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CFC actually had a "help wanted" sign in its window here in Santa Barbara the other day. (BTW, I gather the TanMan has a refuge here somewhere.) They were offering 5.65% on a six-month CD.
U - L - G - Y
Countrywide ain't got no alibi,
They're ugly.
I know Hospitals color code their wristbands,is green for the psych ward?
"Each employee who signs up receives the Protect Our House wristband made of green rubber."
At least they had to sense not to make the wristbands orange.
seems vaguely pathetic to me
I'm up late again this morning, and what do I have to show for it?
the contest i tried to start on the previous thread.
Green is for "rich". As in "money, money, money! Yeah! Go team, go!"
Maybe they should call in the San Diego Chargers cheerleaders? At least then while the employees are being totally humiliated, they can take comfort in some entertainment.
I don't mean to be critical. Really. I just feel embarrassed for them.
Today's economic reports actually look quite bodacious.
It's almost as if a magical cage of easy money has been built around housing to prevent it from affecting the rest of the economy.
Those consumers had better get to work on not spending... we've got some real catching up to do.
Oh please - sign some pledge and wear a wrist band! For what? Job security? To feel good? To project a positive image? To say to the world: My boss needs another $100M, damit!?
My sense is that there is an exodus of employees or that productivity is low or they simply cant attract people.
While I started out the day with an upset stomach, the floodgates were opened as I read this.
Is that a company or a cult? I might start to worry if they offered me coffee or kool aid or something.
When in doubt, roll out the wristbands.
Mr Andrew Gissinger_Insider & restricted shareholder transactions reported over the last two years
8-May-07 4,042 CFC Sale at $40.74 - $41.71 per share.
(Proceeds of about $167,000)
2-Apr-07 30,555 CFC Acquisition (Non Open Market) at $0 per share.
13-Feb-07 7,050 CFC Sale at $41.50 per share.
(Proceeds of $292,575)
21-Mar-06 22,914 CFC Sale at $36.15 per share.
(Proceeds of $828,341)
21-Mar-06 22,914 CFC Option Exercise at $9.60 per share.
(Cost of $219,974)
24-Feb-06 469 CFC Option Exercise at $9.60 per share.
(Cost of $4,502)
10-Feb-06 2,897 CFC Sale at $32.96 per share.
(Proceeds of $95,485)
10-Feb-06 9,947 CFC Option Exercise at $9.60 per share.
(Cost of $95,491)
It's good to know it's a crusade, not at all about compensation.
--
" It says that employees are expected to sign a pledge to "demonstrate their commitment to our efforts," and Mr. Simon says about 11,000 have signed."
Only in the Land of the Free.
Democratic capitalism is an oxymoron. Either capitalists rule or the people (demos) rule. We know who really rules America. Solution to all of Americas economic problems, it seems, is to push more debt on the demos.
Selling Students into Credit-Card Debt
Yahoo! 404 - Page Not Found
Debt slavery has been the most common form of slavery. Doesnt The Bible say that the debtor is a slave and the lender is a master?
I predict a Slave Rising in the US of A when brainwashed dopes come to realize that they indeed are economic slaves to their capitalist/corporatist masters.
Jas
Denial is such a beautiful river this time of year.
Executive managing director of wristbands and slogans, truly desperate. If denial is the quiet sister this is the loud one.
Good thing Gissinger is a former offensive lineman. He knows how to protect the passer, and Mozillo is looking for the hail Mary.
I've always hated employers that insisted employees wear those lapel logo thingies. Now they're taking a page from Lance Armstrong. Jeeze! Gimme a break.
Next thing you know they'll require group exercises while chanting the company mantra.
-- Hiding Out
That entire article sounds like one of Skilling's cultish, arrogant pep talks at Enron as they were going down, but maybe that's just me projecting.
ISM Report is out:
ISM - ISM Report - November 2009 Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business®
"Now they're taking a page from Lance Armstrong."
There's a lot of differences between Lance and Moz.
The most glaring is one is a survivor...the other one won't be.
