Do You Believe?

I dearly want to see a revision of the video, with photoshopped captions saying either "Still employed by Nortel" or "Laid off xx/xx/xx". That would show just how justified this belief is.

You are right actually, I would have to agree on this.

Emma

Ibelieve,

Given that NT reported in its BK filing that its CALA affiliates would not be part of the proceeding, is it correct to assume that the South Florida office will be minimally affected by layoffs? Appreciate the feedback!

BTW, will that Barrios kid nonetheless continue as the top ranking manager in South Florida?

I believe I'll have a Crown and coke Oh, wait, I've got one. Never mind

I Believe, that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. And try to find somebody who's life gives them vodka, and have a party.

I believe that sometimes you gotta wreck the truck to get the insurance money to make the truck payment

I believe that the phrase "time in a bottle" refers to the amount of beer you can drink before last call.

I believe that ignorance of the law is no excuse, and I'm quoting a New York City judge on this one.

I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some governmental stooge with a bad comb-over who wants to give it away.

I believe... Angelina Jolie thinks about me as much as I do about her.

I believe it is not possible to study for a rectal exam.

I believe that no matter what anybody says, everybody pees in the pool.

I believe if I had a dollar for every time my dad told me he loved me... well money ain't really important here.

I believe that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you can not baptize cats.

I believe that if you let somebody cut in front of you in traffic and they don't give you the little "wave", it should be perfectly legal to get up underneath 'em, get 'em loose, and put 'em into the wall.

: I believe...that if you can't say something nice about somebody, you must be talkin' about the face slapper.

I believe there are a lot of people that need to be looking actively for their next paycheck.

Hehe, Yes definately ! :D

I hate to say it but that video looks like Nortel’s version of an alcoholic’s anonymous meeting. I can guarantee life is better beyond Nortel there is no reason to stoop to this.

AA's at least are trying to get their head out of their asses. These I believe clowns are trying to stick it up farther.

Someone at nortel needs to start the "I'm betrayed" facebook campaign.

I'm still employed By Nortel. Not sure why they are doing this, it looks like something made up by some Brain in Ottawa, but I can tell by reactions down here in Sunrise, it is not being received well by my colleges. Everyone I asked Laughed at how childish this whole thing was. (this Includes managers too.) Talk about Kool-Aid..!

Ibelieve,
now that NT has split into business units, I suppose that Barrios kid will nonetheless continue to retain the top ranking post in South Florida?

Since NT reported in its BK filing that its CALA affiliates would not be part of the proceeding, is it correct to assume that the South Florida office will be minimally affected by layoffs?

Appreciate the feedback!

So Far that is the case, But no one knows what is going to happen. Before they will just Kill you with GISs from every executive, now days they are all MIA.

Ibelieve,

Some have commented here that past cronyism will continue thru BK and will be turned up a notch due to those selected not getting any severance. Could you comment on the extent of cronyism that is taking place in the South Florida office and the number of employees working there?

Lastly, is Barrios still the top-ranked manager in that location?

Again, appreciate the feedback!

There is still too much dust on the Air to be able to see what is going on at this point. There was cronyism and it was present here in Florida, but not sure how much of it will be present now during BK. There are a couple of hundreds here in this Building but many people work from Home these days, and Yes Alvio is the top Level of Management in this office.

Dear Friends of Nortel,

I firmly believe I'm stil here....Keep up the stupid chant !

Mike Zafirovksi

Aw lets not get cynical.

However. It looks like the believers have already failed their boss who, not only believes but does so -

http://www.nortel.com/corporate/restructuring.html

Dear Friends of Nortel,

I firmly believe,

Mike Zafirovksi

FIRMLY. Merely believing is not/no longer enough.

How can one believe in a company that in the past years, think that stock price is "cause" and not "consequence"? That cutting plastic utensils from cafeterias will save the company? That the biggest cost impact "initiatives" are travel reductions (can't visit customers), no co-op programs (why Nortel needs new blood anyway), no training (yeah, can someone explain why people need training?), catering freezes (BYOC-Bring Your Own Coffee for your Customer visits to the office)?

I cannot remember the last time I saw an internal memo with a technological breakthrough. Nortel is a high-end tech company, right? I might be wrong about it but I can sure tell that there were way more internal memos than memos that contained actual Customer solutions.

What once was a high-tech company got destroyed by shipping brains overseas and by destroying Nortel's supply chain with Flextronics (C. Bolouri should be sued over this one).

