told that they were being moved to another department in a consolodation of TLs. This came from 2 cell leaders and the value stream manager. The TL threw a fit. An operator would have been written up or walked to the door for such an episode (as we have been told numerous times). Instead, this TL was able to round up all their buddies to fight on their behalf, and they got the VSM to move another TL and leave this one in their position. Not only is this TL staying in the position now, but they are picking up another area as well. The other TL has no powerful buddies and, despite going to HR, will suffer because of it. The reason behind the change? Who knows, but the rumor is that the VSM came to believe the lies that this is the only person who can do the job. This is a flat out lie. This TL is the reason why this area has shown no improvement in 10 years or so. The numbers on paper may look like it has, but that's only because of accounting tricks pulled off by one of the buddies who helped to save the job. Other areas are suffering because of these accounting tricks. On top of this, the VSM has lost what little respect he might have had remaining. The morale on the floor is utterly gone. There is no morale whatsoever. To mention the name of the VSM brings groans and eye rolls, and every person I know thinks he is worthless and hurting our jobs. Virtually all think that him and one of the drinking buddies (acocunting trick guy) are the direct reason for one area moving to China later this year. Nobody believes one word that comes out of his mouth, and he cannot give a simple yes or no answer to any question. He is laughed at on a daily basis, but he is hated as well for his poor leadership, double-talk, and two-faced comments. This recent episode is not the worst episode I have seen in this company, but it is just too much on top of everything else. The announcement that the TL was moving was the only thing I have heard in the past two years that actually cheered up the operators in this area and made them feel good about their jobs and the progress the area might make in the future. Now, they are more depressed and dejected than ever before. Wednesday, July 29, 2009 As an engineer working for UOP, it's horrible to see the recent decline in quality of work due to "cheap" labor. Now, a small number of the India engineers are very good; however, a lot of them are brainess people. They can't seem to follow procedures and ask questions as needed. They make unsound assumptions and believe that anything the computer splits out must be good. What happened to understanding the technology and knowing what you are doing? It's all about pushing buttons on the computer and get an answer spit out to you. UOP's downfall will be soon. Who knows, may be the whole engineering dept will move to Delhi! Monday, July 27, 2009 The July 24 comment once again proves that the only philosophy Cote and his bunch understand is CYA and FIFO (fit in or f--- off.) They know nothing about running a factory. Hear that? When you look at the long and growing list of blunders, bewildering decisions, contradictory directives, incredible oversights, and squandered assets (both physical and personnel) it leads to the inescapeable conclusion that actually running a factory---doing all the things normally associated with valuing customers, producing quality products, and treating employees fairly---is something they know nothing about. Wozniak (president of ACS) is a classic example. She loves to brag about Honeywell's ability to design and manufacture sensors. But she's only a poseur, a pretender. The real truth is that she (and Cote) have effectively eviscerated that capability. There is nothing but a hollow shell of a company behind her bold pronouncements, and still she leads the company ever downwards. She clearly believes that if she has the ability to speak those words, then others must have the ability to make it so. They do, but it will never happen as long as management continues on a destructive path. Cote and his group need to go. Friday, July 24, 2009 The reason it went from 60 to 90 is because finance don't have a clue how things are made. All the supplier has to do is go "COD" and they will quickly move payments to 60 days or less. No, they are not going to go rushing off to get a new supplier because they don't have someone on staff to do that work. The reason for this is that Honeywell works within verticals and verticals within those verticals. All sites are vertical dependent, and then in each site the departments are all vertical dependent. So in one site the engineers don't know what the fabricators are doing and vice versa. When the logistic person in the supply chain tries to get a better supplier for a product and the benefit goes to engineering, then all 3000 managers in the supply chain find ways to get rid of the logistic person. You would think that its a benefit to the whole site and Honeywell as a whole. But alas everything must be of benefit to the cost center that pays your salary. All you have to do is leave a paper trail that looks like your vertical is saving and they leave you alone. Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - To: Outside supplier - PO's from 60 to 90 days: I think that you know how to resolve this problem as a supplier. Just jack up your future quotations up by 2% to cover your financing/carrying costs. You are lucky you got 90 days. Our site would quote 60 but pay in 120 days. Contractors were pretty pissed about this and, after awhile, would put the Honeywell site on COD. This is one of Honeywell's dirty little embarrasing secrets. Oh, and by the way...watch out for the national agreements. To my experience, national contract are always more expensive to Honeywell than what you can get locally through your own purchasing agreements. So if you are able to quote a national agreement you can make a significant premium - with little extra effort. Wednesday, July 22, 2009 It isn't much better as an outside supplier. Purchasing's latest way of sticking it to us is by changing the payment terms on existing PO's from 60 to 90 days, after the job is delivered and invoiced! Strange place to do work for. Monday, July 20, 2009 I think that "Animal Farm" would be a more appropriate book choice. Saturday, July 18, 2009 Have you read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair? We are reliving it at Honeywell. Friday, July 17, 2009 - RE Wednesday July 15th, blog: You sound like a guy who is not under threat of losing his job because your boss has decided to use engineering skills from India. Well listen up, those people earn under $20K a year and do not get paid over time even though they might do 18 hour days. And your bosses are charging the customer at your hourly rate. How ethical is that? Perhaps you will change your mind when you are standing in the unemployed line, while your job is being done by someone from India, and your boss is getting paid incentive based on the difference between the two salaries. Thursday, July 16, 2009 I have worked in a number of companies before joining Honeywell UK some years ago. In all my years in working in a multi national enviroment, I have never met such a bunch of backside kissing, box ticking management before. We go through pointless exercises, where even the local management see absolutely no benefit, because they have been instructed to do so from the senior management in Europe. Even local, relatively low level, appointemnts have to be agreed right at the top of the food chain. Management are constantly chasing the monthly figures, custmer service comes a very poor second. Management on day to day decision is taken from the senior management in Europe, and the UK management just do as they are told. I suppose it's a good excuse that they are "Just following orders" - now where have we heard that before? Morale is very low, but the comittment to delivering a quality product from the guys at the coal face is second to none. Ask anyone who has to do an honest days work what the situation is at Honeywell. The truth will be out! Wednesday, July 15, 2009 Ref: "If there is a perverse sort of silver lining in these clouds, it is the fact that the mind-boggling arrogance, sense of entitlement and racist condescension that was seemingly bred into most North American and Western European (especially British) engineers has really taken a hit." I'm not the blogger who made the '3rd world engineers' comment, but I am a white, North American engineer who resents comments such as yours. I am objective enough to recognize and appreciate engineering talent and ability regardless of its country of origin. Any engineer who can make a positive contribution to a project is welcome, as far as I'm concerned. However, Honeywell seems to have taken the approach of hiring inexperienced engineers straight out of college, giving them fancy titles, and calling them 'experts'. If you don't like the term '3rd world', then let's call them 'Chinese'. You want to talk about arrogance, entitlement, and condescension? I've worked numerous projects with these folks. Without any consideration towards actual experience and ability, Honeywell management has placed project after project squarely in their laps. And without exception, the advice and guidance offered has been ignored to the point where each project has serious technical flaws, is behind schedule, and requires extensive intervention(trips) from North American engineers in an attempt to salvage a small fraction of the project's original goals. I don't fault the Chinese engineers for their inexperience. But I do fault them for their arrogance and condescension towards more experienced western engineers. Then again, what do you expect when you tell a newly minted grad that he's an expert? Most of all I fault Honeywell management for their incredible stupidity to assume a poorly thought out plan such as this could possibly work. Along the way I've learned to avoid generalizations, something which you lot and your sunshine comment might consider. Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - Re the comment from June 9, 2009, ending with "Good luck with your 3rd world engineers." Goodness knows that plenty of mistakes have been, and continue to be made by short-sighted people obsessed with irrelevant Six Sigma projects and other time-wasting initiatives. However, that final comment about “3rd world engineers” really struck a nerve with me (and I'm neither an engineer nor from the "3rd world"). If there is a perverse sort of silver lining in these clouds, it is the fact that the mind-boggling arrogance, sense of entitlement and racist condescension that was seemingly bred into most North American and Western European (especially British) engineers has really taken a hit. You lot are learning the hard way that the world actually doesn’t revolve around you, and that brilliant rays of sunshine actually don’t emanate from your behinds. Good on you. Tuesday, July 14, 2009 It would be most refreshing if the board of directors would get off their dead a$$es and take action before this company is completely down the pipes. Unfortunately, their past history of inactivity provides little reason for optimism. Does the BOD really do anything? Are they really just a rubber stamp for Cote? Or is it just a good old boys (and girls) club? Once you sit on enough BOD's for various corporations you no longer have to work for a living? How can a sane person watch what's happening and do nothing? Monday, July 13, 2009 If you look at how communications works in its various modes, only 7% of people actually read the written material - like the pretty colored charts on the shop floor. This is even worse if the charts are produced by people other than those that are directly involved. The committment becomes detatched and it becomes a "we" - "they" situation. The Toyota system does not work like that. There is another reason that the imported Toyota system does not work at Honeywell. Toyota makes a commitment to its employees that if they have a great idea that will not put them out of a job, they are redeployed & retrained into another position where the same great thinking can be used again. This is a powerful motivator. At Honeywell you never hear this committment from Cote. I have heard it on videotape from Toyota. Cote is always about "responding to market conditions" (code for lowest marginal cost). So great ideas most likely result in your outsourcing - as we see from many of the blog entries. Bosidy was the last one to come close to ensuring your job when he was rolling out Total Quality. I know that my TQ Facilitator had Bosidy's direct private number to take care of any Manager's resistance to the process - and he used it!. But this too has failed under Cote stand backish approach. HOS and Six Sigma have been moved to number 5 in Cote's Five Inituitives - an after thought. Yes, there have been programs and ad posters on site promoting growth idesa - but most sites can't compete at that level. As far as capital is comcerned. The process is terrible. It is more about how classy and smooth-tongued you are to make an arguement to the VP. This is the problem. The VP's are setting themselves up as the center of the universe - especially in Aerospace ISC. All attention is directed at them by site managers. So the sites see this more as a game of winning the VPs favor at any cost to get the capital funds. The capital reviews are usually setup up as a round-robin of conference calls. Monday, July 13, 2009 I have worked in Freeport, IL (home of the old Micro Switch, and now part of ACS) since the early '90s. The longer I work here, the more I see the complete lack of leadership. Leadership, by definition, means to lead. The definition of leadership in this part of the company is to lie, cheat, and manipulate people and numbers to make it look like they are doing their jobs. HOS was put in place to take advantage of the knowledge of the factory employees who actually perform the tasks. This was taken from Toyota, which has used it for many decades to be one of the world's leaders in efficiency and reducing waste. Management has turned this into a visual system to show their bosses something pretty to look at when they visit Freeport once or twice a year. Virtually no improvement has been shown in the majority of areas that have implemented HOS. This is becaue management ignores the workers who know what works and what doesn't work, and because they show no faith in the system because they do not enforce it. What could be a valuable tool to improve efficiency is instead an expensive waste of time that results in some pretty colored papers and charts that nobody looks at or uses. Some of the areas in Freeport are run by virtual cartels of 'drinking buddies' who oust anybody who disagrees with them, and who continue to promote their own who are not qualified for the positions. Truthfully, I would not put most of the 'leaders' I work with in charge of a McDonald's, let alone a large manufacturing company or a department. Many of the factory jobs in Freeport plant 4 are now in the process of moving to China and Mexico. These jobs are not moving because the employees can't compete with overseas workers. These jobs are moving because management failed to provide the equipment and support needed to improve output and reduce costs. For too many years, management routinely denied requests for automated equipment, for requests to update old equipment, and just about any other improvement that would cost money or take some sort of effort on their part. Now, a multitude of highly skilled and dedicated workers are being let go so that cheaper labor can build the parts. The sad part is that the managers who denied the improvement requests that probably would have kept the jobs here are keeping their jobs. Many of them will be promoted eventually, allowing them to destroy ever larger parts of the company in their zeal to make themselves look better. It's mind bogling to think what this company could be like if the leaders actually knew how to lead. Monday, July 13, 2009 Concerning the Honeywell weblog. Please, always remember that Honeywell is not really Honeywell anymore. It is Allied Signal hiding under the name Honeywell. And it is the Allied Signal mentality that is ruining not only Honeywell operations, but also the Honeywell name. Friday, July 10, 2009 - To: "Having been with Honeywell here in the UK for 5 years or so...." This summary is bang on! If you didn't say UK, one could have thought that you were writing about North America. Cote has presided on a stock loss from over $60 to under $30 per share. You can't blame this loss only on the recession. The lapdog Board of Directors needs to get out of the swine-fat feeding pen. Honeywell needs to be broken up for improved shareholder value. This type of breakup is already being discussed at GE because of the fiasco that GE Capital brought upon the company. Friday, July 10, 2009 Having been with Honeywell here in the UK for 5 years or so, I think have sufficient knowledge and experience to post a fairly accurate description of life in HPS today. In all my working career I have never seen such a disjointed company where the "silo" mentality is as prevalent and entrenched as here in HPS. Operations – sales – project management - HR, all have there own agendas and management structures; no big picture and no strategic thinking; and supported by an inept, incompetent and aloof management who are in the main inward-looking and provide little or no guidance. They are incapable of leadership, don't fundamentally understand what it is we actually do, and have lost the respect of the majority of staff. In fact, I would go as far as saying that swine flu is more popular than this lot. A good working relationship between sales and operations, which is fundamental to the success of any company, to use a management term is "challenging". Indeed, they are virtually at war in some affiliates. For those HR and management people who are reading this post, you are an overhead - you are neither chargeable to the customer i.e. engineering, nor do you bring in orders i.e. sales; instead you just sit in your ivory towers, presenting other people's work and achievements as your own, writing endless, pointless e-mails instead of actually doing something, and telling each other what a wonderful job you are doing – it's a club. Simple as that! The hurdles in place (processes as they are called) are now so numerous, complex and convoluted that getting anything done has become virtually impossible. We are losing projects in our key accounts. Winning new business is becoming increasingly difficult, with Emerson and Yokogawa in particular being aggressive commercially, and being prepared to work with customers in a collaborative approach. Much of the fault for this lies with senior Honeywell HPS management who, quite frankly, are more concerned about instigating new processes, risk avoidance, cost cutting, centralizing decision making. These are all issues which impact customer responsiveness and agility, at a time in the economy when Honeywell needs to be building bridges with its customers instead of burning them. "Growing the business" amounts to putting up prices by a disproportionate percentage, year on year, to milk the existing customers (using exchange rate fluctuations as cover) whilst employing the Honeywell Process Development pretty much universally despised by all (except the management and their toadies) to either minimize pay rises or used to justify redundancies. Management who have personal issues with employees will target those individuals using the HPD process. When redundancies are planned, guess who get Riffed first? There are many, many examples. Recent Low Lights
The net result is that a good number of Honeywell employees have forgotten who actually pays their salary. For clarity, it's not Honeywell - who are nothing more than middle men in the process - but in fact every single customer who places orders each and every year. Until the management and senior staff of this company realize this, the continued decline of this once great company, which these people are presiding over, will continue. The cost structure is far, far too high. Honeywell has too many non-contributors. The number of utterly pointless internal positions that contribute absolutely nothing to this company is beyond belief). There is too little staff with a "can do" attitude with only minimal customer focus. But for this too change will require many of these people who have directly contributed to this mess and instigated this structure to fall on their swords. So expect no change there. There are many, many outstanding employees in this company, employees who have carried this company for many many years in spite of its management defencies. Too many people have been marginalized and treated with utter contempt, to a point that they have simply lost any respect for the management of this company. Morale within the staff is at an all time low, and has gone from frustration to disbelief to anger and now contempt. The management, in conjunction with HR, continues to destroy and act in a manner that some would describe as underhanded, and others would describe as shameful. As this behavior continues, productivity continues to fall, and management continue to send out e-mails about "Growth Strategy" and "customer focus" and "doing a great job" and hold monthly "Town Hall Meetings". It's like something straight out of a Dilbert cartoon. But it's not funny its actually tragic. We, here in HPS UK, considered ourselves to be one of the best Honeywell affiliates, not just in EMEA but also globally. Now we are being destroyed bit-by-bit, and the sad thing is that management don't get it. In short, the lack of any leadership, joined up thinking and too many personal agendas at local level are crippling us. This is combined with HR (opps, sorry Business Partners) who recently employed a certain person who has said quite openly that they enjoyed "sacking people" and quotes the word FIFO – Fit In or F&!k Off. What is happening is nothing short of shameful. And for those senior management within the UK - if you are reading this and you genuinely want to make things better, come down and speak with the guys who are at the front-end and listen to what they have to say. But please - without the Business Partners. But sadly, you almost certainly won't. But, in the unlikely event that you do, you will probably send a middle ranking managers, who will filter and distort the facts to suit there own agendas. And the mess we are currently in will continue. Friday, July 10, 2009 - from a lifetime Honeywell employee: Ethics - what a joke! Honeywell is just a mass of defective upper managers. They don't have an ounce of caring for employees. One of the worst excuses for a leader takes advantage of everyone; Honeywell,employees, customers, contracts, for his own gain. Well that is a model for most HI upper managers; fire all your senior people so they are not a threat to uncover your lack of knowledge. Human resources is just Honeywell's legal system, and should never be trusted. Thursday, July 9, 2009 - To: "just found this site and it breaks my heart...in the UK...": Don't feel too bad. I was around at the time that Yeovil people were reduced by 1/3 or more. Managers at the time were affectionately named the "Butchers of Honeywell" - similar to the nut bag "Neutron Jack". It was unjustified to call the individuals this at a personal level since we knew their history, which was positive and strong - but it's what evil Honeywell made them do. It's like mixing matter and anti-matter. Because they could not reconcile the conflict, they couldn't live with the evil Honeywell, so they left. Wednesday, July 8, 2009 At Honeywell in Houston, it's sad to see the the organization has become so completely gutted that it is now a hollow shell with only marginal technical capability. If a specialist is needed, they fly them in from India. On one project I worked on, almost all technical staff were brougt from India to do the technical work such as configuration and graphics development. It's a shame that Honeywell management lies to the U.S immigration service saying that the workers are being brought in as 'management'. Perhaps Cote could be replaced by a far less expensive Indian 'Manager'. Tuesday, July 7, 2009 I just found this site and it breaks my heart to read it. I worked for Honeywell industrial in the UK and Europe from 1976 until I got fired in 2001 after the Allied merger. It used to be a great company and people were proud to work for it. "Integrity" was an important value, as was customer service, and it was a brilliant place to work with brilliant people to work with. I'm now reading about unmotivated, disenfranchised workers and an uncaring fatcat management. Sad. Very, very sad. I shouldn't care any more, but I do. Time I got a life. Wednesday, July 1, 2009 Honeywell has been using the bad economy as a cover to move manufacturing from North America to Asia and Mexico. Whenever Honeywell has had layoffs everyone assumed it was the bad economy and nobody has dug any deeper. We have had plans for moving the product lines for a few years and the only reason why we didn't do it was because of the adverse publicity of laying off tonnes of people in a good economy. That sort of move invites awkward questions. The moment the economy tanked we saw the opportunity to move the lines, offload thousands of workers and use the bad economy as an excuse. We are working hard and fast to get the product lines moved before the economy picks up again. Wednesday, June 17, 2009 June 18 will be the day Q3 furloughs are announced for SM, as reported from the people in the trenches at the analyst described "jewel" in the SM crown, UOP. I can understand it being necessary to prevent job losses, but it's hard to swallow, considering that Morristown is still sitting pretty. I doubt Diamond Dave cares; he just wants us to swallow. Long live the King. Tuesday, June 16, 2009 Here is the fall of Caesar, compared to the impending fall of Honeywell (Cote), as spoken by Shakespeare....
Casca: Speak, hands, for me! .... Caesar: Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar! Cinna: Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! Freedom at last! Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - Re: "Maybe the really upper people can take pay cuts of 20% or more" ... This writer is bang on. Leadership starts at the top. But there are really no Leaders at Honeywell - not in the Poter sense. They are all just detail Managers - and really insecure Managers, at that. A Leader, to me, sets the stage and has the charisma, through his words and tone alone, to engage my passion and emotion where I will pickup the sword and charge ahead for him/her. It is powerful. Don't appeal to my logic. This will never work. Logic is just a method used to justify a decision that has already been made through emotion. There actually have been a few of these passionate Leaders at Honeywell through the years, but to the last person, they have all left. It makes me angry that they did not stay for an extended period to make a lasting difference. There is no such thing as a Leader at Honeywell today - inspite of all the rhetoric and creative titles. I have no idea on how many times I have been on the phone with several layers of Management, including VP's, going over the same spreadsheet or powerpoint on some minuscule detail that should always be irrelevant to a VP - just to micro manage and make sure that it is politically correct for him/her to present to the next level. How shallow can the upper layers be? Honestly, it is more painful on the nerves than the Chinese water torture. But they do it again and again and again! If you object in the slighest, you are labled as uncooperative. These are all signs of excessive control. It's a condition that kills innovation and kills caring. This was not as it used to be. It reflect the level of lack of confidence that is rising. It is growing like a cancer. Without confidence and trust, the Captain can yell out all the orders he wants, but the troops will listen only because they do not want to end up in the hole (or poor performance review). I know that these are tough economic times. I follow the details daily and research material. So, it is easy for someone to frame their response to this within the difficult economic events of the last six months. But look at the nature of the postings over a number of years. The seeds of discontentment have been planted long ago. The tree is now bearing the sour fruit. Tuesday, June 9, 2009 I guess those of us who have to retire to keep our retiree medical benefits are doing it for reasons of health. When I signed the binding contract for the old S&C pension, I agreed to take less money for guaranteed retiree insurance. Sensing & Control was a great division of Honeywell. Upper management ran the business profitably and treated the employees with fairness and integrity. Apparently the Jack Welch school of management does not teach this. Senior management, just remember: What we senior engineers know about the business and products we worked with will leave with us. Good luck with your 3rd world engineers. Tuesday, June 9, 2009 So Jack Bolick retired for "health reason"; some yes-man made a big issue about Jack's health. Evidently, Jack was just sick of Honeywell, and like everyone else that has left, their health improves drastically a few weeks later. Jack is now healthy enough to be CEO of Adura Technologies. It will just be a matter of time before he ships work off to India, like the good Dave-Cote student that he is. Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Strategy? The only strategy I see is that "Employees are our best asset" and "We have to get rid of out best assets to be successful". Honeywell has been on a one-track mindset since the downturn; "cut costs" is all they are doing. There is no thought behind it, no other concepts, and no other plans. Just "cut costs, cut costs, cut costs". That is not a strategy, it is a statement. A business is a very complex thing filled with little details that all interact. By focusing on just one detail you end up upsetting the balance and screwing up the rest of it. Cutting costs is a good move and it will help, but it is only one of many things that can be done. It gives immediate results and can be plotted on a spreadsheet which is why Honeywell uses it. Anything more in-depth and complex than that requires understanding the business. Honeywell is very top-heavy and far too authoritarian for its own good. We have people making decision on things they have never been involved in before. This is the first place I have worked where my immediate boss could not do my job. In fact, my immediate boss would not know where to begin to try and do my job. My bosses boss has even less idea and the further up you go the more they are divorced from the process. However, people 2 or 3 levels above me are making decisions on technical issues that they do not understand. I have absolutely no input on the matter which means I get the blame when a really bad idea does not work. What we need to do is to implement the 10% salary cut across the board, so that management can show their solidarity. Maybe the really upper people can do 20% or more. After all, will Dave Cote go under if he only has $20 million per year? He managed it a year or two ago. Anyway, the pay cut across the board would help, followed by a streamlining of supervisory positions. Do we really need 3 managers for 9 people? And 1 super-manager for 3 managers? Then we need to bring the "technical or detailed" decision-making back down the chain. Upper management can do what they do best, steer the ship in the right direction, but let us workers handle boiler pressure and hull stress. Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - RE: "We have not had any competitive advantage since Dave Cote joined.": At the risk of putting too fine of a point on the subject, I think many areas of the company *had* a competitive advantage when Cote joined. Likewise, I think many of the companies since acquired *had* a competitive advantage also. However, in both cases and under Cote's "leadership" the competitive advantages have been lost as knowledge and resources have been squandered in the rush to move production overseas. It's no longer about building and selling quality products, it's about achieving some arbitrarily set number at the risk of whatever it takes. Monday, June 8, 2009 We know that management reads comments on this site; the sad part is when they add comments of thier own, they still speak in Dave Cote's voice. We, the people, listen to the same load of garbage, so when some management person adds comments, you pick it up like radar. The way to make money is to sell something. Too bad the management have not got this yet. Moving numbers around a spreadsheet will not improve the bottom line, no matter how fancy the spreadsheet is. Name brands are no longer the big selling feature; quality and price is what the customers want, and the Honeywell brand name is slowly starting to stink. We have lost quality in the pursuit of making the quarterly numbers. Somebody needs to tell people like Dave Cote and his buddies in GM, and other so called big business, that their time has come to take their big millions and go retire somewhere, and let's get someone in who knows how to run a business. If there is anyone out there that thinks the current management is going to pull this company out of the downward spiral it is in, they are more stupid than the management, whose feet they are kissing. The main reason management can't share their "strategies" is because they don't have any - not because of the "potential competitive advantage". We have not had any competitive advantage since Dave Cote joined. Monday, June 8, 2009 Yes, they are two different universes. The fact is that the company must be run by the numbers, not emotion... and labor is a cost. Companies have to relentlessly push out/down costs while increasing revenues - these are direct conflicts (you can't increase sales and not increase costs). This is probably why it make very little sense to most people. Management is making tough decisions and really trying to be creative to save headcount for the upswing in the economy. It certainly seems heartless... I'm not in that management chain, I'm a worker, but I do have a little feel about how business works. There is a clear division in running the business and producing in the business. The workers will feel the pinch every time these decisions are deployed. Now, being a cost leader is NOT a sustainable competitive advantage. Cote and others simply MUST put more effort (or evidence of at least trying) into pursuing the other avenues to build and sustain competitive advantage. But it's going to be tough to do that in a multi-national conglomerate... if not cost leadership, then generically (per Porter) it needs to be: a/ Differentiation or b/ Focus (niche markets or product lines). That's going to be tough - again due to too broad of a product mixes and market range. Cote and company will need to set up some very specific strategies (like dumping products/lines... which might appear to be simply layoffs when they are not). But be forewarned, they will not be able to share those strategies as that will kill any potential competitive advantage. You can't give away the secret recipe! But cost-leadership is generic, everyone is doing it, and there is nothing secret about it. And THAT strategy is really the only one you are going to easily see. You will have to just understand and deal with that. Sucks when it's you, though.... If REALLY you want to see a better picture of what they are doing, dig through the financials (look at % changes YoY, changes in margins, capitalization strategies, cash flows, etc for each segment as well as the business in total). It *would* be very nice to see some concern for managing the gray space between running the company and producing for the company. Solidarity would go a long way at this point. Saturday, June 6, 2009 I work for ACS. We are having multiple furloughs (unpaid time off) so they can make our numbers. We made 10% growth instead of 15% so we are most likely having another week in December unpaid. We are currently moving multiple products from Juarez to China to save money. I believe it is time to move on to another company. Friday, June 5, 2009 - On the topic: Great example of the people making decisions - ISC: I'm not surprised how ISC conducts itself. VP Aftermarket Services and VP Integrated Supply Chain are known for this behaviour. They are also known for closing sites and exporting jobs to Asia and gutting the USA. These guys also use the Media Relations puppet. He uses the same tired text for all the closures. How uncreative! Friday, June 5, 2009 I am not surprised that Dave Cote doesn't show solidarity with the workers. I met him once a few years ago and I thought to myself "what an a**hole". The only person he cares about is himself. He would fire the whole company in an instant if it meant him getting a bigger bonus. He sees himself as some sort of CEO and god-like figure in the world of management. If he had another life he would fall in love with himself. The people hanging round him were like sheep, laughing when he laughed and agreeing with his every word. It was such a sad sight to see. If he is the sort of person that being a CEO turns you into, then I do not want to go any further up the management chain. Thursday, June 4, 2009 Cote and the average US Honeywell worker live in two different universes. The workers believe their jobs are to excell at manufacturing products or providing services. Cote couldn't care less about this. His job is about taking over other companies, exploiting their assets to make the numbers, and then sending the jobs overseas. One domino after another. I, too, keep waiting for any indication from Cote of solidarity with the employees. But I'm certain now that it will never happen. He views himself as a tiger in a company filled with mice. If you think for an instant that there is any care or concern for Joe Average, you're wrong. Your job is just another potential asset for him to use on his way towards making the numbers, and the heck with jobs and careers. Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Great example of the people making decisions. Corporate policy calls for a prorated bouns based on the number of months worked prior to retirement. Prior to retiring in Nov 08 I contacted HR and they confirmed I would be paid for the 11 months based on the formula in the policy. After I retired they decided not to pay the bonus to retirees, however Cote got his at $3.5M. this is paid out of a pool of money that is set aside to be devided between all "Participants". Note the response "lack of Budget" must mean more was needed for Cote. I have reviewed the concerns you have raised regarding the decision not to pay you MIP in March 2009. While I appreciate your disappointment, as you are aware, consistent with the plan documents, while you were eligible for consideration for payout, there is simply no guarantee of a MIP payout for any employee. For the 2008 MIP plan year, Aerospace ISC in the U.S. decided not to pay individuals who were not active at the time of payout due to limited funding. This decision was entirely within the ISC Function’s discretion and the decision is final. Wednesday, May 27, 2009 Got a news flash for all of you: Honeywell hates unions with a passion and the power sharing that that involves. There are about 25 unionized sites out of 250. The unionized sites tend to be slowly gutted with the work being sent to Asia. You will be fed the standard line that Honeywell is always re-evaluating its businesses and that its a matter of cost competitiveness. So, you cannot win in this type of competitive environment. Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - from "One Very Unhappy Honeywell Worker": Honeywell = Greed. They couldn't care less about the ones who really make the money - the hourly workers. I say UNION YES. Seems like that's the only thing that would get them to change. Tuesday, May 26, 2009 In the Middle East, the so called growth region, after giving a 25% pay cut to staff and lay-off's, they now are not even clearing the Staff Expenses for more than 2 months. Thanks to the "great leaders". Monday, May 25, 2009 Why am I not surprised that Honeywell US hasn't implemented SAP? They always use Europe as a test bed, willing to gamble on whether a new business tool will work, without damageing the US side of the business. If you go back to the past too, and see how much damage that it did to the business and morale. The US comes up with these big ideas, hoping to save mony; but they always fail for the same problem: They run out of development before the product is finished. Then they don't roll it out properly, don't do training properly, and we are left with a product that doesn't do the job properly. Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Every year we get told that SAP will be coming next year. By the time next year rolls around, we are told that it will be delayed until the next year. The only thing that is certain is that when SAP does come we will be out of a job. Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Back in the days when you Oracle there was nothing else. Then big "D" decided that it was SAP, but we have some Oracle still in US. the conversion from Oracle to SAP was being done in Europe, while north America was later in this year and beyond. Now that we have been told to RIP (reduction in Pay), do they still have money to throw away on SAP or have they decided to put that on hold? Bets are in that some MBA will try do both. Monday, May 18, 2009 How would we initiate a class action law suit, about the loss of medical benefits in retirement? Thursday, May 14, 2009 Honeywell ethics: What a joke! Lay off the 50% UK, install staff and send the engineering offshore. Wednesday, May 13, 2009 They want all of us to sacrifice while getting zero raises for 2 years. Then they throw a 1% raise at you the third year so they can avoid a law suit by firing you. They have a policy in effect saying that they can fire you if you get three zero raises in a row, then they brow beat the supervisers into giving you nothing and trump up some stupid reasons that are absolutely b.s. to make it look like it's not discrimination. Then they give you the 1% the third year. It has taken us a little while to catch on to this, but now I think people are getting pretty pissed off. It's just a way of getting the old people with seniority out the door. Funny, the old people must have done something right or why did Honeywell keep them all these years? When are we going to do something about this? We need a class action lawsuit, because all of our retirement is going, and the medical is going, and we will be gone next. Wake up people! We didn't spend 20 or 30 years here to let them take everything we have. Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - Re: "Honeywell is the most unethical company imaginable.": Yup, I swallowed the 'ethics' propaganda hook, line, and sinker. Then I discovered there's "ethics", and then there's "Honeywell ethics." My mistake was assuming they were one and the same thing. One would think "ethics" is an absolute. Doesn't depend on circumstances. "Right" is right. Right? Wrong. What was so incredible was that, the course of behavior that was so proper and crystal clear to me was systematically derided and demeaned by management. And so I was written up. My conscience is clear. But lesson learned. Now I know *exactly* what kind of company Honeywell is. Tuesday, May 12, 2009 The comments on UOP are dead on. Honeywell lucked into owning half of this company with the Allied merger, then got the rest when Dow decided to sell it's half. So now a leading process control company ends up owning the premier technology development company for the process industries - a marriage made in heaven, right? Well no. The MBAs and dolts in MTO decided to stick UOP under Specialty Materials, the legacy Allied losers who bring you carpet fiber and candle wax. Of course the fact that they make a lot of profit which offsets all the losers and restructuring charges didn't hurt. So now, instead of going good science and discovering new processes, high talented UOP engineers with dozens of patents to their name are sitting around learning Six Sigma and the rest of time-wasting programs-of-the-month. And getting furloughed and screwed out of benefits like everyone else. Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Honeywell is the most unethical company imaginable. I left many months ago and am still in disbelief. Anyone with talent and/or morals should get out now. I realize that people at different levels/different areas of the company will have different experiences. I was "near the top" and found the organization to be thick with politics, behind in technology, a track record of bosses who can lie/defame employees they see as internal competitors (and the VPs believe whatever they are told!). When Cote removed "integrity" from the list of "desired employee behaviors," that said it all for me. I'm also glad to be out of there and not have to hear about immoral "extra curricular activities". Monday, May 11, 2009 Honeywell management have no clue as to the size of the beast they created. Six Sigma and Green Belt must be the biggest waste to any company, one step shy of ISO. ISO is the lie that customers will only deal with companies that are ISO certified. ISO is just the process where you document procedures. But documenting nonsense does not make you any better; it just means you have something documented. Now Greenbelt/six sigma: This is where we spend 6 months to do something that we could have done in 6 days, and then find out it was a complete waste of time in about 6 seconds. It cost about $25,000 for every green belt project that is done. I know (because i have been one of these) that, to be certified you need to do a greenbelt project. But alas, people are re-inventing the wheel. I have been on a green belt project to do a process that I had completed about 6 years ago. It only took me about a day to do it, but with the greenbelt it took about 3 months (of endless meeting). And you know what, there were some people on the project who thought they had just created life. Bet your MBa didn't cover that. We change staff in India/China/Mexico almost weekly, so I don't think anyone there will be getting certified in the near future. Monday, May 11, 2009 Honeywell bought UOP and is quickly and methodically running it into the ground. It is almost comical watching these clueless morons ruin a once well-run company. Besides taking away benefits every couple of months, we are shocked at their silly way of running a company. Work harder for less on useless Honeywell Operating procedures. Thanks Dave Cote - enjoy our medical benefits dollars in your bonus. Saturday, May 9, 2009 I have not seen much six-sigma involvement regarding the business transformation. Do you think they have run out of ideas? Or do you think the employees who give them the ideas cannot be bothered any more? What about out sourcing the whole six sigma operation to India, think of the money that will save!! Friday, May 8, 2009 Honeywell has talked about the integrity of this company for quite sometime now. Also how it's employees should also have that integrity. It's about time Honeywell shows this integrity and does the right thing for their employees. Friday, May 8, 2009 The cutting off of the retiree medical is not age discrimination. It's a blatant breaking of the contract the company signed with the employees when we were given a one time irrevocable choice to select the 'new' defined contribution retirement plan or maintain the legaqcy defined benefit retirement plan which included Retiree Medical. The new plan did/does not have retiree medical. This was a major factor in what many of us chose and now the company is screwing us. Friday, May 8, 2009 The HPS management team have decided to have a live-chat. They give you the option of identifying yourself when you ask a question. Well, for starters only the usual suspects are going to attend - those that do attend in the hope to ask questions are more dumb than the usual suspects. They already have the questions they will answer and those they wrote themselves. This live chat is to plead poverty, and almost sound human when doing it; that way when the put a pen through all those names people will not blame them. One thing i tell you they will achieve from this chat, the loss of productive work will be in excess of a few hundred thousand dollars. But, I'm just one of the guys that will get laid off because they need to recover that loss to give it to Dave Cote next year. Thursday, May 7, 2009 When Cote schedules a Town Hall broadcast across all of Honeywell, our IT folks diligently set up all the broadcast equipment in all of our conference rooms and cafeterias. It's funny, when Cote is broadcasting, you walk by these rooms and they are all empty. Cote is talking to an empty rooms - and this has been for some time. Thursday, May 7, 2009 Any other Honeywellers who can't retire, chose the "legacy" retirement plan and will lose the agreed upon (in 2000 retirement choice) subsidized retirement health care benefit? I am looking into a class action lawsuit for age discrimination, based on Honeywell "forcing" older employees to choose between retirement, medical help and severance benefits. This is based on the philosophy that Honeywell doesn't want to pay BOTH when our plants are finally moved to Asia. I will blog when I've spoken to attorneys about feasibility. At that point we may no longer need to be anonomous... Thursday, May 7, 2009 Honeywell is using the current economic crisis to cut jobs in the US. There is not a recession everywhere in the world. Other countries, like Indonesia and Chile have just slowed down. The cut US jobs will just be redeployed into the Asia area. Look, it's been happening every year since at least 2000. Why would you expect it to change or not accelerate? The price is that moral leadership is gone. It's now leadership by fear! Thursday, May 7, 2009 Honeywell management has obviously forgotten that the rank and file employees are the ones that actually make the money for this company. Once you get beyond the factory floor the burden begins, up to and including the biggest burden of all....executive staff. Yet the rank and file are the ones who continue to sacrifice to satisfy management greed and compensate for 'leadership' incompetence. While the sacrifices for the rest of us come almost daily, what has Cote given up? Has he eliminated his private jet yet? Of course not. None of this is his problem. He exists apart from the rest of us. After the millions he receives in pay does he really need Honeywell to compensate him $60,000 for life insurance? Heck no. But he takes it because in his mind 'he deserves it.' And nobody says differently, least of all the zombies on the board of directors. Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Today's news: Starting 1 September 2009, Honeywell will no longer subsidize medical insurance coverage for people who retire under the legacy retirement plan -- about 15% of Honeywell employees. Now there's an incentive for competent, experienced folks to retire soon! The really ironic thing is the explanation in the letter they sent out -- the economy just keeps getting worse and worse, and we have to do this to avoid layoffs. But in other communications, they claim that they expect things to start turning around by the end of the year, again "to avoid layoffs". So clearly, they've used the current short-term situation to justify longer-term reduced benefits for people who retire before they're eligible for Medicare. And if the economy doesn't improve soon, we'll be having layoffs anyway. I figure the "savings" will start in the next couple of years, peak at about $50M/year in a few years, then tail off as more legacy employees hit age 65. It's the gift that just keeps on giving. Heck, in a good year, it might even cover Dave Cote's compensation! The MBAs who come up with this stuff obviously went to the Rahm Emanuel School -- "Never let a good crisis go to waste." And, Oh by the way, your employee satisfaction surveys will be coming out soon. Wednesday, May 6, 2009 I just thought that some of you would like to know: Clearly, the economic climate is getting worse. We're seeing incredible slowing, and it's looking like the worst recession in half a century. We're doing everything possible to avoid a repeat of the 2000-2002 recession, when we had 31,000 company-wide layoffs. We have left jobs unfilled, eliminated salary increases for most band 4 and above employees, implemented short-term furloughs, and cut expenses everywhere and for everything. Even with these actions and the $700 million plus in restructuring over the past three years, it's not enough, and more cost actions are required. Consequently, we will be eliminating the retiree medical subsidy for current employees. Should you retire after September 1, 2009, Honeywell will no longer subsidize retiree medical coverage for you. This change does not affect those employees already retired or those who retire by September 1, 2009. In order to retire by September 1, 2009, you must apply for retirement by July 31, 2009. While this is a difficult decision, we believe this action is less disruptive to our employees and the company than other options because it allows employees who are eligible to retire to choose to do so, while preserving jobs for many others. Additionally, no one will lose access to health care coverage. Employees can either continue to participate in our company-provided health care plan, or retire before the deadline and receive a subsidy. Additionally, we still plan to provide access to group insurance at competitive company rates for pre-65 retirees who leave the company after September 1. Our group coverage rate is generally less expensive than individual coverage currently available in the marketplace. Group insurance can assist employees under the age of 65 bridge the gap until they are eligible for other options through Medicare. But ---- "Cote received $422,666 in other compensation, including $155,577 for his use of company aircraft, which he is contractually obliged to use for travel. Additionally, Honeywell reimbursed him $62,000 for the annual premium of a $10 million life insurance policy." Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Your observations about the glut of MBAs in the post-Allied (aka "blue") era is correct. I remember talking to a director shortly after the so-called "merger of equals" was announced who said "It's going to be a completely different kind of company". He'd already looked into the mouth of the beast. What was not publicly known, but widely understood at management levels within Honeywell, is that the GE Integration Team had put together a comprehensive integration plan. The GE-ization of Honeywell would have wreaked havoc with organizational structure, creating larger chunks of business with the same or leaner management, but with GE people in key positions. All the other GE nonsense would follow, including six sigma, the "bottom 10 percent" system of "topgrading" the workforce, and the much-touted "digitization" of whatever could be reduced to an intranet site to eliminate people. (Surely no one ever thought Bossidy came up with this crap as an original idea, did they?) All these programs sound familiar because after GE was forced to practice merger interruptus, the damaged Honeywell "leadership" staff went ahead and implemented most of the GE integration plan anyway. So many key people had left or been run out by GE and the what was left of the old Honeywell had been so beat-up by pointy-haired Allied types, that even the stupidest changes were accepted with resignation. The main difference between then and now is there were more co-workers to be demoralized. The sum GE had to pay for not going through with the merger was a cheap price to invasively learn the secrets of a competitor, and then leave it a crippled breeding-ground for bad ideas. Monday, May 4, 2009 In Nature, when the fruit is plentiful the big ape would swing into the trees and eat all that he can eat; he would take over the troop and control it with an iron fist. As soon as the fruit was getting low on the trees, this ape left the group to join another. Now the rank-and-file would move out to find better feeding grounds, but with a lesser leader who usually lost to another bigger ape who has moved out of a failing troop. You can find these facts in National Geographic. Or, you can take a look at Honeywell management. Monday, May 4, 2009 In my opinion it all started to go to hell in a hand cart when they hired the first "MBAs". When they arrived, it must have seemed like all their prayers had been answered; there we all were like a rain forest of employees. There they all were like a team of Brazilian tree loggers working double shifts to pay off the loans on their brand new chain saws. The old guard management who understood the business but not the dynamics of running a business hired them with promises of "Fast Track Promotion", the MBAs performed as only MBAs can and hacked the company to pieces; after all why have three people doing three jobs when you can force one person to do all three jobs. I guess the old guard management crapped themselves when they saw the desolation left behind, because the MBAs never saw any sign of the "Fast Track" they certainly were not going to promote them to high positions and suffer the same fate. So, eventually they moved on. This kinda screwed it up for the next lot of MBAs, because when they came along there was not a lot left for them to perform their miracles on. They too did not see any sign of the "Fast Track". Next came the Allied Signal fiasco. A supposed merger. But, when Allied looked around they too saw that there was not much they could do with the business. By then, we were just a field of telegraph poles with very few branches to trim back. Bossidy jumped ship, leaving the clown Bonsignore in charge, and he couldn't manage to take a dog for a walk without losing it. After a short period in the doldrums, we heard about United Technology attempting to buy the company. Then out of the blue GE arrived. The story was that Jack Welch faxed Bonsignore a hand written a note saying GE wanted to buy the company. Bonsignore contacted Jack Welch and said "Why Not?" and he made the deal. Honeywell started applying the GE management model by making management lay offs prior to the buyout. When the deal fell through, we were left with a flat management structure and lack of key management. Boy, did those layoffs ever bite us in the ass. Then Big "D" arrived; within a short time all of the management were just following orders. There is no individuality within the Honeywell management; they are too frightened to offer any sort of opinion, and their one goal is chasing quarterly figures to please Morris Town. The pursuit of "Organic Growth" seems like a good idea. But, what is the point of planting new seeds when you do not make the effort to cultivate what already exists? I still do not under stand outsourcing. The need to outsource just means that you cannot effectively do the job yourselves. Has anybody actually seen a spreadsheet that proves beyond doubt that outsourcing saves money? Honeywell is also internally de-skilling its self by outsourcing engineering. Pretty soon there will not be enough skilled engineers left to satisfy new build contracts. How will Homeland Security or Boeing feel when engineers from India or China appear to work on a new contract in a high security area? Take note because it is not that far away. As for big "Dave's" pay rises and bonuses, I am sure that president Obama will be keeping a close eye on CEOs pay checks, especially those that he has met. Sunday, May 3, 2009 Let's face it, Honeywell is falling apart. In order to prop up the share price management is making short-term non-sustainable decisions. Cutting costs works well to begin with but then you start hurting the future of the business. The share price may be holding its own now but this time next year everyone will be rating it as junk status. Friday, May 1, 2009 I think you are reading a different blog board to this one. Nobody has said anything about everybody making the same amount of money. You have missed the point of the posts, I will summarise so that you do not have to try and read the board again...
Friday, May 1, 2009 I think the point that the other person was trying to make is that we (the lowly employees) have sacrificed or have been riffed, and this CEO got a 55% bonus and has made no attempt to give anything back or show that he is also sacrificing to help the company. So your excuse for his behavior holds no water with me. Great managers lead by example, but he comes from the Jack Welch school of management where the CEO comes first - not the company. I'm fortunate in that I'm almost at retirement age and won't have to put up with this much longer. Friday, May 1, 2009 So much unhappiness and despair. If you want to make a big paycheck, like a Fortune 500 exec, then go earn it! Do you think that if you anonymously wail about it in this blog, or around the water cooler when you're sure you're safe, that magically you'll get paid more and Cote will get paid less? If you want everyone to get paid the same where you work, move to a Communist state! If you don't like a capitalist market where share price and profitability are king, then leave America! Wednesday, April 29, 2009 So they tell us to take 10 days unpaid. This is so they don't have to do layoffs. You know this would have a lot more meaning if they just waited a few weeks before they start laying off people. But alas, layoff's are now in full swing and my guess is there will be over a hundred laid off before end of May; but if you a betting person they may hit that number before the end of this month. Wednesday, April 29, 2009 April 30, last days for about 40 Honeywell workers out of 65. Production, R&D and Quality are moving. Lead time changed from 5 days to 15 and 20 days. We tell customers that this re-organisation will not affect orders. Yeah right. Inside Sales and Service must takes more calls due to increasing lead times. Errors are being made since we changed 10 years old experienced technicians for brand new people that have no clue what they are doing. Where is the efficiency in that? Where do we offer better product and service to customers? The only good this change does is to get more money is manager pocket such as Cote. Sunday, April 26, 2009 Since the Allied takeover, Honeywell has continued to remove the small things that contributed to the level of job satisfaction for many employees. Who cares if employees are unhappy as long as Cote and Wall Street are cozy? Routine maintenance is ignored or delayed. Light bulbs don't get changed. Janitorial service is reduced. Recognition dinners are cancelled. Cafeterias are closed. Travel is nearly impossible. Cell phones are cancelled. Raises are 0%. Mandatory days without pay. But Dave Cote still gets a 55% compensation increase, the use of a private jet, and reimbursed for his life insurance policy. The only way to exist is to pinch your nose and close your eyes. Job satisfaction? Ha! Not in this company. Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Internal email extract. It starts out by saying that a few million dollars has been spent on retirement parties/life events etc... We understand that recognizing these occasions is important to our friends and co-workers. Personal gestures are a part of building a strong workplace community. So while we encourage employees to recognize occasions that matter to their co-workers, any associated costs should be covered by individual contributions, rather than by the company. The desire of our employees to support their co-workers is one of the reasons Honeywell is a great place to work. We encourage employees to continue acknowledging important occasions for co-workers while adhering to the company’s travel and expense policy. This will help us reduce indirect spend while building a positive work environment. So we are still allowed to have a retirement party but we must pay for it ourselves. This is crazy. Next they will be telling us that the company bathrooms are pay-per-use. Tuesday, April 14, 2009 We have cut back to the level of incompetence now. Here in Springfield we had one person who knew the EDI system. On Friday, they let her go. How stupid is that?! Now we have someone coming from across the state to try and help us out. That person is only going to be here for 1 day, because Honeywell is too cheap to let them have a hotel room, or to pay another $70 for an extra days car rental. Fortune 100 company? If we are then either the company is going bankrupt or the "insert expletive here" in New Jersey are sucking us dry. Either way, we will not be here very long. Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Now we are reaching crisis point. They have got rid of so many talented people that the rest of us are getting overworked. We are getting more project requests because more less skilled people are having to try and do skilled jobs and they are making mistakes; costly mistakes. Saturday, April 11, 2009 Sensing and Control is running out of money rapidly and upper management does not want to pour the profits into it to keep it afloat. S&C has until the end of the year to show some turnaround - otherwise corporate will announce a "refocusing on our core business" and either sell it or dismantle it. Friday, April 10, 2009 I am on a programming project (yes we still have them) and I am amazed at the incompetence of the management. We have had several pieces of source code overwritten due to the outsourced sysadmins being lazy. We have also had 2 people working on the same piece of source code and overwriting each others changes. Management says "well we have source control", but unfortunately we are not allowed to use it properly. Instead of using it to check in and out working code they use it to manage the move from test to production. We have a test system that has been set up very differently from production (we have those great outsourced sysadmins to thank for that) so that the code needs to know which machine it is on before it will work properly. We have almost no comments in the code and we have people changing the basic design on the fly. In short, it is a real mess. Management has no clue how to run a coding project and I am the only one with any major coding experience on the whole team (Honeywell got rid of it brains a few years ago). This project is one huge train wreck. My hope is that it gets canceled before we have to deploy it and maintain it. Maybe I will find another job soon? I am definitely looking. Does anyone want to hire a software engineer? Friday, April 10, 2009 I just thought that some of you would like to know: "Cote received $422,666 in other compensation, including $155,577 for his use of company aircraft, which he is contractually obliged to use for travel. Additionally, Honeywell reimbursed him $62,000 for the annual premium of a $10 million life insurance policy." Can I use the company aircraft too? Or do i have to go to my 2 week unpaid vacation on the bus this year?
You can find the whole report at: Thursday, April 9, 2009 Attention, anyone in or near Rockford, IL. WTVO Channel 17 is interested in hearing about the recent layoffs and the movement of production to China/Mexico. Contact their news desk if you want to talk to them about it. Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Honeywell is going to be moving the production of more product lines to China over the next 12 months. The North American layoffs have already started. Wednesday, April 8, 2009 I am voting with my resume and actively looking for another job. The moment I find one I will be out of here. I have worked for a few different companies and I have to say that Honeywell is the worst. Tuesday, April 7, 2009 I think that we need to get more pointed in our assessment and discussion of Honeywell management practices. Cote doesn't give a darn about your comments here - unless you riot on the streets of Morristown or you vote with your shares. There is little chance of this happening. They love your Honeywell stock prices too much. So, put up or shut up! What is more insidious is Honeywell action under the surface - what you don't see. Monday, April 6, 2009 - link sent by ex-Honeywell (laid off due to outsourcing):
From CNN-Money: 10 biggest CEO Paychecks
Total compensation: $28.7 million 2008 salary: $1.8 million Bonus: $17.5 million Perks: $422,666 Stock grants: $0 Stock options: $9 million Honeywell's 2008 sales rose 6% to $36.6 billion, a result that helped Cote collect a $17.5 million bonus. Saturday, April 4, 2009 Hmmm... 10% reductions in pay for most exempt employees; but still no indication that Dave Cote would even consider forgoing any of his 55% increase. This guy just doesn't get it. Friday, April 3, 2009 I see that there is a lot of animosity towards MBAs. The MBA is not the problem per se. The problem are all the wrong expectations based on this degree. You can be a bright person with an MBA, but this is only a tool for helping you achieve good (or outstanding results) quicker, but it does not substitute the experience you have to have in an industry. Companies can value this degree, but not believe that anyone with an MBA can make the difference. Also a good level of humbleness and real ability to work with a team and learn from people with more experience than you is crucial. Only after you can add your MBA on top of that and try to make the difference. Only after that. Thursday, April 2, 2009 The problem we have here is that you are not seeing the management in their true light. These people have MBA's and should be treated with respect. Actually, these people at best are like monkeys in a zoo; fun to watch. I am responsible for creating some of these spreadsheets, and some are just flights of fancy. Some managers take these numbers and do something meaningful with them (less that 1%). The rest just like to look at the pretty pictures. Every now and then I change the title on the spreadsheets, and you can just see the confusion taking place. The data remains the same, but the poor things are so lost and confused you just want to hold them and feel sorry for them. Moving the columns around - now that is cruel; but damn, its funny..... Thursday, April 2, 2009 What has happened is that we have gone from "management by thinking" to "management by spreadsheet". If we were still using "management by thinking" we would see that the short term cost reductions are killing our future potential. It would be obvious because the people doing the thinking would be people who know the business and the industry as a whole. They would have had experience on the shop floor doing the job that they are now managing. Now that we have "management by spreadsheet" it is easy to hire an MBA from outside. They do not have to know the business or even be able to spell "widget", all they have to be able to do is to put numbers into a spreadsheet. There is no thinking required, numbers are down is bad and numbers are up is good. Unless your magic numbers take into account the time an entire IT team has to do nothing while it is waiting for an outsourced group to do something you will never know that the money you saved by outsourcing is being eaten up by lack of quality by the outsourced company. The "management by thinking" would have spotted this a long time ago and may even have predicted it, the "management by spreadsheet" will never spot it or will spot the performance decrease but attribute it to something else. A spreadsheet is a tool, it is only as good as the person operating it. In the hands of someone who knows what they are doing it can be very powerful, in the hands of a child with an MBA it is dangerous. Monday, March 30, 2009 - Re: "It's a well known macro-economic principle that all business will ultimately migrate to the area of lowest marginal cost." True, assuming that the model captures all costs. However, the story we're given is that business migrates to low cost only because the hourly costs are less. In pursuit of this we've seen projects handed to inexperienced graduates who are called 'experts', followed by flawed product designs, do-overs, unworkable production equipment, incompetent project management, missed program schedules, missed revenue streams, poor quality, lost customers, etc. What is the cost of this? Apparently nothing, because even though this has gone on for several years, management still persists in following this path while the list of mistakes and goof-ups keeps climbing every day. Those who watch this charade and have the experience to understand the impact of these mistakes realize this is not a sustainable model. But our concerns fall on deaf ears, while publicly the suits maintain they've found the holy grail. It gives every appearance of management making a decision, and then "adjusting the books" (or looking only at selective data) to create supporting evidence. It would be hard enough to see US jobs lost if this model really worked. But it is intolerable to continually see jobs lost in pursuit of a model that has repeatedly failed. Management's stubborn inability to acknowledge their mistakes only exacerbates the problem. There is no question this has played a part in the recent decision to require employees to take time off without pay. The only thing that seems to be going smoothly is the endless transfer of money to Cote's bank account. You tell me where the disconnect is. Monday, March 30, 2009 It's a well known macro-economic principle that all business will ultimately migrate to the area of lowest marginal cost. The USA has not yet fit this bill for many years. So why doesn't the collective US of A get really smart! Everyone, in unison, should say that we will all collectively take a 40-50% salary and benefits cut. If all do it, prices will come down and everything will be the same relatively speaking - but more competitive globally. Of course, I was having a bad dream. With the systemic greed in the USA, this will never happen. Just look at Congress - old fat grey cats that bitch more that old women in rage on motorcycles - can't agree on anything. Obama should kick ass so that every CEO in the USA will quiver in his/her boots. GM's Wagner is gone. The same CEO dismissals should happen in all the banks. Terminate them all and start with a clean slate. Monday, March 30, 2009 I'm no Honeywell apologist. But it could easily be argued that all of Honeywell's non-suited resources (i.e. everyone who's not in management, finance or marketing) in the USA are doomed anyway. If taking a 10% pay cut, or two weeks compulsory unpaid leave, or whatever, will buy them all a year or two of time to find a new job while the economy hopefully recovers, is that such a bad thing? Why do I say this? Read what the pundits are saying about America's auto industry (5c summary: Let It Fail, let the manufacturing jobs cascade down to Japan, Korea and China, and retrain the auto workers to do something else - though what exactly that something else might be is never credibly stated). The arguments they make for GM and Chrysler are word for word equally applicable to anything Honeywell makes or does, with the possible exception of bits of Specialty Materials (e.g. I can't see the DOE outsourcing its uranium refining to China or Korea anytime soon). Honeywell is scarcely the only company to have reached this position. Microsoft, IBM, Apple, a dozen (or a hundred) others are at various places down the black ski-slope. Hate to say it but a real world-scale war (I guess a cold war might do) is the only thing that will likely create sufficient trade barriers to bring local industries back into existence. Monday, March 30, 2009 To all who don't think this is a big deal
Friday, March 27, 2009 So Honeywell HPS wants its employees to think globally as one of the 12 key behaviors, LOL. And yet they announced an across-the-board 10% pay cut only for US employees. I guess that they forget about all the jobs they outsourced? It appears that none of these new Honeywell employees needed to sacrifice along with the US employees, for the good of Honeywell execs making their bonuses. Figures. I guess the excuse is that only the US allows Honeywell to screw its employees at the drop of a hat, so they took advantage of what they could get. Despite the above, I am not overly upset about the whole thing. You would have had to be a blind man (or a Honeywell Executive) not to see this coming. HPS is a trailing indicator that is reflecting last November, right on schedule. I could hardly control my laughter earlier this year, when execs were blathering about what a good year 2008 was, and how we were a new Honeywell that would push strongly ahead through 2009 while other lesser companies withered. (Who do they have writing their material? It's a real hoot!) Did anyone else, but me, notice that the 10% pay decrease for two quarters roughly cancels that bonus they gave you for doing such a bang up job last year? When I was listening to the blathering about the great 2008, I couldn't help but think to myself that there was no way I would get a bonus for it. So I was actually pleasantly surprised to receive a nice bonus... um ... but even before it appears in my paycheck, they are letting me know that I will be giving it back, and then some - for the sake of the company. That's swell guys. As the previous bloggers have speculated, I should now be holding my breath for the announcement that Dave Cote is giving back his bonus. I am preparing the best I can for more, probably much more, bad news to come. Only the truly gullible could believe this will be the end of it. The economy is bad, and it will show Honeywell management for the posers they are. Lacking any real business skill, their only option will be to slash and burn, hoping for better times. Friday, March 27, 2009 Honeywell announced in NY today that we will have 2 unpaid weeks spread out in 2 quarters. We will stay home unpaid. This will prevent us from collecting unemployment. What pisses me off is Cote and others will be sure to make millions in bonuses/stock options. Time to look for a new job. Friday, March 27, 2009 ACS gets a 10% decrease in hours and pay for ALL employees (salary and hourly). The last time there was a recession Honeywell fell apart and it looks like the same thing is happening again. Thursday, March 26, 2009 For this jingoism, "The Year of Procurement", Cote gets a 55% increase? Not only is he bankrupt of new ideas, but the board of directors have lost their minds. Check my math please. At ~$30 million compensation, Cote is receiving 1/1000th of the total sales of the company. Nice piggybank. No wonder there aren't even crumbs left for the rest of the employees. Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Well Dave Cote has announced that, for Sensing and Control this year will be "The Year of Procurement". What does that mean? It means that we do not have the talent to create something new, so we are going to buy up companies with new stuff, move the manufacturing to China and stick our label on it. In the meantime we will dismantle the company we purchased and let all of its employees go (unless they leave in disgust first). Saturday, March 21, 2009 As a point of comparison: David Cote is CEO of a $35 billion company and David Farr is CEO of a $25 billion company. Please see the following:
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 Hopefully with the way the economy is at the moment, Honeywell will change to a new management and new management style. But alas, methinks that the only thing that will change will be the head (Cote); the status quo will remain. None of Cote's underlings has the faintest idea about how to run a company. Though, at this moment in time they will all be putting their names in the hat. Good luck to us, the Honeywell people! Monday, March 16, 2009 I guess that Cote will bail Honeywell in the same way he abandoned TRW. Monday, March 16, 2009 I agree about the financial situation at Honeywell. If the management style does not change things should get very interesting in 2011. Monday, March 16, 2009 - RE: Cote poll: I say that he will not forego his pay increase because he does not care about his employees. That can be seen by the way he is replacing them with contracts. Sunday, March 15, 2009 - RE: Cote poll: No, Cote will not forego his pay increase, because he sees Honeywell as a cash cow and nothing more than that. He is going to retire when the decisions that have been made over the past few years catch up with the company. When things start to go downhill he will bail out, take a very large parachute and leave the company to go under. I give him no more than 2 years due to the current financial situation within the company. Saturday, March 14, 2009 "Leadership by example." Well, there's a concept. Let's start an informal poll. The question is: Will Dave Cote forego a compensation increase?