Here we go again. Google "Countrywide sucks" if you want the real picture of their business practices.
Demonized? Why not - there is at least one demon there, possibly more.
Strip your personal fortune out of a company that you know is headed down the skids, then lay off the grunts that made the money for you, then cry in public?
I think a public lynching would be in order.
I hate motivational speeches at work more than just about anything else. You're paying me, let me do my friggin job. You want me to be excited? Pay me more. You don't like me? Fire me.
Putting up banners, buying yet another goddamn cake (and why is it that when you buy cakes for home they taste great, and when you get them for an office they taste like cardboard dust filled with strawberry or banana?) and giving a speech is a waste of my time and yours. If it really works then you need to be more stringent in your hiring process, b/c it means you're employing an army of dolts.
Sorry... was scarred by a former employer who thought 1% raises were ok if they handed out enough motivation and pastry.
Hope Mozillo has his own custom shackles I mean wristbands. And someone ought to supply him with a nice bright orange jumpsuit to go with that skintone.
OT But ADP says 58,000 new private jobs in Sept. So, normally you would add in 30,000 or so govt. jobs to get about 100,000 Friday. Some economists think govt. jobs will be 40,000 in Sept.
I predict not. I don't know whether the slowdown in govt. hiring hits in Sept. or later. But it's coming. Of course, the federal govt keeps right on growing, hiring and spending. But state/local govt. is starting to shrink. Over the next year, I predict govt. hiring will detract from U.S. job growth. The fat days are over for govt. Look at FL, MI, OH, AZ, CA, and NV. Shrinking.
NYC has a hiring freeze.
Countrywide or Mary Kay Cosmetics...Does Gissinger give pink cadillacs to top producers ?
Sam:
Beat me to it. Except it was Lay that was holding the final pep talks.
I know I was there (Enron) and after reading the CW article I think I need to be treated for shell shock or PTSD.
There is video floating around the internet of the final Enron pep talk.
I know Tanta has issues with GM & Krugman's followup, but I think the headline writer for Krugman got it right.
Simply, the facts uncovered to date are just the beginning, but this desperation "morale" move is one more data point.
Life trumps fiction. Those poor, anxious, terribly busy people now have fatuous locker room boosterism to deal with. That's just great.
Bring on the playbook, you twit.
The company also is reaffirming its pugnacious side. "We're competitive to a fault," he says in the transcript, adding: "Our divisions will have clear goals, built on our ruthless attack strategies to continue to grow profitably. Growing, winning and being the best is also hard wired into our DNA."
Some of that does sound like the sort of attitude that Enron was built on. In that situation 'competitive to a fault' ment that the speculative traders would give bad prices to the hedge desk in order to boost their groups profits. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.
In Countrywide, that sort of make money no matter what attitude could lead to all sorts of abuses that are detrimental to the company as a whole.
Those consumers had better get to work on not spending... we've got some real catching up to do.
As long as they have balance transfer, theres no end in sight.
Denial is such a beautiful river this time of year.
Freud defined denial as a primitive psychological defense mechanism against trauma.
Yes, Americans are suffering from a very serious trauma due to the discovery (subconsciously) of being slaves with near-zero control of the govt. that rules over them and controlled by their unacknowledged masters.
Truth is very traumatic!
Jas
"U - L - G - Y
Countrywide ain't got no alibi,
They're ugly"
============
Elvis:
that made me laugh on so many levels. Especially the idea that countrywide is "Ulgy"!!! I'm not sure what Ulgy is, but I think that Countrywide is indeed just that!
in High School we used to do that chant.
IF I recall:
"U-G-L-Y
you ain't got no alibi
you UGLY, you UGLY,
yo mama said you ugly
Hey!
M-A-M-A
how you think you got that way?
yo mama, yo mama
yo mama made you ugly
hey!"
there was later a movie that had that same chant... I think it was Goldie Hawn in Wildcats...