Meritocracy went down the drain long a long long time ago, replaced by the "buddy" system. People are scared of losing their jobs so they sit tight and do not open their mouths. First line manager tools to promote and incentive people were stripped away. HR was replaced by a "D.I.Y. manager's web page", instead of promoting employee morale and skills as it should.

Finance folks took over the company and the tech folks went away. "Ethics police" took control and were taking very very stupid business decisions (I saw it with my eyes).

Everyone is a leader, or a manager or something like that these days. There was only a few people that actually did real work (Network Integration folks i.e.). But often times they are massacred in the field by a bad Engineer, sitting at a nice air conditioned cubicle, doing middle man work for the poor bastards in the "Centers of Excellence" in Turkey and Mexico. Inefficiency at its best.

The BOD has no clue on how to manage a high end tech company. Nor Mike Z and the GE fellas he brought on board. The only "skills" that J. Hackney brings to the table are a) he was from GE. b) he can scream and pound desks during presentations to a point of having experienced managers fainting or crying in front of him. Just like he did with that poor lady in Raleigh. Until today I cannot believe why Mr. Z still has this thug around.

A 110+ years company down to its knees. Not even having money to implement layoffs required to cut the fat and make the company work.

How sad can that be, believers?

I am constantly amazed by the number of well-written, quality comments posted by employees such as yourself, LonelyOpsGuy. Bravo. I agreed with every word of it. Someone aught to promote you to a key position, but alas, all logic and reason has been thrown out in favor of just "believing".

Employees are not stupid. They are not ignorant and they are also not so childish as to fall for this campaign. What LonelyOpsGuy said is 100% true. This company has been gutted and destroyed by the current executive who share most, if not all the blame for getting Nortel to where it is currently: On the brink of collapse.

There are so many examples of this that I could talk all day about it. LonelyOpsGuy detailed some of the misdeeds of upper management, but trust me, there are numerous other violations they committed that directly caused Nortel to get to where it is today.

But perhaps the most egregious is the "ethics" and "integrity". They have abused these terms and turned them into doublespeak. "Ethics" now means stacking the management team with your GEnius buddies and yes-men in a fine example cronyism. "Integrity" now means looking the other way after a high ranking employee and friend attacks an innocent female college student and then promoting him to VP.

If you really "believe", the first this you must believe is that these crooks need to be removed and held responsible for their misdeeds, inaction and greed.

DJ: One correction. Ex-employee.
I tried by best while I was still employed by influencing people around me to see beyond doublespeak and focus on Customers instead of the internal crap.
Everything I've built in my life I owe to Nortel. I wish I could have stayed and help. But enough is enough. Time to move on.

Aye, if we'd had to choose between plastic cutlery or training I believe most of us would've chosen training...
Personally I believed in the merit of BYOT - i.e. tools - if it meant moving a project along, but computers with DVD ROMs where the floppy drives used to be are something of a basic necessity at a major telecom these days.

Ultimately the belief persists that the customers' happiness comes first, the managers' second, and a decent cup of Joe o'er a job well done can be a wholly sufficient reward.

Where's the "I Believed" group?

Thanks for your idea, I created it, right here!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=6c3f966bd...

I believe - Nortel is a lost company

I believe - Z has done nothing but speak weasel words, cliches and management-speak since day one

I believe - It's time for Nortel employees to take their destinies into their own hands, rather than wait for the axe to fall. Get your resumes up to date, start applying, go to interviews even if it leads to nothing it'll be good practice.

I believe - Six Sigma, Say-Do, Own It, USDRP, all were buzzwords without substance; the wrong tools for the job.

I believe - Nortel should have focussed on selling products people wanted to buy, let the processes improve the bottom line after that

i believe - Z and cronies will run away with his millions and not feel one iota of remorse or responsibility

I believe - I'm glad I left that place when I did, even if it was sans package, before the market was flooded with other NT folks with my exact qualifications.

I believe - That I wish the best for my friends who are still there. Good luck!

I can't "Believe" that people buy in to this crap.

Maybe one of those ex-employees who has missed out on their severance should hold a "I Believed" rally and start a pointless Facebook page.

I'm always cynical with these campaigns, I just get the feeling it's for the benefit of the management, rather than help employees!! Or to increase the profile of those employees that started it!!

If you join "I Believe", you increase your odds of getting the KEIP bonus like MikeZ and cronies.. KEIP stands for Keep Executive Idiots Paid, btw.

