Talk about morale deflater. Someone should be fired over this kind of mistake. Inexcusable.
From: , "Michael G."
Date: Monday, April 7, 2014 at 3:38 PM
To: tid mailing list
Subject: Salary Cards for TID
Dear Colleagues in TID,
Last week, I learned that we made an inadvertent error when preparing the salary increase cards for TID supervisors to distribute to each of you. Because of this mistake, the information you received from your supervisor may have been incorrect. In some cases, the reported increase was too high; in other cases, it was too low. The salary data in your LAPIS record is correct.
I did not learn about the error until the new salary information became available to employees in LAPIS, and I wanted each of you to hear directly from me about the problem. As I’m sure you can imagine, everyone involved in the salary review process feels awful that the mistake slipped through every stage of review.
Ultimately, I am responsible for ensuring that we get the process right and that the information you receive is accurate. I also want to emphasize that your supervisor passed along the incorrect information in good faith. Please be assured that I am taking steps to prevent such a problem in the future.
I sincerely apologize for this unfortunate mistake. I appreciate your understanding and your continued good service to the Laboratory and our nation’s security.
--Mike Payne
35 comments:
Anonymous said...
Wow, as if this Compensation "Increase" (or really degree of Decrease in relation to cost of living)Package could get any worse or more disappointing. Many of these folks are carrying workloads from the lost bodies who got PAID to voluntarily leave. That being said, I applaud (or at least finger clap) Mike Payne for taking responsibility even though the direct supervisors should have been more likely to catch/notice such an error, or series of errors. He is one of the few in management that appears to be respected universally, and his actions speak to that reputation.
...the direct supervisors should have been more likely to catch/notice such an error, or series of errors.
April 8, 2014 at 3:01 PM
Absolutely correct. When I was a group leader at LANL, the final salary numbers were entered into the appropriate official system by HR reps, but were available for GLs and team leaders to review for accuracy at least a week before employees got access to them, and even then, GLs presented the results individually to employees in one-on-one meetings (mandatory) before electronic records were available to employees. This seems a real cluster from top to bottom - no one doing their job properly.
"Ultimately, I am responsible for ensuring that we get the process right..." kinda says he needs to step down from the job he spectacularly failed to do.
Mike Payne should have stepped down 6 1/2 years ago. Maybe taken Lynn Soderstrom with him.
Scooby, remove the two comments above, inappropriate.
I have found out that Mike and Lynn are not responsible for the status of pension contributions and apologize to them and the blog for my ignorance and the comment above. There are those that will try to portray this apology as sarcastic but it is real.
The rarest of events on a blog -- a heartfelt apology:
BRAVO!!
"Inappropriate" is absolutely not a reason for censorship. Posted information that is (or turns out to be) incorrect should always be corrected or removed by the original poster, or at least identified as incorrect by others (with evidence). But to simply demand that something be removed as "inappropriate" (a wishy-washy, nonspecific, whiney term) without a stated reason or explanation, is, well, inappropriate. Try having a backbone next time you demand something be removed.
I've never felt the need to post to this blog before. When it was mentioned that Mike's letter was posted here, I had to respond. Mike Payne is a stand up guy. I give him credit for taking the "hit." He didn't make the mistake, but as an admirable leader he took responsibility for it. He will ALWAYS have my respect.
IMHO, TID management could and SHOULD HAVE CONFIRMED the figures before handing them out.
Someone in a leadership role needed to ask the question, "Are we 100% sure these numbers are correct?", and have reliable people verifying the numbers. Maybe Payne should not be hung from a tree, but someone ought to lose their job title.
TID management has too many people who should lose their title...where should we begin???
where should we begin???
April 13, 2014 at 6:40 PM
"We"?? You are presuming to include yourself in something you have no say in, no part in, and in which no one wants you.
You do sound like a TID manager! Bravo! You don't care about anyone but yourself. Forget about the department and its people. Just draw your BIG paycheck and wait for your retirement day. Get in line, there are so many like you.
I think he is already retired, the same bitter fellow from another thread with the same elementary-school attitude. Angry, angry, angry.
Fantasies of actually having some say about what will happen to you if you stay where you are are ridiculous. At least have the guts to realize that your sad situation in life cannot change unless you change it. All by yourself. Scary, huh?
TID is just a piece of the ice burg, not even the tip. There are individuals without advanced education or even real/subpar education being pushed up management because they inappropriately spend time with management's......
Uneducated individuals are being pushed up management....ummm, an individual from Ace Hardware is great if you have a leak in your kitchen, but not if you have an issue that requires a real degree and additional education.
Does anyone know what these "salary cards" looked like? Are they the old 2" x 2" cards we were given before LAPIS?
I heard some got post-it notes. Seriously?!
Seriously?!
April 14, 2014 at 8:59 PM
Whom are you asking?
Anonymous said...
Uneducated individuals are being pushed up management....ummm, an individual from Ace Hardware is great if you have a leak in your kitchen, but not if you have an issue that requires a real degree and additional education.
April 14, 2014 at 12:13 AM
Three Vice Presidents of technical divisions at Sandia National Laboratories do not have a Ph.D.: Hruby, Walker, Vahle.
Adam Rowen a manager at Sandia Livermore does not have a Ph.D. either.