Wouldn't it be poetic justice if this quote: "Our divisions will have clear goals, built on our ruthless attack strategies to continue to grow profitably. Growing, winning and being the best is also hard wired into our DNA."
ran next to this OP-ED in the Boston Globe: "There are brokers who take what amounts to a bribe from a mortgage company to steer a client into a higher-priced mortgage than it could qualify for, all the while assuring the client that this is the best possible deal." Mortgage brokers' sleight of hand, Elizabeth Warren, Boston Globe October 2, 2007.
Mortgage brokers' sleight of hand - The Boston Globe
"Is that a company or a cult? I might start to worry if they offered me coffee or kool aid or something."
All bad companies are cults. To work there, you have to ignore one or more 800-pound gorillas in the corners of the room. To do that, you have to disassociate yourself with the reality of what your company is doing -- and what it's doing to you. Once you've gone that far, it's not that much farther to napalming villages -- metaphorically speaking.
The wristbands and loyalty oath (which is what it is) are simply another way of reinforcing submission in the herd. More cult behavior.
If they were actually looking to inspire individual workers and units, they'd give them more control. This is just the opposite.
I don't understand this:
employees are expected to sign a pledge to "demonstrate their commitment to our efforts,"
why even bother? what is the point?
I would assume everyone will sign... it means nothing!
I can just imagine:
"Drew" Gissinger: uh, YTL, you must sign this form committing yourself to our efforts.
YTL: uh... well I uh... you see... uh
Drew: well everybody is doing it...
(crowd): staring uncomfortably
YTL: well you see, I'm just not sure that I'm committed to our efforts here
Drew: if you don't, you DON"T GET A GREEN WRISTBAND!!
YTL: (breaks down sobbing): ok ok, I'll sign I'll sign
(crowd): cheers enthousiastically as YTL is shackled with his rubber green gift.
somewhere, hundreds of miles away, a 20 something first time buyer decides that there has never been a better time to buy a house than now.
thousands of miles away, CFC stock jumps 20%
And the benevolent Tan Man smiles.
Sailor: Captain! We're heading for an iceberg!
Captain: Quick! Give these colorful rubber wristbands that say "We've Never Been Sunk" to the crew and let the officers know they'll still get a bonus next year. And bring me some more tanning oil!
Sailor: Brilliant! Now I know why you get millions in stock options and I have $1,500 in credit card debt from my daughter's dental bills!
The pledge and wristband are buy-in techniques used by sales types. If they can get you to sign something your more likely to buy. Wearing a public display of commitment isolates those who don't sign or show team spirit. This tells me that they are worried that employees will start bailing. They may have worries that such employees might talk out of school. Remember how the stories came out of Enron. On the plus side, it could be simple motivational tools to buck up a demoralized workforce and force out those who aren't drinking the kool-aid. In any case, I give them six months before receivership. Their business practices are being shown the light of day at a time when they are barely liquid enough to continue operations.
I would suggest anyone signing that pledge reads the fine print. They are probably signing away their 401k or loaning it to the company for short term funds.
Is second place a set of steak knives?
I learned a long time ago theat a pep talk only works I you've got a workable gameplan in place to begin with.
I would assume everyone will sign... it means nothing!
The obverse to signing is that you would be a candidate for the next round of layoffs.
Been there, done that.
good point Ray
but I would sign that paper so fast that the pen would catch fire.
I would put 100 green bracelets on my arm, reminding you of Madonna circa 1986
And then I would jump ship ASAP.
This is what I mean by "signing means nothing"
unless there is some sort of wording in there preventing one from jumping ship or something... but that seems like a hard contract to enforce...
" good point Ray
but I would sign that paper so fast that the pen would catch fire.
I would put 100 green bracelets on my arm, reminding you of Madonna circa 1986
And then I would jump ship ASAP.
This is what I mean by "signing means nothing"
unless there is some sort of wording in there preventing one from jumping ship or something... but that seems like a hard contract to enforce..."
Precisely YTL. If dolts like this idiot linebacker are in such high positions at CountryFried, then no wonder their business practices are what they are. If you put stupid people in charge you get stupid results.