I stopped believing in the company May 11th, 2005 when an internal memo was sent by Bill Donavan, cutting all disposable cups and utensils. Right after that, they replaced the free coffee machine by a coin-op one. That was the beginning of the end. So...when I was laid off this past month, I was not surprised at all. In fact, being quite frankly, I had a three year salary bonus in my pocket.

Lonely ops,
Yes, I remember that memo too....I also remember when a couple of colleagues(good guys and all) returned from their overseas expat assignments that year and had some fun with them about getting used to a mortal's life all over again (i.e. no daily domestic help, no paid housing and car, etc.etc.)....needless to say, these guys brought with them a wheelbarrel of cash from having saved a huge chunk of their salaries thanks to their very generous expat packages...probably enough to recoup most of what they lost on their NT stock in their 401K since these guys were overseas 5+ years...great for them but only NT mgmt could be that frivolous with company resources and shareholder interests

By the way, this whole belief campaign is perfectly in line with Savior Obama's inauguration on Tuesday. How appropo. Unfortunately, belief alone will not resurrect Nortel or an insolvent global banking system. Unfortunately believers are generally blind followers and insane from drinking the kool-aide.

I do wonder how much they are going to "believe" when they are the ones tapped on the shoulder and shown the door? Or when their division or product line is sold to the competition?

I believed for years and years, as I watched the stock in my 401K go down, down, down. I believed in one CEO after another, spouting words that sounded good, but ended up being worth less than the paper they were printed on.

I no longer believe. However, I will do my job and collect my paycheck until my time is up, because there just aren't other jobs to be had at this time. I will hold out hope that we will be bought by a company that knows how to run a business. And doesn't just pay lip service to ethics.

Maybe then, I'll find something to believe in again.

As a Nortel employee still at Nortel, I feel that this "I believe" campain, despite all its good intentions, is a total lack of respect for
1) employees who are going to be impacted with 0 severance,
2) employees who have been impacted and have just learned that they are loosing their severance/pension
3) everyone who lost money in this sad Nortel adventure.

What is keeping my motivation to do my job is certainly not this kind of campain for kids, or anger management relief technique. It is my sense of duty, period.

I believe insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

I believe that Zeroman, Hacker and the other toadies filed for chapter 11 in bad faith as a way to preserve their outsized pay through post-bankruptcy KEIP plans. Otherwise, their manifest inability to meet even the limited benchmarks of an obsequious BOD would have left them "merely" with their base salaries.

I believe that Zeroman has surpassed John Sculley as the most imcompetent CEO I've seen in my 25 years in the industry.

I believe that Nortel will never emerge out of chapter 11 even as a shell of its former self and that stockholders, bondholders, customers and employees will be left with nothing.

I believe that the only winners in chapter 11 will be the GEniuses who will keep all their perks under a KEIP bonus, possibly even including a golden parachute severance bonus even as 26,000 rank and file are shafted out of their own severance package.

A thoroughly negative post, but unfortunately one that is completely grounded in reality. Thank you for pointing out more misdeeds of the executive GEniuses that I was not aware of until now.

For those that are wondering, a KEIP is a "Key Employee Incentive Plan". (KEIP = Keep, get it?) Along with this and a KEIRP (Key Employee Incentive Retention Plan), the executive will be able to continue their outrageous salary and bonuses even in the face of bankruptcy and the mass layoffs that are soon to come.

While normal employees have seen their contractually-promised severance removed (along with the 60-day notification period) and their pensions slaughtered, you can be sure that Mike Z. and the GEnius team will be doing what they do best: Looking out for #1.

Under a KEIP, they would be entitled to bonuses/high salaries just as they have done in the past years, even as the company has dwindled under their ineffective "leadership". Since the current "executive incentive plan" would not allow them massive bonuses this year (because of BK), they are essentially rewriting the already-lax rules to make sure that their bonus, which they are so used to, is not interrupted by something as minor as a complete collapse of the company and their ultimate failure to employees, shareholders and customers.

If and when they do this, it will only add further confirmation to what we already know: These GEniuses never cared about us, or any other "peons" their entire time here. They saw Nortel as an opportunity to profit off the decline of a company, and have shown no shame in their almost-criminal behavior.

I had my suspicions about this being an "astroturfing" campaign before (see my 1st comment below), but the abundance of truthfully negative comments has convinced me that this is no "grassroots" movement.

The naivety, the overzealousness and outright worship make this seem like some sort of a cult of personality centered around Mike Z. and his GEnius buddies.

