Sadly, I don't recognize this company any longer. I have devoted my life to working here (20+) years and I have always loved this company, but my heart breaks a little more every day I go into work.
I started with Southwestern Bell, which eventually became SBC, and finally AT&T. Although there have been many acquisitions along the way, the most recent with BellSouth and AT&T have ushered in an era of a managment style that I have never encountered in my entire career and one I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. We used to be a family - all focused on servicing the customer. It didn't matter who you needed to call to get an issue resolved for a customer - it didn't matter if you were a lead customer service rep calling a 1st or 2nd line manager in network because an installation date was missed -- you just did it and the manager on the other end took the issue and took care of the customer. Not so in today's AT&T - try that today - even a 1st line manager who has legitimately tried to resolve a customer issue at a similar line level will be severely chastised for daring to pick up a phone and call someone of a higher level - that gets greater attention than the customer issue - if the customer issue is discussed at all. Concern and care for the customer has gone completely out the door and been replaced by a leadership team so immersed in it's own arrogance - that it does not notice the customer complaints about a perceived irresponsive sales force in the business segments - that has been stretched beyond it's limits due to lack of post sales support. They also do not seem to notice the employees who helped build this company into the company it is today, retiring/resigning in droves due to low morale and complete lack of support from those who are "charged" to lead them.
Cons:
1 - No career growth in management - Due to budgetary pressures there are no promotions - almost all management positions are either laterals or the company would prefer to hire from outside where seemingly they can pay at the lowest pay possible
2 - Compensation - Management annual pay increases are not designed to reward employees based on their performance. Each level of management has a tiered salary structure - the closer you are to the top, the less your pay increase is for that given year - so you could be a high performing manager busting your butt all year but only receive a 1% increase while your peer sitting next to you who basically did nothing and receives a lesser rating might get 3% because he might be in the middle of the pay tier. Does that sound like rewarding high performers - I think not! Now logic would dictate that if you're a high performer and the top of your pay tier, that the company would see it in their best interest and yours to promote you into the next level of management - please refer back to bullet 1.
3 - Education - No serious development of 1st & 2nd level managers to realistically prepare them for the next level in their careers - the company did away with tuition assistance years ago for managers and replaced it with a reimbursement plan. Since the percentage of pay increases has been steadily declining over the past few years and the contribution to health plans has been increasing - salaries are relatively flat year over year and management employees have little room in their budget to shell out $3K for a class to be reimbursed in 3-4 months. The company has also slowly scaled back internal education opportunities and is now doing it on the "cheap", i.e. we used to have a business book library, now it's been changed to an online warehouse of "book summaries".
4 - Poor leaders - Most in mid to upper level management are overly concerned with titles and very dismissive of any ideas coming from the bottom rung of managers. If you propose an idea be prepared for an immediate shut down as opposed to an open dialogue and exploratory discussion. And in the rare event you do find someone willing to hear you out - be prepared to have them take credit and never mention your input at all. This is a daily occurrence in my shop - and these are behaviors exhibited mostly on the part of those placed in leadership from BellSouth & AT&T. Most legacy Bell employees that I speak to - whether they are PacBell, SWBT, or Ameritech are feeling the exact same level of disrespect from the managers from BellSouth & AT&T -- it's almost as though they have an axe to grind.
As I said earlier this is hearbreaking to me and if I could afford to go somewhere else I would - but I'm a single parent who hopes and prays that one day I'll wake up and the company I love will be back - and let's face it 20 years is a hard thing to walk away from!