Is second place a set of steak knives?
My first thought exactly! And third place is... Your fired! Or in this case, transferred to the REO sales division with your compensation wholly dependent on our "clear goals, built on our ruthless attack strategies"
Meanwhile, where are all the good leads?
Countrywide Employees belly dancing - motivational program:
YouTube - Dancing Lender
I'm going to save this write up as I sense it illustrates the apex of corporate desperation.
Mozzilo is probably smart enough to know the jig is up but he's happy to let a buffoon go out and mouth idiotic blather to "pump up" the work force. Makes for a great show but can there possibly be one CW employee who doesn't know this is BS on a massive scale?
Instead of expressing a tiny bit of humility their egos force them to pound their chests like an impotent gorilla. I'd bet on them if they admitted their failures and expressed a coherent strategy to stay in business. Instead they reach for rah-rah.
They're likely closer to being toast than anyone can imagine.
Meanwhile, where are all the good leads?
ROFL.
One of the best movies ever.
(Glenglarry Glen Ross for those of you interested)
I find it comical that the CW execs think any of the salaried employees, who have zero equity interest in the company, and who are, at best, marginally affected by the bottom line, take anything that happens to the organization "personally."
There must be a good side to TanMan since nobody's perfect...in this case perfectly ugly (aka U-L-G-Y).
Is that (the good side), the personification of this morass which is such a garbage dump of nasties that it is hard to imagine...unlike Moz, who presents himself right before our very eyes, in one nice tearful little bundle?
What wally said.
This gives me the cold shakes. If I owned the stock, it would cause me to sell.
WWTMD
What Would TanMan Do
Wristbands? How about tourniquets!
"The company also is reaffirming its pugnacious side. "We're competitive to a fault," he says in the transcript, adding: "Our divisions will have clear goals, built on our ruthless attack strategies to continue to grow profitably. Growing, winning and being the best is also hard wired into our DNA." . . ."
This comment sums it all up.....why they have had problems and why they will continue to have them. They are not adapting to changing conditions....they are reaffirming pillage and plunder or else as a business model.
I want a wristband. How soon until they show up one Ebay?
I was hanging with my banker buddy and when I mentioned that he should get a slacker in his section transferred to CFC, he just rolled his eyes. Apparently not only share unloading insiders are skin deep positive about CFC.
oh, looks like they brought in The Bobs.
Mr. Gissinger's comments make throngs of plaintiff attorneys jump for joy. Keep talking Mr. Gissigner, keep talking.
Hmm, an offensive lineman eh? Perhaps they should get Terry Tate over there to help out.
(If you haven't seen these Terry Tate commericals yet - their hilarious)
YouTube
- Terry Tate Office Linebacker
Rubber wristband from the Onion.....
CHEAT TO WIN !
Pathetic. This goes along nicely with the observation of prozac induced optimism stated the other day.
Everything is image, attitude and ideology: from the individual American (debt = wealth) right on up to the top (ideology = reality).
We try to instill self esteem in children by limiting competition and fooling them that they succeeded. Don't actually try to compete to succeed.
Your a failure, well buy a self-help book and look in the mirror each day ans say "you'r great." Don't actually work to succeed.
Your business model sucks and you offer a financially damaging product, well @#$^, you got an image problem.
Why bother to study the situation and develop detailed plans when your ideology is perfect. Create you own reality. It's all image anyway.
Well, sometimes things are depressing. That's our humanness telling us to get off our ass and change something.
Sometimes things do actually suck and looking in the mirror and saying over and over they don't is not going to change a damn thing. I am sorry, but people sometimes actually have to do something or gasp work.
Now I know, many Americans work hard and got a bad deal but this mindset permeates our culture to an alarming degree.
This is just pathetic.
They should put the wristband in the Time Capsule. It pretty much opitimizes this age.
This could be the best thing since Duct Tape.
Oops, I mean epitomizes. Got a little too "op"tomistic there, what with all the rah rah.
And the Duct Tape, of course, refers to the Great Duct Tape Fiasco of 2000.
