Conference 7.286::digital

    I heard (in the SHALOT::EXCELLENCE_AWARDS notes conference) that
    DECathalon, SWS Excellence Awards, and Field Service Exellence Awards
    would all be held together....  Where, I don't know...  Someone
    said Europe...
    
    Oops, I'm spreading rumors!  Forget what I just said.
    
    brett

    A formal announcement has come out that Sales, SWS, and Field Service
    will have combined award trips after this year.  They're combining
    DECathalon, Excellence Awards, and Challenge of Excellence into one
    event.  The announcement didn't even hint about where it would be, and
    with the current cost-cutting mentality in Digital, I wouldn't begin to
    speculate.  A weekend in Little Rock perhaps???  (^;
    
    							Pat

	I hadn't heard about the combined events, but the scaling down of SWS 
Excellence Awards has more than subtlely hinted around here.

    As I understand it, Circle of Excellence this year will be a 7 day
    cruise out of Miami.
    
    

>    As I understand it, Circle of Excellence this year will be a 7 day
>    cruise out of Miami.

I think that's Software Excellence Awards.  DECathalon this year is in  
Australia.  Circle of Excellence (e.g. the combined awards) doesn't start 
till next year.

    re .3
    
    What scaling down of Excellence Awards????
    
    We haven't heard anything (including winners) in my district, which
    seems strange.  What's going on.

>                -< Circle of Excellence is the new name for it >-

>    A formal announcement has come out that Sales, SWS, and Field Service
>    will have combined award trips after this year.  They're combining
>    DECathalon, Excellence Awards, and Challenge of Excellence into one
>    event.  


	Was Ed Services intentionally or unintentionally left off this
list?  As a manager in Ed Services, I have heard nothing about a
combining with the other functions, but it seems strange that all
the other Services would combine their Excellence Awards, and not include
ours.

Frank

    Frank, Ed Services was not mentioned in the official announcement I
    received.  I have no idea whether the omission was intentional or
    accidental.
    
    							Pat

    Are you folks for real?  Given the present state of the company,
    how can any special awards program be justified.  How about a weekend
    in the Holiday Inn in Dubuque??

>    < Note 890.9 by MSCSSE::LENNARD >
>                               -< Cancel It All >-
>    Are you folks for real?  Given the present state of the company,
>    how can any special awards program be justified [?]
    
    The company's just about to spend millions on Sales DECathlon in
    Australia and SWS Excellence Awards, cruise to the Carribbean.  
    I don't entirely disagree with you.  If we can freeze wages,
    we should freeze expensive awards programs, too.
    
        karl (2X SWS EA winner)

    Hmmm. Field Service could get their awards chopped down...  That
    probably means that they will cancel those expensive trips to
    local amusement parks or motels and replace them with somthing
    cheaper.
    
    Lee

	Since I think the pay freeze was/is a bad idea I don't see why
	these trips and other awards should be cut. People work hard for
	these things and should get what they've earned. The idea should
	not be to see the greatest harm to the greatest number of people.

			Alfred

    Folks, I work for SWS.  I will not attempt to defend the Excellence
    Awards trips because I can't really be objective.  But I believe that
    DECathalon is a *necessary* expense of doing business.  Our salespeople
    are not on commission.  I've been working with a division of my
    customer that's a DEC OEM, and also with some 3rd party people lately. 
    And one thing I've learned is that a good salesperson on commission can
    make six figures with one hand tied behind his/her back.  Yeah, I know,
    when times are bad they starve and all that jazz, but the bottom line
    is our salespeople don't have the *potential* of earning that kind of
    cash.  And on top of that every (and I mean *every*) major computer
    vendor sends its top salespeople on an exotic trip every year.  If we
    cut out DECathalon, it would be just one more nail in the coffin of our
    sales organization.  If we've ever needed our good salespeople, we need
    them now.  We must maintain the minimum compensation level it takes to
    attract and keep good salespeople.
    
    The other major vendors don't send their engineering people on trips. 
    They don't send their hardware people on expensive trips.  They don't
    send their software people on exotic trips.  That means Digital doesn't
    see a need to offer trips to Australia to our non-sales types either. 
    It all boils down to what we're forced to do to be competitive.
    
