John,

I couldn't agree more.  The layoff last week of my SE is a good case in
point.  She was excellant and a great asset to HP with many valuable years
of experience.  However, since she had no local direct supervisor who she
had even met, she was just a statistic to someone  --  maybe it was even a
computer program that popped her name out of the pot, who knows?  Certainly
her performance had nothing to do with it.  She told me there was supposed
to be a supervisor in Arizona that she reported to who in turn had no
immediate superior (???).  What a great organizational strategy.

The "New" HP continues to fascinate and dumbfound the observer (customer?).

On Fri, 6 Sep 2002 09:25:16 -0700, John Clogg <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>These conflicting views of HP support illustrate the real problem:
>inconsistency.  We on the list often speak of HP's pitiful (or absent)
>sales efforts.  I have at various times received sales support that has
>ranged from dismal to spectacular, depending on who is currently assigned
>to the account.  Likewise, when calling for technical support, I am
>sometimes disappointed, and often quite pleased, depending on who takes
>the call.  HP has struggled with how to manage its people, and how to
>reward the good ones and weed out the bad.  This problem is not unique to
>HP, of course.
>
>There was a story that circulated a few months ago concerning the methods
>HP employed to select people for layoff.  The allegation was that
>performance was not considered; only demographic data was used, because
>that would help deflect charges of discrimination.  If this is true, it is
>an excellent example of HP's continuing efforts at self destruction.  HP
>employs many dedicated, talented people who place top priority on customer
>satisfaction, and it has been my pleasure to deal with many of them.
>Unfortunately, there are also a significant number of incompetents who
>need to be coached/incented to do their jobs or be removed.  The failure
>to do so has had a negative impact on customers' overall experience with
>HP.

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