What you read here on AAN is uncensored, the raw truth. I'll let others' comments speak for themselves here. However, as I pointed out below, the "I believe" campaign has already silenced dissenting opinions, proving their true intentions.

I think Desk Jockey makes an interesting point about the "silencing of dissenting opinions". I do think that this campaign was a grass roots effort but the impact of what started off quite innocently may be much larger than anticipated. The campaign has the potential to divide employees in two camps. Those who believe might be perceived as blind followers while those who choose not to subscribe might be considered 'nay sayers'. Once again, the employee base will be divided (unfairly) and those who might have something truly valuable to offer could be shunned, because their suggestions might be perceived as being negative. The company does not need blind faith right now. It needs every employee to acknowledge exactly what is going on so that time is spent on what really matters. At this point I think that what matters most is the Nortel employee base and those ex-employees (recently let go) who are now in a very difficult situation. Dismissing the most recent actions as "unfortunate but necessary" is stomach churning. Is it worth saving a company when so many people are getting hurt? Isn't a company simply a collection of individuals all working towards a common goal? There is no Nortel without the people so arguing that bankruptcy protection is needed to put the "sound financial footing once and for wall" begs the question: for who? Where will the jobs go, all the people who do them? It would behove the executive to be dead clear on the corporate plans so that the power behind "I believe" could be used wisely. If employees had a true sense of where they were headed they could either stick around to help get everyone there or move on. Read the comments on the face book wall and you will see that many employees believe (which is great) but nobody knows where to direct that energy. Yes, Nortel has a large customer base but what does that mean to everyone's daily tasks. Where should employees spend their time? What is the priority? What are the goals? Without knowing the final destination, believing will send each individual off into a different direction. Lots of rah rah, but nothing accomplished. Football coaches tell their teams the entire game plan because they know that everyone has a job to do and must be clear on how to do it - or else winning isn't possible. Nortel's executives look like they are forever running a training camp - deciding who to cut while trying to figure out what kind of team to be. Meanwhile the rest of the league has finished the season and the super bowl is about to begin.

Well said !

Actually I think I would still help Nortel pack its things and carry em to the taxi/ moving van

I forgot - was't I the first to invoke Godwins Law at AAN, just to get it out of the way?

Anyway I wish 'em luck, over there, as I wish most everyone luck. The top brass already had its (fair?) share of "luck" so I think we can exclude em.'

Quick! Don't miss the boat. Rush out and p/u up some Nortel shares. If the yahsayers are so passionate, let them back up their mouths with action. If all facebook members aquire 10K of shares each and I'll join the group.

I believed I would get my pension as promised. I believed Nortel would live up to its obligations to pay severance it promised. I believed Nortel would pay its creditors. I believed (back in Nov05) that Mike Z was worth the $11M that Nortel paid for him. I believed that Nortel would live up to the highest management ethics. If you are a Nortel employee, you should be proud of your work and the work of your past and present colleagues, but be careful what you believe in.

An excellent post highlighting the ridiculous doublespeak that the Nortel PR has continually thrust upon its employees. The fact that they are refusing to pay out contractually-obliged severances and forcing laid off employees to "get in line" behind other unsecured creditors, says a lot about how much they value their employees.

Can you really believe in a leadership that treats their employees like this, like sheep to the slaughter?

I believed....

But ever since Mike Z kept Joel Hackney as his side kick and employed hundreds in a worthless PowerPoint exercise called Lean Six Sigma. Then managed to surround himself with Ex-GE people who didn't know the business environment or the telecoms industry at all.

They started all sorts of pointless programs such as, "Say Do", "Own It" & "Yes", rather than concentrating on innovation and winning business.

They made many of my very close friends and very talented individuals redundant just before the end of 2008, now those people have been screwed as they will get no severance. It's time for Mike Z and his cronies to resign....and the sooner the better!!

It's always comforting to substitute failed strategy with jingoism and feel-good slogans in times of distress. But it is regrettable that those in denial seek out avenues to perpetuate a motherhood and apple pie outlook. They need to awaken to the reality that Al Dunlop & the GExecutive team view employees (both current and former) as nothing more than a liability on their balance sheet that needs adjusting. Will the "I believe" rallies carry on in front of the unemployment office?

p.s. I'm pretty sure I saw the Kool Aid man in that video

as a former 10 yr employee, it was sad to watch the video. The GE management sure don't care about these people. My suggestion, find a new company, let Nortel go, don't let it disappoint you again. Do it for your family.

