How did you go down? Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
It used to be a company with a healthy atmosphere and motivated people. A company where the employees could be proud of their products being used to manufacture the latest electronic devices.
Hopefully, this will be the case for many years to come.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Main decisions are made way too late. There is a tendency to wait for problems to resolve themselves. Or to rely on luck. The problem with luck is: There is no guarantee. No certainty. No definite outcome except the promise of change.
This concept was used one too many.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
There was a crisis of competence in the past, now there is also a crisis of confidence. Solving the latter needs to be addressed asap, solving the former should follow.
Use common sense instead of dogmatic approaches and listen to people with hands-on experience when they tell you something is not going to work out longterm. Act accordingly.
Decide whether you just want to survive for the next months or survive longterm. At the moment, actions are split, confusing, and thus not well received by the employees. Communicate why you execute in the way you do and what are the expected results.
Decide whether to play as a niche player or to aim high. Do not try both. We`ve been found wanting more than once with regards to the latter in the company`s history.
When aiming high, get able management and/or seek counceling. There is a difference between a 50 people, 500 people and a Fortune 500 company.
Don`t hire just anyone because no one else is applying. A mediocre applicant will loose you more money than a top one charging more, longterm.
According to the last one: Pay top money to top shots.
Set up high incentives for long term servings. Fluctuation is way too high in the last couple of years. You will be running out of experienced people.
People work best when they are allowed to choose how to execute. It`s called freedom. Freedom is fundamental for creativity. Have confidence in your employees that they will execute as expected (o better) even when you are not able to track it every second.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
There are three ways to make a living: Be first, be smarter, or cheat. While we predominantly used to work in the former ways for many years, things have changed more and more to the latter since COVID. This came back to us everywhere: supply/logistics, R&D, HR, hard-/software,... finally, earnings.
Thus exposing the truth universally acknowledged, that someone in possession of a good MBA, not necessarily must be also literate in monetary and financial affairs or know how to deal and trade in a crisis. Thus leading us to more and more workarounds, cover-ups, task forces and performance tracking activities. Workload exploded, able people quitted. New hirees were assigned to sophisticated tasks without proper training.
Certain cirumstances lead to the decision to restructure the company through an external management team, effectively taking over in early Octobre with the announcement of a turnaround approach. Moral is low, new orders from the powers that be are endured consternated and sarcastic.
Kommunikation
Communication is excellent on lower levels. It used to be OK on company level before, also, but went down drastically with the advent of the interim management. Decisions are communicated in a quarter of an hour general meeting. While not being a Demosthenes, interim management still excels in presenting a well thought longterm framework with subsequent decisions to be executed in shorter periods of time.
No communication was made about the decisions and mistakes that let to the downfall or the nature of the problems at all. The old management is standing in awe when the prime alpha is firing his bullets, probably quite happy that all anger is projected onto this very scapegoat instead on them.
It might be expected that the people will trust the very same management (that already caused the demise in the first place) when they take over from interim management again. Keeping in mind that a succesful restructuring needs to take place first. Such a "don`t ask me why I`m in the well"-approach is necessary for the survival of the old management, yet troublesome for the next crisis to come.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Of the few things where excellence is still to be found, this is one of them.
Work-Life-Balance
Slightly higher overall working time but with a high degree of freedom when to work. Overtime is getting paid or compensated below management level. There is a tricky contract structure to avoid this particular thing for management levels, though.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
Sometimes for as long as nearly a decade people have been complaining about certain shortcomings or begging to stop certain developments or introductions, ending up as a caller in the wilderness most of the time. We were given a perfect demonstration of this in an employee meeting earlier this year when the Global HR Manager felt the need to stand in front of the crowd and declare overly specific and with utmost gravity that she had read every remark and every suggestion in every performance appraisal of 2022. What was this supposed to suggest for the years before?
Things changed drastically with the interim management. E.g., when common people with common sense requested a change in ERP, there was no way for years. Suddenly, within weeks, these things can be changed. Why? Because it wasn`t requested by the right person before?
Interessante Aufgaben
Somehing that greatly depends on one`s position. Most office jobs are as boring or interesting as everywhere else. The work in the assembly/logistics is quite repetitive, while R/D and process groups offer the best variety in this field.
Gleichberechtigung
It`s quite OK with regards to gender, LGBTQ and racial affairs. Unfortunately, there is a tendency of women leaving quite fast in R&D, process groups and assembly.
It`s not OK with regards to payment terms for swiss residents compared to regular cross-border commuters.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
They were valued as a great source of help and knowledgeable experts in their specific field, some having 40+ years of experience. Interim management laid off quite a number of them. A tree needs deep roots to withstand a storm. A shallow-rooted company will not survive the next crisis.
Arbeitsbedingungen
The employment conditions are very favorable in hardware terms. Some areas are very or extremely noisy. Software-wise we`re given a mainly MS based wild mix of all kinds of software for various tasks, with a sprinkle of obscure niche software solutions chosen for unknown reasons.
This might improve with the interim management`s approach to rely mainly on proven solutions.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
There is some green-washing to be found. As others pointed out already, we produce quite a large number of packaging and office waste and dispose a lot of unused technical products.
Employees with social hardships are supported up to a certain point. Unfortunately, these were not taken into account for the current lay-off.
Gehalt/Sozialleistungen
This used to be according to local customs but was lowered for new entries, recently. Some social benefits are offered to parents (e.g., paid child sickness leave). There used to be some company sponsored activities which are now canceled due to liquidity constrains. Also, small gifts were given at certain holidays as well as a promotional item at Christmas.
Image
It used to be an honour and an accolade if one could manage to get a job at Evatec`s predecessor back in the 90s. Until recently, customers would come to us because they knew they would be treated seriously even if their requests would have been odd, their order volume tiny or their budgets low.
Today, alhough there are a good many good people and cutting-edge technologies, the image is ruined by the decisions of the past.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
There is no clear development program or career path definition. Promotions just seem to happen because a certain position is created or becoming vacant. Usually, able people are promoted.