Rodent Regatta

Everyone realizes that big companies have been driving solely for their quarterly numbers for many years. In spite of list of one hundred best places to work, these large public companies are often dreadful places to work.

The transfer of the corporate culture from the CEO’s office down through the ranks is like the old game of telephone. By the time it reaches a sales manager, it looks nothing like what the CEO intended. Or, maybe it does. The quarterly drive for numbers actually becomes a semi-weekly reporting process for the sales people at some of these large companies.

Within the past week, another one of the local phone companies has done a major house-cleaning. Gone are the key managers for the third time in less than two and a half years. This happened moments after they sent out an email asking anyone and everyone to provide information about ”deals you have working.”

Speaking with an executive with a new voice-over-IP startup, he made a very interesting comment. Essentially, he said, the traditional telecommunications industry is simply unethical. No matter what they may say to employees and customers about long-term relationships, customer service or respect for the individual, they remain completely focused on the next sales report. If you haven’t strong-armed someone into ”closing a deal,” you’re out.

This is the way of an industry that brought us ”slamming.” You remember slamming. It’s the practice of changing your service to some other service – particularly in the area of long distance – without your approval or knowledge.

If you are involved in the purchase of telecommunications services, no matter what you hear about the ”next generation” of telcos, be very aware that the ethics of the past infiltrate the future. Telecom employees hop from one provider to the next often and in predictable patterns. They carry with them the practices, behaviors, methods and ethics of the past.

Know who you are dealing with. Understand the company’s methods. Get the knowledge you need to make sound decisions in the face of confusing invoices, arcane terminology and grim sentences full of jargon and acronyms. Absent that knowledge, find someone you trust who knows the terminology and can steer you in the right direction.