    							Pat

>>                -< Circle of Excellence is the new name for it >-

>>    A formal announcement has come out that Sales, SWS, and Field Service
>>    will have combined award trips after this year.  They're combining
>>    DECathalon, Excellence Awards, and Challenge of Excellence into one
>>    event.  

>	Was Ed Services intentionally or unintentionally left off this
>list?  As a manager in Ed Services, I have heard nothing about a
>combining with the other functions, but it seems strange that all
>the other Services would combine their Excellence Awards, and not include
>ours.

	Upon further thought, I realized *perhaps* why we in Ed Services
were not included in this.  A couple years ago, we changed our qualifying 
period to be Q4 through Q3, so we can evaluate our winners in time to 
announce them in May and hold our awards program in early July.  I believe 
the other groups have their awards in the fall.  The reason we moved ours 
into July was so there was less difficulty in freeing up instructors from 
their teaching committments to attend the Awards trip; it now starts on
the Friday after July 4th weekend when few Ed Services classes are 
scheduled.  

	I still think that if all the other Services are combining into
one Awards program, that ours should be included, too, somehow.

	I also think that ....... well, maybe I'll start a new topic.

Frank

    Frank,
    
    Though it may appear that Ed Services(Customer Training) was ignored
    perhaps it is because Customer Services is to be a part of the EIS
    organization(Enterprise Integration Services) which is the old SWS 
    without Sales Support. So the Circle of Excellences includes the
    three organizations of Sales, EIS and Field Service, and you are
    covered
    
    Karen 

    re: .10 etc.
    
    A large portion of the "zillions" have already been spent.  To book
    an event like DECathlon or SWS Excellence requires lots of $$ in
    advance.
    
    We shall see what the future will bring...
    
    Dave

    I am a Software Specialist from Singapore. IMHO:
    
    1) from a person viewpoint, yes have the awards as exotic as they go!!
    2) from a DEC viewpoint, no please scrap the SWS Eawards.
    
    We are being paid to provide customers with tech supports and
    satisfaction, NOT to win awards. If we win awards by *truly* providing
    excellence service then that's fine and good. BUT do we really provide
    *excellent* service? Is the customer really satisfied with the service
    or is he merely satisfied with the guy sweating it out? I think I know
    the answer, does anyone else?
    
    one of 'em in the trenches
    

    These exotic awards programs make me jealous (I'm in engineering; years
    ago when I was in software services, none of this stuff existed; here,
    if I am lucky, once every couple of years DEC buys me dinner at a
    medium-priced local restaurant - for example, the end of next month my
    group gets a dinner.  Big deal!), but if it is part of the cost of
    retaining good sales people, I guess it is necessary.
    
    /Charlotte (part of the behind-the-scenes crowd)

    
    This has been bugging me for a while, but I've kept my mounth shut.
    When is it not good enough to get a paycheck for doing your job
    good?  This is probably one case where spreading the word in this
    notesfile isn't the best for company harmoney.
    We see the UK braggin about their pay increases, and this note
    regarding excellence.
    
    Well, I'm here to tell you that my guys do a bang up job of support
    both the UK [who's getting salary increases] and sales [who's getting
    awards], and I can't even buy my folks a cup of coffee.  I'm dam
    proud of them, but little good that does for them.  But they are
    getting a paycheck and they are being prfessional thorough this
    mess.
    
    ed
    [just part of the forgotten support masses out here allowing you
    to get excellence awards,   your welcome.]
    

    
    < Note 890.19 by WORDS::BADGER "One Happy camper ;-)" >
 
    � We see the UK braggin about their pay increases, and this note
    � regarding excellence.
    
    I didn't think anyone from the UK  was bragging. Certainly not me.
    It is worth bearing in mind that for equivalent jobs the US pays
    more than the UK (even, I believe, after the freeze).
    Maybe you've been overpaying yourselves?
    
    As it is, I agree that the `support masses' do get a comparitively
    raw deal. But isn't this the wrong topic?
                                  
    M

< Ref: Note 890.20 by PEKING::HASTONM "Emm" >
    
>>> It is worth bearing in mind that for equivalent jobs the US pays
>>> more than the UK (even, I believe, after the freeze).
>>> Maybe you've been overpaying yourselves?
   
    Are we just comparing mere exchange rates without taking into account
    the difference in economies, living/loving styles, tax structures,
    lack of socialized medicine in the US (I am not for it), etc., etc.
    For example, my two children went for their regular checkup yesterday
    and the doctor's bill was $126; this is an amount that would have
    not been paid in the UK.  So comparing salaries over national
    boundaries is not fair.
    