Saturday, March 14, 2009 You got 2%? I got 0% - that's right, zero percent. In fact everyone here got nothing for a raise this year. Now the HR department is threatening to drop medical coverage for my kids because my spouse had them from a previous relationship. Of course Dave Cote's going to get a 55% merit increase, he screwed it out of the rest of us by pulling stuff like this. I sometimes wonder how bad the financial situation is at Honeywell. We hear the talk of how well we did last year and how poised we are to do better than most companies this year but I do not see that reflected in reality. We cannot buy any more office supplies until April; a hiring freeze; no (or little) merit raises; buildings that are falling apart, and that smell of mold during a rainstorm; a travel freeze; reducing benefits. All of those are signs of a company under severe financial hardship. I am moving what little Honeywell stock I have to other companies, I don't want it to end up worthless. I suggest you do the same, Honeywell is heading for a big crash. Look at the banks and others that have gone under - what did the executive staff get that final year? A huge "merit raise". What did Dave get this year? A huge "merit raise". See the connection? Advice to anyone reading this blog: stay away from Honeywell, they will screw you out of the benefits, retirement plan, salary and anything else they can. Saturday, March 14, 2009 Check the web for last Thursday's news - Dave Cote's 2008 compensation was "up nearly 55 percent from 2007". But things were a lot leaner in our organization, with the merit increase budget for our organization somewhere around 2%. I'm not in favor of government-imposed limitations on executive compensation, nor do I begrudge business owners and or talented corporate CEOs salaries commensurate with their company's performance. But according to the article, "about half of that increase was merit-based". So, just what did Dave Cote do during 2008 that would merit this increase? Maybe it was driving the Honeywell stock price from $62 down to $26. And will the extra 55% incentivize Dave to perform at even higher levels during 2009? I'm sure that Mr. Cote would argue that his $30M+ is a drop in the bucket, and did not significantly affect Honeywell's bottom line. But productive employees supproting a family on slightly lower pay would contend that something a little better than 2% on their $40k salary probably also wouldn't break the bank. One would hope that Mr. Cote would recognize what a poor appearance this makes. Practice a little leadership by example, and voluntarily forego any comensation increase. C'mon Dave, by making that sort of bold move, you'd demonstrate some personal integrity, and maybe inspire Honeywell employees world-wide to appreciate their jobs and work a little harder. And you'll still be able to scrape by. Wednesday, March 11, 2009 Jack Welch just happened to come along at a time when there was such a thing as "low hanging fruit." So Jack picked it. And Wall Street revered Jack as a modern day corporate genius. Jack gives interviews. Writes books. Every CEO wannabe wants to be Just Like Jack. Follow in his footsteps to realize their own visions of corporate "success." Soon the low hanging fruit is gone. What to do next? Promises have been made. Goals are set. Uh oh. Wall Street is demanding results. Who is more important, investors or employees? At least Jack had a few original ideas. But the Jack Wannabe's had nothing. Empty pockets; empty suits. Understanding the business and finding creative ways to remain competitive was #1. Beyond the leadership abilities of the GE infiltrators. Not part of the perceived global solution of offshoring everything possible. Panic begins to set in. "Leadership" exerts rigid control over everything, believing that in this way they can wring every last bit of profit from the workforce. In so doing, they also remove flexibility, creativity, and innovation. Discouraged and demoralized employees soon realize they are nothing but pawns on a chessboard with no idea of the game being played, and no control over it. Buying new companies and headcount reduction eventually becomes the pathway to making the numbers instead of organic growth and new technology development. David Cote hasn't had a fresh idea since he was installed. Much was promised. Little has been delivered. Unless you count hosting a company-wide meeting from Monte Carlo as "delivering." In fairness, Cote was not the only CEO wannabe caught in this trap. But he and others like him who blindly followed Jack's lead have collectively destroyed manufacturing in the US. Hopefully, one day there will be an accounting, similar to what's going on now with the banking and insurance meltdown. Perhaps then, instead of basking in the warm glow after introducing the president, Cote will get a chance to explain to congress and the nation how he helped trade away the economic vitality of the US in exchange for a few pieces of silver, all because he didn't have a better idea. Tuesday, March 10, 2009 If you are with Callidus Technologies, kiss your kahunas good-bye. It's a Honeywell disease. Honeywell will pick you apart - by using Six Sigma tools and telling you that you don't have a Global mindset (eg: S&C). Suggest that you get smart, start your own business and take the core business away from Honeywell. Act fast! The Honeywell, ex AlliedSignal, ex GE management style is dead. Just look at the stock market. The stock market is the true judge of the effectiveness of the GE style. Unfortunately Honeywell (blue) is infested with the GE philosophy - starting from the top. The reality is that GE stock is now below $9.00/share from its high of about $60. I expect that it will even head lower. This is poetic justice for the Jack Welch "straight from the gut", which historians will recount as questionable. Jack was no miracle for GE. He just happened to lead the company when all stock market tides were rising - as did GE. So, like in hockey, When there is dismal performance by the players, get rid of the coach (Cote) - and a lot of other VP's in Aerospace, which is the true engine for Honeywell. Honeywell's stock is at approx $25 from approx $60 a loss of over 30%. Please don't fell sorry for these individuals. They have done well in the past and will not be eating dog food. They will be eating your pay increase, though. Come on you guys & gals - lets hear your opinions in raw form. There are Honeywell executives that look at this website. Give them the message and send their heads spinning! You are anonymous. Monday, March 9, 2009 Honeywell just took over Callidus Technologies and is now in the middle of ripping it apart. They are so sneaky, but any smart person can read in between the lines. It is sad to see Callidus, that was a very good, Christian family company, get sidetracked by greed and sell to Honeywell. Now all the people who worked their butts off from the beggining are the ones being cut or harrassed. No one is to be trusted from this company, whether they are there for integration or contracted! Friday, March 6, 2009 Very well said. The real irony was that those obscure, power-hungry new-hires used the argument that local management was too "Freeport-centric" and therefore could not possibly be capable of providing leadership in the 'new economy.' So, without even bothering to understand the nature of the business they inherited, the ex-GE new hires systematically removed the very people who had turned that business into an industry leader. What followed has been nothing but a comedy of errors leading to a continuous downward spiral. When local voices tried to speak up, they were immediately shut down with the accusation that they 'don't have a global mindset.' Translation: Go away. Shut up. Quit bothering me. It's an exceptional individual who can take a sow's ear and turn it into a silk purse. But it takes today's Honeywell management to turn a silk purse into a sow's ear. Thursday, March 5, 2009 The reason the damage is so obvious at Sensing and Control is because this business was allowed to operate for 50 years as an autonomous business, after being acquired by Honeywell in 1950. The wise leaders of "the big red H" allowed local management, based in Freeport, IL to create a climate of world-class excellence. This is not just opinion, in fact S&C was unquestionably qualified, based on objective assessment by independent examiners, to win the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award in the late 1990s. Then came the Allied Signal takeover, and soon thereafter, the GE Fiasco. (Yes, the GE whose stock is now worth 1/4 of HON). GE didn't/wasn't allowed to buy Honeywell, but the seeds of their toxic management style found fertile ground, and the handwriting was on the wall. After decades of innovation, growth, and consistently profitable success, the GE integration plan was essentially put in place, even though the merger failed to come to fruition. Pieces of S&C were united with pieces of other Honeywell businesses which had nothing in common, only to be taken apart a year later. Leaders who understood the business, customers, and technologies who had been faithful stewards of the profitable S&C enterprise for decades were eliminated, and power was shifted to a series of obscure ex-GE new hires whose opinions of themselves were only exceeded by their thirst for power and political gamesmanship. After 50 years as a self-managed, highly successful, industry leader that was described by Jack Welch himself as "a crown jewel of Honeywell", S&C was finally "integrated". And that's why those of us who know, and lived, this history are so angry and frustrated. No doubt that other more recently acquired companies share the same emotions and equally proud heritage. We all once worked in thriving, industry-leading, profitable businesses with motivated employees and happy customers. (Honeywell doesn't buy broken-down wrecks). Now, we see our company slipping further and further behind competition, flailing to accomplish tasks that were once commonplace and easy, watching inexperienced engineers in foreign "centers of excellence" produce flawed products under the supervision of incompetent "Managers By Accident" who decimate the workforce while positioning themselves for the next job and bonus. If we sound bitter, it's because we remember when S&C was managed by strong, competent, caring, fully-invested managers in Freeport Illinois who put their hearts and souls into making this business the very best it could be. Tuesday, March 3, 2009 Less than 10 years ago you could look around S&C and see excellence wherever you looked. Generally, product design and manufacturing engineering were efficient operations. The workforce was experienced and knew how to get things done quickly and well. Now you look around S&C and see an emaciated disaster. Offshoring has worked only if there is no regard for the future and only if you want to claim short-term paper savings as a "success." The offshore workforce is inexperienced, and the inefficiency is appalling. Products are late and have serious technical problems. Manufacturing engineering's ability to solve technical production problems is pathetic. Chinese engineers fresh out of college are told they are "experts", and then unbelievably are treated that way. Meanwhile, the few true experts left stateside continue to be abused and disrespected in a never-ending succession of slights and take-aways. I'll believe corporate management is serious about making money when I see the exec's flying coach, tightening their belts, and enduring the same draconian existence as the rest of us. Monday, March 2, 2009 Well lets see now... Honeywell does not controls its servers, IBM does that. Honeywell does not control its databases, IBM does that. Honeywell does not control its desktops or laptops, Dell does that. Honeywell does not control its network, IBM does that (or AT&T). Honeywell does not control its firewalls, some third party does that. Now that they are moving to SAP, Honeywell will no longer control its applications either. Honeywell's helpdesk is outsourced to India, its manufacturing is in China. What is left in the USA? Just overpaid executives who are sucking the company dry and destroying its future for short term stock gains. I am in IT in Honeywell and I am getting out because Honeywell is no longer a technology company. Honeywell no longer innovates - that is too expensive. Honeywell buys innovations from small companies, bleeds them dry, destroys the company and moves the manufacturing overseas. Honeywell used to have skill; real, technical skill. Now it has children with MBA's, spreadsheets and no future. Look out Illinois, more layoffs are scheduled for March. Monday, March 2, 2009 SAP seems to be the big killer of company operations and customer relations for sales and order processing while it is being implemented. Has any body got a comment to make? Hope its all worth it in the end. Monday, March 2, 2009 - Response to the SAP job query: There are positions within the SAP project but they are not SAP. Those jobs are for SAP employees, Honeywell has Projects and these are paperwork projects, you will get very little hands on experience with SAP. IT people who will assist in DATA transfer to SAP will be given no SAP training. IT people will not be involved in the day to day support of SAP. Saturday, February 28, 2009 - Response to the SAP job query: SAP is currently being implemented all over Honeywell. Your SAP job will be safe for a couple of years as it is going to take a while to get everybody on it. However, once everybody is using SAP the maintenance of the software is going to be outsourced to India and then you can kiss your job goodbye. If you want a job for a couple of years then go for it, if you want a career then find something else. Friday, February 27, 2009 Would anyone recommend taking an SAP position within Honeywell? Seems to me that the majority of tech-type workers are either consultant/contract and/or foreign bodies. It almost seems as though the minute an American accepts a position within that area (that is not executive), you have a giant target on your back that screams, REPLACE ME with someone cheaper. Thursday, February 26, 2009 With regards to FTE, this is the main process control network for thousands of installed Honeywell DCS systems. Monday, February 23, 2009 Can anybody shed some light on Honeywell FTE network, the marketting claims they make were decade ago, has any body taken up on that?? Thursday, February 19, 2009 Six Sigma Company? In what way? I have been working here for 3 years now and the only time I ever saw Six Sigma was on one of my projects, and that was the one I had to do to get the certification. None of the other projects we deal with have even the slightest hint of Six Sigma about them. Come to think of it, if someone documents anything it is a miracle and usually results in the document getting lost in the thousands of team rooms and online folders used to store stuff. The system used for tracking projects is called "Word" and "Excel". How pathetic can you get? I bet some moron with an MBA decided that Word and Excel will do, then found the cost of a very expensive project tracking package and said that their decision "saved the cost of this package". Their quarterly stats looked good and they got promoted to "Chief Moron". Thursday, February 19, 2009 I find it amazing that a Fortune 100 company can spend so little on its own employees. I feel like I am working for the local housing commission instead of for a multinational billion dollar company. I have worked at several companies during my career both large and small and these are the worst conditions I have ever had to put up with. The employees that are left have been working at Honeywell for so long that they no longer know what a real company should provide. They think (or have been told) that this is as good as it gets and that other companies are worse. Monday, February 16, 2009 The People Initiative. Valued employees. People are valued at Honeywell, right? But how does Cote's lofty rhetoric translate into reality? Honeywell values its employees so much that if you travel on company business into an area where the tap water is not safe to drink and you decide to purchase bottled water instead, Honeywell will not reimburse you for the bottled water. It makes one feel so special and so valued. Just part of what makes Honeywell such a unique place to work. Makes one wonder if, when they decide to limit meals to bread and water, will the bread will be reimbursed? Monday, February 16, 2009 Here's the latest... Forget a salary increase, it is likely to be 0-1%. More cost cutting - We are going to have to cut costs by anywhere from 10% to 25% depending upon the function of the department. I guess I am lucky my pen still works, I doubt I would be able to get a new one! Thursday, February 5, 2009 - To the sender of "What a bunch of whiners. Wah, wah, wah": The person that wrote this weblog is an idiot! I apologize for having to use these words, but I speak from experience. I've been at Honeywell for almont 3 decades, and through all levels of the organization, including leadership and management. I'll take you on with any arguement, if you really have the courage. Honeywell has lost its direction. The problem is not the rank and file people, who are highly skilled and committed. Honeywell is successful inspite of its management - not because of it! I don't know how many meetings I have been to with top executives that were worse than going through the "Chineese Water Torture" when it comes to making sensible decisions. The arrival of David Cote was a watershed moment, where all decisions slowly were starting to be centralized. This dictatorship really took place when the company was reorganized into 4 business groups. The big problem is that the individual site managers are now "afraid" of their directors or VPs. There is no room for frank discussion. There is a real effort by site managers to control the communication to their bosses. I have objective evidence on this. I was personally involved in a situation when a VP came to our site and, very affectionly and skillfully, drew from the site leadership team a scoring as to what we thought, and our thoughts for success. Of course, we were trapped in baring our souls, which was a mistake. On the next day, word came through third parties not to be negative, and to contain our comments. Interestly, both the VP and the third party both left the company within 6 months. Because I had a friendship with the third party, so I enquired as to why the person left. The answer was that he/she was tired of the Corporate bullshit. Since they left Honeywell, they started their own business - taking away business from Honeywell. So my message to the "Wah, wah" individual: You are so naive. All you are watching is the stock price, and your own personal selfishness. Since the economic crisis, you have lost 50% from the stock highs. You are better off investing in Walmart. You have no basis for defending Honeywell. Thursday, February 5, 2009 The problem is that we, the "whiners" are the people who came up with the innovations 10 years ago that the company is using to get the profits today. We see an issue with not being allowed or given the opportunity to come up with the innovations today that will keep the company alive for the next 10 years. Honeywell is sowing the seeds of its own destruction by not investing in the talent it has right now. Our technology lead is being eaten away as our competitors catch up with us. The top management are not looking at that, they are just looking at profits. By the time our profits decline to a point where they will take notice it will be too late, our "brains" will either have left the company or been outsourced. Management will have an "innovation drive" but children with MBA's are not good material for solving engineering problems. Six sigma will be thrown at the problem and the result will be piles of paperwork but nothing workable or very creative. Right now Honeywell needs to be looking at new materials, new engineering concepts and new ideas instead of penny pinching and tweaking existing product lines. Right now there is a tactical plan which is to maximize profits. What Honeywell lacks is a strategic plan, one that sees more than 1 or 2 quarters into the future. I am one of the "whiners" and I will be leaving Honeywell, I am already looking and the moment I find something I will be gone. Thursday, February 5, 2009 - Re: "What a bunch of whiners. Wah, wah, wah..." : First, I think that's a very irresponsible comment, given the situation. I am going to assume this person is in upper management or you are just too young. Listen, all the "whiners" are going to leave, and then they are going to come for you. Is very easy to criticize when the ball is not on your court, but wait till it gets there, and believe me it will. On a different note, it was kind of creepy seeing David Cote next to Obama after he met with the CEO's of the most important companies. Kind of tells you who really runs the show in this country, I'll give you a hint: "its not the Government". They probably told Obama Americans need to lower their living standards or else they'll have to leave to other countries. Thursday, February 5, 2009 - To the sender of "What a bunch of whiners. Wah, wah, wah." You didn't send this post on a Honeywell computer since they lock many of us out of the Jimpinto.com website. All your post reveals is that your a new employee and not empathetic. In other words, management material! Thursday, February 5, 2009 "Add value to shareholders"? Please. Spare us. This can be done many ways, some socially and ethically responsible, and some not. Offshoring can be helpful in some cases, and disastrous in others. At the core of the issue is the quarter-to-quarter thinking of most corporate executives, who will sacrifice the future in exchange for the present, since his/her compensation depends on what happens next month, not five years from now. Until this changes, greed and short-sightedness will be the norm. This is not unique to Honeywell, as it pervades the entire industry. Look at Invensys and Rockwell, for example. I think Obama is onto something with rethinking executive compensation, but this is not something the government should have had to mandate - in theory, it should have been done by the boards and compensation committees of these companies. However, since the board members are generally in cahoots with the CEO, and also have a short term view of the world, the system does not work effectively. Carl Icahn, love him or hate him, made a number of great points on CNBC yesterday regarding the importance of an independent (and changeable) board structure. He also (correctly) calls for fundamental reforms to corporate law that allow states like Delaware to create outrageously restrictive legislation that protects greedy boards and CEOs at the expense of shareholders. There is a definite need for major reform in this country, since the animals have proven themselves incapable of running the zoo. I hope there is a middle ground between over-regulation/nationalization and the open-loop system we currently have. Wednesday, February 4, 2009 What a load. Or what a troll. What Honeywell has chosen to do is buy up and rape existing well-run companies, off shore the jobs, and run the companies into the dirt with no regard whatsoever for a sustainable business model. It's a business model based on pure unfettered greed and to hell with the employees. These would be the same employees to whom Cote loves to spew about how valuable they are. "People initiative?" Ha! Pure blatant hypocritical BS. He ought to be ashamed, but I guess when you're focused on hauling down a cool $20 mil you lose your ability to feel shame a long time ago. Add value to the shareholders? Oh yeah. That's cold comfort to the shareholders who happen to also be former employees. Let's see, what's more important to me -- having a job or seeing Honeywell stock go up $1? Change? Change how? If you're not in upper management, the only way you can change is either leave, or else resign yourself to watching your facility be dismantled in front of your eyes until the axe falls on you. Great options, huh? Now that Cote and his banker buds have shown they can't be trusted to self-regulate, and the mood of the country has changed, perhaps we'll see legislation that creates some oversight to control, hinder, or replace these bozos. Wednesday, February 4, 2009 What a bunch of whiners. Wah, wah, wah. It used to be perfect now it stinks. And I remember when bread was a quarter. Change or get trampled. I hope all of you whiners leave Honeywell. The Company is trying to do what public companies do - add value to shareholders. Monday, February 2, 2009 I was sick and tired of requesting something, being told it has been done. My experience was similar. I would tell them it had already been done and didn't work. In any event, I would be told to do it again. In effect , I was being called a liar and that I didn't know what I was talking about (all by people who had extremely limited insight into what was being done). Quite amazing! I left several years ago. Life is much better now. The only thing regretful is I didn't persue a constructive dismissal case as the "They People" had me so stressed out that I couldn't think straight and I am only recovering now. I would always recommend seeking legal advice before doing anything drastic. Monday, February 2, 2009 When I started with Honeywell I was like an IT god; I was the oracle dba, the exchange guru, and all round good guy. I could unlock you in the blink of an eye, give you miracles at the drop of a hat, I used to produce code that could make your spreadsheets sing. Now I sit here twiddling my thumbs, because all this was taken away and given to some outsource company. I have now been reduced to being the go-between the user and helpdesk. Your request directly to help desk will take about 2 days minimum; now with me added to the mix we can add another 5 days to your wait time. I have seen all the other rats jumping ship, so I think its time to get off HMS Honeywell - the iceberg is dead ahead. Friday, January 30, 2009 I am supposed to be a programmer but last year I managed to program a total of 12 lines of code. Most of my time is spent writing business justifications for stuff that is obvious to someone who knows what they are doing. I spend lots of time writing up what needs doing to the servers and then the rest of my time justifying my write up. Any extra time I have is spent on the phone explaining the justification of my writeup to someone who should know better. I am sick and tired of requesting something, being told it has been done and then finding out it either has not been done or has not been done properly and then having to do the whole requesting process again. A change to the system that used to take 2 minutes when we had in-house sysadmins now takes almost 2 days. God forbid you need a security deviation, you might just as well wait for hell to freeze over. I am not impressed with the outsourcing of key parts of the company. It may be cheaper on paper but when you factor in the time that I spend waiting for a change or explaining it to someone who does not speak English very well it becomes very expensive. Back to surfing the internet or reading a book while I am waiting for the change I requested yesterday. Now that is what I call being productive. Friday, January 30, 2009 According to Dave Cote: 2008 sales increased 6% to $36.6 billion from $34.6 billion in 2007. We know this was done on the backs of hardworking employees. So why is it that the majority of employees will be lucky to see an increase of 2%? If you want to improve your performance, then it would be a good idea to motivate the people that generate the growth and the only way to do this is to give them rewards. The rewards better be money, because stupid pieces of paper with your name and some idiot in a management position, has no value at all. Tuesday, January 27, 2009 Read Jim Pinto's 2 items in the latest issue of JimPinto.com eNews, 27 January 2009: Sunday, January 25, 2009 Right. Except you forgot to mention what happens AFTER the purchase of the small companies. Assimilation, layoff of redundant personnel, cost reductions "into the muscle", lack of investment, gradual offshoring of design and manufacturing jobs to India or China (without regard to how well they are performed there) until only a few management positions remain left of what was formerly a thriving business. And another one bites the dust, courtesy of Honeywell. All because Cote doesn't have a better idea. Saturday, January 24, 2009 They are maintaining the profit margin by cutting costs and by aquiring new products and not by creating their own products. They have already cut all of the fat from the company and now they are slicing into the muscle. There are very few research engineers left, most of them have gone to other companies that let them do their job instead of beating them down about costs. This brings about the issue of sustainability. How long can they keep up the profit margin by cutting costs? How long can they keep obtaining new products through aquisitions? At some point they will be left with nothing else to cut and no more small companies to be aquired. When that happens the whole of Honeywell will come to a complete halt. They will not have the people or facilities to make anything new and the old products will be making less and less profit every day. Honeywell is cutting costs today at the expense of a sustainable future. I can understand why, if I was Dave Cote making $19 million per year I wouldn't care where the company was going to be in 5 years. I would make my money, stack it away until the company implodes and then live off it for the rest of my life. At that much money you only need a couple of years worth to be able to retire anyway. We do management by statistics, as long as the stats (metrics) are looking good everyone is happy. It doesn't matter what is really happening as long as the metrics look good. That has been tried before, the old Soviet economies used to use that technique. It didn't work then and it doesn't work now. Friday, January 23, 2009 - re: "10 cents": It's the law of diminishing returns. Spend evermore resources to achieve ever smaller returns. Management's problem is that, in copying Jack Welch's philosophy, all the low hanging fruit is long gone and so is Jack. Nobody has new ideas, they just keep looking for the next 10 cents despite the fact that they spend $1 to get it. They're able to do this by cleverly manipulating metrics to focus on the 10 cents while excluding the costs. And next year it'll be a different metric. Managers keep making their metrics, collecting their bonuses, so everything is cool, right? The sad thing is, none of it has to do with the efficient operation of a factory. Management these days has no feel whatsoever for the businesses they manage. All they do is go through the motions as ordered. It's a non-sustainable model, but it will be pushed right to the day the factories close. Then the economy or "global competition" will be cited as the reason, thereby providing cover for the rats as they desert the ship. Friday, January 23, 2009 - "10 cents people": I don't know if its the MBA mentality or just humans with time on there hands, but if you want to cut cost stop chasing the 10 cents; it's not worth it and it don't make you look smart. Honeywell management seem to think that balancing the numbers to the last penny is a smart thing to do. What they don't realize is that the cost to find it cuts into the bottom line. Getting a low level badly paid admin, assistant to find it is one thing; getting highly paid IT staff and engineers to find it is just plain stupid. One of the other great things Honeywell do is... they want everyone in every department to do metrics, which is all fine and dandy if you love fancy pie-charts that mean nothing. But alas no, that's not what they want. They want all the people in one department to produce the same metric, but they must all look different. Funny thing is that 10 cents is still 10 cents, no matter how many ways you break it up. But then again they don't teach this at MBA daycare. Wednesday, January 21, 2009 The only person Dave Cote cares about is Dave Cote. He chooses to live the lifestyle in the US because he enjoys the standard of living here. And that's where his allegiance ends. The business practices he employs are eliminating US jobs, hurting individuals and families, ruining communities, damaging the manufacturing sector, demoralizing workers, exploiting under-regulated and underpaid overseas resources, and on and on. Cote hides behind the use of the word "global" because it benefits him. If this were a war, he would be considered a traitor. He may not use bombs and bullets, but in slow motion the effects are the same. Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Latest news out of NWIL - They are looking at cutting more jobs from Plant 4 in Freeport in March. Monday, January 19, 2009 I think that all of the Honeywell leadership take a page from Obama's book and contribute at least a day to Community Service. Obama was seen to also tie a shoe lace of another person. David Cote - take a hint! Monday, January 19, 2009 The new speak for 2009 is: "This coming year will be a year of challenges due to the “unstable” economic environment." and my big favourite: "It is essential that we work together as a united team while everyone contributes through a proactive “can do” attitude and optimizes our potential." Now you know and I know that when the hardship is over we will not be part of the team reaping the rewards. Saturday, January 17, 2009 - To those that wanted to know: Severence packages can vary from country to country. For North America, they also vary. If anyone wants to know the US & Canada practices, post the specific question and I'll try to give the info and web links. In both of cases it is based on age, years of service and salary grade and it can vary dramatically. Saturday, January 17, 2009 Bad news for 80 Honeywell workers in the UK. But it's OK, because it's "part of the company's ongoing business practice." They sure got that right. It stopped being about running efficient factories and producing great products a long time ago. Wednesday, January 14, 2009 I'd like to make a comment on Jack Bolick's departure as someone who knows in person, despite the long physical distance, both Jack and his successor. Probably known, but I'm commenting; Jack's retirement was due to health reasons, since he had a serious problem some time ago. He was a great leader, but his successors is suberp person too, with his very impressive UOP background. I'm very optimistic about the future due to synergy he's bringing to HPS. He is a highly energetic person. The only issue for us would be sharing his time & energy with remaining after his VP EMEA position. Wednesday, January 14, 2009 There are still some good engineers left at Honeywell. We just keep our mouths shut and do what our bosses tell us to do. We have all tried to suggest something and been told that either we are wrong, it will be taken into consideration (ignored) or it is out of scope. Trying to push an idea from the bottom is like nailing Jello to the wall. You forgot about the lipstick for the pig, make sure that is in the SIPOC!! Tuesday, January 13, 2009 To those accustomed to how engineering happens at "normal" companies, it is hard to comprehend how poorly engineering resources are utilized at S&C. In a sense, it is similar to the situation with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Until one actually reads the 78 pages of complaints against him it is hard to understand how a person could be so arrogant and stupid. To better grasp how the "new" 'Allied' S&C approaches engineering projects, imagine a situation where an engineering team is tasked with developing and executing a plan to win a race. That's Win The Race, not come in second or third. The race is part of a series of races that, if won, will result in prize money, prestige, and future race invitations for the company. In addition, race bettors are promised they will make lots of money if they bet on Honeywell. To keep the analogy simple, assume the race will involve land animals racing over a mile long oval course. The first thing the engineers do is research the speed and distance capabilities of a variety of animals, whether they have the disposition to race, the desire, the stamina, the ability to carry a jockey, the ability to respond to the jockey's directions, and so on. In the old days, an engineer might look at the challenge and note that it sure sounds like a horse race. Now, however, either there are no experienced engineers left, or else their advice is not trusted because they haven't converted their years of experience into Six Sigma PowerPoint presentations. As a result, and due also to the general confusion created by a cross-functional organization structure, no one is able to reach decisions (much less act on them) without first engaging huge teams in endless silly sessions of data gathering. In this case, it involves verifying that a horse is indeed a speedy land animal, that it is capable of carrying a jockey the required distance, that it can follow directions, and that certain breeds excel above others at racing. This takes months of study and analysis. Finally, the engineering team reaches the conclusion that a horse (and not just any horse, it should be a Thoroughbred race horse) is indeed the best animal to enter in the race. But, nay nay, it is no longer good enough to simply advise accountants and upper management to 'buy a race horse'. Instead, a matrix must be constructed that compares a race horse with a variety of other land animals such as the Galapagos tortoise, an ostrich, a miniature poodle, a hog, and an ox. Developing the necessary data and filling out the matrix takes even more time. After all, important comparisons must be made and analyzed. Stating the obvious doesn't work because management no longer has a grasp of the real world. They've never heard of the Kentucky Derby. They've never seen a race horse. Therefore it must be explained to them that the tortoise eats less than the horse, the ox is stronger, the poodle is better looking, and leftover ostrich feathers can be recycled. The pig, however, clearly lacks speed, stamina, and racing ability. It's also very hard to find a saddle for a pig, so the pig is quickly eliminated from serious consideration. Finally, enough rain forests have been sacrificed, precise engineering terminology has been reduced to easily digestible pablum suitable for accountants and upper management, and the verdict is in: The engineering team unanimously recommends the purchase of a Thoroughbred race horse. Despite the delays and paperwork, some engineers still remain eager to purchase the horse and get on with the race. The approvals process begins its slow move up the chain of command and then.....a VP announces that the wrong conclusion has been reached. Either the engineers used the wrong Six Sigma analysis tools or else they were improperly trained in their use. A horse is completely the wrong solution and it will not be purchased. Instead, the VP decrees that the steed of choice is.....the pig. (But thanks anyway, engineering team!) And not just any pig, it must be a Chinese pig. Period. Any animal that comes from North America simply will not be acceptable. (No further explanation is offered, but secretly, engineering wonders whether the VP seriously believes the pig is more streamlined, or whether his Chinese ancestry might have affected his judgment.) As if entering a pig into a race where the competition is certain to be riding horses isn't bad enough, management further complicates matters by choosing the jockey, and to no one's surprise, the jockey is also Chinese. Although he can probably recognize a pig, he has never ridden a pig before (or a horse, for that matter), much less entered a race of any kind. Nevertheless, he is deemed the best choice to ride the pig. Off Honeywell S&C goes, taking its pig to a horse race. The engineers are exhorted to "do whatever it takes to ensure success." Apparently management presumes that the efforts undertaken up to this point were done in order to NOT ensure success. The clear implication is that, from this point forwards, anything less than success will be the fault of engineering. To further "encourage" the engineers, the VP splashes out emails assuring everyone that the pig was a "team" decision. What team? He and the mouse in his pocket? A quick internet search turns up nothing about how to make a pig competitive with a horse. It does, however, reveal info about Chinese racing pigs. A few notable characteristics are reported:
The greatest success for Chinese racing pigs is reported to be where the race is very short and all in a straight line, no turns required. Unfortunately, this does not match the specified race conditions. Meanwhile, management sees no problems and confidently advises the bettors that their special Chinese pig and jockey will win the race. Race day arrives and the contestants load into the starting gate. And they're off. Now it turns out there is yet a fourth kind of pig. Due to the somewhat symmetrical shape of a hog, this pig turned end-for-end as he was put into the gate and loaded backwards. For the pig, it was a cultural preference, plus he wants an extra ration of feed right before the race. Management, watching from the glassed-in confines of the sky-booth, either failed to notice or else believed it was OK simply because it was opposite from how things are done in northern Illinois. It was the jockey's first race, so he wasn't worried. So while the rest of the horse-mounted jockeys thunder towards the first turn, Honeywell's racing pig and jockey head off in the wrong direction. Engineering immediately sounds a warning. In the sky-booth, management grabs a pair of binoculars (received instead of a diploma for completing their mail-order correspondence school MBA class.) As trained, they look through whichever end delivers the most favorable image, and zero in on the pig and jockey. It's all good. It certainly looks like a race. The jockey is bouncing up and down in the saddle, the whip is flying, the pig is waddling as fast as he can, and no one else is nearby. Of course, outside the field of view the rest of the racers are going the other direction but management barely notices. See, the engineers are wrong after all! Eventually, race reality sets in. The waddling pig is nowhere close to the finish line and the jockey is lost. In a last ditch effort to save the race, a team of experts is flown overseas to the track in a desperate attempt to salvage a win. But by now it's too late. There's no time for leg transplants and the jockey won't take advice. The best the experts can do is to put the pig on roller skates, shove him and the jockey towards the finish line, and hope for the best. To the surprise of no one besides management, the pig loses. But management appeals the outcome on the basis that the race rules should have required the pig to only go half as far, that last place really is first because he went the other direction, and that direction shouldn't matter anyway. Movement and fancy footwork are what count. After all, that's what always worked for them in the past. The bettors are disillusioned, and the engineering team can only ponder what might have been. Meanwhile, the rest of the horses and riders go on to win other races, and collect prize money and trophies for their teams. The additional costs of plane tickets and custom-designed piggy roller skates, plus the costs for resources to coordinate the salvage effort, will never be totaled. These, added to the initial purchase price of the pig compared to the cost of a horse, will never be discussed. The impact of re-tasking resources away from other projects will not be mentioned. The overall impact to the plan to campaign a successful race team will be quietly hidden. The only evidence of failure will be when members of the original engineering team that recommended the horse, and the recovery experts who tried to fix the pig, are quietly terminated as a result of missed financial objectives. If this seems surreal, welcome to engineering reality at S&C. A couple observations and unanswered questions:
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 Actually that is getting to be the "norm". They did the same thing in other places; people with 25+ years were let go. The interesting thing is that the severence packages are "secret" in that the recipients are told not to reveal what they are. I guess that is so they can change them in the future without too much backlash. Monday, January 12, 2009 They decided to lay off people in the Vancouver site. This was not the normal; they riffed managers with 15 to 25 years of Honeywell experience down the drain. Replaced by cheap yes men. Friday, January 9, 2009 Don't you realize that H"one"ywell is the Power of "one"? You've got Cote in the middle as the only employee and everyone else is outsourced. This is the Power of One! The coincidence in the name is no accident. Honeywell is really FAT at the top. With the Obama administration coming in, Honeywell should be identified as one of the companies whose tax credits are eliminated because of persistant outsourcing and causing the loss of American jobs. Honeywell has had a policy of negative North American job growth (in lieu of Asia growth) since around 2000-2001. The 1980's style os Jack Welch & Cote management style are dead with the new world that is about to unfold. Friday, January 9, 2009 Well, after the first question the career prospects for anybody here in the states has been downgraded from "possible" to "highly unlikely". Apparently as long as we are more productive than the lower paid overseas workers we are fine otherwise they will "re-assess" the situation. If you have an MBA and can spew jargon such as "leverage our synergies" you are fine. Of course, you also have to say that six sigma is perfect, Dave Cote is the messiah and "customer focus" is what we need. Still, who cares how many people they let go, how low the merit raises go and how the employees have no career prospects as long as the stock price keeps going up and we keep making money for the shareholders and executives. Honeywell is going to end up with the executives in the US, a few sweatshops in 3rd world countries and a bunch of outsourcing contracts. Thursday, January 8, 2009 Clearly, Honeywell is not a career-worthy corporation for employment. Only the few who deal in propaganda rather than reality remain. A business has to deal in reality or it will not survive. Wednesday, January 7, 2009 Well Jack downgraded from Stay to run. When the top of HPS does the duck and cover then you know something is going to hit the fan. Wednesday, January 7, 2009 Jack Bolick is retiring... Monday, January 5, 2009 We have an all hands meeting set up for later this week where the bigwigs of each division will speak about how wonderful we are doing. It is supposed to last for nearly an hour and a half. Once they announce how well we did last year and how wonderfully we are going to do this year they will end up reducing raises and cutting back on staff the way they always do. "Employees are our best asset" is the slogan. So what do they do with their best assets? They cut the pay and lay them off. I want to be the office furniture, at least that still has a place in the company. Monday, January 5, 2009 What a coincidence, I downgraded my job rating from "stay" to "find something else" on the same day. Monday, December 29, 2008 Honeywell was downgraded to hold from buy today. Friday, December 19, 2008 As a Honeywell escapee, I hate the internal structure and politics (etc) as much as anyone; but, if you look at the share price Honeywell, is surviving; while the likes of GM, Chrysler (etc) are having to borrow huge sums of public money just to keep going, Honeywell is still paying share dividends and making a (reduced) profit. Tuesday, December 16, 2008 Responding to the Dec. 9th weblog, that companies such as Honeywell, Invensys, ABB, Emerson, etc., survive despite themselves. I worked for Honeywell for 14 years at 2 different divisions and I can in part agree with the sentiment expressed by the blogger. However, I left Honeywell to go to Emerson 8 years ago and the difference couldn't be greater. Emerson is a very well run, professional company filled with experienced and dedicated employees. Promotions are from within and politics are minimal. They are an engineering company first and foremost with a huge talent base. Don't put Emerson in the same category as those others! Sunday, December 14, 2008 In this economy, it is time for shareholders to call for a break-up of Honeywell. Selling off its divisions would make its components far more efficient and accountable. Honeywell is known to be extremely top heavy - hiring indirect MBA's at the higher levels to do basic mindless metrics when laying-off productive direct production personnel. A break-up would be in the best interest of America! Let the individual businesses survive for themselves. Let's follow what is happening to GM & Crysler executives. Let's hear it from all of you Honeywell shareholders out there - the silent majority! Start talking with your investments and proxy votes! We need to shake up America! Thursday, December 11, 2008 8:29 AM Process Systems President, Jack Bolick, is moving to Houston, along with senior staff. Brian Chapman the marketing director is staying in Phoenix, and I presume his staff. I'm fascinated by the ever shifting sands in the process control competitive landscape. I think that 2010 will find a greatly changed industry lineup. Tuesday, December 9, 2008 Honeywell is as Honeywell does, whether it be in the USA, EMEA, or anywhere else for that matter. I was once told that you either stay with Honeywell for less than 5 years or stay for life. I lasted 3 years and left with a deep sense of frustration. I honestly believe that companies such as Honeywell, Invensys, ABB, Emerson, etc., survive despite themselves. You only have to read these blogs to understand the low level of employee motivation & speak to clients to comprehend the marketplace frustration. If you tried to run a small company with the business model adopted by the "big boys", you would be bankrupt within a year. Tuesday, December 9, 2008 Okay now the management are just idiots. they require that the employees fill in an online goals for each quarter, coming up with some bs every 3 months was no small feat (but alas there are some complete butt-kissers who can do this at the drop of a hat). They now expect all of us to come up with goals from 2009. Sad to say, they don't want us to actually put down goals - they want us to list what we will do next year, so we have to come up with colorful ways to describe our job functions. My goals for next years are:
Saturday, December 6, 2008 - Response to the weblog dated Thursday, December 4, 2008: Thanks man, you brought back some happy memories; I was "down-sized" by Honeywell a while back; my ex-colegues and myself would regularly play BS Bingo (google it) during those "Townhall meetings" it was very rare that any game lasted more than half-way, but was it fun while it lasted! My new company doesn't have things like that, we just get on with the work. Thursday, December 4, 2008 Honeywell upper management just love to have these video, live townhall meetings: this is where they have a camera on them and they spend an hour and a couple hundred thousand dollars blowing wind the employees kilts. They should put camera's on the other side and look to see the people who are actually attending this BS sessions. I had the honour of attending one of these things and man, was I lonely, not a soul in sight so I left after about a minute. I think it would be a lot cheaper just for them to fly to that little town in India and talk to the people that they actually think have any value to the company. Now the managers that read this web log will be trying to trace me, so they can give me the Honeywell christmas gift, "the pink slip"... Thursday, November 27, 2008 Honewell has many strategists, lots of ideas, a lot of talk! Leadership is about execution! Not everybody is selling! The top line is in jeopardy, but too many leaders are just talking, talking..... Thursday, November 27, 2008 I think this parable is very true of many large US corporations especially Honeywell - A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (Ford) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile. The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing. Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a scond opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing. Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents, and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners, and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes, and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The next year the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and cancelled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India. Wednesday, November 12, 2008 This story is true across the whole Honeywell spectrum. All the big bonuses have been handed out, so it now that time where you should be grateful you have a job; so don't expect any increase. And its so much easier to lay off people once you know you little mansion is secure. I'm sure there are a whole lot of little gems the big-wigs are keeping from the little people, so don't be surprised when another couple hundred people are let go just before the Christmas holiday. Wednesday, November 12, 2008 The Allied Signal idiocy continues here at NWIL Sensing and Control. Yes, more people were escorted to the door last week. Most of them unaware they were in line for the latest cutbacks. Most had a desk full of work. Some were already working 10 hours days to try and keep up with their workload. I will never understand why we continue to cut headcount regardless of the amount of work we have. I am beginning to believe that Honeywell knows that if you are insecure in your job, you will likely take on whatever work is given to you out of fear that you will be the next one to go. What an immoral and unconscionable way to run a company. This is what happens when a group of inexperienced kids with MBA's try to run a company. Sunday, November 9, 2008 This latest comment is dead-on. The current S&C corporate management folks are either inept or have bone-head edicts thrust on them by ACS or higher. I for one hope I can hang on a few years more until retirement. Of course the closer to retirement gets at Honeywell, the more likely one is apt to be terminated. Saturday, November 8, 2008 The Sensing and Control corporate goon squad is at it again. Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008, approx. 100 people were terminated in Northwest Illinois. Nationwide the number supposedly is several hundred, but in typical close-mouthed Honeywell goon squad style, no official numbers are revealed. It's easier to handle the PR when the public is kept in the dark about what goes on inside the increasingly empty walls of Honeywell facilities. The local newspaper ran a front page article about the layoff, but even they couldn't get firm numbers. Naturally, Honeywell blames the economy. It's easier than admit that upper management is either wed to an unworkable business model, their bonuses, or both. The remaining employees are stunned and can't imagine how they'll ever be able to compensate for the lost resources. You hear sobbing in restrooms. Anger and despair are evident everywhere. Morale has never been so low. And still management can't find the honesty to admit the long term goal is to shut down the local facility. They prefer to keep the employees in the dark while they slowly squeeze the life (and the last few dollars) out of a once great facility and screw over people's lives in the process. What a truly pitiful company. Tuesday, October 28, 2008 - To the Dubai UAE question below: The saying that we have at our site is that if you can survive Honeywell, you can easily survive anywhere else. ALmost to the last person, once an individual has worked for Honeywell and left (or more likely, RIFfed) has done better elsewhere - but you have to go through the experience. Monday, October 27, 2008 Hi, I am currently in the sales force of HPS. What I can say is other companies staff may find it 'tough' working in Honeywell but Honeywellians have no problem working in anywhere..... Tuesday, October 21, 2008 I would like insight from anone on this webog about taking a key position as Business Development Director with Honeywell Dubai UAE. I have a mix feeling about the opportunity and I am not sure if the company culture is the right fit for me. Monday, October 6, 2008 Ref - ABB weblog Sunday Oct. 5, 2008 - two blockbuster deals: Rumour mill here in Honeywell is that it could be us - lots of synergies and a significant better bet than Rockwell. The complete text of the Sunday, Sept. 7 weblog has been published, with editorial introduction, "Growth & Profit by Slash & Burn" in the 10 September 08 issue of JimPinto.com eNews. Here's the link: http://jimpinto.com/enews/sep10-2008.html#3 Thursday, September 25, 2008 I currently work for Honeywell in NY. Honeywell bought out our company in 1999. Our organization was one of the Top 50 Employers. Our Three (3) shifts of production moved to Juarez and China. Now we are a skeleton crew working four jobs and getting paid for one. People left our department but mangement indicates they can only replace them in a low-cost-center. Our work-load has quadrupled. Currently I found out Hand-Held production was laid off. I heard a few months back a new factory was being built in Juarez next to out current plant for the transfer. I hear the Engineers are next. You can kiss your job good-bye to Honeywell Taiwan. If you work up there, get the hell out now! Wednesday, September 24, 2008 Everyday I feel more like jumping ship. I miss the old days! Friday, September 12, 2008 - To the blogger Thursday, September 11, 2008 from Hand Held Products, third paragraph.... If you are being told "we cost too much", this is Honeywell code to tell you that there is probably a process or transition team in place to begin the evaluation on shutting your site down. Its been done before at Honeywell. Thursday, September 11, 2008 Wow, I have to say that these are some interesting posts. I am an engineer at Hand Held Products - sorry, I mean Honeywell now. Still getting used to it. Our site's morale is really low, which is in great contrast to the mode of growth and prosperity we were in last year. At the moment we are in the unsettling calm of the eye of the storm, waiting for production layoffs and announcement of the "right" organization restructuring for us, with both rumored or expected to begin in early October. I started searching the Internet to discover some things about Honeywell that aren't necessarily printed in Newsweek or WSJ, and certainly not told in the creepy, 1984-like internal satellite broadcasts. Seems like all I find are bad things (though I did start by Googling "Honeywell sucks", so as my friend & colleague pointed out I shouldn't be too surprised; as ye seek so shall ye find I guess). The specific post about Hand Held Products here is a bit scary, hopefully exaggerated or wrong. However, other stories about Honeywell companies seem to be coming true for us. We have had good people depart over the last several weeks who would, I believe, otherwise still be around. Open positions that need to be filled are done so by people in India or China, due respect to both nations. Travel spending I'm told is met with unprofessional angry confrontation from Honeywell corporate auditors. Our benefits cost us much more now and our various incentive programs are gone or being removed. An active Big Brother presence is being established in the form of internal security cameras and targeted Internet blockage. I could go on. The only message I get from this is that we cost too much and we're expected to eventually harm the company. (Two interesting asides. First, there are security cameras are being installed mostly in closed areas because Honeywell leaders believe people may try to start fires - yes, specifically fires, in our concrete & steel building - before Honeywell can 'fire' them, ironically. Someone's been watching too much Wile E. Coyote. Second, when I tried to visit this particular site from my work PC I could see no posts dated after 8/22. So I've immediately stopped using my work PC for anything remotely personal and I smile & wave to all the cameras that I know about whenever I pass them.) And if one thing gets me it's the surprised disdain with which the Honeywell visitors reacted to their layoff announcements. As if it shouldn't have been a surprise that you're finally being kicked out like the dog you are. As if it's a sin to expect your years of hard work, indeed life's work for many, could earn you anthing more than your last paycheck. The most valuable individual contributors to our company at all levels and the vast majority of other talent came right from Central NY (before HON I think we employed almost 1000 worldwide and peaked at almost 700 locally, a real bright spot for our rural area). With predominantly local talent - no imported scientists, no ex-blue chip CEOs, no big city turnover rates - we were a leader in our industry. Our culture and the people it attracted were at the heart of our success. The loyalty and values that Honeywell replaced with outsourcing and security cameras is largely what made us, but I bet no corporate accountant will ever believe it and no MBA-flaunting yes-man could ever inspire it. I'm trying to reconcile what I see with what the Honeywell Integration Team told us early on about growing our business and not trying to interfere with our great company culture of hard work, integrity, and family friendliness. Well, the culture is gone, ripped out in a very insulting, disrespectful way. And I guess that growing our business doesn't necessarily mean growing our teams or our site. But then to me it's no longer "our" business, it's "theirs". In the meantime I can only work here for as long as I can stand it and prepare myself for the change I reluctantly believe is inevitable and wonder if I'll go out on my terms or theirs. Thursday, September 11, 2008 - To the Honeywell S&C employee: You are absolutely right, S&C was the jewel in the crown in old red Honeywell. I worked at IAC (or whatever its current incarnation is) in Phoenix, and I remember that at one time quite a few years ago, S&C was going to fold under IAC. That never worked because S&C was much more advanced in just about any facet then we were. In many cases that was the same situation with Honeywell and A-S. Honeywell was just so more advanced in just about every facet with one of the key exceptions being accounting for cost reductions. I left 4 1/2 years ago. Good luck to you and all the great folks in Freeport (?) Wednesday, September 10, 2008 To the blogger who said, "It's about the money and about the next quarter; always was and always is." I could not disagree with you more. My comments (Sunday 7 Sept. weblog) applied to old Honeywll and Sensing & Control only. Conversations with Honeywell personnel from other facilities over the years lead me to believe that many of the ways S&C operated were unique to S&C, and the reactions from other divisions frequently varied from amazement to envy. Old Honeywell S&C understood that three things were necessary for the company to be thrive: 1. The customer; 2. The products; and 3. The employees. Each of these three legs required care and feeding, "nurturing" if you will. When each leg was strong and healthy, profits would take care of themselves. If you failed to take care of the customer, or if the product quality was poor or delivery was late, or if employees were dissatisfied and turnover was high, then performance suffered. Keep all three happy with good customer care, good products, and employess who felt valued, and the money rolled in. Allied took this proven formula and replaced it with one with a different and decidedly narrow focus: Money. Not the customer, not the products, and certainly not the employees. Just plain old Money-Money-Money and ways to optimize it. In doing so, S&C went from a technology company to being one driven purely by accountants. Customers are recognized only as a source of dollars, with the emphasis on how to most efficiently separate them from their money. Instead of products that exceed customer expectations, and are delivered on time, design and build has been offshored to the demise of schedule and quality. And finally, instead of eliminating obstacles and making it easier for employees to perform their jobs, new obstacles are erected daily. For instance, management dictates that everything from components to engineering to capital equipment must be obtained from Emerging Region (ER) sources. Price targets aren't given; only that suppliers must be from ER 12,000 miles away. Why? But, by the way, travel, at least by non-managers, has been nearly eliminated. So don't even think of visiting overseas suppliers for inspections or equipment sign-offs. It ain't in the cards. In fact, it also seems that while many of us have company cell phones, the added efficiency of being able to reach someone wherever and whenever just plain costs too much, so turn them in also. And by the way, normal phone bills lately have been running way too high, so now we're pressured to reduce phone useage. It sounds like something straight from Dilbert. But it's our reality. The irony is, management loves to talk about how important employees are. Yet if this is true, then why is morale lower than ever? If this is true, then why are employees streaming out the door? If this is true, why are employees that formerly had responsibility for multi-million dollar projects now reduced to having to sign-out pencils from the storage cabinet? If this is true, then why does management not take actions to improve morale and reduce turnover? Managment actions speak louder than words. The truth is, employees have been reduced to nothing more than pieces on a chessboard whose only function is to occupy space upon whatever square they have temporary residence. You aren't told the game, you have no say in the strategy. Other than quit the game, you have no control over your own destiny. The chessmaster controls everything. Ironically, the chessmaster seems to spend a lot of time moving pieces left and right and precious little time moving them forward. If you hired in, looking forward to a career with a strong technology company, this is disturbing. As a result, employees who once proudly claimed Honeywell as "our" company now think of it as "their" company (meaning the chessmasters.) If your association with Honeywell has only been since the Allied takeover, then it's easy to understand your comment. But to lump old Honeywell in with this current band of vandals ("always was and always is") does a disservice to those who made the old Honeywell a good place to work. Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - re: Metrologic/Handheld Forget the organization stuff because that's not your problem. Metrologic was bought for its profitability and Handheld for its patents that Metrologic needs to stay profitable. It's just that simple. Anything else is gravy and the plan already covers the case of dumping all the rest this year if we need to; it's not plan A but it is in the plan. In the short term there will be other work but only until it becomes a cost liability then it goes. In the long term it will mostly be moved overseas but little by little so the brainpower is not scared off too soon. The other posts are emotion, but the stuff about using overseas people to meet hard goals until the local help is no longer needed and training your replacements, is true. But it's gradual. Its cheaper today to outsource so that's that. It's about the money and about the next quarter; always was and always is. Welcome to Honeywell. Monday, September 8, 2008 Well not long to go now and soon I will be out of this place. Cannot believe how bad this company has become, and every year it keeps getting worse. I joined a company that was customer focused, sales orientated, management driven and forward thinking. Now we have become internally focused - where internal meetings take priority over customer visits and events, process driven – where the hurdles placed in front of sales / engineering people are so numerous and complex that it is now almost impossible to get anything done, management ineptitude – where management no longer understand what we do and how we do it and are paralysed by indecision and lack of empowerment, a matrix management structure that means no one single person is responsible for anything (at affiliate level at least) and decision making is by committee which means that nothing absolutely nothing get done quickly. Forward thinking - nothing much beyond the next month; anything more is just lip service. Engineering and sales appointments take far too long to fill negatively impacting the business, HR positions, consultants and middle management positions seem to be filled immediately and now represent a relatively large percentage of the workforce who contribute nothing, absolutely nothing, the nett result is that year on year the burden of work falls onto an ever reducing number of people to compensate for the ever increasing number of non contributors. Its an utter utter shambles and getting worse. Monday, September 8, 2008 Thanks for the last posts. At Hand Held there's already been some attrition and it's been directed that those people are to be replaced with resources in India. I'd like to think that a bright future can still be had here but the writing on the wall seems to agree with what was said in the last couple of posts. It will pain me to leave, but at least I won't wait around to help Honewyell get rid of me by teaching away my modest value. Here's to life after Honeywell. Monday, September 8, 2008 We all should have taken the blue pill of get me out of here at S&C. Instead we took the red pill of broken promises and uncertain future, and now we are starting to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Monday, September 8, 2008 - In response to the blog on Saturday, September 6, 2008: I predict you'll have a couple of years (2-3) before you say good bye to your job. Your story has been the same for many other companies (specially inside ACS). Basically it goes like this:
Sunday, September 7, 2008 The complete text of this particular blog has been published, with editorial introduction, "Growth & Profit by Slash & Burn" in the 10 September 08 issue of JimPinto.com eNews. Here's the link: http://jimpinto.com/enews/sep10-2008.html#3 I have no information about Hand-Held/Metrologic, but the situation you describe is typical, and it will only get worse. My advice is get out now if you can. Run, don't walk. The only future investment will be in China, and your facility will be allowed to wither on the vine. If you are an employee from an Emerging Region, you are part of the answer. If you are not, then you are part of the problem. The worst thing that can happen to any US-based company is that it is purchased by Honeywell. Whereas an enlightened owner would acknowledge that their new purchase must have some expertise and is somewhat good at making money and therefore allow them free rein to continue to do so, Honeywell is different. Their model assumes you must be stupid, because after all, you got bought. Therefore, being wiser, Honeywell will enforce its operating model on you. And ultimately you will be "improved" right out of existence. I work at Sensing and Control in NW Illinois. I would love it if Jim Pinto would do an expose on what Allied Signal has done to this division that once was described as a "crown jewel of Honeywell." What used to be a robust, operationally excellent, supple and resilient organization has been eviscerated. When changing circumstances require the ability to flex and respond (which is all the time) the old organization was able to quickly shift and accomodate. The current organization is brittle, breaks down, and does so frequently. Senior leadership continues its blind love affair with India and China despite neither location having successfully brought in a new program. Indeed, the present track record is failure after failure. One would expect enlightened leadership to develop contingency plans to mitigate the risks encountered when adventuring such as this; but alas, this isn't the case. Instead, this leadership takes us to the edge of the cliff with a blindfold on and promptly steps off into space. The Nanjing facility has been officially declared as "expert" despite having no experience whatsoever. The only thing they have developed is a swagger as a result of their unearned "expert" status. Leadership may know something about making money, but they know nothing about running a factory. Decisions are made strictly upon short term gain, not upon what's good for long term factory operations. One wonders what technical information leadership uses to make decisions, because they never ask for any. Only endless fill-in-the-blanks economic information. This is what happens when you have kids with an MBA degree trying to run an organization. The stream of technical talent either being laid off or walking out the door is staggering, and morale is lower than ever. Clearly, a company that wishes to remain viable would address the ongoing loss of personnel. Instead, nothing happens and the only conclusion left is that the plan is to milk profit out of S&C until none is left, and then dump it. Leadership simply does not care about long term viability. What is deeply disturbing about this is not that we can't be profitable. No, the problem is that we aren't profitable enough and we're not given the tools to be more profitable because the preconception is "we're the problem, not the answer." Apparently it requires selling a lot of additional switches and sensors to pay all those bonus checks. Since Allied took over, nothing works as well as it did before. The department eliminations and cuts are portrayed to represent cost savings. This works only because the inefficiencies that result from these losses are offset by spreading new responsibilities out among "surviving" employees. This results in lower overall productivity, but the metrics of course cleverly don't track this. Instead, the amount of productive work per employee drops below the bean-counters magic cutoff point and then it's time to reduce headcount to "adjust" the number back into balance. Of course, it's only a matter of time before plummeting productivity causes the exact same thing to happen again. But someone made their metric and got their bonus. This is a company with no future, at least for non-leadership US employees. The smart ones bailed out as soon as the Allied buyout went through. Hats off to them. The rest of us naively anticipated better times. Boy, were we fooled. Unless you're among leadership, it's a different story. Live it up, and host your all-employee meetings like Cote did, from Monte Carlo. It's a great life, ain't it? Saturday, September 6, 2008 When Honeywell bought my company - Hand Held Products - late last year, it started with rosy optimism about being able to use all sorts of resources (ie: money) to fuel a new level of growth. That "Honeymoon" was short. I feel like I went into the dentist's office for a routine checkup and came to in the chair with my pants around my ankles. Honeywell has since bought Metrologic, a Hand-Held competitor. The two companies are to be combined into one Honeywell Imaging and Mobility, inside of ACS. We're all waiting to see the local new organization structure. It has already been announced that all our local manufacturing will be gone - 290 full-time and say 50-60 temps in production being laid off, and the product lines will be moving to a factory in China. Our managers say that it will be at least another month before any organization or leadership details will be revealed. A month! A few months already since things were settled? Guess they need Powerpoint training first. Meanwhile morale is sinking oh so low, and important issues are going unattended. Can others out there offer similar tales of what Honeywell's m.o. is when there is an acquisition/merger? Is the delay in presenting a simple org-chart deliberate, hoping to fuel some voluntary departures? Is it paranoid to think the delay is because not everyone will have a spot in the new organization? Does anyone have some good insider information about Hand Held/Metrologic? Like is one or both companies going to be mined for the good stuff and the people just let go? I have a bad feeling about this. Friday, August 22, 2008 Particularly in ME, local Honeywell affiliates are totally spoiling the Honeywell reputation, completely and without any ethics, morals & integrity. Honeywell is also not bothered to see strict adherence of Honeywell procedures and standards. Many talented people have already left. Not only left, they have joined competitors. Let Honeywell wake-up on its strategy in ME. Thursday, August 21, 2008 - Ref: the blog dated Thursday, August 14, 2008: It's amazing. But just by the title "VP Integrated Supply Chain" and micromanager and the business group, I recognize this person. This person was also heard on our telecoms advocating that security carry guns in conference rooms. I'm not certain the policy of this blog site in naming names, but it is high time that certain people are exposed. Thursday, August 21, 2008 In perusing Honeywell jobs at lunch today, I stumbled across the following:
We are looking for talented engineers who have decided to return to the work force full time. Assignments may include working in a lab, in a manufacturing environment, in customer-facing teams, or in project/program management. Friday, August 15, 2008 I finally resigned after several years! Now, let's see if their attorneys come after me? Low morale, no product quality, slow delivery, process after process, my integrity was being challenged daily and no light at the end of the tunnel... There is life after "Logan's Run" (Honeywell). Many GOOD people have not reached the end of their rope... (yet)... When will "They at the TOP" realize their depleating customers are the sole reason they get paid millions annually? By "cutting and cutting" everywhere; they may get "the bonus", but eventually will lose their million dollar jobs. I guess that's o.k.! With millions in the bank, it's time to retire and let another high priced financial guru do the same to a new crowd of unfortunate customers and naive employees. Wonder how Honeywell will fare against the Department of Justice lawsuit? Seems HON sold 11,000 bulletproof vests for 20 Million to the DOJ... Suit alleges that the Zylon shield deteriorates quickly under hot and humid conditions and that a HON employee knew of this issue back in 2003. Thursday, August 14, 2008 One of the big issues in the AAS division of Honeywell is the VP Integrated Supply Chain. He hides behind behind people, expecially (an extreme known micro-manager, is determined in closing North Ameican Sites, in favour of Asia. Friday, August 8, 2008 Honeywell is the worst possible thing to happen to UOP LLC in Des Plaines, IL. It used to be a great place to work. Now the morale is in the pits. Now there's talk of having to document moment not spent in front of a computer. Good people are getting out while they can. JLL has helped to destroy the morale. It won't be long before UOP will no longer be a world class company. Friday, August 8, 2008 This is a place where good working people will be illtreated and humiliated. Only those working as non-technical managers are blessed to grow and enjoy. No one cares for either products or for customers. Saturday, July 26, 2008 From Friday 16 May 08 weblog: "They are just making sure you work for the money while doing four jobs at once and getting paid for one....." This is what happened at the Victoria BC plant also. But now its sold to a Chinese company. I do not know how military technology can be sold to china though. This plant did not have the best salaries. The upper management in the US has a bad understanding of the nuts and bolts of what was being done. Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Things are changing. All because Cote and direct reports need to make his bonus! Guess Cote & Friends were never the little guys? I am trying to make ends meet. Maybe just maybe take a boat out for the weekend and not worry about spending the money due to the next round of layoffs. Or even have a cook out with friends. Times are tough! So why does it have to be 1.7 million profit. Whats wrong with 1.6? Cote and Friends.... Hope you read this blog! Just going to throw it all away for a yearly bonus. Remember who makes your money. All the little guys like me! And honestly a company I use to brag about to friends and family. I wouldn't recommend any product we make. What happens when Honeywell is so lean, they ship Cote & Friends jobs to India! One day...... Wednesday, July 9, 2008 OMG... Is this how we treat customers? Now I know why we're losing business. I guess it is also no secret that marketing at Honeywell is in bad shape. We have lost major business because of this. I think everybody needs to buckle up, things are going to get worse in manufacturing and design (maybe even R&D) in North America. Friday, June 27, 2008 Last weblog>>I just wish the people at the top would stop worrying about the next balance sheet and start worrying about what us customers think.<< I work in customer support and I hear this (and far worse), directly and daily from our customer base and quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of it. Not that I think you all don’t have legitimate concerns, but every year Honeywell gives the customer base an opportunity to make those concerns known during our Honeywell Users Group (HUG) conferences. And every year the customer base that shows up at HUG appears to be a far cry from the one complaining to the field all year. The one that shows up at HUG rolls over, get it’s belly scratched, and falls in line. If the concerns you bring to field service during the year are legitimate, then when you’re in an environment with those who can actually affect those concerns, please bring it up and hold your position until you get a satisfactory response. Only you, Mr. Customer, can change the things you see as problematic; but not if you continue to go mute when it counts. If you won’t hold your ground, don't expect change and please stop complaining. Thursday, June 26, 2008 Here in Europe, TAC used to have strong links with the people who designed and maintained Honeywell Control products. They could get problems answered very quickly. Since the migration of engineering to India/South America/wherever, communication lines have become slow and (in some cases) unreliable. I just wish the people at the top would stop worying about the next ballance sheet and start worying about what us customers think. With the changes of the past year, I'm starting to get very nervous about future product support. Saturday, June 21, 2008 - Regarding the TAC and Auto College emails: There are no current plans to move Auto College to Houston or TAC to India. That is what we've been told. Whether one chooses to believe that or not is up to the individual. I'll admit getting a straight and truthful story from anyone in leadership around here for the past few years has been interesting, to say the least. But, unless there is solid evidence to the contrary, this is what we have been told and so, it is the only story that we know. I suppose to some that will sound a little foolish, but then again, there is no more reason to believe an unsubstantiated rumor (for those loyal readers of this weblog, consider the "Honeywell to be bought by Siemens" rumor that has been around for the past five years or so and refuses to die) than a mistrusted statement; if nothing else, at least the statement can be tracked. To further elaborate on the TAC move, the comment offered about the need for a TAC reveals not only a blatant ignorance of what TAC does and why it exists, but also what is going on with our product families. That there is a need for a TAC in India, given the increasing presence Honeywell products have in supporting and controlling the infrastructure of that country, has been recognized and is being implemented. I suppose in some circles the obvious conclusion to jump to then is that they will then absorb all of the existing TAC centers and be run from one pole, as opposed to the four current. I can't say that won't happen, but I can say there are numerous and significant factors why it shouldn't. Those factors have also been recognized. Thursday, June 19, 2008 To the previous comments regarding TAC moving to India; it shouldn't be too difficult to work-out, support for existing (legacy) products has already been shipped to India (until they reach end of life), new products are bought-in and re-badged rather than developed in-house, what use would there be for TAC? Tuesday, June 17, 2008 Is it true that the automation college is relocating to Houston, TX? I also hear that TAC is moving to India. Comments please. Thursday, May 29, 2008 Here in Europe things are little better. Here in engineering, guys are overloaded and under resourced. Sales staff still awaiting their sales target!! (Yes it's almost mid year and sales staff still do not know their targets). The reality is much of the sales / engineering organizations feels isolated and demoralised, many have left and many many more are considering their positions - some people may say good - but generally that would only be management who in 2 maybe 3 years time move onwards and upwards leaving the utter chaos they have created behind them for someone else to deal with. Management like to call themselves "leaders" but there is a good deal more to being a leader than a title and sadly most of Honeywell's are not. Friday, May 16, 2008 I started working for a good company 25 years ago: "Sperry Corporation". After the merger and change to the UNYSYS company, they sold our group to Honeywell. Honeywell was actually a decent company until Allied Signal bought it. Since then it has been downhill all the way. If you have seen the movie "Logan's Run", there seems to be a parallel with the movie and managements relationship with Honeywell. People will be required to report management at the appointed time. In my case I would lose 29 weeks of severance pay. The rich management worship the Honeywell "GOD": Stock and they smile all the way to the bank. Friday, May 16, 2008 (edited) The Honeywell Vancouver site is being managed by a third-world-sweat-shop money-hungry person that does not care about anyone but himself and his bonus at the end of the month/quarter! It's sad that there are so many talented, hard working people who actually know this business inside-out, and its a shame that Corporate has decided to have this person lead what he does not understand. When it comes to cut costs, even when involving people that have been there longer than he has, he'll outsource pretty much all the work to whoever makes it cheaper - he is the best at that! Come on all of you people, who are still left in there waiting for packages (that will never happen) run and do not look back. He was put in charge to close the doors.Nothing else. Do you really think he will stick around for long? Let's not forget that Honeywell wants people to know that they are the best company to work for and they have the best salaries. They are just making sure you work for the money while doing four jobs at once and getting paid for one. This used to be a company that people enjoyed working for and were valued. That's no longer the case these days. And it will get worse! Friday, May 16, 2008 I work at Honeywell and will be "Riffed" at age 54. Has any more been negotiated for the bridging to age 55 for retiree medical benefits? Any comments would be appricated! Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Honeywell DCS open standards?? Currently at two Honeywell sites in Australia, Honeywell is doing everything in there power to block Emerson Wireless gateways from being connected to their DCS. The standard connectivity is serial Modbus, nothing special and a common interface to most DCS and PLC. However Honeywell is trying everything to convince these two sites that there are interoperable problems. Modbus serial is easy and open, so what’s the problem? Is it because the system lack connectivity, I think not? Or is it because these two sites have tried both wireless solutions and found the Emerson one easier and faster to set-up. Both sites want open standards HART7, but they get told continually that ISP is the way, the way to what? Seems like the old DE (Dead end) protocol solution again, locking out the competition. In the end the end users will vote with their dollars, and this time around it’s only a gateway replacement not rows of input cards that will keep other suppliers away. Saturday, May 10, 2008 I've been working for Honeywell for the past 3 years, and I've seen many bad things inside the HPS world, as I'm about to quit. I couldn't understand how management could be so bad, until I read this weblog. It's hard to face reality, as I could only imagine an employee's dissapointment while working for 10,20 or more years, and watching numbers and "double digit" profits replace people and innovation. It's plain and simple, Honeywell's soul was sold to the devil, represented by Mr. Cote's ambition and selfishness. I presenced the departure of many talented people over these past 3 years, people who represented Honeywell's real asset: Experience. Nowadays morale is low, and the "new Honeywell culture" relies on Wall street's god: Money. China, India, Mexico are the new Honeywell locations, it reminds me of the sweatshops from Nike or Adidas, and unfortunately, that's the direction where we are all going. In the meantime, I have to deal with faulty out-of-date products from Business Flex and Uniformance, not to mention the Experion fiasco, lousy TAC support (teenagers from a hotline), R&D in crisis, as many talented and experienced people leave everyday, so you'll end up with an enginneer from India who barely speaks English and has never been in an industrial facility. TDC represented what Honeywell was a few years ago, unfortunately, nowdays we work for a sweatshop, plain and simple.
Jim Pinto Sunday, March 09, 2008 11:52 AM On February 22nd 2008 Honeywell announced the closure of their Montreal Aerospace site. This started in December 2002 when Adrian Brown (she has since been promoted) made the decision to cease all OEM manufacturing of fuel controls for Pratt & Whitney Canada at the Montreal site (Leaving only Repair and Overhaul). Most of the machine shop work went to China and the Assembly and Test work went to Honeywell Rocky Mount, NC. The work would be transitioned in 6 mths (what a joke). After millions and millions wasted, that transition is not fully complete 5 years later, good luck completing it now. They actually teach a course at Honeywell headquarters based on this failed transition and what not to do. We were told to work hard to help the transition and the Repair and Overhaul work would come. They could not bring the work until the "TRANSITION" was over. Paul Vidano told everyone in a town hall meeting to "make your numbers and the work will come". Well Paul, we did make our numbers, our OTTR, our TAT, much to your surprise I suspect. Shareholders should be demanding to see the numbers on this transition, because they are in for round # 2 with this recent announcement. Honeywell says this closure is for declining work. This is true. When you have no marketing, no leadership with any power at the site level, what the hell do you think will happen. Work will fall from the sky I guess. The Air Canada APU contract should have come to Montreal, instead you ship APU's from Montreal to Phoenix to be repaired. That's really smart, considering they could be repaired literally down the road from Air Canada. That's putting the customer first, another round of applause for a great management decision. On the topic of severance. What did people get at other sites that have closed? They are calling people in with some weird formula based on your age and years of service. It's anywhere from 1,2 or 3 weeks per year of service, but you must work hard until the end and if you find a job during your severance period you have to call and report it to the company so they can stop your severance. These people are sick. Who comes up with these policies? That's for the non-unionized people. The jury is still out on the compensation for the unionized people. Paul Vidano showed up on Feb. 22 to announce this closure, along with his bodyguards. After 5 years of lies finally some truth. It's sad to see a site close because of such poor management. Sure they will say it was the big bad union. There are no strong unions, just weak management. It's funny how Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Air Canada, are all expanding and hiring people. Good luck Honeywell with this new transition. You will need it! Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) outsourcing is hitting Honeywell in Mississauga, near Toronto, as of June 2008. As has been at other sites this will be another round of layoffs and complete confusion after the transition with failed results. Another good system will be broken. Way to go , Honeywell!!! This is all part of Dave Cote's "transformation", which is code name for layoffs in North America. Saturday, February 23, 2008 Life at Honeywell-North Vancouver is nothing but living hell day in and out - you get reamed by being social and reamed again if you sit in your corner doing your job! Let's face it folks - this place is going down the tubes daily.... Senior management has no clue of what to expect from corporate next - unless of course their bonuses... and costs and more costs at the expense of the hard working individuals that have been producing and holding steady for the longest time. It has been 1 year now that the "new" and "empowered" Plant Manager came into action..... come on now - who is he kidding? We know why he is there and we also know what is plans are - get his name well known in Corporate Honeywell and at the same time push all the employees out of the door (you know the ones he does not like or thinks they are a threat) so he does not have to pay them out - he gets a bigger bonus! I just wish one of these days Corporate gives him the boot too! It will serve him right! For all th e honest, hard working employees that are still working there - get the hell out while you still can! Your jobs will eventually end up in INDIA..... Friday, February 22, 2008 Honeywell management seems confused as to their long term strategy. They are offering signing bonus's and referral fees to employees as they reload the staff with average people. I am an employee in Houston and have been keening watching this strategy for the last year. I expect these new hires will be gone in 18 months when they don't produce but upper management will remain in place. Friday, February 22, 2008 On Friday February 22, 2008, management announced the closure of the Montreal Honeywell Aerospace site as of August 22, 2008, even though the site was a good performer. The standard business lingo was given, but most people believe it was for other reasons. Thursday, February 21, 2008 Life at Honeywell is not fun anymore. People are so unsure of the future and if you cross paths with your manager beware 'cause you're job is on the line. And at the North Vancouver "center of excelence" that is a fact. You cross the key guy and you are gone. He has no respect for anyone. He will fill positions with his old buddies and has no regard for long time employees. I'm glad I don't work there 'cause all the place is now is a burning platform and he will keep it burning. Monday, February 4, 2008 Life at Honeywell in Clearwater, FL is anything but good if you're one of the great majority. We have oppressive, short-sighted management. We have small "merit increases" to look forward to. We have a massive case of "big brother" corporate trying to micro-manage and monitor everything we do. Information Technology has our business computers so overloaded with junkware and spyware that the machines are all but crippled when we attempt to use them for productive purposes. Even the fastest newest machines are hobbled by this madness! Tier 5 managers are cursed with an inability to effect changes, due to the oppressive nature of their own leadership chain. It is encouraged that anyone who wishes to get ahead at Honeywell blindly say "yes yes yes", never question a decision, and do the company's bidding no matter what the moral cost. In the end, we are left with ineffective leaders who are soft and malleable. Too much reliance is placed upon perception, hearsay, and blind faith in senior management. A free thinker is treated like a cancer. Innovation is stifled. Hard work is rarely rewarding if you refuse to toe the company line or even if you are perceived this way. Tier 5 managers are forced to rate even excellent employees as "below standard" within their group, as the "bottom 10%" is dictated by senior HR/management to receive zero raise. (This leaves the difficult situation where a superior employee in a group of other superior employees may receive a zero raise, yet a completely terrible employee may get the highest possible raise in their group of even more terrible employees.) Morale has been steadily on the decline since Allied-Signal bought us. We are continually told how we should be thankful for our jobs and that we're too costly compared to outsourcing so we should not expect too much in terms of "average" merit increases. Cost of living is also not taken into account. GE moved on long ago from the Jack Welchian philosophy of business. I figure Honeywell will only follow suit when senior members of ex-GE management are GONE from our own leadership ranks. I pray to God these folks GET THE HELL AWAY from Honeywell soon. They haven't the foggiest clue how much damage they've done to our core Aerospace business with their "one size fits all", dumbed-down management techniques. It's only a matter of time before I too follow suit after the several co-workers that have already run away from Honeywell to other places nearby.... At least I can get a decent raise when I go! Thursday, January 31, 2008 As someone who spent 21+ years at Honeywell (I left, last October), I feel qualified to give you some 411 on the "New Honeywell Culture". It sucks. Plain and simple. Back in the old days, Honeywell certainly wasn't perfect, but things really started heading south when Allied bought it and brought a corporate culture spawned at GE under Jack Welch. Over the subsequent years, under Larry Bossidy (ex-GE) and now Dave Cote (ex-GE too, I believe), things have gpne from bad to terrible for the employees. At this point, there are basically five groups at Honeywell:
Friday, January 25, 2008 Re: the big changes on the horizon in Phoenix involving Honeywell Process Solutions.... By the time the facility ends its manufacturing I'll have completed about 40 years of service. It no longer bothers me one way or another....it has been a good ride and I am proud of my participation and contribution to the business.....everybody has to leave sooner or later. The posting of Jack Bolicks announcement in the Honeywell-weblog for the most part explains those changes. Surprisingly enough, the majority of those being impacted in Phoenix are likely/hopfully to be provided positions locally within the various Aero locations. Few transfers are going to occur to the new designated locations for the various product lines. There is also a large aging population within HPS (life'rs...including myself) who will seek positions within the same industry with the competition....or retire! In my opinion, the knowledge loss, initially, will/may create small stumbling blocks along the way and any short-term impact to the customer is something yet to be determined. Funny, but the one claim to faim that Roger Fradin brought with him to Honeywell was that in the ten-year period in which he ran Pittway, he had never laid off a single employee...boy how the times have changed! Regardless of the forthcoming change, Jack Bolick has put Process Solutions back on the map and in the minds of the customers. Five years ago, nobody was even sure if the business would survive. I wonder what must be going thru the minds of Ed Hurd and Don Bogle regarding this latest change and the manufacturing closure of the Union Hills facility!? Afterall, it was the house that Ed built... sad! Tuesday, January 22, 2008 Ok, i just got laid off from HON Canada not too long ago, just before Christmas (had a great holiday...). Honeywell is an elephant when it moves it cannot step on only very specific targets most times, things happen in bunches. They don't care who says what during layoffs it's business and numbers have no feelings. In the end they know that the company has reached a very respectable status as a name and history, they think they can buy most people back whenever they want. The bigger the company the smaller you are, this family environment where people worked till thet get to 65 does exist anymore not even in Japan. Major Shareholers are the dictators we feared in the past accross all corporations. Good luck in this lawless jungle.... Saturday, January 19, 2008 With respect to the posting on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 where UOP was stated as "doomed to be ruined by HW"...I'd like to hear more. In Cote's last broadcast Jan/08, UOP was hailed as a great opportunity. It smelled as sweet as red roses. So what is really going on there?? Please speak up if you know! Friday, January 18, 2008 The atmosphere is really strange at Honeywell these days. We find that when someone finds a job at a competitor's place people actually go out of their way and congratulate the person in a very warm way and are actually very happy and want to know all the details as to how the individual did it. This was not always like this and has become rather twisted. It used to be that when someone left there was sadness and a sense of loss. People wanted to work for the place. But that was when the place was more of a family and less of a Corporation. And that environment has come about more with Cote that with Bosidy. Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Sorry to here about the new round of RIF's at HPS. Worked there for 20 years, left in '04. Allied sucked the energy and creativity out of that organization a long time ago. Best of luck to the 180 leaving soon and the 500 leaving later. I imagine there will be about 150 left to congratulate each other on how astute they are. Keep your chin up!! Wednesday, January 09, 2008 Extract of message from Jack Bolick
Honeywell Process Solutions regularly evaluates all its sites to ensure each operates at optimal capacity and provides the best delivery and quality possible. We also strive to simplify processes and reduce manufacturing complexity to better meet our financial commitments, the needs of our customers, and ultimately, secure a competitive position in our industry. As part of this ongoing process, we have decided to transition the remaining Phoenix manufacturing and assembly factory work to sites around the world. This decision impacts approximately 180 employees in Phoenix. Over the next 18 months, the following product families will be transitioned to existing manufacturing facilities:
In addition, we will continue to transition Series C I/O to contract manufacturers, and we will be transitioning responsibility of the TDC 2000 product line from the Phoenix factory to the service support operations. Separate from this announcement, we have also made the decision to accelerate our globalization plan for the Technology organization at the Phoenix site. The decision to make these changes was made for business reasons and is not a reflection on performance. To remain competitive, we must make these changes to ensure long-term growth for the business. Our focus on global growth drives us to reinforce Honeywell’s image as a premier technology leader. To achieve this goal, we must participate in the worldwide economy, open new avenues for our products and services, locate near our customers, and identify worldwide sourcing opportunities. This will allow us to be more competitive on a global basis. We will provide support for our employees during this time including, as appropriate, applying for other suitable open positions within Honeywell, outplacement services, and severance in accordance with Honeywell policy. I ask for everyone’s support during this time as we work to make these transitions as smooth as possible for employees, customers, suppliers, and the business.
Sincerely, Wednesday, January 9, 2008 I'm a machinist at Honeywell's engine division located in Phoenix, Arizona. All of the work is being systematically outsourced to Mexico and Czech Republic. They are taking the machines tooling gaging and they have the nerve to tell us we have a future here. What really makes me sick is we have hourly people that are traveling there to help expedite and train these folks in Mexico and come back with no work. They recently sent a whole department over the holiday. Now they are telling those people with 15-20 years or more experience that they have to repost for any openings. I'm talking people that have given their whole lives to this company and have worked very hard developing and optimizing these processes. I have news they are not paying these people well in Mexico in fact a lot of the workers leave to work for Walmart. You get what you pay for these days. Tuesday, December 4, 2007 Will have to agree. Even though it is recognized as Honeywell, the truth is it still is ALLIED SIGNAL. And as for employee sastifaction surveys - we have not seen any since Allied took over! Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - Reply to weblog dated Tuesday, December 4: Unfortunately this is true of most companies today (not just Honeywell); Engineering, Design, Development (etc.) now take a (very) poor second place behind the balance sheet and budgetary forecast; the most technically brilliant ideas mean nothing if you can't provide the figures. As an (ageing) engineer I find this sad. It destroys the long-term future of a company (and a country); innovation and ingenuity are being seen as too much of a risk, the only thing that is important is the next balance sheet; I just hope I see the balance restored before it's too late. Tuesday, December 4, 2007 Guys, I read all of the blog entries below. You just don't get it! Honeywell (and especially the old AlliedSignal) is an Accounting company - not a Technology company. It's been like this for a long time. So, expect to be milked (business speaking). It is well advertised in the company communication that there will be zero, or less, job growth in North America. Honeywell's growth is from funding projects & businesses in Asia. When is the last time Honeywell held a formal employee satisfaction survey across the company? Sunday, December 2, 2007 Just my thought on the matter of Honeywell. The way management in North Vancouver are treating the employees is a disgrace. There is no focus or direction from the Manufacturing Manager at this plant. They are laying off employees while keeping contract people on the payroll. What are the plans? Are there ANY plans? I truly doubt he knows what he is doing. But be honest; it is not his fault - it is Honeywell total lack of focus on the pulp and paper market that has ruined North Vancouver and created the problems they are in now. And that Mr. Cote will still get his bonus next year; it is truly a shame he gets a bonus while people lose their jobs. Thursday, November 29, 2007 - what in the world? Ok so, after reading a few of the comments, I feel better, its not me, its Honeywell; moreover, its not just my division, its all of Honeywell. Ever since I started working for Honeywell a few years back, it has been nothing but complete secrecy and total confusion. We never know where we are going or what the plans are. It is truly is complete management chaos, unless they are just playing us, knowing that everything is going to be transfered to AP anyway. By the way, the way they treat their employees is really bad, and if they keep firing soon-to-retire employees, they are going to get in trouble one of this days. Wednesday, November 28, 2007 There is a lot of pressure to use Honeywell products in house. Not too long ago, a 'Six Sigma' type project was chartered to determine the next generation automation system for the research pilot plants and lab plants at UOP LLC. (This was when UOP was still half owned by HW and half by DOW.) UOP has some of the best research capabilities in the world and needs the best technologies to stay at the top. The final report recommended Siemens followed by GE/Fanuc and others. HW placed last. It wasn't completely unexpected when management selected HW over the others, but it was very disappointing. As much as I wish that HW had offered the best product, it was overpriced and performed poorly. Management's decision was totally contrary to the recommendations and several research projects opted to go on their own with Modicon, ABB, even Labview, etc. Then, we all got a big scare when HW bought out DOW's stake in UOP and we were swallowed up by HW. There was a lot of pressure to use HW automation exclusively in our refinery installations. Fortunately, there was enough push back from our people and from our customers to make HW back down some (under threat of losing a lot of refinery business). I really wish that I worked for the company with the best automation product on the market, but right now, it just isn't the case. I do work for UOP and UOP IS THE BEST PETROCHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY IN THE WORLD. The US government knows it. Governments all over the world know it. People in the industry all over the world know it. We do things that no one else can do. And that is a fact! Why are we doomed to be ruined, as part of HW, by short-sightedness and incompetency?! Dave Cote seems to confuse real growth and return on investment with accounting tricks, employee indoctrination campaigns (many of my co-workers from communist countries have told me that this is the same kind of propaganda they saw back home), and hocus pocus. How about if we actually beco me the best in all of our business groups? How about if actually we retain and recruit the best talent by treating the the employees right? How about if we get and retain customers by having the best product on the market? How about if we have real, sustainable growth and become a genuine, good long term investment, with substance, for the shareholders, not a Wall Street joke. Dave Cote, organizational games, ripping off your employeees, and milking the cash cow to death is not real growth! I have been here longer than you. I know my business. WE are pretty smart. WE are pretty good. WE have got the talent. WE have got the resources. WE are in the right place at the right time in our market. Don't screw it up! Don't let your short sightedness run the company into the ground! In all our business groups, let's do it right, let's be the best. Sunday, November 18, 2007 - Re: Up 13% this year in organic growth: A large part of the organic growth is forced internal sales to other Honeywell divisions, even though the competition has a better product and service.
Sunday, November 18, 2007 Picking up on the (October 28th) comment below that it is going to get much worse with JLL:
Monday, November 12, 2007
As a former employee of Honeywell, I must say that the way they treat their employees is truly awful. The Division that I left (in pulp and paper) is in a slump; as a mater of fact the whole pulp and paper Division of Honeywell is in a slump. But I guess that doesn't mater to Mr. Cote who will still get his bonus next year. But at whose expense?
I must say that I liked the early years of my career at Honeywell. But now they have nothing to offer to the employees, but BS. Sooner or later their actions are going to smack them back in their faces. As for me, I'm going to start a new career with a better future than what Honeywell (ALLIED SGNAL) has to offer to any of their employees. As for those that remain - beware empty promises.
