The Prophecy

This is what one person wrote in their self-evaluation in August of 2005 (what an idiot):

10. What challenges do you see facing Ivey?

The biggest challenge facing Ivey Imaging is keeping a company identity that is palatable to its current workforce while trying to grow to the size that the owner/managers envision. Any company can “grow,” but if it does not keep the identity that made it a place where people wanted to work in the first place it will have a company filled with employees who are not invested in the mission of the company. The “revolving door effect” will take hold.

The morale of the company is still suffering from the recent round of layoffs. Long-time employees who have contributed a good deal to the identity of the company are now questioning their loyalty to the company. Rather than a strong, passionate loyalty, the company has generated a cooler “wait and see” attitude with its employees. Trust and confidence are in short supply. The company needs to win these back from its employees if it hopes to grow.

The new company identity is still in play after the turnover of several key management personnel since it is not clear that they have bought in to how the workers see the company. It remains to be seen how the new leadership – including CEO Rich Stillman – will integrate growth policies across several geographical locations all while involving their workers in a way that gains their confidence that they are going about this in the right way. With the return to profitability and righting of the financial boat, now is the time to work on our internal affairs and put the house in order.

Quote

"Nothing corrupts a society more than to disconnect effort and reward."

- John Maynard Keynes


There were red flags very early on with the new ownership. John Tubbs leaving. How the Cinco de Mayo slaughter was carried out, obviously. Paul Schille's irrelevance. Terry Calen's forced departure. The ongoing revolving door with the management team. Hiring managers and positions from outside when there were obvious internal hires more than qualified (Chad Mall, anybody?) and then watching the snubbed people move on while the newbies floundered. And just basic change, things always changing and never staying in one place long enough to allow anything to work. It got to the point where they were drawing obvious comparisons with the Bush administration on the order of incompetence going on.

These guys make the Keystone Cops look like the model of efficiency.