#employeeengagement

Mr. Stankey, it’s clear you care deeply about rebuilding AT&T’s culture and driving results. But the 5-day return-to-office mandate is not delivering those outcomes. It’s quietly draining productivity, eroding morale, and accelerating the loss of high-value talent, particularly among younger and mid-career professionals.

In the year since the mandate began, the data tells a stark story:
• Voluntary attrition among under-40 employees has risen dramatically across the industry where rigid RTO policies persist. AT&T’s own attrition rates mirror that trend.
• Stock performance has lagged both Verizon and T-Mobile since the RTO push, suggesting Wall Street isn’t buying “butts in seats” as a business strategy.
• Office occupancy metrics nationwide show that mandated presence rarely exceeds 60% compliance. Employees comply on paper but disengage in spirit.

More importantly, the promised benefits of RTO (collaboration, innovation, culture) simply aren’t materializing. Employees report fewer in-person meetings, more hybrid video calls, and a deeper sense of distrust toward leadership. You can’t rebuild culture through compulsion. Culture is earned through empowerment.

Meanwhile, competitors are winning talent with flexible, hybrid models. Companies like T-Mobile, Verizon, Google, IBM and Microsoft have settled on 2-3 in-office days because the data supports it: productivity, engagement, and retention all rise when employees have agency over where they work.

AT&T has an opportunity here. Not to follow the trend, but to lead it. Imagine the signal it would send if AT&T were the first major company to publicly admit that five-day RTO was the wrong call. Reframing it as a “Return to Trust” would instantly shift perception from rigid to visionary.

You have the chance to show that leadership is about listening, not doubling down dictator style. The workforce is ready to deliver. They just need to know their leaders trust them again.

Revisit RTO. Shift back to a 2-3 day hybrid model. Watch what happens when respect replaces resentment.

That’s how AT&T becomes a company people are proud to work for again.

Tomorrow is the last day for the employee survey. How many have completed it, because nothing ever changed from the past surveys. I’m not sure of the purpose of the survey, so why waste my time. I don’t trust anything here anymore, the company has completely changed as of definitively September/October this year, noticeably the targeting of employees by management and HR for minor things are strange behaviors.

We are going to charge 25 cents up to 99 cents the next few years to bring up our revenues if the economy wind tail doesn’t meet the wind head anytime soon. Start updating your skills on banana and coffee too just in case.

The Seven Species of LinkedIn

A field guide for the modern professional jungle. Bring your coffee and your sense of irony.

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1. The Drum Beater

“Achievement unlocked: updated my email signature.”
Celebrates everything — from finishing a webinar to surviving Monday. If self-promotion were cardio, this one would be marathon-ready.

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1. The “Humbled” Achiever

“So humbled to announce that I’m basically amazing.”
Masters the ancient art of bragging while pretending not to. Their posts start with false modesty and end with 1,200 likes.

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1. The Thought Leader

“Innovation is just passion wearing a tie.”
Part philosopher, part buzzword generator. Communicates exclusively in abstract nouns — synergy, authenticity, disruption — as if they’re paid by the syllable.

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1. The Motivational Evangelist

“I spilled coffee on myself — and learned a valuable lesson about leadership.”
Turns every life event into an inspirational parable. A broken laptop? A metaphor for resilience. A delayed flight? Proof that patience is a skill set.

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1. The Corporate Citizen

“Proud to be part of a company that’s making the world slightly better — at least in our press release.”
Their posts are indistinguishable from the HR department’s. They clap for every culture initiative like it’s the Super Bowl halftime show.

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1. The Sycophant

“Brilliant insight, boss! (Please notice me.)”
The algorithm’s most loyal servant. Likes, comments, and reposts with the precision of a political campaign. Never misses a chance to congratulate management for “inspiring leadership.”

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1. The Silent Lurker

“Just here for the sociology experiment.”
Never posts. Never likes. Knows everyone’s promotion history and engagement stats by heart. The digital equivalent of the person at a party who stands by the snack table quietly judging everyone.

Usually there is an email sent out around this time of year for progress on Success Bonus. If green or yellow or whatever. Anyone seen it? Any word from the suits on our bonus?