Monday, November 12, 2007
The JLL fiasco hit at the Des Plaines, Illinois site of the recently acquired UOP LLC. Same disrespectful treatment, as previously noted, of long time, hard working UOP employees. Also, they apparently had no idea that the receiving department was more than just a mail room and regularly handles a significant amount of hazardous materials. Overall the integration of UOP into Honeywell has provoked an exodus of experienced engineers, etc. from the company. Additionally, some clever Honeywell person figured out a bookkeeping adjustment that would allow them to short UOP employees 2 weeks pay in 2007. This has been a record year for UOP and brought several hundred millions of cash into HW. Their reward to UOP was to squeeze the employees for a few million in payroll. There should be a law, but . . .
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Well after 6 months of the JLL co-sourcing at the MTO site. You could say that at this location, if it where not for the ability to fudge the numbers it could be considered a utter failure. It took 5 months just to get uniforms, despite what the eastern manager said, employees will be required to take there uniforms home and clean them. (I thought she said that it was ridicules to buy uniforms, JLL would have a uniform service!) Materials needed to do jobs takes weeks if not longer to get, vendors don`t want to wait 90 days to get paid. One observation I made was, if you come in and say things ( intense training, comparable compensation, PDA`s, etc.. . ) the old saying is true "If their mouth is moving, they are lying!" After putting up with BS from Honeywell management( performance reviews that are rigged, the do more with less for less mentality) for a number of years and the last six months of BS squared. I called it quits, went into my own small business. The only advice I can give is: If you're invo,ved in this co-sourcing, look for another job". It's going to get a lot worse, before it ever gets any better. Good luck!
Thursday, October 25, 2007 - Honeywell response to weblog about service:
Honeywell is NOT withdrawing from controls. We are up 13% this year in organic growth.
We would be interested in helping the person get his problem resolved if we could understand
where the problem is: Process SYstems or Building Systems.
If you provide a contact number, or email, a Honeywell Global Services leader will follow up.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Can anyone please tell me what's going on with Honeywell's technical/after sales support? It seems to be increasing difficult to get answers to technical questions regarding both controllers and recorders, the people we used to deal with (and get very prompt answers from) are no longer available. The service I currently get leaves me to wonder if Honeywell is withdrawing from the Industrial Controlls market.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Yokogawa wins a BIG Chevron order away from Honeywell.
Why hasn't this made more news??
Sunday, June 3, 2007
The answer below (response from Honeywell management) indicates that Honeywell really do not know what are happening with their Paper Group in Brazil. How they can say this if they do not talk with employers about the real state of relations in this area? They are working on a Virtual field. They believe they are doing well, customers don't. It´s the end of the line. Whom will turn of the lights and and close the door? They said;"Honeywell is growing nicely in Brazil in Paper, strong in Pulp". They really do not know Brazil. Sorry guys....
Sunday, May 06, 2007 - regarding Brazil report - weblog April 26, 2007:
Honeywel management checked this out and cannot find any substance in the claim. Honeywell is growing nicely in Brazil in Paper, strong in Pulp. Only had one small job canceled due to a change in scope that later increased the contract.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
More layoffs, this time it's in the UK, the Ringwood development office will be closed at the end of June. When news was announced senior management were notable by their absence, the job was left to local management and HR representatives; to date we haven't received so much as an email from senior management!
Anyone in the UK want to hire a complete development team? If you want to see what our work is like, take a look at the X-Series recorders.
Thursday, April 26, 2007 - To Honeywell Top Managers:
Dear Sirs, your division in Brazil for Pulp and Paper is an example on how to kill a company. Please verify with your local customers the dis-satisfaction with the service done by them. Honeywell is losing most of the service agreements contracts to companies that are employing ex-Honeywell guys. Stupid! The bad service can kill a compnay!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Don't let the $10,000 signing bonus fool you. It is compensation for first year loss of employer paid benefits with Honeywell, like loss of Pension Plan and reduced health and dental benefits. After the first year you are loosing $10,000 per year in benefits when compared to Honeywell. You don't really want to work for a company that has no pension plan. Over the years, this loss adds up and will severly affect your retirement. Although JLL has a savings plan, Honeywell also has a savings plan. So this is a moot point.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Honeywell employees in Phoenix (E. Airlane) that lost thier job because of JLL are being hired (most of them) with a $10,000 signing bonus. Now, I believe that Honeywell offered a somewhat healty severance package, but you had to interview with JLL. if JLL offered a job and you turned it down, then you forfeited Honeywell's severance package. If you accepted a job with JLL then there's no need to offer this package and you can be fired for no reason at anytime, and as mentioned earlier, NO Pension Plan. JLL moves in next month in May and secrecy still rules.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Because of the JLL deal with Honeywell, 3 people were cut in Tempe and 25 in Phoenix. There were a total of 64 cut.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
It's funny how Honeywell prides itself in retaining top talent. What a hypocrisy. In the JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) transition, people are completely disregarded. One day they are stars in the eyes of Honeywell and the next day they are unacceptable in the eyes of JLL. This is a tossing out of human capital.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
On the Honeywell out sourcing to JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle), JLL does not have a Pension Plan. Honeywell does. So you lose a lot for your retirement if you go work for JLL for any length of time - especially if you are in the prime of your life. Do the math! JLL can also let you go at will - for a reason or no reason. This is far less secure than Honeywell.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Yes, the Honeywell - Jones Lang LaSalles effect is taking place. It's amazing how misrepresentative and secretive it was over the last year. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman was a key element in this mis-representation at the beginning. The reality is that JLL is not hiring all of the Honeywell facility personnel. Honeywell has abdicated any decision-making process on this. It is known that there is a connection at the Board of Director level between Honeywell and JLL. So someone is profiting here. JLL has promised JLL a 10% aggrrgrate top level savings on facility costs in the first year. The consequence of not doing this is that JLL has to pay Honeywell a penalty. This clearly compromises the technicians and JLL is not taking on Honeywell employees to make this 10% in the first year - to the detriment of Honeywell. The first wave of outsourcing 23 sites is in 2007. The second wave of the remainrer of the sites is scheduled for 2008. So, if you are in Honeywell Facility Management, or a technician - watch out in 2008! Your job is seriously at risk. Be prepared.
Thursday, March 15, 2007 - from a former Honeywell Employee:
When I was laid off from Honeywell, the official reason was that my position had been eliminated. I signed and accepted their severance agreement. The agreement granted me full pay and benefits for several months. In exchange, I can never sue Honeywell.
Within months after my departure, a much younger person was hired to do esentially the same job. After I accepted the severance agreement, I discovered that it ended just six months short of the date when I would be eligible for retiree health benefits. Honeywell probably saved about a quarter million dollars by laying me off after 20 years of service. (By the way, my 20 Year Service Award came after I was laid off, with a congratulatory letter from Dave Cote.)
I wonder if others have made similar discoveries about their retirement benefits. Maybe my situation was just a coincidence, but it sure smells like age discrimination.
Sunday, February 18, 2007 - from Tom Webb [albacore124@aol.com]:
It appears Honeywell's Management has started to deflate the Six Sigma Plus program. Due to factual evidence, the corporate practice of using "modified" Six Sigma numbers/references without notification of data modification is ending.
16 February Honeywell press releases were sent out stating "Six Sigma is a highly respected measure of excellence. Honeywell’s own interpretation, Six Sigma Plus, is employed across all businesses and brands to drive growth and productivity."
Now if we could only get Honeywell to divulge the basis of the "Interpretation" . Imagine, people actually being able to find out what the system actually measures. I guess next year's proxy statements will be easy to foresee...
Thursday, February 15, 2007
More job cuts at Honeywell; Jones-Lang-LaSalle has been selected to take over facilty operations at 19 plants and Morristown Offices. Honeywell people have to interview with JLL to see if they can stay.
Saturday, February 10, 2007 - from Tom Webb [albacore124@aol.com]:
I guess if Honeywell's quality system has no published goals, and unknown system parameters it makes achieving any quality level desired easy and without debate!
Creating a "Six Sigma" quality System that is not based on Six Sigma is deceptive and shareholders can not be expected to find out otherwise. Honeywell does not publish the actual parameters used, or add notation that the "Six Sigma Plus" system is neither Six Sigma or Plus!
Using a Six Sigma System - 4.5 Sigma is 3.4 defects per million, 6 Sigma is 2.4 defects per BILLION... is easily understood and needs no clarification. Calling a Quality System "Six Sigma" and not using Six Sigma as the basis is misleading at best...
If anyone contacts me, I will send the "Official Honeywell" reply to this discrepancy.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - A senior Honeywell manager coments:
I would agree with the Honeyweller's comments below. We drive Honeywell based
on six sigma methodology and zero defects, but set stretch time phased
targets that balance reality with continuous improvement driven by DAMIC
principles. This is the basis for Toyoda production system... baseline,
set controlled stretch targets and drive continuous improvement based on
quality methodologies such as "six sigma". Main thing is know where you
are coming from (baseline) and sustain the improvement.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - A Honeywell manager responds:
I can understand the perspective of the person who wrote this but
disagree with what was said.
Think this is about how you interpret what the meaning or intention is
behind being a Six Sigma Company. My interpretation is that we as a
company have embraced and adopted six sigma methodologies in pursuit of
improving business performance, that six sigma training and
methodologies are integral pieces of our corporate culture. Results
will always vary, achieving results short of six sigma levels is not
misleading because in my opinion the Honeywell definition of six sigma
is the overarching program and not a specific point in time result.
Monday, November 13, 2006 - from Tom Webb - Proxy Statement was sent to Mr. Larkins at HQ today via FED EX for inclusion in the next shareholder proxy statement.
I am sure most Honeywell employees are not aware that what Honeywell claims to be "Six Sigma Plus" is really a 4.5 Sigma statistically based system (1000 times more defects than an actual Six Sigma system). I understand a "fudge factor" of 1.5 Sigma has been creatively added to the instructor's backpocket to try and further the Six Sigma Plus system as legit when these questions arise...
Secretary - Honeywell, Inc.
As a concerned Honeywell shareholder I am submitting the following shareholder proxy statement:
“Six Sigma” and “Six Sigma Plus” information supplied by Honeywell, including examples, percentages, illustrations, and other data published by Honeywell as being “Six Sigma based” are actually based on 4.5 Sigma statistical data. Information published in The Wall Street Journal (and other sources) detailing 4.5 Sigma programs pretending to be “Six Sigma” programs should be addressed immediately. Honeywell should remove “Six Sigma” from programs that are not, in fact, Six Sigma statistically based.
The difference between a statistically based Six Sigma program and Honeywell's “Six Sigma” programs is that Honeywell allows 1000 times more defects. Honeywell has published significant amounts of misleading “Six Sigma” and “Six Sigma Plus” data. Honeywell fails to disclose this on its website, Annual Statement, articles, publications, or customer training.
Clarification that Honeywell's “Six Sigma” data is really 4.5 Sigma statistically based should be immediate, and prominently noted to prevent further confusion. Even Honeywell's “Vice President Six Sigma and Operations” has been mistakenly quoted on the Honeywell website using 4.5 Sigma statistically derived information to portray Honeywell's Six Sigma vision!
Honeywell should lead by example. Investors, customers, employees, and the general public expect accurate information from Honeywell. Describing a program or a goal to be “Six Sigma” or “Six Sigma Plus” when Honeywell is really using a 4.5 Sigma statistically based program, or using wording like “Incomparable” when it is not, are contrary to Honeywell's “Open and Honest” communications policy.
Action Requested: Honeywell to rename Quality Programs, Training, and all other initiatives to accurately reflect the basis of these programs. Continued use of “Six Sigma” without a statistical basis should be discontinued immediately. Information provided by Honeywell needs to accurately reflect statistical rules, and not contain misleading references and implications. Honeywell's financial group is not allowed to redefine profit and loss rules; and the Six Sigma Group's measurements are also absolute - not subjective. Six Sigma Quality is a definition (statistically based) not open for corporate modification. No asterisks, footnotes, or additional clarifications should be necessary to determine what the information being presented really means.
Shareholders are asked to vote for accurate, statistically based Six Sigma Programs. “Six Sigma” and “Six Sigma Plus” quality systems should, in fact, be Six Sigma based! 4.5 Sigma statistically based programs currently being called “Six Sigma” or “Six Sigma Plus” by Honeywell should be accurately renamed or cease immediately.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
I witnessed Dave Cote in action when he took over TRW as CEO, then quit without notice after about a year, thereby setting the company up for a take-over. A 101 year-old venerable Cleveland-based company sold down the drain. And with plenty of layoffs (Wall Street loves that). Cote is a bully who cares about one thing - money, especially his own. Be advised.
Saturday, August 19, 2006 - from Andrew A. Perlowski [aperlowski@tampabay.rr.com]:
I second Doug Jensen's comments from March 13, 2006. He and his organization did contribute, and as a 1975 Sweatt Award recepient, I do look back at some of the best times during the 70's at Honeywell. I did have a privilage to work with Doug on couple of occasions. And we did have similar interests when I was working in Honeywell Protection Services, in Irvine California.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - To the previous (Saturday June 17, 06) post:
Many of us do read this weblog on a regular basis, and know exactly what you're saying. I'm one of the (very) few disabled Honeywell employees. I've had years of Honeywell management finding one excuse after another for not complying with the co0mpany's legal obligations. And all the time I'm being told Honeywell is a caring company that cares for it's employees.
The management only looks in one direction, and that's up. The people beneath them don't count, but the next step up the corporate ladder does.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Does anyone know Peter Zornio's job title? And does anyone know where he has gone?
Jim Pinto Note: He has moved to Emerson Process
Saturday, June 17, 2006
I work for Honeywell at the Stinson plant. I was very upset and hurt with Honeywell when they sold us down the river. Right now, they are doing all they can to get rid of people, offering retirement packages to people who are not old enough to retire; quite frankly, other companys don't want our age group either. We are losing medical and other benefits. They push premiums up, so if we do get a tiny raise we don't see it. In fact, we lose ground.
I was young and foolish when I came to Honeywell. I thought that this company had a heart, that they cared. That is out the door. My head is all jumbled with so much that I want to say. There are always employees who have problems, but they do their very best for for the company, and keep struggling on to do their best. Ten you've also got other people who never seem to get sick, don't miss any time, work as much overtime as possible (because that's all they care about is MONEY). But, they don't work anywhere near as hard as the others, and they are the peoplee that Honeywell seems to be the proudest of.
We are on our way out because the company wants to pay a lot less in wages and benefits, move to cheaper States, break us. The supervisors tell us lies - under orders from above I guess. Some come around and treat people like dirt. God forbid that anyone should try to make the day go better by talking at work. Some areas are so bad. They say they want to do all they can to work with you to keep things going well. Right!!! It's all about the pressure, not listening to the workers.
Give us the product. Stop tying our hands. Let us do our jobs and it will get done. Why are they making everything so complicated? And now they want the workers to log in every hour, with supervisors and engineers coming around to check on and push people even harder. Don't they understand how nerve racking that is? Of course, that would imply that they cared - my mistake.
The company is pushing the supervisors too. How are they to get to know more, when they aren't allowed to be human and good with the workers? Of course some of them were always jerks. My emotions and thoughts about everything that's going on are in an uproar. I'm hoping that honeywell will not screw us over at contract time. A lot of us have very little hope left. There are many of us who saw the writting on the wall when Allied Signal bought the company. We started hearing and seeing the same things that had gone on at Alliant Techsystems. It's moving slower, but, it's still going that way. We have already been thru it. And for me it really hurts that the company is doing it again.
I'll bet mos people don't read this; and if they do, they probably think I'm just some crackpot. I'm not. I really cared about and had faith in this company for quite a while. Now I'm tired and beat; no matter what I do, it will not be enough for this company. I'll just hang in to the end - until they kick us to the curb....
Monday, June 12, 2006 - regarding previous weblog:
Looking at this objectively, ACS/Security is an extremely competitive market that is being targeted by the Chinese, etc. To maintain competitiveness, at least parts of this posting are correct.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
David Cote has to be the worst thing for this company. Everything in ACS/Security is being out sourced to Mexico or China. When will we learn, we must support our own country? Cote is coming to Syosset New York June 16th. We all see the closing of locations all through the US, and especially New York. We would have been better off if GE took us over. This man makes millions of $$$ bonus each year, and treats all employees like %#*#.
Sunday, May 21, 2006 - response to blog (below) from a senior manager:
HPS is a widespread global group to keep consistently motivated and focused on meeting customer needs. We are making good progress. We are meeting industry and customer needs as best we can, while aligning employees.
The comment is right on one point; it was probably a mistake moving power to Houston
a few years back and we lost some key talent in Phoenix. However, few
customers are in Phoenix and the whole EPC industry is represented in
Houston.
We continue to march down the path of balancing customer, employee and
shareholder needs in that order. We turned the corner in 2003 with
double digit orders growth since that point.
Friday, May 19, 2006
I have worked for Honeywell HPS for 20 years and the latest management is probably the worst I've seen. They are certainly aware that the company is in decline, but are simply 'managing the decline' with the hope of maximizing their personal bonuses. The failure of management is clearly illustrated by the decision the move of the power gen group from Phoenix to Houston. This move cause the loss of many millions of dollars, the near failure of several major projects, and the alienation of long standing customers.
Saturday, April 1, 2006
I work for Honeywell and have been very disappointed in the events since the take over by Allied Signal. In the past two years sales and profits are up, Dave Cote has received 39% and 13% pay increases. But, the pay scales for factory workers in my division have not changed in three years. Now this year a number of people have received their raise as a lump sum bounus, in other words you dont get a raise so your over time pay did not increase.
I feel the CEO of a corporation should make more then the people under them, but my cost of living has gone up as much as his. I would like to see a more even spread of the profits among the people how make all the bright ideas happen not just to the greedy people at the top.
Monday, March 13, 2006 - from Doug Jensen [jensen@real-time.org], web: http://www.real-time.org:
I was employed at Honeywell's Systems and Research Center in St. Paul from January 1972 to January 1979. I went there because it was a leader in parallel processing computer systems (primarily for the DoD and intelligence communities).
We pretty quickly transitioned to being pioneers in real-time distributed computing systems, primarily for, and funded by, DoD (key projects included HXDP and DPM). But critical technologies were transitioned into some military products (such as the Surface Ships Division's H930 combat management system) and some industrial products, particularly the TDC-2000 (and subsequently into the Westinghouse DPS. I left Honeywell for Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Science Department, and Westinghouse was one of my consulting clients). My professional career greatly benefited from my time at SRC; Honeywell benefited too and so I won a "H.W. Sweatt Award". SRC also had a world class control theory group, and perhaps some of its other groups were stellar too.
After my departure to academia, SRC was merged with the Corporate Research Center. I understand that eventually that organization was dispersed across various product organizations - I haven't kept track of that for quite a while. I speculate that the remaining control-theory people, and perhaps some people from other parts of SRC, may be still making contributions to Honeywell's products and science in general. But, what was once an internationally famous and highly innovative applied research organization seems to be long gone. I'm grateful for having had the opportunity to contribute and learn so much during its zenith - those eight years really launched the mainstream of my career in real-time distributed computing systems. I just thought some of you might want to know this tiny bit of Honeywell's past glory, since SRC never appears on this weblog and website.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
What fascination to see the different views on this weblog. Especially since I can actually see it.... It is blocked by Honeywell's "net-nanny" internally! Make no mistake, that is deliberate. We've recently been threatened (again) if we reveal any Honeywell internal information or make comments publicly. Therefore, I make none.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Honeywell in Europe are having intersting times. Having merged with Novar PLC most of Honeywell's GM's affected were eventually ousted after many poor years of performance and finally their EMEA VP last week. Lets hope they don't bring Novar back down to thier level after the fiasco with Wembly Stadium, currently losing millions. Terminal 5, Novar's jewel in the crown, should be safe for a while it is unaffected by Honeywell's HBS (UK) poor record for managing large contracts.
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
I've been over 20 years at Honeywell, and have risen through the ranks over that period. Since the introduction of Bosidy and Total Quality, the company has been on a decline. Especially since the year 2000, we have been plagued with leaders and manager whose stay averaged about one year. Every one of them ultimately demonsrated that they were there only for their own self-interest - doing a lot of damage in the process. Most have since left Honeywell. This leaves an awful impression on the troops and leaves the place feeling cynical.
The most recent Gillette re-org in Aerospace is the worst. Every call I make to other divisions in the US clearly indicated that no one seems to know who is responsibile for what. Imagine what customers think! The leads to a high degree of CYA (cover your ass) atttitudes. The organization is paralyzed in the decision-making process. When this type of message is being sent from the lower ranks, site leaders ignore it as being negative. There is simply no backbone being exercised.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Honeywell acquires Tridium - Extract from M2M magazine NEWS FLASH
In one of the most significant M2M acquisitions to date, Tridium Inc., Richmond, Va., was acquired today by Honeywell Intl. Tridium, a leading application infrastructure provider, is expected to operate independently within Honeywell’s Environmental and Combustion Controls (ECC) business.
The move is a potentially significant one for the M2M market, with Honeywell naturally positioned to become one of the largest technology providers in machine-to-machine due to its leadership position in industrial automation and control.
Tridium is best known for its Niagara Platform, one of the top infrastructure products in M2M. The company also covers most of the rest of the machine-to-machine value chain, giving it a broader technology focus than many of its peers. The company recently launched an upgraded version of its platform named Niagara AX, with the new iteration mainly focused on enabling flexible application development. For Tridium, being part of Honeywell helps overcome some of the limitations of operating independently.
Financial terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. Tridium has 85 employees and $13.4 million in annual revenue, and the company says it has around 6,000 installations and 50,000 users.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
News is that Honeywell is in process to purchace Tridium, Inc., which makes front-end interfaces for Invensys, Johnson Controls, Carrier, McQuay and Siemens products. It will be interesting to see how this aquisition shakes up the competitors.
Tuesday, October 4, 2005
Yesterday's announcement:
However, I hope that Process Solutions will use more of UOP's knowhow and expertise in their business: consulting, performance improvements, etc. That's where the future business of DCS vendors lies.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
The "new" Honeywell has increased cash flow and profit by not paying it's suppliers in less than 90 days; this has worked, on paper; but we no longer have much choice of supplier; small companies can't afford to wait, the big companies are (now) adding a percentage to cover the time it takes to get paid. Already we are having to (further) cut internal costs to bolster increasing supply costs.
Saturday, July 30, 2005 - regerading the Pinto request for feedback:
I am a Honeywell employee; after receiving your email I was called to my managers office, the email had been "intercepted" and gave the impression I had been conversing with you; I received a warning for something I had not done.
Monday, July 11, 2005 - from a Honeywell employee:
I think the opening comments in your "Honeywell Culture" article say it all - "I've just completed an extensive review with the involvement of senior management." I don't think you are providing an unbiased view based on an objective, critical mindset. I suggest you seek out customers and employees for their views - you might get a better view, not from the 40th floor but from the ground floor.
To say Cote has turned Honeywell around is far from the truth. Growth continues to lag and recent acquisitions have been poorly integrated and have not yielded the results intended. Honeywell continues to languish as a stock and the Company continues its plodding "growth" (thank God for aerospace and turbo chargers!). I cannot fathom what metrics you are looking at to claim a "turnaround"!
Before and after publication of my article, I sent an email to EVERY Honeywell employee on my list, asking for direct feedback. I did receive some - mostly positive. Whoever you are, YOU did NOT send me any feedback - till now.
Friday, April 29, 2005
I work for an Australian company that has been dealing with Honeywell for 20 years. Five or six years ago there was a lot of feedback that Honeywell was behind the 8 ball in the technology stakes. We decided to stick with them, partly because it was difficult to change and partly because we have always received very good service from the local organization. So we crossed our fingers and hoped that this was part of the game of leap-frog in the technology business and that Honeywell would get it together. We are very glad we did. I understand Honeywell technology to now be as good as any, possibly better. The real benefits that we have working with Honeywell are:
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
The one part of GE that came from Allied is the Six Sigma process. While this may have some great tools for all problem solving, it definitely appears to be more focused on manufacturing, which Process Solutions has farmed out to other OEM's. Honeywell has taken a lot of so so managers and made them Six Sigma Black Belts. Now when any new opening are available, Black Belts are supposed to have one extra credit at interview time. It would serve the corporate brass if all the so so managers got promoted.
Secondarily everyone gets trained in Six Sigma. Everyone stops contributiing to the corporation for two weeks plus the cost of the instructors, doughnuts, etc. The Green Belt projects that are done claim to save the corporation money. Just show me the cash. Most are a joke in terms of cash. Its like a balloon, squeeze one end and the other end gets bigger.
Lastly, basic economics and business says if you want to control costs, you must control overhead and head count. Corporate brass hires staff like we're at war and they're recruiting for the army. Give me the days when most everyone worked and the result of the work was an invoice for someone else's money. Internal invoices, while they make budgets stay in line, don't buy much on the open market.
Friday April 15, 2005
The NEW Honeywell Culture
How has Honeywell's corporate culture fared under new CEO David Cote? Getting 114,000+ employees moving in the same direction takes time and leadership. The new management team has spent a lot of time and energy cultivating key initiatives throughout the entire company and remaining laser-focused on them.
The NEW Honeywell is now reemerging with its own special culture, a blend of the old Honeywell and Allied Signal, with a touch of GE. The original Honeywell brought an innovative, engineering culture that thrives on customer results. Allied Signal brought financial and process disciplines, plus strategic planning. The GE influence brought organizational strength and Six Sigma commitment.
JimPinto.com eNews, 15 Apr. 05: The NEW Honeywell Culture
Friday, April 1, 2005 - from a MicroSwitch/Freeport, IL. employee:
I have been a Sales/Marketing leader in Honeywell's Sensing and Control Division for nearly 15 years. Sadly I have to report yet another cull of the talent which made S&C one of the best performing Divisions inside Honeywell and the most admired by GE when they tried to buy us.
This is the third major RIF since late 2003 and is entirely down to the new guy, Ron Sansom, (ironically also a reject from GE) hired by Roger Fradin. He has not made his numbers on one single Quarter since he joined, has not even looked like acquiring any further Companies or indeed developing much needed new products/markets and is on the verge of selling the Automotive Business. Yet another nail in the Freeport coffin. What he has done is take the Business back to a 1995 structure which was split by technology and was a disaster.
It is probably too late to bring Ray Alvarez or Ron Sieck back; but what about Allan Wright? He did a great job before and could do so again. Sentenced by Gilligan and executed by Fradin they replaced him as leader in 2003 despite his success in putting Sensing and Control back onto Honeywell's agenda as a priority business, delivering over $300 million in Growth through the acquisition and integration of Invensys Sensor Systems and Sensotech and bringing excellent Customer focus to the businesses. His sin? He missed 2 quarters out of 7 during a worldwide recession. Sure, he also cut costs, removed employees (typically underperformers) and moved many jobs offshore, both engineers and factories, but there was a clear strategy and purpose to his actions.
So from being a favoured Division to being seen as a problem inside Honeywell (Cote has declared a moratorium on any further acquisitions until the Profitable-Growth problem is fixed) this business is bumbling along from one crisis to another.
Time to do the right thing, Mr. Fradin? What do others think?
Saturday, March 12, 2005
News everywhere around that Honeywell is negotiating with American Standard to buy all of the Trane operating units. Any direct feedback on this?
Thursday, March 10, 2005 - from a Honeywell and AspenTech customer:
(press release dated 10 March 2005)
Honeywell unveiled today their plans for the simulation portfolio : UNISIM. After they acquired HYSYS from AspenTech, it was not clear yet what their plans were with it.
Anyway, my company (a major oil company) welcomes Honeywell as a new player. AspenTech can use some competition........
Friday, December 17, 2004 - responding to the previous pro-Honeywell comments:
Many people have "bet the farm" and their jobs on Honeywell, as was indicated in this weblog. In some measure it would be a slap in the face for them for someone (in their own company, or elsewhere) to install a competitor's system. Indeed, this is the value of an installed base.
One of the current realities is that the large number of people needed to keep a Honeywell legacy system running simply will not be needed. Independent analysis of the competitive systems shows Honeywell cost, capabilities, reliability, functionality and compatibility with modern technology, applications, software and solutions to be dismally lacking. Further the relative growth rates show that customers world wide agree.
Honeywell is very clear about their commitment to supporting their old stuff; and that Process Solutions is "a keeper". Of course, what else would they say?
Friday, December 17, 2004 - from a Honeywell customer:
My reaction to the Jim Pinto eNews of 17 december, about Honeywell. Consider this as an opinion of a long-time Honeywell watcher.
My company is a Honeywell customer in EMEA, for already more than 25 years. In my company, we consider Honeywell as a very reliable supplier, unlike some of their competitors. More than 50 % of our systems corporate wide are Honeywell.
In the process business, another business watcher considers 3 suppliers as those with the longest tradition, and also the ones with the largest installed base : Honeywell, Invensys and ABB. All 3 are leveraging on their installed systems. Which is an advantage and a disadvantage at the same moment. When you have a customer with a large installed base of your systems, you are "inside", but at the same moment that customer will ask you to maintain the system as long as possible, meaning that he wants to stay as long as possible with it, before installing a new system. My company is targeting lifecyles of at least 20-30 years, with some intermediate minor upgrades.
Honeywell in particular has been very successfull in maintaining their older systems : we e.g. have Basic Controllers, connected to a hiway with TDC2000 system, installed in 1980, still running without any problems, and still with full support of Honeywell. We have been migrating Honeywell systems to TDC3000, TPS and now Experion, without any problems, and without losing previous investments. The old slogan "Evolution, not revolution", is still valid with Honeywell !
The fact that Honeywell has invested significantly in upgrade paths, and in long term support programs ; may have given the impression that they were slow in developing new systems. Which may be true for a part, but let us be pragmatic. As stated in the eNews: 70 % of sales is to the installed base; part of that is upgrades to new systems, but a large part is support, services, spare parts, applications, etc.
