General Electric

Dedicated to integrity. Interesting work. Respectable company with good management.

I love GE, I love what we do, and I love what the company stands for. We're not afraid to make bold moves, and despite a heavy burden of bureaucracy, we do big, important, world-changing things.

We are transforming factories and machines for the digital era by instrumenting them with sensors, connecting them to a homegrown cloud platform, and helping our partners to build transformative apps to improve their businesses based on analysis of the data. And if that by itself weren't enough, we make trains, planes, and power plants while we're at it.

So when I write this review, know that it's with a heavy heart - I always have, and still do LOVE GE, what we do, and what the company stands for. I will do everything in my power to make sure that GE returns to not only a company that does great things, but also a great place to be while getting them done.

Our cash flow on industrial operations was bad last quarter. Laying people off, ousting the CEO, and setting aggressive targets tied to exec bonuses is bad. This in itself isn't a con; businesses have cycles, industries wax and wane, and along the way, there will be hirings and firings, business class and coach, fat raises and thin. We all understand this, and I don't begrudge the company letting people go to make ends meet. We all make cutbacks in our lives when times are hard. The government should do it, and corporations have to do it.

I don't even begrudge the board the executive bonus increases and decreases that are tied to the 2017 and 2018 1B savings targets. Targets that big have to be driven from the top down. Hard decisions need to be made, and if the right decisions are made intelligently, they've earned their bonuses. In fact, were I in Jeff Immelt's shoes with an activist investor breathing down my neck demanding my job, I'd make many of the same moves he's making.

So why the 1-star review, when I love the company, understand the cuts, and agree that we need to get back to positive cash flow?

The company cut the already miserly 'above and beyond' bonus program. While this in itself isn't a big deal, it signals to me that the management layers have given up on morale, engagement, and everything that goes with it. The bang-for-buck of employee activities like affinity groups (which have also had their funding cut), holiday parties, and 'thank-you' bonus programs is unmatched. To see these things go means that not only have they made cuts with heavy hearts, they've moved to a point where they just don't care about morale among the rank-and-file anymore. For this reason, I can only recommend that you stay away until better times return.