Oops! I mean 2001. Aaggghhh. Better cut myself off again.
--
"All bad companies are cults."
Most companies are cults. It only shows when things go bad. Cults have leaders and followers.
I don't know of better followers than America's salaried workers. Jefferson didn't think that salaried workers should vote because they are not independent (and definitely can't be free by any definition of freedom).
Any guess for the date for Slave Rising?
Jas
Sue is right about Terry Tate Office Linebacker!
funny stuff.
Comedic writers are furiously scribbling notes, since business people are writing pure gold comedy.
I was working at a wholesale mortgage bank in '91. We had a similar rah-rah campaign, but got T-shirts instead of rubber wristbands. We went BK within two months.
This all sounds right out of the Scientology (or Nazi, or radical Islamist, or radical Republican) playbook. All problems are the result of attacks by outside enemies! Show unity! Sign a loyalty oath! Wear an emblem of your commitment to the Cause!
Well, some interesting comments. Leaves me wondering if there is CW employee out in digital land to get a sense of an insider's view of the program.
Jas
Any guess for the date for Slave Rising?
Not as long as there is electricity for the telly.
Maximus,
You forgot to add "progressives" to your list, no?
Joe Lieberman, a staunch enough liberal to be selected as a VP candidate strayed from the party line on one issue and......what happened to him?
Maximus didn't forget "progressives," he had "Nazis" in there.
I did four tours of duty w/ Countrywide. I started in the biz there and did my last "tour" in '03. There was a 6 yr gap between the 3rd and 4th tour. In that 6 years, the company had changed drastically in many ways but in many ways was the same.
There are a lot of good people at Countrywide. Not all are good, not all are bad.
They were founded on sound principles but at some point they strayed from those principles that they had been founded on.
My heart goes out to them but it is survival of the fittest now.
I left CFC over a month ago for greener pastures.
I was talking today with some of my friends who are unfortunate enough to still be there.
They view the pledge and wristband as a joke, at least in the division I was in. I am embarrased to have CFC on my resume.
--
"Not as long as there is electricity for the telly."
And how long would that be? Don't the power companies cut off power when bills aren't paid? 25%+ unemployment rate just might do it. Federal budget would be more than 50% of the GDP. Unlikely, of course.
Jas
Jag, get lost.
Sign the Pledge; get a free green wristband that costs 8 cents, landed.
That's kewl.
Nothing personal.
Fraud aka misrepresentation of value...even in their claim they're distributing something of value to their employees.
Can we soon expect the Crusade tent to be erected on abandoned grazing land near the CFC HQ?
Hucksters all the way down the gallows walkway.
Such a plethora of models Since I was just watching the Burns WWII doc last night, this reminded me immediately of the Divine Wind campaign. Glad they only have wristbands and such!
A wise ceo who cared about his remaining employees might ponder this statement:
[T]he war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage
Tenno Showa (Emperor "Hirohito"), Aug. 15, 1945
When I worked at CW many years ago, my first run in with Drew as we called him was when I was sexually harrassed by one of his managers. I filled a report with him. He never told CW HR about it and never did anything about it. A week later, I was harrassed again and called HR myself. Drew G. called me personally and yelled at me for calling HR. He told me that I would get into trouble for doing this. Needless to say, an HR representative, Drew and myself meet in a tiny office and he had to tell me in front of the HR person that I could go to HR anytime I wanted to. Is that someone you trust? Ask yourself. Needless to say, he got promoted and I got stuck in the same position for four years until I gave up and quit.
I wear my company ID on my right lapel, and my union button on my left. I don't sign nothing unless my union agrees I have to.
Offensive lineman turns motivational speaker - probably doesn't live in a van by the river but he should.
He also knows that crap like this (pumped up fake motivation) is what all losing teams try when they know they are going to get hammered. Winners don't need green wristbands to pump up motivation when they know they can run the ball down your throat over and over, at will.
These folks are screwed.
Countrywide: Click, Clack. I THINK YOU HEAR US COMING.