Pulse is optional but we are pressured to take it or else my store looks like a store with lots of concerns. Upper management with non stop pressure. The survey is good but the top top big wigs forcing it is BAD. So if you ask me it’s mandatory. If yall got low participation be ready all the visits

Although survey results have not been published, leaders are already touting it as a huge success solely based on the number of teammates that responded, which is up from years past. As has been mentioned before, it does not matter how bad the actual responses are, if they get high participation, executive management sees it as a win; they see it as teammates caring, engaged, and believing executive management listens (and will do something about issues).

Has anyone seen this report? What is all on it? Is it a yearly average? Does it show login/logout etc? What have you been told on it?

Previously our department was allowed to attend Town Halls or watch recording at a later date, we were not required to work while attending or watching. It appears now we are to continue working while we attend or watch.

Interested what other departments do, are you allowed to watch or attend while not working or is the expectation to work while attending?

What am I seeing right now, is this real life???

Engagement Pulse Survey (employee satisfaction survey) is going to be sent out early in November. The result of this thing seems to be nr. 1 priority of our management around here...

Our overlords care the most about two questions in particular in the survey:

1. Do you trust the management?
2. Would you reccomend Kyndryl as a company to work for?

The rest of the questions is fluff and they even admitted it openly the other day...

The last time most people did not bother filling it in and some of those few who did submitted answers that were less than praise (since it is an anonymous survey).

Consequently, there was a mandatory follow-up investigation session where one of the FLM's loyal minions was tasked to find out who the troubkemakers are... They went about it by saying on a Teams call: "raise your hand if you trust the manager"...

This time around we are all asked to go into a prep-session where we will be instructed on "how to properly understand the questions" prior to filling in the survey and we are encouraged to then fill it in together...

So - I expect we will go from the lowest employee happiness ever which (was the last survey's result to the highest employee happiness ever) and then there will be rounds of applause and patting on shoulders circling around in newsletters and the local talking heads will have stuff to talk about till the christmass and will be thanking each other and nominating each other for employees of the quarter based on this while we will be witnessing more stealthy firings, clients leaving, teams & roles blending and so on.

And this stuff is orchestrated by individuals who also send out non-anonymous feedback requests about their performance to their subordinates and then they read out loud the praise they get in front of all who had to participate.

CEE in a nutshell for all y'all.

if you did get it, is it one of those "are you happy with your job" type of thing? I never respond to these since I get paranoid of being retaliated

I know the usual peeps on here will say it is your fault for staying, but it does make me angry and sad how the EC and senior leaders show no humanity to employees. They may have tough business decisions (yeah, yeah, I know as a result of their stupidity) to make but they can’t be decent or kind at all. Basic stuff like asking how people are, 1-1 sessions, managers remembering your kids name, at the start of a conversation or meeting asking what people have been doing (before launching into their script) bla bla bla ….. it just normal human behavour. You do this with your neighbours at home so why can’t they manage it at work ??? Very sad 😞

I don’t want your Loyalty.

They don’t do anything with the results anyway.

I noticed recently a lot of messaging lately about how great it is to work at T, how everyone loves it and the benefit are fantastic (hooray for Lyra). Even our screensaver now tells how great it is to work here. Then I read this article and thought that's T.
https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/linkage/hidden-cost-of-positive-vibes-only-at-work
Forced positivity comes with the unspoken expectation that employees should stay upbeat regardless of stress, fatigue, burnout, or team challenges. And while maintaining a positive environment is key, forcing a culture of unrealistic optimism isn’t grounded in reality. It creates a false environment

I would love to see Employees results by line item starting with Director up, AD’s we already know kiss the ring. Folks should propose that since it is (ha ha) Anonymous. Then I bet 100% not one has the kahuna’s to say the truth and be all butter cuz they live to the standards of my house is bigger than yours, my new Benz is better than your Bentley. My kids college costs me 250k a year.God forbid they told how they really feel because then their kids in college about to get hired by ATT would not. No different than the obvious ethnic pulling in, even married in the same org.

Is anyone having meaningful discussions about the SPS results? With organizational leadership as low as it is, the LT response continues to be something along the lines of, “well we’re going through a reorg so that’s why we’re rated low.” That’s been the message since 2020. Does anyone have any thoughts around how to get the message to land when there is an actual bad leader at either a VP or EVP level? Trying to brainstorm and ask for advice on how other people have tried to explain it. The notion that the SPS is our voice is gone ever since they removed the free text fields.

