Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Ford
Mark Fields to white-collar crew: "How do you feel?"
If you are still here after seeing your friends and colleagues pink-slipped (or encouraged to take buyouts or early retirement), then we want to know how you're feeling. That was the basic message sent to Ford's white-collar workers today by Ford's President of the Americas Mark Fields. Top Ford managers received an email from Fields along with Ford's quarterly Employee Engagement Surveys. According to The Detroit Free Press (Freep), the e-mail also discussed Ford's new Way Forward portal online and changes to employee benefits, but it mainly dealt with the anonymous surveys. Fields apparently "strongly encouraged" managers to get workers to fill out the surveys by March 28.Fields pointed out that the results will help Ford understand the views of employees on the issues covered, so management can better shape future plans and the company can "move forward as a team." Although 6,000 of its 48,000 salaried workers have left Ford since February, those who are still on the job might show a different attitude towards Ford's future.
[Source: Freep]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gardiner Westbound 12:45PM (3/23/2007)
Makes me wonder what the weather is like on Field's plant.
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David 12:58PM (3/23/2007)
Be careful what you ask for Ford, you may get it.
When you live in the priviliged world of the Ivory Tower, it is difficult to know how the serfs and slaves are doing. Has Mr. Fields approved a requisition for cake yet?
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bernie 1:29PM (3/23/2007)
Fields concluded with, "Just leave me a message... I'd like to actually listen to you but I have a plane to catch. Now that mean old Ford took use of the company plane away from me, I have to fly yucky old COMMERCIAL airlines at my own expense. So I do feel your pain, folks. Anyway, what was that you were saying about feeling bad, being depressed, whatever?"
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MaryAnnUnfaithful 1:35PM (3/23/2007)
He is so cute, I think I will offer myself up as a solution to his problems.
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starlightmica 1:36PM (3/23/2007)
Sigh.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=3372
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Bryan 2:12PM (3/23/2007)
Thats good and all, but I have a more interesting Ford story for us today.
http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11730
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Tom DCVA 3:08PM (3/23/2007)
What a waste of time. Ford workers are likely to feel two things: smart ones will feel utterly irritated by how Ford management has't had a clue for the past several decades, and dumb ones will be happy with the way things are.
Instead of asking workers about how they feel, why not do things that will make them feel better. Like updating the Ranger. Like rushing through a B-class vehicle for the US market in the next two years. Like fixing relations with International so the F-250/350 franchise doesn't bite it. You know, things that competent management should be doing. Increasing market share would do wonders for Ford employees' feelings, I bet.
Crikey.
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Don 5:47PM (3/23/2007)
"Oh, gee, well everything's just fine, Mark. Any other stupid questions while you're jetsetting around in your corporate G4?"
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Daniel 7:10PM (3/23/2007)
Let me see now, how do I feel about FoMoCo now that 6,000 of my co-workers have been laid off??
How am I supposed to feel? How's this - I feel that the clowns who are running this once great American Icon of a company, are teh most incompetent bafoons I have ever seen. You could take a group of names at random out of the Detroit phone book and come up with a vastly superior management team and Board of Directors.
It is simply not possible to make as many outrageously bad decisions on product as Ford has over the past ten years by accident - they must have been paid-off by the Japanese firms to run Ford into the ground.
How could this group of idiots let languish and destroy great product like the Lincoln LS, the Focus, the Taurus and then produce stuff as bland and boring as the Five Hundred? It is simply beyond belief.
If they want to know what the problem in North America is just place a Ford Five Hundred next to a new Ford of Europe Mondeo - that just might give them a hint???
Toyota has been offering their customers world class and innovative products like the Prius for the past 10 years and Ford still just does not get it?
Ford had as much "Good Will" with the American public as any firm in the nation - how could this management team piss it away?
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Daniel 7:17PM (3/23/2007)
He's so Cute!
Don't you want to just Bitch Slap that guy!
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whofan 7:26PM (3/23/2007)
"Toyota has been offering their customers world class and innovative products like the Prius for the past 10 years and Ford still just does not get it?"
Yea I never heard of the hybrid Ford Escape.
"If they want to know what the problem in North America is just place a Ford Five Hundred next to a new Ford of Europe Mondeo - that just might give them a hint???"
How about parking the Five Hundred next to the new ugly Camry and wonder why plain is bad?
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Sandy 7:34PM (3/23/2007)
I like Mark Fields. He's the first really fresh face at Ford in decades. He's got a vibrant, young outlook and has more "Car-blood" in him than all the rest of the old foggies he works with. He turned Mazda around, came out with the Zoom Zoom that sticks in the public's mind and my wife says "he's a doll" ~ He also hails from the same town I live in, in New Jersey. Henry I is probably turning over & over & over in hiis grave, too, with such a nice Jewish boy heading up Ford of the Americas.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and it takes a long time to turn around years of so so management, in a slumping market and a public in love with anything, as long as it's foreign. Fields has the forsight and stamina to go the long ride. I think he'll turn out to be the Iacocca of FoMoCo. Give him a chance & your support. As ya know, wheels turn very slowly in the upper floors of the house that Ford built.
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Cerri 1:35AM (3/24/2007)
Punk!
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Sam Abuelsamid 9:05AM (3/24/2007)
Two years ago the company for which I work ( a major auto supplier) unilaterally made cuts in our compensation. This combined with five years of annual raises of half or less of the inflation rate, annual cuts in our future pension benefits and tripling of our health care premiums over the past six years has all led to a large amounts of attrition. Six months after the pay cuts they did an employee commitment survey, and said we would see the results in a few weeks. Nearly a year and half later, it has never been mentioned again. This past January, in almost the same week that we received our letters about our annual pension cut, our CEO got a massive increase in his pension.
I suspect, that Ford will push all their employees to complete the survey, the management will look at the results and the survey will never be mentioned again.
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airport krishna 2:55PM (3/24/2007)
This is just the latest in a series of these surveys that have been going on internally at Ford for at least the past 5 years. In 2002 the press reported that employees wouldn't recommend Fords to their family and friends which prompted Billy Ford to step in front of the cameras for the first of several waves of Billy-Vision commercials. These were to help "restore faith that Ford is back on track" or something like that.
Well, there have been at least 3 entire management change-overs since 2001 - the latest team in place yet another in a series of attempts to right the listing glass-house ship. Fields entered the fray with a good attitude but aren't his days numbered now that Mulally's there?
The A.D.D. nature of Ford's product portfolio and marketing have squandered countless millions, likely billions on ill-conceived strategies that don't resonate with the consumer. One little detail you can bet they didn't get around to focusing on was, "building the best car possible, even better than Toyota or Honda and offering it affordably". That idea never seems to make it into production. Mediocre is good enough for Ford and they're trying to make that o.k. with their public too and everyone's throwing the B.S. flag on them.
Maybe at some point before the last piece of plywood goes up on the last window of the last Ford factory they'll wake up and realize that the only chance they have is to produce great products at competitive prices - nothing less in this intensely competitive market will do - 2 or 3 good products won't do. Is Ford and Fields capable? Not holding my breath.
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dokodemodoa 3:16AM (3/26/2007)
airport hari krishna
good quality- affordable prices.
well said
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