In our industry our first goal is to keep everything running at the lowest cost. A supplier that can guarantee a lifecycle of 20 to 30 years, without major upgrades, is what we want. Second priority for us is new functionality.
I think that at this moment Honeywell succeeds in achieving the balance between supporting their "installed base" customers and entering into new markets. Their Experion system is certainely a success now (some hiccups, but remember the launch of TDC3000 and TPS/GUS : these also worked out quite well after all. Every new product has his initial problems.)
I don't believe that Honeywell has any intention to sell Process Solutions : it is a wealthy business, internal organization is good (Jack Bolick is doing a superb job), management is stable, infrastructure is being expanded in the emerging markets, services business is expanding rapidly.
Process Solutions is a relatively stable income source for Honeywell, that can act as a buffer for other Honeywell divisions. Of course : in a diversified conglomerate as Honeywell, margins will not always be comparable : that's because of the different nature of the different businesses. Process Solutions will probably never be the top performing division in Honeywell, but at least it's stable.
Let's not continue to compare Honeywell to an Emerson and others. They have different business philosophies, different portfolio's, different customers, different corporate diversification, etc.
If Honeywell, like suggested in eNews, would go for a joint venture in China : why not ? There are many companies in different industries that have joint ventures in the Middle East and the Far East : this is normal practice. My company also has JV's over there : it adds some complexity but it also facilitates the business.
Friday, December 17, 2004 - Extract from JimPinto.com eNews:
Honeywell presented two very different outlooks at a financial analysts meeting on 6 December 2004: Turbocharging technology ($2.2B in 04, 8.5% of total) and the Process Solutions business ($1.8B in 04, 7% of total).
The Industrial Process Solutions story was disjointed and unconvincing. It was probably included in this analysts meeting as a ploy - to attract potential buyers. I'm providing this summary those who are interested in a Honeywell prognosis.
JimPinto.com eNews:
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
This is funny! After 10 years of reorganizatin of the old honeywell ACS or CBG Division, 10 years of customer confusion, and declining revenues, and the lowest employee morale in the company's history, they decided to change the name to Honeywell BS.
Tuesday, September 7, 2004
Now that he is over 1/2 year on the job, does anyone have views about Roger Fradin's leadership? And the Honeywell ACS strategy/future?
Thursday, August 26, 2004 - responding to the previous weblog:
I am a manager on a small division of Honeywell and feel that we can all improve on our support of and communications with our customers. There are always situations where we do not have the patience to wade through the endless webpages to identify a part number and want to speak to a person who can help us.
Can you provide the actual 800 phone number and where you got this number so that I can formward this information on to others in Honeywell in an effort to improve our communications with our customers? we strive to support our customers and I never like to hear about a negative customer experience.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
I work for an OEM and recently tried to purchase Honeywell pressure transmitters. Here is a recent conversation I had with a Honeywell 1-800 help line I got from the web:
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
EU court dates May 25, 27 (2004) expected on GE-Honeywell. The saga continues...
The Court of First Instance has proposed those dates to the parties for separate oral hearings. Each company has brought a separate appeal from the European Commission's decision in 2001 to reject their merger.
Monday, January 5, 2004 - departure of Kevin Gilligan - good or bad news?
News release: "Honeywell announced today that Roger Fradin has been named President and CEO of its $7 billion Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) business. Fradin will report to Chairman and CEO Dave Cote and become an Executive Officer of the company. He succeeds Kevin Gilligan, who resigned from Honeywell to pursue leadership opportunities outside the company...."
In recent years, I heard several Honeywell people saying that Kevin Gilligan was an obstacle in getting Honeywell's business back up. The press release seems to confirm that, stating that his resignation was already prepared for some time ago. Being a loyal Honeywell customer, I hope the move is positive.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Actually I'd say Honeywell is doing pretty well. Costs are down, the focus is on satisfying customers and growing through innovation, and there seems to be a strong desire to hire more marketing people to support the techies in finding and commercializing new ideas. The stock price is recovering finally.
If we don't get bogged down in the whole "What's your China strategy?" the same way we got caught up in the "What's your Internet strategy?" debacle, Honeywell could do quite well in the economic upturn.
Thursday, October 30, 2003 - Update on Honeywell Grimes Division in Urbana, Ohio.
Two projects were leaked out (code names Rover and Eclipse) detailing the companies plans to outsource and close the fabrication facility located on Russell Street in Urbana, Ohio. Upper management has been denying the rumors for months. But now it seem the cat is out of the bag! It will be interesting to see how they reply to the leak!
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 - from a Honeywell customer:
Two weeks ago Honeywell IS announced a 2-fold reorganization, with a new name: "Process Solutions".
Services for the IS systems will come together again with IS. They tried for a couple of years, to integrate Services for IS with Services for Homes and Buildings controls. This was not very successfull. As a matter of fact, Services started to act as a separate company more and more, having their own developments, etc. We, the customers, warned Honeywell from the beginning, and - still in time - they listened.
The other part of the reorganization will be going back to the a region based structure. For a few years, the whole IS was organized in vertical markets. The idea behind is was good, but it resulted in too much fragmentation. Apparently Dave Cote is much in favour of a strong regional organization.
Both parts of the reorganization certainely will allow Honeywell to put more focus on the customer needs.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Lay-offs & Outsourcing to affect Urbana Ohio (Grimes) - within coming weeks. Repair & Warehousing to be possibly outsourced. Grimes name rumored to be dropped.
Monday, September 29, 2003
Mandatory all-hands meeting at Honeywell Industrial Controls today. News awaited...
Monday, September 22, 2003
I noticed on Honeywell's Automation and Control website that they are posting a "Lifetime transmitter". Where did this come from? Did they actually design and build a new transmitter? Same goes for the ST2000.
Where the heck is the specs on this thing? Guage or absolute transmitter? Where is the DP version? What materials are available? For use in the bio/pharma industries? Just the kind of controls you'd want in the manufacture of ingestables!
Friday, August 08, 2003 - a knowledgeable industry analyst responds to Andrew Bond's "Industrial Automation Insider" report on Honeywell being "hot":
Andrew Bond pointed out that Honeywell's cumulative orders were announced to be over $200M in Nov 2002 and now $240M through June 2003. Extrapolating the numbers forward results in a yearly run rate of $60M.
The Honeywell clarification offered was: "The $40M and $240M referenced were for US orders only, not worldwide."
If this was a US only number, then Mr. Cote missed a great opportunity to promote the success of Experion. Assuming the Rest of World orders equal to the US number (very conservative since most suppliers acknowledge the US is the weakest market place), Mr. Cote could have quoted a much more impressive number.
Someone from Honeywell could easily clear up the question by announcing the worldwide Experion orders. They have not been shy about releasing these numbers in past press conferences and webcasts. You would think they would jump at the chance to strike fear into the heart of their competitors by announcing numbers around $0.5 bn.
Does anybody know the real story?
Thursday August 7, 2003 - Extract from Andrew Bond's "Industrial Automation Insider" (Aug. 2003):
Honeywell gets Hot
Honeywell Industry Solutions was named as one of START Magazine’s "Hottest Companies of the Year". Three months
ago Frost & Sullivan named it "Industrial Controls Growth Company of the Year." In both cases it was the launch of the
Experion PKS Process Knowledge System which was cited as the main reason for the award.
Automation and Control Solutions, of which Industry Solutions is a part, was one of only two Honeywell divisions to
report increased revenues when the company announced its results for the second quarter in mid-July. ACS revenues
were up 4% compared with the same quarter last year but margins were down from 12.5% to 9.6%. The group as a whole raised second quarter revenues by 2% to $5.7bn.
The most intriguing aspect of the announcement was the claim by CEO Dave Cote that "During the quarter in our Automation and Control Solutions business (ACS), cumulative orders climbed above $240 million for the Experion PKS process control system." Now what’s intriguing about this is we first reported Honeywell as claiming $200m worth of orders for Experion PKS back in Dec. 2002. There is widespread scepticism in the industry about last year's claimed rate of order intake.
Honeywell invited Andrew Bond to Brussels and showed a breakdown of what made up the £200m, albeit some four months after the original claim. So if Cote is now claiming $240m of orders for Experion PKS in July 2003, and $200m was previously claimed in November 2002, should we conclude that they’ve only sold $40m worth in the eight months from December to July which equates roughly to a rate of $60m worth of orders per year?
That question we put to Honeywell, and they replied: "Honeywell have received an additional US$ 40M worth of orders for ExperionPKS since Nov. 2002. Receiving orders can not be seen as a linear process because the number of orders may vary from month to month. We have now shipped 158 Experion R100 systems since the release of the system in Jan. 2003, some of which are upgrades from existing PlantScape systems to Experion PKS."
Bond suggests that what this seems to be saying is that they have only received $40m worth of orders since Nov. 2002. He then asked what others had been suggesting: that the current figures have only been achieved by slapping an Experion PKS label on anything and everything that goes out of the gate. Does the $240m include orders for PlantScape, TPS, Fail Safe Control, and Alcont since the introduction of Experion PKS or are these accounted for separately?
Honeywell's response: "PlantScape, TPS and TotalPlant Alcont orders are counted separately and are not included in these figures. This US$ 240M reflects projects based on Experion PKS, not on TPS, PlantScape, or Alcont. Therefore, it truly
reflects growth and acceptance of the new platform for new business and not 'flow'business on installed systems, which is
still a much larger number. It will take some time for the majority of out business to move to Experion PKS; our point here
is to show that we are seeing rapid acceptance of the new platform for new projects and major expansions. Standalone, or
TPS/PlantScape based FSC projects are not accounted for in this number."
The real crunch will come this November when Honeywell will volunteer what the total Experion PKS orders have been over a full 12 month cycle.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - from a Woodside employee:
I am a former Honeywell employee now working with an upstream oil/gas producer, which happens to be one of Honeywell's biggest customers here in Australia.
Honeywell is currently pushing a concept called PACE or MANAGEABILITY. PACE can be many things bur would in its ultimate form be a total outsource agreement for the entire controls system. I am curious as to what others, particularly Honeywell insiders, have seen of this. Is it a good idea, or a dark Honeywell plan to take over!
Friday, July 25, 2003 - from Jeffrey Brandt [jdbrandt@supernet.com] - regarding his frustration about Honeywell response, and the follow-on reaction he got to his previous weblogged comments (Tuesday, July 01, 2003):
Two distributors (not from my home area) wrote to me and offered their help. One of these two forwarded some
stuff to another guy. THAT guy called me with a web-guru, and we talked for 1/2 hour about the limitations of www.honeywell.com
At the end of the day, I can say this:
Saturday, July 19, 2003 - from an industry insider:
Cote had scheduled an all employee telecast on Thursday, July 17th, which was
to immediately follow Honeywell's Q2 Earnings Release to the market. Unfortunately,
there was some difficulty with the up-link to the satellite and so the employee telecast was scrapped.
On Friday, July, 18th, John Bolick held an all employee meeting with
Industry Solutions personnel. John was very upbeat and conveyed to us Cote's compliments over how the
business had shown a 4.0% gain for the QTR and that Experion PKS orders and backlog continue to grow
at "remarkable" rates.
In so many words, John Bolick had indicated that the subject of IS being rumored for
sale raised it's ugly head between himself (Bolick) and Cote. The response to the employees
was loosely phrased, but interpreted as meaning, "It was being considered for sale somewhat over
a year ago, but that is not the case today, and rumors on the subject are senseless and counter
productive."
Currently it appears that Industry Solutions is one of only a couple
businesses which can own any bragging rights toward improved and increasing
performance to the bottom-line.
It sounds as though Siemens is not going to be getting their hands on IS anytime soon!
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
The Honeywell (Old Measurex) QCS folks are indeed investing in sensors. It's great to see firms try to create real wealth by creating real business value. The MBAs(ex ABB CEO and ex Invensys CEO) and lawyers (See Rockwell weblog re: lawsuit also see ABB weblogs about asbestos lawsuits) don't create any real wealth, they just find legal ways to steal from others.
From what I have seen Honeywell is targeting sensors that will be of real value to the industry and if so they will create real shareholder value for Honeywell. A process control company actually planning to improve the business by improving process control. Sounds good to me.
Saturday, July 12, 2003
There has been a lot of talk and action at Honeywell lately focused on Sensors. CEO David Cote seems to be pinning a lot of his growth hopes on this sector. What are your thoughts on this?
Tuesday, July 01, 2003 - from Jeffrey D. Brandt [mailto:jdbrandt@supernet.com], who was frustrated about Honeywell's response:
You know, I've read now for some time, all these things about the Honeywell deal. Down here in the trenches, I gotta say: Why Bother? I've been trying to contact Honeywell for 1 week, to talk about some PLC stuff (they bought the old ISSC).
I've made 10 phone calls to a hand full of 800 numbers. One guy even told me that Honeywell doesn't make PLCs. They even have a phone number you can call to find out which division makes the part number you have in your hand. THAT guy also told me that my PLC part numbers were not good numbers.
Their web site does not list Distributors or Reps, but allows you to register so that in 2 business days, you'll be permitted to search their database. Well, its been a week, and I don't feel like I'll be missing anything.
The people I do talk to are universally apologetic for how disorganized everything is.... How does this outfit stay in business? And, given all this, who'd want to run this business, much less buy it?
Extract - JimPinto.com eNews - 29 May 2003:
An industry guru commented:
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
All Honeywell stock owners should read the NY Times article, "Again, Money Follows the Pinstripes" (click below) before voting their proxies for the upcoming Annual Meeting on April 28th. There are several Shareowner Proposals that deserve support, particularly Item 8 - Resolution on Pay Disparity. Unsuprisingly, the Honeywell board of directors has recommended a vote against this and all other Shareowner proposals.
NY Times: Again, Money follows the pinstripes:
Wednesday, March 5, 2003
What has anyone heard about Honeywell selling BASF fibers and Honeywell fibers before they have even signed the papers for the BASF fibers for Honeywell plastics swap?
Friday, January 17, 2003 - Joe Ginger [jeginger@mwci.net] wrote:
It is interesting that apparently NAFTA was created by lawyers that are now profiting by suing American companies to enforce unfair business advantages given to foreign companies.
More job loses are being scheduled for the Illinois operations. See the attached news-story (extract only here):
MARS HILL - The Honeywell plant in Mars Hill will lay off 180 employees -
more than two-thirds of its work force - over the next 12 to 15 months as it
relocates switch assembly operations to Mexico.
Honeywell officials told workers about the plan Wednesday, explaining that
the work will be moved to company facilities in Juarez in order to reduce
manufacturing costs. Between 60 and 75 members of the plastic molding department and support
staff will remain at the Mars Hill plant. News of the cutback at Madison County's largest manufacturer reverberated
throughout the community.
Honeywell has been a mainstay of Madison County's economy since it opened in
1973. The plant makes electro-mechanical switches used in everything from
golf carts to trolling motors, from lawnmowers to airplanes. The Mars Hill plant employed more than 500 people in the 1990s, but has gradually phased back to its current level of 255 employees.
Thursday, January 9, 2003
With the potential now that Rockwell may be taken over by Eaton, Honeywell now may acquire the automation division from Eaton in the future. There were rumours that the Honeywell/Rockwell OEM relationship had terminated - this is not true. The relationship could not be stronger. Honeywell may take the chance in buying Rockwell Automation if the Eaton Merger takes place.
Look for some changes to occur within the first few months of the new
year. Some people even think that Honeywell may buy Foxboro, with the
pig+pig strategy. If nothing happens, I'm not sure how Honeywell IS
can continue to soldier along. CEO David Cote has his "hard ass"
reputation to protect.
Thursday, December 19, 2002
Do you have any stats on the layoffs at Honeywell International Engine & Systems, Torrance, CA. This would include layoffs in the past year and future predictions including closing the facility?
Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - from a Honeywell ex-employee:
What Honeywell really needs to do is stop hiring over paid CEOs that follow
the GE model and mentality of executive compensation.
Yesterday Honeywell Automation & Control Products (ACP) began announcing a
series of steps that we believe are critical to maintaining our competitiveness and funding our
future growth. We are proposing several restructuring projects throughout our global businesses, including North
America; they include productivity improvements, outsourcing, work transfers and census reductions that will
result in a net reduction of approximately 275 positions in North America during 2003. Employees who are affected will be
personally contacted. Employee severance benefits are specified in the Honeywell Severance Pay Plan.
While difficult, these actions are necessary for us to remain competitive
and grow. All of our discussions with the affected employees will be handled respectfully,
ethically and in the best interests of employees, customer and shareholders.
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
What have you heard about Honeywell selling it's Nylon/Specialty Materials Division to BASF. I work at Honeywell and the rumors are all over the site. Management is not verifing or denying it.
Tuesday, December 3, 2002 - from an ex-employee:
I spent 6 years at IS (14 yrs at Honeywell total) before leaving 1 1/2 years ago. Some observations/opinions:
I see Honeywell as not knowing what they have, not knowing what they want and not knowing who to sell to. Honeywell was great when they invented/created in-house with their own engineers. Now everything’s a commodity. A Company with the technology they want can be bought, mined, and dumped.
As a corporation Honeywell was all set to be an aerospace company but now that that's in the tank they are trying to get industrial back on board without ever investing in new products. They continue to gut the customer service groups of knowledge, experience and reliability by moving the groups around, not valuing experience and knowledge. Upper Management doesn't know and doesn't care what customers want and need. They're just trying to get their next bonus. If a customer jumps through enough hoops Honeywell will sell to them.
Thanks to Michael Bonsignore, Marcos Tabakaras (sp?) and the other "bunge-bosses".
Monday, November 18, 2002 - from a Honeywell employee.
1) I'm only a grunt, so I don't see the day to day activities of top
management. In regards to Dave Cote I'm impressed by what I've heard, now
if he can walk the talk. Which doesn't appear to be happening. As an
example he said we were not going to pull everything we could into 4th qtr
and thus bleed dry 1st qtr next year. However, I see us doing the same
thing we do every year and continue to be pressured by management to get
everything into 4th qtr.
In regards to Kevin Gilligan, my impression isn't very positive. He puts a
travel ban on, no travel except where customers are involved and hopefully
it's revenue producing. We had a customer with a problem and it took 2 VPs
to finally approve someone going to site to work on the problem. Yet, we
can bring in a bunch of people from the East coast to Phoenix for Green Belt
training. Also, middle management doesn't seem to have any restrictions on
traveling for staff meetings.
Jack Bolick, all I have is a first impression which is positive.
In general my impression is that Honeywell is managed for the benefit of
it's top management first, share holders second, and customers third. Dave
and Jack haven't been here long enough to really know what is going on,
we'll have to wait and see if they change things. Kevin just doesn't know
what's going on, in his defense I'm hearing from management types that you
don't tell upper management what is really happening, you tell them what
they want to hear. This doesn't speak well for our leadership team. We
continue to play games and kid ourselves about cost savings were achieving.
As an example, we saved $x millions by getting rid of the travel group. We
now have expensive engineers, PMs, etc making their own travel arrangements.
That cost gets pushed into the project, and is thus hidden so we have a
great savings to boast about. In reality, there may be a little savings but
not the claimed amount.
2) Reductions continue, what I see is 2 worker bees get cut for every
overhead person. Our group is understaffed, and we continue to lose people,
voluntary leaves as opposed to layoffs, due to poor management. Poor
management includes micro management, work load, support, etc. Moral is
very low obviously, we can't decide if these actions are intentional just to
get people to leave (note that most of those leaving are the skilled
experienced workers) or just stupidity.
3) We seem to have two schools in leadership, one
is looking towards the future and trying to build a base from which to grow
and expand, while a second school can't see beyond next week. Right now I
think the second school is winning, but just barely. How fast we grow and
how dominate we become in the market place is a function of how much the
first school can set the agenda. The market right now is ripe for someone
to take a leadership role, that can be us if we get our act together, which
requires a course change. I'm hoping Jack can implement the necessary
changes. What I believe will happen is that rather than a radical course
change, we alter course slightly and slowly grow. We'll probably miss the
opportunity to kill off the competition while their in a weakened state.
Monday, November 18, 2002
I work with Honeywell and we're fed up with the constant layoffs. Morale sucks. Is there any end to this???
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Honeywell laid another 2 bombs in their latest 10Q.
Honeywell stock is down 11% today. The reason appears to be first that
they will have to fund their pension with an additional $900million on top
of the $100million that they had planned. They also announced that their
asbestos liability appears to be larger than the value of the current
reserves. They also plan to cut an additional 4-5 thousand people this
year, with an possible 4th quarter charge of $1billion.
Thursday, November 7, 2002
A-B (Rockwell) and Honeywell have divorced - ProcessLogix will not follow the (Honeywell owned) controller updates in the future. Neither PL nor PlantScape has a secure future because of this.
Thursday, November 7, 2002 - from Europe:
Honeywell Organization:
Major Accounts:
ExperionPKS/PlantScape:
Monday, November 04, 2002 - from a Honeywell insider.
Here is my feedback on the Jack Bolick message :
Received by weblog - Sunday 3 November
Earlier this summer, the company asked you to voice your opinion about Industry Solutions. As promised in the Phoenix town halls, I am sharing the results of your feedback. It probably comes as no surprise to you that our satisfaction levels are low.
Reviewing the feedback you've provided is part of the Leadership Team's effort to get clarity on our direction as a business. More than half of the IS employee base responded to the survey, with about 3,280 surveys completed. That's the good news. The concerning news is that only about 55 percent of you are satisfied with working at Industry Solutions.
Our job now is to understand why people responded this way and develop action plans to address the issues. In addition to a low employee satisfaction rating, three other areas are clearly identified as in need of action: goal alignment, perceptions of leadership and IS reputation. (Reputation is defined as the ability to attract and retain talent, stable and well-managed, socially and environmentally responsible, responsive to customer needs, and providing the best products and services.)
In the executive summary report that was provided to me by Wirthlin Worldwide, they drew the following conclusions from the survey data. (Wirthlin is the independent international research organization that conducted the survey for Honeywell.)
1. Goal alignment -- "This benchmark wave of employee data reveals a considerable gap between how important employees feel Honeywell IS’ business goals are versus their perceptions of Honeywell IS performance on these goals. Much of this may be attributed to employees’ low awareness of Honeywell IS’ efforts towards these goals, and/or a lack of understanding on how, as an individual, they contribute to each goal."
I can tell you from my viewpoint that we're already taking actions. A plan to refocus our customer service is in place, and actions are already being taken such as the launch of PKSconnect. (PKSconnect is a global web-based customer feedback system.) The sales effectiveness initiative is under way, including a team reviewing the alignment of customer needs with incentive compensation for the sales force. In addition, the Leadership Team will review the IS five-year strategic plan (STRAP) in December to bring clarity by creating a simple five-year vision statement (strategic intent) and by identifying five to eight overarching customer Big Ys for us all to focus on in 2003. I will be reporting this out to you early in the first quarter next year.
Next steps will be to develop a more comprehensive action plan, share the plan and discuss it to ensure global understanding, which will result in ownership and clear action by all.
To get more detailed information about the survey results, please contact your manager, who has been provided with a toolkit about the survey. I encourage you to discuss the results and potential actions together.
I look forward to working with you to continuously improve our business.
On Sunday October 27, 2002 - Jim Pinto wrote :
The Honeywell weblog traffic is at an all-time high, with several thousand hits per month. I'm a little uncomfortable that comments are always negative. To maintain a balance, I hereby request ANY Honeywell IS people who are POSITIVE about their company to e-step forward and provide some of your positive thoughts and ideas about your company.
I had invited Jack Bolick to be on the the ISA panel session last week (Dick Morley's Last Retort - Wed 23 Oct). Unfortunately, he didn't respond, and the Honeywell people told ISA that they would not participate. I hoped that whoever represented Honeywell would give us a positive slant on the company.
Anyone reading this, please forward to Jack Bolick, or at the very least, a Honeywell person. Surely it would help them to read what Honeywell employees are thinking and saying.
Sunday, October 27, 2002
The fan who commented on Oct. 17 must be applying for Jack Bolick's job - after Bolick leaves in 6 to 8 months ??
Friday, October 18, 2002 - from a knowledgeable Honeywell-Phoenix insider :
Cote's most recent town Hall meeting (17 Oct.) was the standard
"we must suffer now to make us stronger in the future" type of drivel.
He emphasized the importance of setting up shop in China (which was
perceived by many as to mean "continued outsourcing"). And then he bragged
about the "world-class" capabilities of India and that they have
ranked on a scale from 1-5 as a strong "5" for the last 4-years in the
software arena...again viewed as more outsourcing. In fact, the remaining
UCN continuing engineering responsibility is scheduled to complete
transition to India by Nov. 1st.
On the subject of Gilligan, me thinks he doth protest too much.
Constant denials about claims of being "for sale"; very much troubled
by Sir Pinto's prognostications - to the point of having access to your
web-site terminated and issuing an e-mail which warns that any
reproduction/republication of internal company news is now deemed
by the "lawyers" as a violation of company policy which may include
termination of such offenders.
Question: Just how many employees can view internal news articles before it is legally
considered as "public domain"? We might just have to test that theory.
During Cote's song and dance session, Jack Bolick chose to sit right in the
midst of the "factory worker" section - and they loved him for it! Playing the
"I am just like one of you" role and coupled with his good 'ol boy North
Carolina accent appears to be sucking in many new supporters.
He has not been there long enough for anybody to gage his intentions and
direction for the business. As they have all done prior to him,
he too will soon be off on the Grand World Tour to meet with location
heads around the world. One can only hope that he spends as much time listening
to customer as he will to those who will tell him exactly what he wants to hear.
One of the latest victims from the recent round of layoffs was the head of
the Guest Service Center in Phoenix. This individual was unceremoniously
escorted out the door with only a moments notice. "She", and her department
have been responsible for all of the shows and user conferences for over the
last 25+ years. The upcoming ISA show in Chicago will go on without her
since the activity has been planned long in advance of her departure.
There is no indication currently from the remaining members of her staff as
to what and how their roles are to change within GCS.
The overall business remains stagnant as does the market. News about any big
wins are few and far between. The consolidation effort continues with both people and properties.
Saturday, October 19, 2002 - a Honeywell insider from Honeywell mid-east commented:
1. Senior Management appear to be too far away and divorced to what
is really happening. As far as relationships with our clients it is
embarrassing trying to explain why our Senior Management is being changed every year!
2. Employee reduction is not really affecting us because we are
growing. 15% on revenue last year and about 20% this year. Next year will
be a challenge as we are going for 30%. Our problem is in getting
experienced engineers to work for us. (By the way Honeywell has been in
this country for about 25 years - only recently have a few of us arrived
here and are willing to act on what we believe in)
3. If Senior Management don't get their act together from a perspective
of understanding our business, investing in R&D for future products and
having some consistency then we are f$%^ed. (Sorry about that) They do not
appear to be on the same agenda as those who take pride in their job and
Honeywell and want to see us as a great company again.
Some of us out there, Senior Managers in our own locations, who have
been with Honeywell for many years, really believe in the company, for what
it once was and for what it could be again. However we are being held back
by the perceived stupidity and risk aversion of Senior Management. They
seem to forget that business is a risk. Unfortunately we are too influenced
by our American Management. Globalisation to them is taking the American
way and imposing it on the rest of the world. They haven't realised yet
that that does not always work. Leave it to the people in the field to
provide the results. As I said previously we ARE providing the results.
This is, I believe, because we are in aposition to be able to ignore Senior
Management except for those things we agree with.
Friday, October 18, 2002
The Honeywell loyalist who posted on Oct. 17 has obviously not been exposed to products outside his own company's offerings. Honeywell has no technical advantage over any of it's competitors, and will never 'run away' from better products.
Thursday, October 17, 2002
A Honeyweller commented :
Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Honeywell has dropped from largest to 3rd largest employer in Arizona
Thursday, October 03, 2002
Monday 9/30 was another BLACK MONDAY. (Unconfirmed, but a large number) 187 more Industrial employees laid off worldwide. More good friends without jobs. More saddness. It seems Honeywell is trying hard to become the second or third largest employer in the city of Phoenix (ummm, they're first now, I think...)
Welcome Jack (layoff) Bolick. Good bonus is guaranteed, I bet.
Tuesday, October 1, 2002
Jack Bolick emphasizes customer focus as he introduces himself to IS employees
Jack introduced himself to IS employees and answered their questions during meetings at two Phoenix facilities. During the meetings, Jack said he recognizes how frequent leadership turnover can be difficult for employees and the business. Reiterating what ACS President and CEO Kevin Gilligan told IS employees in August, Jack said, "This business is not for sale. I would not be here if it were."
Jack told employees that "I'm a builder. I do not like tearing things down," he said. "That doesn't mean we won't have to back up and do zero-budgets and other actions. But I'm here to grow this business."
"I see the great potential of this business. I'm excited and look forward to being here. Besides," he adds with a chuckle, "I love to play golf. That's another good reason to come to Phoenix."
On Wednesday 25 Sept.02 Jack Bolick, the new President of Honeywell IS, sent a voice mail
message to all US employees (extracts only here):
"I was with Honeywell's Electronic Materials business for
approximately 12 years. I leave that business in good shape
and I'm joining to do the same here - to grow it and position
it for the future in the control market.
"I've been in industry over 20 years - as a process engineer
doing controls, up through laying out and designing MES systems.
I'm certified in production and inventory control, quality
engineering in several different disciplines. I really look
forward to joining our global team and driving it forward.
"I do firmly believe that everything begins with the customer.
Our image with the customer is strong. With new products such as
Experion PKS I know that we have a winning formula moving forward.
"I'm glad to be here and look forward to seeing all of you.
