Shake up in City 5

ALRIGHT.... Goff is gone. What does ERAC do now? How many more CRMs will be victims of city 5? What are the next steps to making Peoria not such a death trap? I have no clue on any of these matters. I used to think if we dropped a couple of accounts(OBrien Mits and a couple others) you could not be so swamped day in and day out. But with all that has happened I think Hertz will come in and clean house. They are not the same Hertz as before. Management at that place is a lot better since they have different investors. If I were Guz I would be planning on my firing and looking at all options outside of ERAC. There will be more MTs quit and there will be more managers go, I just don't see ERAC staying afloat in P-town. All employees are looking elsewhere and upper management can not keep up with the turnover. Tell me what you think. Please don't start saying "people can't hack it" or any other bs you spew from Alan Bensing. I want to know peoples ideas about getting shit right in P-town.

City 5 is simply a microcosm of GP 62 in general, or ERAC for that matter. Back in the day, and by "the day" I mean the 1990's, there were many opportunities for promotion due to expansion. Offices were being opened at over 1 per calendar day.

That meant every week there was a new level 3 position available somewhere in the country.

Now, level 3 positions are mostly snagged through attrition.

Also, Steve Thomas came in and is a believer that area manager jobs should be in the 60K range to start. So, you work 5-6 years in the trenches to make 60K? Why not start with a company that can appreciate your college degree and be making 60K as fast or faster without having to play the retail game for 5 years?

There are plenty of B2B (business to business) companies out there where you don't have to deal with the general public every day.

I remember a number of city managers making $120-$150K annually - it was actually common in group 62, save for the new guys in the small cities (300 cars), and even they were making $90K.

At least you had something to work toward back then.

Plus, city manager jobs were low-stress back then. You never heard from Phil, because he didn't micromanage. Even the GRM's were much more relaxed. It was a positive environment, if you can believe that.

You had to be around before 2000 to understand what I'm saying here, because it's hard to believe it, but it is true.

City managers NEVER quit the Heartland Group. The job was simply too good to give up. It was fun. Count how many level 3 employees have just up and left on their own since 2000. It is astonishing.

If they don't want their jobs anymore, why would a branch manager want that job? So, does anyone really have anything to look forward to anymore?

The answer is "not really".

You can soup it up with pimpin' christmas (sorry - holiday) parties, cheesy gifts, and a few happy hours on the company, but really the job is simply a retail sales position until you get to level 3. And then you get to listen to your general manager and GRM yell at you every stinkin' day.

Get real.

With you on nearly every one of those points. Phil's philosophy on a Level III was a $100k target in the first year or two. What happened?

Who would subject themselves to the "new" level III plan where you don't make decisions, you don't get to have input, you don't get to run a business, all for a whopping $60k?

Can anyone count how many Level IIIs left on their own because they got sick of the plan?

I don't know if it's possible since no one really knows how most of them left and the "spin" that followed their departure was always just enough to keep everyone wondering. Which is just how Steve wants it.

The number of level 3's who left on their own prior to 2000 was 1.

Phil liked his level 3's to be making good money, because he realized part of "the dream" was giving the new employees something to look forward to. If the size of the cities would have permitted, he'd have wanted all of his level 3's making 100K or more.

He knew having his level 3's dependent on the company was good for stability. Look at Guz - he will NEVER find a job making a third of what he currently makes when he finally gets the boot. And he'd certainly never quit the company simply for that reason.

Steve has a completely different philosophy - and it obviously hasn't worked in his 4+ years. His philosophy is "don't pay 'em a thing". So, he gets Area Managers making in the 50K-60K range.

Now, when things get tough it's easy to jump ship because you aren't tied down.