To me it sounds more like a cult.

Weak ones die and strong ones win. There are many strong palyers in the market poised to take over. Nortel demise will fuel growth for some other company. I know it is brutal, but this is how free market operate.

All you should be hoping for is that you find a job in next 90 days before they file chapter 7.

all the positive employee vibes in the world wont save us, if the same people who have been making the bad decisions are still at it.

It like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic

Upset_with_NT. You are on target 100%.

I want Nortel to survive, but I have my doubts about this group. It seems as they are being misused (again) by management for their own benefit. Some facts:

1. This group was formed BEFORE the BK filing of Jan. 14th; had been an idea for some time.

2. They went ahead with their idea of the "rally" on Monday, two days before BK filing. One can only feel sorry for how their faith and loyalty was tested after the announcement of BK had proven the "naysayers" correct once and for all.

3. The official news announcement from Nortel to all employees about this group reeks of Stalinist deceit about the popularity of Mike Z. I take this quote straight from the release:

"Asked what she’d say to the CEO, Michelle laughed nervously. “Um…hi?” She laughed again. “I’ll probably giggle a little. But then I’ll ask him if he’s posted his sign yet.”"

This line is clearly meant to show hero worship of Our Dear Leader, when in reality, the average worker shares no such adoration for Mike Z.

Furthermore, there is a YouTube video of the rally here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1T5EGGl8mo

Note that comments are disabled. When I checked it earlier yesterday, someone (presumably and employee) had posted an innocuous question in the comments section asking where their paycheck was, as it had not come in during the normal time Friday. It was quickly and quietly deleted.

Such censorship and rewriting of history reeks of 1984-esque control. For these reasons, I have my suspicions that this is not some "grassroots" movement, but is at least in part an "astroturfing" campaign.

As I have said before, denying reality is not the way to fix Nortel. Fixing Nortel requires a clear, rational and objective view of reality first and foremost.

Deskjockey

Don't know which video you saw but I couldn't find the giggling girl.

I think this campaign might have been started by the management but it's not as much a bad thing as you're trying to make it. I'm a Nortel employee and I joined it and I think it's good to see that other employees still are willing to fight for that company as much as I do. I love my job at Nortel and the company treated me with dignity and respect so far (OK I'm not working in the NA region...).

I'm not happy with many management desicions but all we can do is do our jobs, keep the innovation and the projects running, keep our customers happy and hope that Mike Z & his fellows finally get it right. If not, my CV is up to date.

This quote:

"Asked what she’d say to the CEO, Michelle laughed nervously. “Um…hi?” She laughed again. “I’ll probably giggle a little. But then I’ll ask him if he’s posted his sign yet.”"

Is not from the video. It is from the official propaganda release from the Nortel home page. I stand by my "belief" that this is nothing but another disinformation campaign to keep employees blinding following the ineffective decisions of leadership in an attempt to divert blame away from upper management.

The time for hope is over. We need a proper, clear and effective leadership and above all, a real plan. If we continue to just hope that they "finally get it right", we will all be sorely disappointed as we see the remains of Nortel fleeced by this criminal regime.

Don't drink the purple Kool-Aid on this one.

including Nortel’s social media guru, Bo Gowan.
====re
mark
He is not guru
He is the J Geobbels of disinformation.
Why do you support that guy?
Why?

Do you understand J Goebbels?
Look into a dictionary!
Goeabels of disinformation!
Goebbels!

yes4appl,

I realize that you're not a big fan of Nortel but I suggest you take a look at what Nortel is doing with social media compared with the vast majority of large corporations in North America. Bo has not only managed to convince Nortel it should blog, be on Twitter, use video, etc. but he's made sure the company has sustained it, which is a huge accomplishment.

Mark

Mark,

Not to defend the comment above and not to attack Bo, but the spin that comes out of Nortel is so blatant that it invites contradiction. I sure Bo is a nice guy and dedicated to his job, but to call the Nortel Blogs "social media" rather than pure propaganda is (IMO) a misrepresentation.

I think the same thing about Cisco, Dell, HP and other companies public face as well.

For these corporations its not "social", it business. I don't expect it to be anything else. Corporations are not democracies, they are entities whose sole purpose is to make money.

Where nortel has failed time and time again is to execute on its sole reason for existence. Where nortel has failed in its media "experiment" is not that it can't project its point of view, but in the fact that it has not been able sort the wheat from the chaff and put valid criticism and objective input to use.