Hold the phone… Batman…

Typically, I read my copy of the Wall Street Journal the day lands in my driveway. But yesterday’s copy, which I am devouring now, had an article that I couldn’t help blog about. It seems in the sea of our corporate greed (see our feature article “Keep Calm and Carry On…”) that a business is finally finding out, to quote the article’s author Peter Lattman, “…how the other half lives”… Goldman Sach’s is now making employees, that visit their headquarters, stay at the Embassy Suites (which Goldman owns) instead of the Ritz Carlton or the ever expensive Carlyle hotel!

Can you imagine the horror? … imagine the loss in thread counts (400 down to 250)! How spoiled were these investment bankers? The article further explains how Goldman is feeling the pinch of the oversight. Reductions in meal compensation and car services for employees working overtime. Gosh, golly gee… Whenever I travel, for business, cost is always a concern. As I am sure it is for large number small business, without whom this country would be even be further in crisis.

The fact that their employees aren’t happy about the switch, further highlights that these companies have not fully created or embraced an environment of change. Their employees should be glad they have a job! Too many in our country are seeking jobs and I would bet that none of them would complain about having to make do with just free beer and chips.

Major corporations, as a whole, have shifted the core values of their brand. These changes, indeed, are a great start in helping to protect the value to shareholders. But, it is time for them to get back to basics!

~k