    ......... Suchindran

    re .10
    
    Senior management actually took a look at canceling these events
    in light of the current salary freeze, etc. Things they considered
    were things like;
    
    	what would the affect be on sales/sws/and other services people
    	who would have "won"?
    
    	what is the affect on people who aren't eligible (i.e. engineers,
    	marketing people, etc.) when they see their paychecks frozen,
    	and yet we spend money on "lavish trips"?
                                                           
    	if we pulled out, how much money would we get back?
                                                
    After analyzing these things and others, it was decided to have
    the trips take place as planned. The money we could get back was
    minimal (extensive down payments had already been made to hotels,
    cruiseship lines, and other companies which were non-refundable
    for the most part). This, coupled with the affect it would potentially
    have on award winners and our ability to "retain our best on the
    payroll" and not have them start interviewing with the competition
    were probably major factors.
    
    

	Well, if it makes anyone feel better, Internal Software Services (ISWS)
is no longer eligible for Excellence Awards after this year (and though friends
of mine in SWS have told me who won there, we still haven't heard anything about
who won in ISWS.)

	The reason ISWS is no longer eligible is that "ISWS is not revenue
producing."

						--Doug
				(who was reputed to be excellent in 1987
				 and spent a few days in Acapulco...)

Of course engineering isn't revenue producing. For example, my CC spends a lot of money and
absolutely nothing comes back (well, not to us, anyway).  So lets lay off all the engineers.
Profits for FY90 will go way up.

Matt

.22>This, coupled with the affect it would potentially have on award
.22>winners and our ability to "retain our best on the payroll" and
.22>not have them start interviewing with the competition were
.22>probably major factors.

    Few, if any, would quit on a basis of financial loss (when the
    award(s) were cancelled), rather it would be due to a large
    downturn in morale. I wonder if impact on morale is considered
    in other decisions as well...
    
    Lee

	Consider also that if our REAL problem is, for purposes of argument, 
25,000 TOO many employees, and those employees are ON AVERAGE costing DEC 
$100,000 a year (salary, FICA, medical, etc), then compare that to probably 
less than $10M a year for ALL Incentive Programs NOT giving direct cash
payments.  I may even be high on the $10M. 

	Admittedly the specific numbers aren't exact but the scale of 
comparision is pretty accurate.  Anyone with accurate numbers please post.

	When they start canceling Incentive Programs for the front-line troops 
then we know we are in serious trouble as a company, IMHO.  In fact, didn't 
DECathelon start during the dark days of the early '80's?

	BTW, I'm sorry about ISWS losing SWS Excellence.  I would hope they 
institute another program for them.

RE .23:

	The reason ISWS is no longer eligible is that "ISWS is not revenue
	producing."

If ISWS is not revenue-producing, why do we have it? What would happen if we
didn't have it? Please don't try to kid me that Digital has ANY department
that is not revenue-producing!

There are a lot of unjustified assumptions enshrined in everyday discussions
and decisions. A related one is managers' attitudes to anything that is
described as an "overhead". Overheads, apparently, are bad, because they
don't add to the bottom line. So, again, why do we have them?

By this logic, the only sound business operation is one ALL of whose activities
bring in a profit. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is
Gordon Gekko's... leveraged buyouts and asset-stripping. In other words, never
create anything of value, just keep on earning money.

Because in a rational market you can't go one making profits without creating
something of value, this implies that *if you break up an operation into fine
enough pieces* you can ALWAYS find something you can call an "overhead". And -
what a coincidence - that will usually be the only thing that is really useful
or valuable that you are doing!

/Tom

�If ISWS is not revenue-producing, why do we have it? What would happen if we
�didn't have it?
    
    ISWS is a 'cost recovering' type group.  Which means our bottom
    line is close to 0.  ISWS (Internal Software Services) works the
    same as SWS consulting.  We supply Software Specialists to groups
    in Digital to assist there IS function or to develop software on
    a timely basis.  We also have system manager, operators and tech
    writers available.  These services are supplied by T&M or fixed
    (project-oriented) contracts.
    
    So, our billing + expenses - cost-center-cost should equal 0.
    
