To those reading from the affiliate forum, no, I'm not Peter Peter. Leader, you make some very valid points - I'll touch on those in a moment.
Layoffs at Netshops?
I just put together two bits of information and got
nervous. A few weeks ago, Spilsbury went bankrupt and left a bunch of affiliates
unpaid in the lurch (http://forum.abestweb.com/showthread.php?t=86242).Now it seems
that Netshops is having layoffs:http://laidoffbynetshops.blogspot.com/2007/02/missed-this-article-in-omaha-world.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetShopsIs everything OK? Should
affiliates be worried? Is there any information other than what is doubtless the
party line of "Don't worry, everything's fine"?Pete
Nate - your response
NetShops is a very healthy, rapidly growing company. Most people don't know
we recently purchased another company and inherited about 50 employees. Plus,
because we are still a young company (just turned 5) in a rapid-paced market, we
frequently make necessary structural changes. So yes, some employees were
transitioned to new roles within the company and some were let go. But NetShops
is NOT going anywhere but UP, and you needn't worry about not getting your
commission checks!By the by, we were #13 on Inc. 500's list of fastest growing
companies last year, and the company we purchased was #244.
That's great and all, but the layoffs were of existing employees - not those inherited from Thralow. How many of those 50 'inherited' employees are going to make the transition from Duluth to Omaha? Estimates I'm hearing put the number at, oh, about 3. The song and dance Netshops put on - touring the Netshops office, going to the Henry Doroly Zoo, scavenger hunting at Chuck E Cheese pizza, etc - really didn't 'sell' the 'inherited employees' on moving. So, if 3 of the 50 Thralow reps don't move, they'd have to be laid off, so that would put the 90 day layoff total at about 105 employees released in less than a 3 month period. This is not a sign of a 'growing company'.
"Frequent structural changes" = frequent changes in direction, reorgs and layoffs (in layman's terms). It also confirms what I've been saying all along - there is no job security at Netshops, there is no possibility of a long term career path for employees and the only direction Netshops is going is in a balls to the wall, flat out, mad rush to look profitable for investors.
Now, if this were just a blog by one person and I was bitching and moaning about how unfair it was to be laid off, I didn't deserve it, etc, that would be one thing. Unfortunately, for Netshops, this blog has started to take on a life of it's own. People are sending me information on a daily basis - the current reorg, what the Thralow reps feel like (and what they're doing) and questions they'd like me to throw out there - because they don't feel safe in the current environment asking them themselves. It's really too bad.
Don't believe me? Take a look at all the comments posted to the blog. There isn't a single one done by me and that just scratches the surface.
Leader, your comment -
With anything negative you read: You need to pay attention to WHO is talking,
and JUST WHAT their beef is. Then decide if you think the complaint(s) are
reasonable, and if you should consider the complainers to be credible.
These are mostly former employees talking. However, I am getting information from current employees and some of those 'inherited employees' Nate mentioned. (I wonder how the Thralow reps feel about being called 'inherited'?) Nate does need to tow the company line and I understand that. (Glad I didn't have to be in the meeting about this blog...) Sorry about any additional pressure you might find yourself under Nate. You always seemed like a decent guy and I hope I haven't put you in an uncomfortable position.
Employees get disgruntled when something SUCKS! A company shouldn't have
any/many hugely disgruntled employees, and when they do, that in itself is a
sign of a problem.
Employees at Netshops have been disgruntled for a long time now.
After the layoffs in August of 06, people were pretty upset. Some quit as a result, some were put into positions that weren't what they were doing before and they weren't given much time with the Christmas holiday looming to learn their new roles very well. (They weren't given choices in these new roles either by the way - we came into the manager's office and were told, "Here's where you are on the new org chart. Hope you like it." Even more people quit. Those that didn't and weren't happy were made to apply and interview for, essentially their old jobs as the people who quit were replaced. Nice, huh?) By the time October hit, Netshops employees were asked to do extra work - taking calls in the call center, answering customer service emails they weren't trained to handle, and working in the warehouse - usually 50 - 60 hours per week - along with their normal duties. It was called the "Lend a hand" program. Worst. Idea. Ever.
Many of us thought with a profitable holiday (more profitable than any before - up 85% year over year) we'd be safe from a reorg and layoffs. Unfortunately, we weren't able to hit our gross margin or our profit goals. (Is this because of something the employees did/didn't do, or, because of wildly inaccurate & unattainable goals? That's a subject for another blog, another time.)
And the problem's not the employee (assuming that the angry employee is
reasonably sane). The size of the company is important to consider, though; any
big company probably has several employees who hate it and who will usually be
quitting soon anyway, but a small one ( under 50 people ) only needs a couple of
antis to indicate a problem.So the question is "what is it?" What sucks so bad
that someone has been made angry enough to write blogs and wiki entries about
it?! It's a mistake to assume in favor of the company in these cases. Usually
when the employees start to say a place sucks, it's because it does! (Sometimes
it's just some kook or lamer who had unreasonable expectations, but I haven't
seen that too often.) Personally I find it quite relevant , and would like to
know if promoting NetShops means promoting a bad employer. (And I don't see any
keywords on that blog that'd count towards a what I'd consider a G-bomb...it
doesn't seem to have any "choice" words directly linked to NetShops' URL. )
Again, very good points. At one time, Netshops had approximately 440 employees. In less than a year, I'd estimate they're down to about 300-ish based on the people I saw leave between August and February, and the February layoff. Not a 'growing' company in my opinion. Yes, they're adding more stores. Great. Without the staff to handle the stores they have, how are they going to continue to grow? How will they handle customer service issues? (Off on a tangent here, how do customer service issues/failures effect affiliates?)
Something else to think about. Netshops purchased Thralow, like Nate alluded to. Good company, good people, good sites. Binoculars.com, Telescopes.com, Pans.com, OperaGlasses.com, EMetalDetectors.com, Utensils.com, etc, etc. Those sites are drastically different from hammocks, diaper bags, slippers, pajamas, beds, christmas trees, and adirondack chairs. The technical knowledge needed on the Thralow sites is an important part of selling product on those sites. Netshops reps aren't going to have the experience needed to make an educated guess, much less an informed opinion on what a customer should do. How well do you think Netshops is going to do in categories they don't fully understand?
Last thing for tonight."D" - since you've asked that I don't repost your comment, I won't, but I do have a reply I'm working on. I'll need to repost some sections of your post, but I won't repost it in full. That's the best I can do.
Eric - yes, I'm still interested in continuing our conversation - I'll email you soon. Sorry for the delay in responding - interviews have been taking up my time these past few days.
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