Was this actually anonymous like oxy said? I’ve heard mixed stories on whether these are actually anonymous or not.

Our senior leadership were visibility angry when they shared the results of last survey, we've even were told to leave SAP if we weren't happy and not to fault them as leaders. This survey I am not going to even bother answering. They have a target on the number of responses and I am not going to help them. As per the comments, they are worth nothing, I've hold roles close to leaders in the past and leaders didn't do a single thing rather than making calculations and trying to guess who answered what. If I am still here by when the survey is launched, I am going to ignore the email and the 200 reminders I'll receive after.

Everybody should do the same as @bp+1k7bwjdxa. I certainly plan to.

Wells Fargo is such a different company now under Schart. Managers don’t truly care about their teams. Last minute assignments. Nitpicking. Lack of employee engagement. Worthless middle managers that don’t do anything. Huge disconnect between India employees and U.S. Employee surveys but no changes just town halls that make it look like it for optics. It’s a $hit show. I don’t really know anybody that’s truly happy at Wells Fargo, just comfortable.

Got an offer today after several months off. Couldn't believe what I was seeing. The company offers profit sharing and an employee stock options plan. Sounds like a company that cares about its employees. Not sure why Dell couldn't...or better yet, wouldn't do this for its employees. There are better alternatives out there.

In the few times the dfw area event has been cancelled there was usually a message about it. Don't recall seeing one this year, not that we go. Just an observation.

Want to Keep Your Best Employees? Workplace Culture Matters

Yes, compensation is important, according to research. But ignore employee engagement at your peril.
By Rick Wartzman and Kelly Ta-g
Oct. 7, 2025 1:00 pm ET

They don’t care about us at the Support Office. Everything is so Field-focused now and if they want that, then they can run the show at Corporate themselves. I’d love to see what happens if everyone just mass quits, ha!

I'm tenured, multiple roles in 30 years. I finally made it to a director level. I always assumed based on the views and the way I can break down my associate engagement survey, but it truly was anonymous. Until today. I was on the CPO call and just realized they tie it all back to where we are for our annual performance reviews. Which means they know exactly who we are exactly how he answered exactly what our performance for you was and exactly what the survey said. They know everything. I've been a lifelonger of. It's a legit discreet anonymous survey. It's not quit taking it.

Is this even legal? It’s a mandatory “training” where all marketing personnel are required to video record themselves and narrate a story based on a script. In my opinion, this is a North Korean-style approach to engaging employees and creating a false perception of the company’s success, all while everyone is overworked, poorly managed, and laid off every six months!

How do you fix this?

Stankey’s memo was triggered by internal warning signs from surveys. The results showed a noticeable drop in morale and buy‑in. His solution may have backfired. How else could he have addressed declining employee engagement?

If you are a new or old employee you should have received an email from
-Microsoft Viva Glint- for this anonymous survey. There are 30 questions total that have ratings on a 1-10 scale (1 meaning strongly disagree, 10 meaning strongly agree) you can add comments to each question rating as well. Keep in mind you can accidentally out yourself if you comment something that your manager knows it is a subject that you in particular talk about. While there are anti retaliation policies at GF that will not stop management from trying to figure out who wrote which comment.

Here is your one chance to make changes in your department. If you feel like your voices are ignored and feedback is brushed aside answer honestly and rate 1's. Managers with low ratings on this survey get put under an HR microscope, too many unhappy employees will cause action to be taken based on how many employees are unhappy.

If you don't have an issue with your department or manager then still make sure you voice that in the survey and give them a good rating. Good managers and leadership are hard to come by and employees do not get too many chances to have a say in their environment.

…the owners of TheLayoff.com! At this point we must’ve tripled their ads revenue. I was checking another company here (you know, just curious…), and I’ve got so impressed that I checked others. No other company has the level of engagement Nike has. The most active one has one message per MONTH in average and we’re ki-ling it. #WinAsATeam

Saddened by this announcement - with culture being at the center of so many conversations this year, I’m disappointed that leadership thinks this is a step in the right direction for our culture (And from whose perspective? Culture isn’t what leadership says it is - it’s what employees actually feel when they work there.).

There are a lot of hardworking employees who thrive professionally (and personally) while working from home AND actually get more done there than in the office.

And those that KNOW they get more/better work done at the office make a point to go there since it’s open 5 days a week to them.