The previous 3 individuals are the first ever Vice Presidents without a Ph.D. in Science or Engineering to lead technical divisions at Sandia. A quick search on the internet shows that Adam Rowen went to a school in New Mexico.
Steve Renfro deputy AD Nuclear Weapons, BS without PhD (also comes from a New Mexico school)
April 16, 2014 at 11:44 PM
Hasn't it sunk into your pea brain that no one cares?
I'm getting to really like these spam postings. They often seem to stop stupid strings.
I'm really getting to like these end-of-thread postings, they disappear off the bottom of the page fast.
TID Department Head, John Phonyg, and his posse should have been minding the store. #raisescalamity What were they doing instead? Talking sporting events, watching CNN, or gossiping. Please don't bother them, they're busy...doing nothing. But do stop by for a cup o' joe. The posse is always thirsty for fresh gossip material.
If TID eliminated John Konig, Ray Marazzi, Rudy Duran et al., management positions, absolutely nothing would change except the deficit that they are in. The blogger above is 100% correct—the only thing they contribute to the department is fantasy football stats, gossip and adding money to the coffee fund.
Yes, TID management did not do their job...shocker!! But then, did you really expect them to work when the work didn't pertain to their own salary cards or figuring out their own piece of the pie? I agree with the two above posts from May 3rd and May 7th. They are truthful posts. Maybe if some of you throw a fit about it and threaten to quit you might get promoted like one person did in that department... Maybe you should all do something about it and get that management crew removed.They are a drain on the department and do nothing in the interests of the department. It's become a really sad and pathetic situation in TID.
Important question...if we got rid of the TID clique (John, Ray, Stephanie, Sharon, Thom), who would buy our donuts???
Damn the donuts! Eliminate the excessive layer/s of salaries at the top, make the department more effective, lower (or eliminate) the charge back rates, and move forward. It's "nice" when they treat us to donuts, ice cream, whatever... but it truly does NOTHING to improve morale.
Want to improve morale? Let's see the guys that qualified to leave in the SSVSP but DIDN'T get the hell out of dodge and quit being a drain on the budget!
The fact that they have a "Sweet Gig" and continue building loads of paid vacation time but have no specific duties is NO REASON for them to be allowed to bleed this department to death!!
So true!! It's sad because all the people that work under those pathetic managers are really talented, motivated, skilled contributors, but their spirits have been being crushed in the department by their very own horrible managers. There needs to be some real changes made over there starting at the top! There continues to be favoritism and in some cases down right sabotage of the department and it's effectiveness. Come on LLNL, get it together. One reason your young talent keep leaving is because they recognize this kind of inappropriateness going on and nothing being done about it. Good leadership is key!!!! That's common sense, so why is this being allowed to continue in that department????
Wow, I'm surprised at the initial finger pointing here at Mike Payne. When did the rules change and the manager of TID become not responsible for the department's employees?? That position is paid good money to manage those employees, the department, and everything associated with it. Not to mention a few administrators that have the primary function of assisting in personnel matters such as this. It's mind boggling to me how this could have happened. How was this type of error not caught by at least one administrator or one manager in TID??? Mike Payne seems to be doing his job to me. He accepted responsibility for the error that one of his managers made and apologized to all. However, he needs to finish doing his responsibility and follow through with disciplinary actions of his administrators and managers that allowed this error to happen in the first place, as those are obviously the individuals that did not do their jobs here. He also needs to clean house a little, so that he can effectively manager the Business Directorate. Good start Mike, now keep the ball rolling in the right direction. Besides, Mike you don't need to keep a manager around that does nothing but talk bad about you and undermine you... Get rid of the problem.
There are bigger problems in TID than lack of donuts or inaccurate raises given out on Post-it notes. We who work in TID know. The leaders who do little or nothing have to go. They know who they are, and the employees know too. The time is now for multi-level reductions in TID Management.
Mike Payne NEEDS to fire TID's poor performing managers (Ray Marazzi, John Koenig, Rudy Duran, Thom Tegge, Jerry Johnson) who negatively impact TID. He should also look into "favored" employees that are taking advantage of the department. Bad management practices deflate employee morale, cause stress that results in sometimes serious health issues, and cost the company more than just the cost of high turnover. Disgruntled and mishandled employees stop caring about how well they perform their jobs. Also, discriminatory practices affect the job satisfaction of all employees—not just those who are discriminated against. Promotions, bonuses and benefits should be awarded based upon the candidate's qualifications and performance on the job. If an employee consistently sees promotions being given on the basis of gender, race, age, favoritism, or other discriminatory factors, their drive to advance within the organization or perform to the best of their ability is negatively affected. Discrimination isn't just a bad practice—it's illegal, and covered by extensive federal legislation such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act. State regulations may also provide direction for employers on the prevention of discrimination. If something drastic doesn't change in TID soon, the employees will (understandably) start looking for other avenues.
The TID workforce is united. For years, we’ve witnessed these apathetic and arrogant, pseudo managers have their nice long ride on the Gravy Train. Hear the whistle blowing? We’re reaching the stations of “It’s Time To Retire,” or “Go Find Another Opportunity.” A new train leaves without you, TID Managers, and we won’t look back.
In reply to the post-it note comment: Yes, I received a post-it note with my salary increase written on it. A tiny, yellow post-it note. The others in my group did as well.
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