IBM

Fantastic people to work with on very interesting tasks. Large enough for you to choose a career change without company change; weathers country and global recessions well.

Lost the sense of being a large family. Staff no longer feeling proud of working for IBM. The focus of the board is fully on shareholder returns and not on staff, despite the fact that the largest asset IBM has is the experience and passion of its staff. Employees have essentially become the equivalent of worker drones who are not developed or brought on unless they have the right longstanding personal network with a sponsor. However, with the unwritten two-year role cycle, any sponsor can quickly disappear.

Look to how staff were managed and supported in the early 2000s. There was a sense of belonging to something staff could be proud of and dedicate their working passions.

This you have lost at the expense of chasing stakeholder returns, often forgoing salary increases despite giving big share dividends.