If Chevron is worried about competitive performance, focus on hiring and retaining GOOD workers who know how and where they do their best work and let them do it.

You won’t get better work from people by forcing them to come into the office - this simply reflects that leaders are more productive in the office than at home.

I share the sentiment and agree wholeheartedly with the poster. Putting it up for visibility.
OP: @b1+1k4z0p2ve

Being told by numerous people that this survey is mandatory. Any truth to that? Why would the UP force people to take a survey about employee engagement? Forcing people to do a survey about "engagement" isn't really a good way to get people "engaged." Forcing just creates more disengagement. But I wouldn't expect the UP to understand that.

The EC sends out an email today reminding everyone about the principle of "Thrive Together."

Well, let's review the principle and how it is defined on paper vs. what it means in practice.

On paper: "Our culture is built by all of us, and we lead by example. Doing the right thing matters and trust is earned. Creating an environment where everyone belongs is essential - that's how we succeed."

BNY associates are not stupid and don't appreciate being lied to or kept in the dark. That's the quickest way to erode trust, confidence in leadership and culture. In fact, these are the main reasons why people are on this site and commenting about BNY workplace and deplorable people management behavior.

Not that it matters but The People Team (or EC) would be better off to communicate early and often throughout the change process. This means acting more intentionally with greater transparency, by showing receptiveness and responding to feedback on really important people concerns, and providing clear organizational direction on people management matters. So why all the secrecy? It only leads to more fear, uncertainty and doubt.

In practice: EC wants us to thrive together by working together in office 4 days per week. The only natural consequences of this mandate are to intentionally make work-life more difficult for those not living nearby a brick-and-mortar office location, to recapture corporate control and to increase work-life inflexibility.

The EC and HR communications, micromanagement, and the lack of collaboration by 'all of us' are in direct contradiction with the written definition of how we 'Thrive Together,' do the right thing and earn trust.

Where does this leadership by example come from? Come on man!

Looking at the stats today.
Eliza Pulse
Own it. -37%
Stay curious -17%
Thrive together -43.13%

Engagement with Eliza is tanking.

https://youtube.com/shorts/-c0gCVXOV1M?si=yAUdaJAbXiNaz-Xl

This is insulting that the train wreck our c levels created is now our front line manager problem to fix.

Posts here get hundreds of views. Social media statistics indicate only 3% engagement. (Of 100 viewers there's 3 commenters) And then there are comments deleted "magically".

I don't have a point. Just acknowledging the engagement and concern. I see it in quick hallway looks. I hear it on calls. I know most people care. And I know they don't feel cared for.

Please enjoy the long weekend if you can.

Also from the main thread, morale is rock bottom and the culture has changed:

• "It's been a constant rocking boat the past few years... I used to say I liked Kroger for the stability. Funny." (Diskonnected, Post ID: @pz+1k3eddae2)
• "Hard to plan life when arbitrary layoffs happen every 3 months." (Danica, Post ID: @p8+1k3eddae2)
• "This is why no one should be ki-ling themselves everyday for these corporations. They don’t give two fu--s about the everyday people doing all their work." (Anonymous, Post ID: @kr+1k3eddae2)
• "Very sorry to everyone affected... the company is spiraling. It’s a shell of the company it once was." (Anonymous, Post ID: @m7+1k3eddae2)
• "Prayers to the parents, children, grandparents, brothers, sisters, friends—we’re all in this journey together." (Anonymous, Post ID: @kv+1k3eddae2)
• "I wish I was one of you. I'm ready to get off this boat." (Diskonnected, Post ID: @pz+1k3eddae2)

Have you all noticed the significant amount of leadership attention being given to our new analysts and interns lately?

It's quite fascinating to observe this trend, especially with all the packed events in NYC and other locations. It seems like the company media is using social engineering and a controlled audience to portray our current culture as vibrant and dynamic. This is intentional not coincidental.

You might have seen the emails and social media posts with RV and other leaders snapping selfies and mingling with the wide-eyed enthusiastic head-bobbing analysts and interns, who, if you look closely, appear to be sipping bottles of baby formula and Pedialyte while captivated by the experience!

Analysts and interns seem to be the primary internal audience that leadership has found receptive recently. Clearly, leadership is using this audience to create a false narrative and skew perceptions about the current overall corporate culture as being vibrant, dynamic and humming.