I join formally on October 1 and from that point we will drive
forward together as one global team."
Tuesday, September 24, 2002 4:43 PM - from a Honeywell IS insider:
Today Jack Bolick, from Honeywell Specialty Materials, is named Industry Solutions president at an all employee meeting. Mr. Bolick ensured employees that Industrial Solutions, IS, is not for sale. Mr. Bolick asked employees to stay the course. Will Jack Bolick last long than a year and out last Terry Sutter?
On Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - a knowledgeable industry observer wrote:
Very confidential - but this may generate some confirmation from the Honeywell-Siemens rumor mill.
An ex-Honeywell manager confirmed that when the United Technology buyout of Honeywell was announced internally (on a Friday) they were also told that concurrent with that deal, IAC was being sold to Siemens. All this fell through on Saturday when GE made their counter-offer. GE at the time wanted to keep IAC (IS), so the Siemens deal was off.
We have to wonder why someone hasn't jumped on the $23 a share price of Honeywell and buy the whole thing. Or, why Siemens hasn't completed the original IAC deal. Is there some regulatory reason Honeywell might want to wait until 2003 before agreeing to a buyout?
Another reason why Siemens may be hedging on the deal might be that they realize that any announcement of IS being sold will again force the Honeywell installed base to stop spending. Forcing another 6-12 month wait to find out if the deal gets approved plus another year to find out the new product direction would likely give the Honeywell installed base enough reasons to finally give up on Honeywell IS altogether.
But this assumes Siemens is smart enough to figure that out... (The same Siemens that was surprised when Moore sales dropped off significantly in 2000 - forgetting the impact of Y2K spending in 1999 and the impact of any takeover).
Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - the Honeywell supplier who sent us the 5% rebate request from Honeywell UK (see below) commented:
Honeywell must really be desperate to ask for a 5% 'rebate' from all of their suppliers in order to be considered as a future 'strategic supplier'. The request seems to be trying to generate cash specifically for the end of this year - I guess they are still having trouble making the numbers. The real joke is that paying the 5% doesn't even guarantee the supplier will be chosen as a strategic supplier once Honeywell "significantly reduces its supplier base".
What's the next step? Will Honeywell request a 10% reduction on all 2003 invoices once their 'productivity improving e-business tools' are in place?
Received 24 Sept. 2002
On 12 Sept. 2002, Honeywell UK (Bracknell, Berks.) recently sent out this letter to suppliers (extracts here):
Each of Honeywell's current suppliers are requested to contribute a rebate to Honeywell of 5% of the yearly spend. You will be required to make a payment to Honeywell ACS Service in the fourth quarter of the current calendar year, that consists of a rebate of 5% of total sales to Honeywell, applied to all completed transactions.
Signed: Bill Jarret, Regional Supply Mgr.
Monday, September 23, 2002 7:21 PM
All Honeywell Industrial Solution (IS) employee will be meeting tomorrow to announce some exciting news. Could this be the announcment of Sutter's replacement? Or is this to announce the Siemens deal?
On Saturday, September 21, 2002, Edward L. Higdon [ehigdon@onemain.com] a Honeywell supplier wrote :
A little background on how a Honeywell supplier gets treated.
We supplied a set of custom modifications both fixtures and solder
systems to Honeywell - this was their Freeport #4 Plant. While the cost savings were both obvious and
substantial I have never been so under supported by engineering staffs. Assigned engineers were
too busy to become actively involved.
At Honeywell, the machine was originally miswired and nearly blew the
controls to kingdom come. One modification after another was made after sample parts were run
successfully and a three days set-up turned into a three trip fifteen day marathon.(Less than 8 total
hours with the engineer at their plant with the machine) The machine is working well and in
continuous production but the buyer put a hold on the final four thousand dollar payment(what
profit?) Basically saying we ain’t paying "Whatcha goin' to do?" sucker. I've seen engineers dodge
questions, but you can just imagine.
I could never trust Honeywell again to meet their commitments to payment or to follow through on their word.
Gross "impunity" is my only possible description of their behavior. Forget the contract. Payments
so late they didn't matter anymore, e-mail cut-offs(obvious filtering), absolute refusal to reply
to requests for explanation, refusal to return merchandise unpaid for etc.etc. What gives?
I realize plants are going through downsizing but pervasive attitudes of the vendor as the enemy
aren't going to take us anywhere. Not surprisingly, this Honeywell plant (Freeport #4) has had a lot of layoffs.
I've bought or designed in far more dollars from Honeywell's products than they
have ever purchased from me. That's at an end. Is the customer always right?
Edward Higdon
On Thursday, September 19, 2002, John Okolowicz of Honeywell [john.okolowicz@honeywell.com] wrote:
Here is a good one for you:
You can check the facts by just contacting any one of your friends that
still work at Honeywell. I have been trying for a week to get an explanation
for this censorship but have not been able to get anyone's attention.
Hmmmmm. Could this have something to do with your inside scoops on the
possible Siemens acquisition?
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
I heard that some managers at Honeywell IS, former IAC, have been asked to apply for their current positions. I know when GE was in the process of buying Honeywell they were doing the same process. Could the Siemens deal be closer than we think?
Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - from a Honeywell insider:
I noticed that Kevin Gilligan announced a new VP of Six Sigma Plus. What was interesting is that Tracy Glende who holds that position was not mentioned in the announcement. Could Tracy Glende be the heir apparent to the position recently vacated by Sutter?
Sunday, September 15, 2002
Rumor of more layoffs at Honeywell IS (part of the old IAC). Given
the practice of dropping the axe at the end of a quarter, I'd would
guess next week.
On Saturday, September 14, 2002 "one untermensch" blogged:
Siemens had better be really careful about the price they pay, as the company is losing value every day ! The Glorious Leadership of Kevin Gilligan and his team is sinking the ship. We hear nothing useful from these guys, only instructions to kowtow in front of the six sigma plus paper idol, and by the way, do use the toilet paper on both sides. I guess that they are too busy negotiating their golden parachutes.
The new organisation, 'vertical', is producing some unexpected effects : on the same product, R&D, Marketing, Sales, Production, Quality are all reporting to different organisations (with different agendas) and the real work is gradually halting, replaced by endless negotiations among these organisations. And don't forget multiple reporting.
Thursday, September 12, 2002
I'Ve been with the company (Honeywell "Industry Solutions) for over 10 years.
I've been through one to many mergers (Measurex, Honeywell, Allied and the failed GE)I've seen a lot of changes from within and it has not been a "wonderfull life".
To whom ever they sell us can't be any worse than Honeywell.
I just wish they get it over with and stop preteding that we all have blind folds.
Wednesday, September 11, 2002 - from an industry observer:
Heard from a former Siemens employee who heard from
his contacts within Siemens that Don Bogle is on
retainer at Siemens and working on the Honeywell IS
acquisition. Don and Ed Hurd were at the helm of Moore
Products at the time of the Siemens acquisition.
Coincidence?
It also appears that they are now just haggling over
the price ...
A Honeywell observer wrote on Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Heard from an Emerson ex-Honeyweller who had heard
from his Honeywell contacts that Ed Hurd was spotted
in Honeywell IS Phoenix offices recently. Ed was
apparently wearing a Siemens contractor badge - part
of a Siemens due diligence team no doubt ...
On Friday, September 06, 2002, this was blogged by "Micro Watcher":
Honeywell's purchase of Invensys Sensor Systems is a great move and strengthens the Sensing and Control business which is the strongest that Gilligan has. Alan Wright, their VP/GM, knows this business better than anyone and will drive Growth and Profitability - unless, as rumoured, he is poached by GE.
On Wednesday, September 04, 2002, another Honeywell insider wrote:
"I also work for Honeywell Industry Solution, and the Jim Pinto website is indeed blocked at our facility (and I suspect at other facilities connected to the mother-ship)
"The censorship method ... is that of handing the job over to some frail and erring mortal man, and making him omnipotent on the assumption that his official status will make him infallible and omniscient.
On Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - after seeing the weblog (below) that access to the JimPinto.com website has been blocked within Honeywell, a current Honeyweller wrote :
"I'm with Honeywell IS and have had no problem accessing your site either at work or home. I've been by your site to check on the blog once every couple of days @ the office since B4 the GE merger. Maybe the 'alleged' Honeywell IT barred access to this site is local to the other Honeywell insider?"
On Sunday, August 25, 2002, someone logged this:
Terry Sutter's replacement has been identified. He is a Honeywell insider from another division.
Honeywell will wait until after the end of the quarter to avoid disturbing the new IS leader's division.
On Sunday, August 25, 2002, a Honeywell insider wrote:
FYI, Honeywell IT has blocked the JimPinto.com website from internal access. I can no longer log on from work, only from home.
On Thursday, August 22, 2002 - *EXPERIENCED* wrote :
It's a sad state of affairs to see Sensor Systems being run by a bunch of young, arrogant, inexperienced yuppies without a compass - but it’s an equally scary thought of Honeywell’s toxic management style!!
On Tuesday, August 20, 2002 an industry analyst wrote about the Honeywell purchase of Sensor Systems from Invensys:
This supports the theory that Invensys is forced to sell profitable businesses to get needed cash in the probably vain hope of taking the dogs that are left and magically transforming them into gold! Other key buyers looked at this and declined.
IMHO, Honeywell drew the short stick on this one. My belief is that: a) the roughly 15% operating profit is over stated and, b) that Honeywell will destroy this profitability within 24 months (witness Measurex and almost every other acquisition Honeywell has made).
The deal follows the $425 million sale of Invensys' battery business to EnerSys Inc., a Reading, Pa.-based competitor owned by a Morgan Stanley Private Equity fund, and the $505 million sale of its flow-control business to Irving, Texas-based Flowserve Corp.
On Tuesday, August 20, 2002 , a knowledgeable industry observer wrote about Kevin Gilligan's Town Hall meeting :
"This is reminiscent of similar bologna before the announcement of the GE acquisition!"
On Monday, August 19, 2002, someone sent this:
Although IS will soon have another new president, ACS President and CEO Kevin Gilligan said that employees should not be overly concerned about major changes ahead. The current structure and direction are the right ones for the business and IS will "stay the course," Kevin told employees Thursday (August 15 02) during a Town Hall in Phoenix.
Kevin said there are three facts all IS employees should understand:
"This business in not for sale -- period." IS is a good business with great potential. Honeywell has increased its investment in IS this year to reestablish our leadership position in the marketplace. While every company continually reassesses its portfolio, there are no plans to sell IS. That is not part of Honeywell's strategy.
"This business is on the right track." The fundamental strategic direction that has been set will not change. After much deliberation, IS has developed a sound strategy that is fully supported at the ACS and Corporate levels. Our challenge now is executing the strategy. In addition, the basic structure of the organization will not change. IS will not be combined with ACS Service.
"This business is making great progress." We have delivered on our profit commitment for the past four quarters. We have launched Experion PKS and the market has reacted favorably. For the most part, we have reassured customers that we are stable and dependable. The best way to ensure our continued success is to keep meeting our financial commitments so Honeywell will continue investing in our business.
Kevin thanked outgoing IS President Terry Sutter for the "terrific job" he did over the past year in regrouping the organization, creating a strategic focus for the business, setting a direction, motivating employees to support the direction, and reassuring customers that they can count on Honeywell. Terry said it was a "tough decision" to leave and he has a lot of mixed emotions. Although he was not looking to leave Honeywell, he decided to accept a "unique opportunity" offered to him by a company he knows in the part of New Jersey where he's originally from. Noting that "my 8-year-old has lived in four different states," Terry said the decision met both family and career needs.
In selecting Terry's successor, Kevin said he is looking for someone who has strong leadership skills, a strong customer orientation, and is very good at implementing strategy. "My job is to find you a great leader who will execute and build on the strategy we have. Your job is to keep the momentum going," he said.
On Thursday, August 15, 2002 an industry observer sent this:
The continuing saga of Honeywell continues from here. A good friend who worked in a non IS group here in Minneapolis was laid off after 21 years of service.. He did get 36 hours to get out, and some severence. Also had an accountant friend who left a local mortgage company here to go to work for Honeywell return to his old job after only ONE DAY at Honeywell.
The mood inside that company must be terrible.
On Wednesday, August 14, 2002, a Honeywell insider sent this :
Axe Wednesday strikes again!
Special Posting - August 13, 2002
The last 12 months have been very difficult, especially for Embedded
Controls where revenue this year is significantly down against plan. We had
expected that the business would have recovered by now, however, this has
not materialised. As a result we have been forced to take additional actions
to reduce our costs. We have already significantly reduced the level and
amount of discretionary expenditures, curtailed outside hiring and
implemented restrictions on travel. The decision to further reduce headcount
was taken to align our staffing with current levels of business activity as
we strive to improve our financial results.
Although we are facing a difficult year and still have many challenges in
front of us, the businesses within Embedded Controls are fundamentally sound
with excellent long-term prospects. To secure these prospects we need to
continue to reduce costs, ensure projects are completed on time, drive sales
activity, and focus on meeting customer requirements. We must continue to
improve productivity and identify ways of maximising the return on our
investments to help make us more competitive.
On Wednesday, August 07, 2002, a Honeywell observer wrote:
Jim, your latest eNews said : "In my opinion, the Siemens/Honeywell deal is still open, bogged down in
price negotiations."
The departure of Terry Sutter would seem to support your conclusion. Kevin
Gilligan has lost 3 out of 4 of his Business leaders in recent months. Something is up.
On Wednesday, August 07, 2002 - after seeing the memo from "Gilligan's island" a Honeywell insider wrote:
Some possible scenarios:
On Wednesday, August 07, 2002, this memo was published by Kevin Gilligan of Honeywell.
Message from Kevin Gilligan
Terry Sutter has decided to leave Honeywell to join another publicly
traded company. The company Terry is joining will announce his new position
soon, which is why we are not providing additional information about Terry's
future plans.
Terry has provided outstanding leadership for the business, and all of
you have played an important role in IS' success by consistently delivering
results. You have many reasons to be confident about IS' future.
Industry Solutions has accomplished a lot in the last year for which
everyone should be proud. Not only has it met its financial commitments,
but also has developed a clear strategy for the future, is regaining the
confidence of its customers and has successfully launched Experion PKS.
While the leadership may change, the IS strategy and direction will not.
We remain committed to Industry Solutions as a core ACS business that has
outstanding opportunities for future growth.
I know that you've seen many changes in the leadership of this business
over the past few years, which has created uncertainty and anxiety. We
expect to fill this position from within Honeywell by the end of August, which is
when Terry will leave. In the meantime, stay focused on meeting your
commitments and achieving results.
You have all helped Industry Solutions make a comeback in the market
this year, and I am confident that you will continue to deliver outstanding
performance.
Thanks for your support as we make this transition.
Kevin Gilligan
On Wednesday, August 07 2002, a Honeyweller wrote:
Jim, I just heard that Terry Sutter is leaving Honeywell Industrial
Solutions. Is this place a mess or what?
On Friday, July 26, a Honeywell observer wrote:
"A friend of mine that works for Honeywell told me about your website. We had lunch today, and it is horrible what is going on at Honeywell. I used to sell PlantScape, and, Scan 3000, along with working with all the Honeywell applications people. It is a tragedy. I forwarded your website to another former Honeywell application engineer, and he really enjoyed the article on Bonsignore. We lived through that! In fact, I was in a meeting the other day, with a fellow who has a doctorate in physics, and he made the statement he wanted "customer delight", I burst out laughing, and he was quite offended. I explained, that was the mantra at Honeywell about four years ago, and what a joke that was.
"It has been my desire for several years to have Rockwell (AB) and Honeywell's IAC group merge, that would be good. Both companies have or had, real talent in their employees, and it would be a powerhouse. Probably will never happen, but one can dream."
On Tuesday, July 23, an industry observer wrote:
I look forward to your email newsletter every week and have been especially intrigued by the ongoing saga of the possible Honeywell/Siemens acquisition.
I worked at Honeywell for over 15 years and watched the top brass take that company from a world-class organization to the current wreck that it is with disbelief and dismay.
I find the current situation amazing and depressing. The Siemens mentality, as described by a number of your readers seems right-on. I have always heard that Siemens can't believe that the mention of their name in North America doesn't clinch the sale, much as Honeywell could never believe that the same wasn't true for them in Europe. Both have had large ego problems that have prevented a logical and profitable market strategy. It's sadder still that Moore ended up "road-kill" in the Siemens move into the measurement & control market in the U.S.
I have just heard that the infamous purple Procidia is being revived sans purple and will be pushed by Siemens. It has been in the doldrums since the initial launch was interrupted by the Siemens acquisition. I remain unimpressed, unless some major redesigns are done. There are too many inherent design problems to mention here, but I would be extremely surprised if they came up with a unit capable of displacing the entrenched competition.
The Moore 353 controller seems to be off the radar screen for any changes, even though it is extremely long in the tooth and over priced. Who actually buys a $2000+ controller for a couple loops of control (sometimes a single loop…), when ethernet and RTD inputs are a very expensive option that adds to that already outrageous price?
On Wednesday, July 17 2002, a Honeywell insider wrote:
"And, if there is clearly no basis for the Siemens deal, why have David Cote or Kevin Gilligan not issued a denial that supports Terry Sutter's memo?"
On Tuesday, July 16, 2002, a Honeywell observer wrote:
It's usually more important, what people don't say, than what they say:
Der Spiegel (German magazine like "Time/Newsweek" and famous for its interrogative interviews) yesterday had
an interview with Mr. Pierer (Siemens CEO) about Siemens, mostly about Siemens in the US, CEO income,
mergers. Not a word about Honeywell......
Did they not want to ask? Were they asked not to ask?
Pinto response:
The Honeywell affair is still under NDA (non-disclosure) - so, if Der Spiegel is aware of it, they were asked NOT to ask.
On Monday, July 15, 2002, a Honeywell insider sent this :
It looks like Honeywell is trying to clean up before a bigger deal with Siemens.
The deal, under which the Japanese manufacturer of automation systems purchased 10.99 million of its own shares for 10.65 billion yen ($91.64 million), was conducted at the request of the diversified U.S. manufacturer on Monday, Yamatake said.
Discontinuing the equity relationship with Honeywell after half a century will open up opportunities for Yamatake to enter new fields through new partnerships or joint ventures, it said.
"If Yamatake had not bought back those shares, Honeywell might have chosen to sell them to a third party with whom a conflict of interest might arise, which might have prevented Yamatake from securing autonomy in management," the company said in a statement.
On Monday, July 15, 2002, a Honeywell observer wrote:
"Ginny Burnell was announced as departing Hon IAC last Friday. Another good person leaves the ship! How many management leaders can they lose before some of their industrial customers realize they do not know this company any more?"
On Friday July 12 '02 - a Honeywell insider sent this:
With Ginny's transition, I am pleased to announce the following change to
the Senior Leadership Team, effective immediately.
Brian Strauss, currently vice president and general manager of the
Industrial Automation SBE, will succeed Ginny in leading Energy. Brian has
been with Honeywell since 1995 and joined Industry Solutions last October.
Previously, he was business director for Metglas Solutions, a Honeywell
business in Morristown, New Jersey.
On 12 July '02, a prominent industry observer and analyst wrote:
"I think it is critically important to understand that many of Honeywell’s customers have observed a gradual but steady drop-off in terms of sales and service support. My impression is that Honeywell's historical legions of fiercely loyal customers really aren't all that loyal any longer.
"Instead of a lot of happy customers, I suspect Siemens (or anyone else who might end-up with Industry Solutions) will actually find a significant percent of existing customers who are distant and even angry. End-users are not stupid and they have seen Foxboro, Bailey, Moore, and others suffer through acquisitions. They have learned that customers usually do not come out better from the merger/acquisition activities of their vendors.
"It is my opinion that, because of the dissatisfaction-issue, the value of Honeywell’s installed base has been over estimated. When one couples the growing resentment of Honeywell customers with the over-hype of Experion, because of its inherent technical restrictions and slow roll-out schedule, I think that if Siemens picks up Honeywell’s process control business, they will be in for a bad surprise.
"Of course Siemens, being Siemens, will be supremely confident that they can remedy any Honeywell short-comings. They will be able to turn-around Honeywell better than anyone else on this planet."
On 10 July '02, a Honeywell insider wrote:
"When I visited with the engineering leaders recently, I picked up a sense of optimism on their parts. Even though they seemed almost embarrassed by Experion they were also pleased to be working on the improvements that will soon be coming in the form of PlantScape R500. They definitely see themselves as on the road to recovery with the planned enhancements of PlantScape, increased focus on and funding for Fieldbus, plus there was even mention that they might do an acquisition in the field instrument/transmitter area."
On 8 July 2002, an end-user who attended the recent Experion Users Conference reported:
"If something was about to happen between Siemens and Honeywell, then the technology leaders at the Users Conference, seemed blissfully unaware."
On 7 July '02, a Honeywell employee (name expressly withheld) researched an article
on the JimPinto.com website to compare the recent denial from Terry
Sutter (current IS President) with the one made previously by John
Weber (former President of IAC) when it was suggested (two years ago)
that IAC was being sold to Siemens:
On 5 July, 2002, a knowledgeable Honeywell observer commented:
"We need to remember that, after the GE-deal fell apart last year, Honeywell made a lot of noise about how they were NOT going to sell-off IAC (now IS). David Cote, Kevin Gilligan and Terry Sutter have all continued to tell the IS leadership team and the troops that they will remain as a Strategic Business Unit within Honeywell, and as we know this has just been reiterated.
"On the flip-side, two years ago I personally heard the President of IAC state - nay, proclaim - that they were not for sale - and that was precisely at a time when you and I and everyone else knew knew that was damned well not true!"
On 3 July '02, a Honeywell insider came up with this:
"A rumor has been floating within Honeywell, that Siemens is interested in buying the whole thing - all of Honeywell.
"This sounds goofy to me. Sure, Siemens is big - but they are not GE, plus they are having problems now anyway. Also, if the EU wouldn’t approve the deal with GE then why should the DOJ approve anything for Siemens? The only message here at Honeywell is that we now understands full-well just how interested Siemens really is in our process control pieces."
On June 28, a Honeywell insider reported:
We at Honeywell have a clear and harsh understanding of the mess that Siemens has made of their other acquisitions, especially Moore. What would happen to us under Siemens would be even worse than what happened to Measurex after we bought them. We’d have to learn to do the goose-step and salute with a stiff right arm!".
Pinto's Comments on Terry Sutter memorandum:
It is interesting that this "official denial"
came at all. As the memo says, this is normally NEVER done.
We guess they had to say something and do it fast.
There are 2 possibilities: a/ If there is anything afoot with
Siemens, Terry Sutter does not know. Or b/ After careful consideration
by Gilligan and Cote, Sutter was told to make this denial.
It is interesting to note that 2 years ago, John Weber, President
of IS (then IAC) proclaimed loudly that IAC was NOT for sale
- just a few days before the United Technologies deal was announced.
But, Weber's discomfort was short-lived - he was gone before too long.
With hindsight, Weber was correct (but not the way he intended)
- IAC was not being sold. ALL of Honeywell was!
I invite (challenge) Terry Sutter top contact me directly to discuss
this 'rumor'. I commit that his comments and feedback will be
published without editing of any kind.
On 27 June '02, this memo was circulated by Honeywell Industry Solutions.
It is highly unusual for management to comment on rumors, particularly in writing.
Apparently, Terry Sutter wanted this email to make its way to
JimPinto.com for publication. It is included here - exactly
as received.
It is Honeywell's policy not to respond to rumors of acquisitions
or mergers. However, I must address an unfounded story currently
circulating outside Honeywell that's connected to Monday's
announcement of the ACS realignment.
I can tell you unequivocally that Honeywell is not in discussions with
Siemens about the Industry Solutions business. The rumor is not true
and we do not know its source. Industry Solutions remains an important
ACS business and Honeywell is counting on us for future growth.
Rumors are needlessly distracting. We have made a lot of progress on
Experion PKS with customers and employees. Let's stay focused on
meeting our customer commitments and achieving results. Keep working
to grow our business, increase productivity, reduce our cost to serve,
improve employee satisfaction, and drive Six Sigma and digitization.
Thank you for all your efforts as we work to successfully close the
second quarter.
Signed: Terry Sutter
On Thursday, June 27, 2002 someone (name witheld, evidently from Siemens) weblogged:
Don't anyone think that Siemens needs Honeywell technology. The PCS7 system is now capable of running anything from a FCCU to an LNG plant. Their problem is no supervising control engineer in the end-users or any requisitioning engineer in the EPC contractors is willing to put his career on the line by selecting it. Chicken before the egg, I think. What Siemens needs is the Honeywell position, through which they can market a Honeywell system improved by the Siemens engineers and their own PCS7.
On Wednesday, June 26, 2002, a Honeywell insider logged this interesting tidbit:
Further corroboration that this is indeed happening is that a headhunter
that had been retained by Honeywell a couple of weeks ago in order to
find a candidate to replace Ginny Burnell (President & GM of Honeywell
Industrial's Energy division) has just been let go.
With the entire division going over to Siemens, I guess they have an
alternate way to get rid of Ginny!
On Tuesday, June 25, 2002, someone who knew Bill Ketelhut from his GE days wrote this about his separation from Honeywell:
"Bill Ketelhut was at Foxboro, ex GE Fanuc and GE-Microswitch (the JV between GE and Honeywell Microswitch). Ketelhut is well thought-of by GE and they planned to bring him in to run Control Products (Microsiwtch plus) if the GE acquisition of Honeywell had gone through.
"Bill has a signed contract and left Foxboro with a severance package. He then was employed by GE to run Honeywell Control Products. When the GE deal went south, Honeywell picked him up to finish out the take-or-pay contract he was signed on. He was not that active - he took the money and ran so to speak. Mutual separations. He did not want to stay without GE in charge."
On Monday, 24 June 2002, the following memo was sent to all ACS (Honeywell "red") employees - first portion summarized here.
A MESSAGE FROM KEVIN GILLIGAN REGARDING ACS ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES
To all ACS employees:
ACS recently completed a strategic planning review to define the direction of ACS and an organizational assessment.
Our recent strategic planning review and organizational assessment revealed several areas where we still have
opportunity for improvement. Today we are announcing a realignment of certain parts of our organization to address the areas that most need improvement. These actions will drive business growth and ensure ACS' success in the future.
This realignment includes:
Please recognize that, at this stage only a few, very senior
corporate people would be privy to a transaction of this nature.
You simply can not expect any 'announcements' at this stage.
On Monday, June 24, 2002, the following comment was logged:
With respect to the Siemens and Honeywell trade - I work for Siemens Building Technologies, though not high enough up to know the people who would know we were on the block.
I'm sceptical about the report for two reasons. First, those aren't the right names for the Siemens organizations. Second, I would think it's more likely that Siemens would just pay cash. They paid cash for us when they bought us (Landis & Staefa) from Electrowatt.
On Friday, June 21, 2002, this message was picked up on the Honeywell chat/message-boards:
Rumor has it that Honeywell's Control Products and Security & Fire Solutions
are being combined. Bill Ketelhut is out and Roger Fradin is in. It was
hinted that Ketelhut was asked to leave and will be gone as of today.
Anyone else hearing anything? What does this mean for the company?
On Friday, June 21 we heard noises of some big news brewing:
Siemens and Honeywell will trade - the Siemens fire protection and building management business
for the Honeywell process automation business, plus some cash.
This despite new Honeywell CEO David Cote's insistence that industrial process automation is important to Honeywell.
A knowledgeable industry observer commented:
"Ed Hurd is now back working as a consultant in Phoenix. If they would employ both Hurd and Don Bogle (previously CEO of Moore Products when it was acquired by Siemens) they might get something for their money. But it would still take a good three years. However, I doubt that the remaining people and value of Honeywell would survive a German onslaught!"
On Wednesday, June 19, 2002, this weblog was received :
On the topic of the $100 million dollars in Experion Sales since its announcement: Technically that is true, but what they are doing is chalking up ANY Plantscape / TPS sale as an Experion sale.
Also, ExxonMobil has made a major commitment in Experion and that sales figure may reflect commitments from ExxonMobil on upgrading its aging systems.
On Friday, June 14, 2002, a Honeywell competitor responded to the weblog (below) regarding Honeywell's announcement that it had generated more than $ 100m in orders for Experion.
"We feel the '$100M in less than 2 months' is just the total of all their system related sales. If $100M is a two month sales report, then it is a significant reduction in sales. We put that portion of Honeywell around $900M/yr.
It will be interesting in how the User's Conference attendee's react to this marketing ploy. I remember these same attendee's came out with a positive attitude last year, even though GE walked out half way through the conference. For a lot of users, this has to work."
On Wednesday, June 12, 2002, John McBride [john.mcbride@honeywell.com] logged this from Phoenix, Arizona:
The Industry Solutions business of Honeywell [NYSE:HON] announced that it has generated more than $100 million in orders since announcing its new system, Experion PKS™, less than two months ago.
For more information visit: http://www.experionpks.com
On Tuesday, June 04, 2002, an end-user customer for DCS equipment wrote:
"Took a look at Experion over the last 2 weeks. Between that and the "buzz" on the street from
Honeywell, Invensys, and Emerson folks, the consensus seems to be that
Experion is nothing to write home about. I think there are some morale issues involved as well.
It seems like once a company gets put in play, it never leaves the game.
The question is who will buy Honeywell??
On May 29, 2002, Tom Ramey [tramey@ramey.com] wrote:
Look at this 6-month chart, HON vs GE
Looks like Honeywell should thank their lucky stars the GE acquisition fell through. In the last 6 months Honeywell has even gained 20% while GE has lost 20% of it's value, a minus-40% delta.
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