"Core Values" are a CROCK OF SHIT

My douchebag RRM always makes us recite these stupid core values on cue. The funny thing though, he doesn't believe in them. If he did, then a third of the Branch Managers in my region would get fired because they break the core values on a daily basis. “Honesty and Integrity are the foundations of success.” What a joke!

[the dazzle]

"Our Doors are Always Open"

my BM sure the fuck believes that one

What about "when we listen to our customers and each other..good things happen" If more people listened to the words of wisdom on this site that ERAC is a cult...good things would happen...there would be more of the truth about the wrong doings and bad business practices of ERAC exposed to the public eye.

"We work hard, and we reward hard work."

Evidently with beer, not money.

It is quite obvious that the "Core Values" are open for wide interpretation at the area/region/group/company levels. The creation of the core values was an attempt at a proactive "CYA" for when the company gets sued for things against the "core values". It helps show that the company does not condone a wide variety of behaviors that go against the "core values".

[Sportin' Ravenwood]

The Core Values are for public consumption only. If you work for ERAC, you really cannot follow those verbatum or you will get left behind. There's unethical and there's unethical. At ERAC, everything is gray, there is no black and white. That is why it is difficult for anyone with good reasoning and basic responsibility to really make it there.

[Dwight]

The "Core Values" were something cooked up in St. Louis in 2001 - 2002 by top management, probably on the advice of some consultant who urged them to put their core values on paper because all of the best and most successful companies have them.

While I believe that the people who developed these core values were probably well-intentioned, I think we all agree that other than the fanfare and glitz that accompanied their rollout in Orlando in 2002, the application of these core values has been nil.

Case in point is FailingEnterpriseAdmin's challenge to Andy Taylor about Steve Wiedner of GP51. And ERAC's response?

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[Sportin' Ravenwood]

Originally Posted by Dwight

The "Core Values" were something cooked up in St. Louis in 2001 - 2002 by top management, probably on the advice of some consultant who urged them to put their core values on paper because all of the best and most successful companies have them.

While I believe that the people who developed these core values were probably well-intentioned, I think we all agree that other than the fanfare and glitz that accompanied their rollout in Orlando in 2002, the application of these core values has been nil.

Case in point is FailingEnterpriseAdmin's challenge to Andy Taylor about Steve Wiedner of GP51. And ERAC's response?

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What's up with Wiedner?

[Dwight]

Check under "Announcements" on the home page of this website. You will see a line marked "Steve Weidner: A Special Message For This City Manager In Tulsa, Oklahoma", fourth item down.

Very interesting stuff, and to my experience, pretty typical of what was said at the ARM/CM/RRM level when I was there.

[freeatlast]

Originally Posted by Sportin' Ravenwood

What's up with Wiedner?

Here is what is up with him:

Hello Steve Weidner,

Lots of people communicate with me privately about what's going on inside Enterprise, particularly regarding the unethical and probably illegal practices that motivated me to create this web site in the first place.

My sources tell me that you led a six-hour BCAM (Branch Corporate Accounts Manager) meeting last week in which you did the following:

1. Explained that if employees weren't getting at least one customer complaint about their CDW sales practices every day then they weren't pushing it hard enough. You elaborated by saying that the additional profits from the customers who didn't complain more than made up for the compensation you end up paying to customers who do complain.

2. Encouraged employees to do the "phantom sell-up", in which customers with dishonored reservations are tricked into paying for upgrades into available vehicles they would have received for free anyway. You then tried to explain that customers "actually come out ahead” on these deals, although I can’t imagine even you actually believe this.

3. Instructed employees to “do whatever it takes” to persuade customers to upgrade to a more expensive car class and explained that every time a customer doesn’t end up spending more money than was agreed to on their reservation, this should be considered a “slap in the face” to that employee.

4. Encouraged employees to “book every deal”, telling customers there’d be a car for them even when you know it would be impossible to meet this promise.

5. Emphasized that the number one goal was getting every last dollar possible out of every customer and that if this meant pissing off some customers, that was OK because the ones that won’t complain will make up for the ones who do.

At Failing Enterprise, I'm always looking for ways to improve the accuracy of what I say and get to the bottom of things. If you think I’ve heard this information incorrectly in any way, I invite you to reply, either here on the discussion board, or to me personally at comments2 ((at)) failingenterprise ((dot)) com. It's free and easy to comment here, and I'll vouch for your identity if you wish me to. If I've heard wrong, I'll apologize publicly and set the record straight.

Given what you encouraged your employees to do, can you please tell me how you square this with your employer’s "Founding Values" such as "Personal honesty and integrity are the foundation of our success" and "Customer service is our way of life"? This is a serious question. Do they not apply anymore? Are they still valid in your region? Do executives in St. Louis know that you’ve apparently abandoned these values?

It's people like you and practices like this that fuel Failing Enterprise. You should be ashamed of yourself. If you're not, I'm going to help you. I just ordered another mailing of Failing Enterprise invitational postcards to more U.S. branches. I'm going to call this the "Steve Weidner in Group 51" mailing, and I'm going to explain clearly to everyone who asks about them that it's your outrageous behavior that motivated me to send them out. I won't send them to Oklahoma, though; you're going to get a free ride because you apparently feel entitled to one.

Branch Managers, Area Managers, City Managers and above from 1,900 U.S. branches are going to have to deal with our beautiful four-color Failing Enterprise invitational postcards and they're going to have "Steve Weidner in Group 51" to thank.

By the way, some of your employees hate you so much because of your lack of ethics that they are actually offering to help pay for this new mailing...

You encourage your employees to lie to customers like me, and now I want you fired. What's it going to take?

Signed,

FailingEnterpriseAdmin