Culture – The Company is engineering driven. If you are not an engineer you are considered a “backroom function”. You do not have an equal sit at the table when it comes to big decisions unless you are with a group of your own (i.e. Finance with Finance, Sales with Sales, etc…). It’s a very intense environment where nothing really gets accomplished. Informatin systems are just as legacy as the business mentality. In an HQ role you will probably push PowerPoint presentations back and forth for 6 months not really influencing the underlying information (it’s usually the same data with different cuts) but definitely making sure you appear to do so. We used to call this sort of science… “the art of chartology”. The Energy business is very bureocratic, slow, un-innovative and there is a huge disconnect between the HQ ivory tower and what really goes on in the field.
GE promotes the fact that you “own your career”… and you do. If you want to progress within the company ranks it comes down to how well you are able to build and use your network. “What about working hard and delivering?” you may ask. To that I would say “Never mind that! Focus on building your network, developing your delegation skills, having an elevator speech and identifying the right people to hang around… if there is time left crunch some numbers and send some emails”
Business are reorganized on an annual basis. The main reason usually is to hide nasty losses and performance under the rug of a better performing unit.
Growth/Promotions – 95% of the elements needed for promotion are the standard ones when it comes to big bureaucratic organizations. Some of these elements are making sure you save “face”, be a master chartologist, know the right people (and kiss the right ass) and appearing to be a “doer” when you think you already are just to name a few. Salary increases are not significant (1-3% every 18mths) unless you change jobs and negotiate your pay in a stellar way.
GE summarizes the qualities of a great leader into what they call the “4 Es”. Energy, Energize, Execution and Edge. In theory they look great but in practice they are a disaster. Most of the managers think that practicing Energy/Energize is intimidating the teams to do what needs to get done. When it comes to having “edge” its very well known that it translates to “being an ass”. Don’t take me wrong, I have seen people practice all of them flawlessly and be excellent leaders… but it’s by no means the norm around here.
