Tag Archives: Wells Fargo

If I did that, I’d get fired.

Posted in Employee Relations, HR Policy, Leadership, Management Effectiveness, Radical HR, Workplace by

Can someone explain to me how some people get away with stuff that any regular Joe (can I call you Joe?) would get shit-canned for in a hot minute?

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Let’s take Roger Ailes for example. Prior to this tub of lard’s 20-year reign as CEO at Fox News, good ol’ Rog was a media consultant for the likes of Nixon, Reagan, Dubya and Rudy Guiliani. (No wonder he ended up at Fox, eh’?) After multiple allegations of sexual harassment by on-air talent Gretchen Carlson and other women, Rupert Murdoch and Co. allowed Ailes the opportunity to resign with $40million in his pocket. Any HR professional with classic training will tell you that one, ONE confirmed instance of quid pro quo (“this for that”) sexual harassment and the accused will be terminated. No, they will not be given severance. No, they will not receive unemployment. Yes, they will get escorted out by security. Yet this piece of shit got to negotiate the terms of his departure from the company and left without the need to be gainfully employed ever again. I sure hope he learns his lesson while sitting in his home theatre watching Knute Rockne, All American whilst eating an endless bucket of popcorn.

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How about that asshole derp, John Stumpf, now, former CEO of Wells Fargo? If I presided over the theft of at least one customer, my ass would’ve been tossed on the streets and I would never work in this town again. Who wants to take bets that Stumpf has a high-ranking job at another financial institution within the next two years? As you may have already heard, Wells Fargo fired 5,300 employees and was fined $185 million for fake accounts opened by employees since 2011 as a response to the high-pressure sales tactics required and rewarded by an incentive-laced bonus program. Fingers were pointed by Wells Fargo higher-ups at the lowly Wells Fargo associates. When grilled in front of a congressional committee, Stumpf, insisted the culture of the company did not contribute to the unethical practices of management and employees while also testifying that he “did not know that level of detail” when the Committee outlined Wells Fargo’s various public sales tactics. Oh yeah, and also Stumpf dumped a shitload of company stock sometime after he found out about about the accounts. It was the largest stock sale he made to date. If I did that, I’d get fired and I would probably be in jail.

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And the mother of all “Chief Predatory Officers” Dov Charney. Sexual harassment was so ingrained in the culture at American Apparel that the employee handbook actually warned that the company was a “sexually charged” environment. As the name of the company suggests, this was not a company filming porns, this was an apparel design and manufacturing company. Indeed, Dov did his best to create said culture- it has been a matter of fact that Mr. Charney masturbated while being interviewing by a magazine editor, walked around his offices in his underwear and stored videos on company computers of he and company employees and models engaged in sexual acts. Charney also stands accused of misusing company funds. American Apparel finally ousted Charney but now finds itself in bankruptcy proceedings. But don’t you worry, Dov is back on the fashion scene. In August 2016, Dov reported he received a $10 million dollar loan for a new t-shirt venture.

Now excuse me while I take a shower to wash off the sleaze.

How HR failed Wells Fargo

Posted in Employee Relations, HR Policy, Leadership, Management Effectiveness by

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Last week, Wells Fargo announced it had terminated upwards of 5000 employees and agreed to pay $185 million in penalties in a widespread scam involving thousands of illegally opened accounts by employees. In articles published after the announcement Wells Fargo personal bankers, detailed the high-pressure sales tactics encouraged by an aggressive incentive-based compensation plan and unscrupulous management. Bonuses, merit increases and other perks were awarded to employees who opened multiple accounts or sold additional services to customers. Investigations completed both internally and by external regulators found illegal ghost accounts, unauthorized funds transfers and forged documents. In addition to actions already taken, Wells Fargo stated it will also change hiring and training practices, cancel their incentive-based pay program (next year), and conduct ethics training for all employees.

Where was HR in all of this? I am left to assume that HR at best, voiced  their complaints but  were then forced to gag themselves by leadership in the name of what was best for the shareholders, or, at worst, actively supported the pay scheme, the unrealistically attainable goals and thus the degrading employment culture of Wells Fargo, where employees had to choose a job or their integrity. In one fell swoop, Wells Fargo Human Resources failed its employees, the company and gave the HR profession a kick to the groin.

1. Where was HR when this incentive-plan was introduced, vetted, approved and rolled out? In a post-2008 financial crisis world, how was there not someone in HR warning Wells Fargo leadership of these inevitable negative and illegal consequences?

2. Does Wells Fargo have complaint procedures? I would assume so, especially for a company based out of California. I’m assuming that at least one employee had to have witnessed the behavior and reported it to the attention of his or her manager and HR. What did HR do with the employee complaints?

3. What about Whistleblower provisions? Publicly traded companies are REQUIRED to have whistleblower provisions and are REQUIRED to communicate these policies to employees, usually by way of a Handbook or Governance Manual that is acknowledged at time of hire. Did HR encourage or discourage protected whistleblower activity?

4. Did HR conduct an internal investigation at any point leading up to this ? If so, what actions were taken? If 5300 employees have since been terminated, the behavior was widespread, chronic and conspicuous. Even if an employee did not make a complaint, HR had to have known what was going on. The unethical and illegal practices actually had names, for example, “bundling” and “pinning”. If these practices were so blatant as to have been named, how did HR not know? Did they turn a blind eye? Or, were they oblivious? In this scenario Wells Fargo HR was either complicit or ignorant, and neither are a defense for illegal or unethical behavior.

5. How were employees promoted to management? Based on reaching sales goals? If promotions were based on performance and performance tied to meeting sales goals outlined in the incentive pay plan that is under fire, then Wells Fargo’s management was populated by unethical and unscrupulous individuals. No wonder they had an environment where employees were encouraged to do whatever was necessary to fulfill sales quotas. And, no wonder employees with questionable or flexible ethics were hired by said managers. Again, where was HR’s involvement in internal Wells Fargo hiring and promotion procedures? Did they have any oversight of hiring practices at all?

6. Right or wrong, HR is the cultivator of culture. HR with the partnership of leadership, intentionally brands company culture by designing missions, visions, company values and standards of conduct. HR is charged with measuring that engagement to culture and fixing it when it’s broken. How could Wells Fargo tout Company Values all the while knowing its employees were fraudulently opening accounts, and receiving monetary incentives for doing so?

7. In a more recent article, the CFO of Wells Fargo pointed the finger at underperforming employees. Not management and not HR. Who hired these under performers? Who was in charge of monitoring their performance? Did these employees get put on progressive discipline or PIP’s when their performance did not meet expectations? All of these things sound like stuff HR handles. Was Wells Fargo’s HR department on vacation during all of this or completely inept? In this case, they are not even worthy of a good
finger-pointing by their own CFO.

It is clear that there is plenty of blame to go around at Wells Fargo. As I continue to read all of the articles about the continued fall-out from Wells Fargo, the question I continue to ask myself is, Where was HR?