    We don't effect headcount in customer's organization and we usually
    don't need to be trained in the environment.  If we didn't exist
    those customers we need to increase headcount for peak periods.
    
    ISWS started out as a district within the NEA area.  I started with
    them 5 years ago with a headcount of 18.  Today we are an AREA within
    SWS with 3 districts and 200+.
    
    As for us not being eligible for the awards, I asked the local UM and
    the DM about the 'rumor'.  The answer was 'we are eligible for the FY90
    awards and since we are our own area, yes, we are anticipating
    developing our own awards program but nothing has been done or said to
    make us ineligible'.  There has been nothing in writing or communicated
    thru the proper channels saying we are no longer eligible. 
    
    gog
    

As the manager of an internal Site I.S. Support group (part of Corporate 
Admin), I have real problems with ISWS receiving Excellence awards similar to 
their revenue-generating counterparts in the Field. We have a modest awards
and recognition program that allows local discretion in nominating and issuing 
awards and it works. Trips to exotic places are fine for our hard-working Sales 
and Field Support organizations; internally its really rather unfair for ISWS 
to get these awards while the rest of us internal overhead organizations do 
not; and I believe its currently in the best interests of Digital for no 
overhead groups to receive awards of this magnitude.

Jim Mickol
Marlborough Area Site Information Services Manager

    Whether a group is a revenue producer or not shouldn't matter to
    those employees who significantly contribute to the bottom line
    profit of the corporation. If Digital sees fit to hand out awards
    for stellar performance, then anyone who makes a significant impact
    on corporate goals should be included.
                                
    I am part of a non-revenue organization called Corporate User
    Publications (CUP). We are similar to ISWS (mentioned in a previous
    reply) in that we supply writers, editors, artists, software
    specialists, and consultants to DEC internal groups. We are the
    corporation's largest documentation group and currently employ some
    600+ people worldwide. Many of our people are responsible for the 
    success of certain projects within the corporation and are duly 
    privileged to receive awards for outstanding performance. And
    justifiably so. You work hard, become an expert in your field, and
    should be rewarded for your contributions. That equates to a paycheck
    and any other program administered/approved by the corporation.
    
    Mike 

    The decision to send people from any group on special vacations is made
    on the basis of incentives which are typical for that profession. It's
    quite common for sales folk to be sent on special vacations. If that
    were the norm for programmers developing internal tools throughout
    industry, then you could expect similar treatment.
    
    It boils down to competitive compensation for your profession.
    
    -George

    .29
    
    Jim, the reason ISWS is/has been eligible for the awards was because we
    were part of the NEAS area and were govern'd by their rules. When we
    moved to Jim Kissane's Strategic Resource/Operations their has been
    talk of replacing the Excellence awards with our own award program.
    That was about 1� years ago.  Now that we are our own area the changes
    should happen. 
    
    I don't think its right to classify us any different then the
    'hard-working' external groups.  We don't produce the revenue but we do
    work hard to save the corporation money (cost-recovery) and we are
    available to the external units when needed to produce that extra
    revenue.  I wouldn't classify us as an 'overhead' organization under
    those circumstances.
    
    gog
     

re .7, .14, .15 (Ed Services involvement)

	Last week I had a chance to ask Pat Cataldo, VP of Ed Services,
	what the story was behind Ed Services being included or excluded
	from Circle of Excellence.  His response was that we had been
	invited to participate, but no decision has been made as to
	whether or not we would.  The main reasons why Ed Services
	would not get involved are basically the ones outlined in .14


Frank

	...but my DSWM forwarded a memo from Dave Grainger to us today that said
that Circle of Excellence would be in Hawaii next year.  No other details.

	The memo mentioned SWS Excellence, Challenge of Excellence, and DECath-
alon as being combined.  What is Challenge of Excellence?

    .34> What is Challenge of Excellence?

    It is the Customer Services (you know, Field Service) equivalent of
    Excellence Awards and DECathalon. 

	... wanted it confirmed!

	Which would now bring us to the subject of the OTHER "services" orgs:


			Ed. Svs.

			ISWS

			CSS

			[anyone else???]

Why should they be left out the program?  Ed. Svs and CSS especially, since they
are under Busiek's command.

    ISWS is part of SWS
    
    CSS, SWS, and Ed Services are all part of EIS.
    
    The EIS program is the Excellence Awards.