The following was forwarded to me by a friend of its author. Thought yall might find it interesting:
Exit Interview
To: Alaska Communication's,
After almost 23 years with this company, first and always as a Data technician and then as Foreman, I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.
To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the customer and employees continue to be sidelined in the way the company operates and thinks about making money. Alaska Communications is one of (and I have to use "one of") Alaska's largest telecommunications providers and it is too integral in the communications scope of things to continue to act this way. The company has veered so far from the place I joined that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for.
It might sound surprising to a skeptical management, but culture was always a vital part of ATU's success, (it began dissolving under the ACS-AC regimes). ATU revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our customers and equally as important its employees. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our customers trust for 50 years. It wasn't just about making money; this alone will not sustain a company for so long. It had something to do with pride and belief in the organization. I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this company for many years. I no longer have the pride, or the belief. I truly believe that this decline in the company's moral fiber represents the single most serious threat to its long-run survival.
How did we get here? The company changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing, and most importantly, listening to and ultimately respecting its front line employees. Today, if you make enough money for the company (by any means) you will be promoted into a position of influence.
I hope this can be a wake-up call for everyone. Make the customer and your own employee's the focal point of your business again. Without either, you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist. Weed out the inept people, no matter what position they may have or how much money they make for the company. And get the culture right again, so people will want to work here, and for the right reasons. People who care only about making money will not sustain this company - or the trust of its customers and employee's - for very much longer.
Profit is not the end goal but the means to fulfilling a business's purpose of making a positive difference in the world.
I knew it was time to leave when I realized I could no longer look my fellow employees or anyone in the eye and tell them what a great place this was to work for.
Therefore, May 3rd 2013 will be my retirement day from Alaska Communications.
Craig J. McCracken
Ex-Foreman - Uncommon Sense
Special Applications-Data
