Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

From NYT:

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16 - Hewlett-Packard continued its turnaround in the third quarter, with the giant computer and printer maker announcing Tuesday that its revenue rose 10 percent, beating analyst expectations….It was a strong quarter on nearly all dimensions,” said A. M. Sacconaghi Jr., an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company who owns no shares of Hewlett stock. “Even the traditionally weak businesses for H.-P., PC’s and enterprise computing, are continuing their turnaround.”

Hmmm…good news, above analysts’ expectations, continuing a turnaround, even lackluster divisions, including PCs increasing revenues…yet in the same article…

“Tuesday’s announcement came four weeks after Mr. Hurd announced he would lay off 14,500 workers, or nearly 10 percent of the company’s employees, over the next 18 months…That announcement had no impact on the company’s bottom line; Mr. Hurd said the company was still working through the details of who would be laid off, and in what divisions, in the months ahead. ”

I think I’ve fallen down the corporate rabbit hole again. Who does Mr. Hurd think produced those results he’s touting to analysts and the press? It wasn’t magic, it was people working…many of whom he’s planning to fire. If I were an HP employee, I’d really be motivated to keep up that turnaround momentum.

The other interesting piece of this is that “She whose name dare not be mentioned” is the one who laid the groundwork for this turnaround. The new CEO is getting the credit…and so it goes.

Regardless of the size or type of our business - we should never forget “It’s the people, stupid.” If you ever find yourself using terms like “cut headcount” - stop and remember those heads contain the brains that produce results…and are attached to human beings.