Directors pay rise
 

This has not been announced and as usual will expect the usual stick aboput it untill its announced .

Due to many savings in the company, and a better financial outlook within the communications sector. In other words its more profitable a nice pay rise for NTL directors in september.

Watch this space

Remember i got the BB upgrade dates :D not been wrong on my predictions, remember that NTL is like a colander full off leaks.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

*Shrug*

Whoever keeps passing you this info should be fired tbh they do no credit to the company whatsoever passing this stuff around.

As far as the subject in question goes, as a customer + employee none of my business so long at they've delivered the results required of them to justify pay rises, and we'll have to see exactly what these pay rises are. I'm certainly not going to jump up and down on a vague rumour like this one.

FWIW no really interesting fact here, where companies have improved financially of course directors, etc will be given payrises.

Let's see what happens before we go witch hunting eh?

Re: Directors pay rise
 

All i can say is that it drops right out of Hook

Re: Directors pay rise
 

As should whomever keeps giving you this stuff - way out of order especially considering whomever is doing it knows you are going to broadcast it far and wide with a smug grin on your face.

Anyway that's OT so will shaddap about it.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Sorry, but I disagree. Whoever it is should continue until the relevent people within ntl get off their butts and start communicating dates such as these and other important information. I mean ffs, how stupid are they? It can only be a good thing for ntl to get some positive publicity. It's how many days to August and where is the official communication?

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Getting such information out of ntl is always welcome but only if it's proven to be true. I'm not really interested in rumour or speculation so with respect, I'll not take it too seriously until I see the official press release.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

I haven't any inside info on this, but I would think its almost a certainty. I'm not a gambling man but would feel safe putting my money on it.

CableTel/ntl as a company of pulling the wool over peoples eyes, its not difficult to manipulate things to make them look good to shareholders. The only way ntl directors have improved the figures is by shedding loads of jobs, they are playing the old corporate game of keep chopping at the roots and hope the tree doesn't fall over. When they get to the stage that things dont operate anymore, they know they have found the minimum staffing level. Unfortunately some functions in a company do not show the signs of harm with these prsctices until its too late.

The company has been squeezing employees for a long time, they are increasing peoples workload and managers are acting like dictators whilst telling people to walk out if they dont like it as they are easily replaced. this is happening in some ntl departments, I know its certainly happening in one of the old departments I used to work for, as the department has recently had three people go sick with stress within a metter of weeks. The hours lost through people being sick with stress in that department over the last three years has increased dramatically, a certain amount was due to the slackers who were unhappy at having to pull their finger out but now it is causing previously concsientious, keen workers to take time off.

These factors and the general operational shambles that ntl is in will be well hidden amongst the figures, and the shareholders will be unaware about the huge potential pitfalls waiting around the corner.

I will admit that when the economy starts to look better and more suitable jobs become available in the next inevitable boom for technical employees, I for one will have a big smile on my face.
ntl will reap what they sow, the directors can only get away with treating people like s**t whilst there are so few jobs around.

I am prepared to have a tenner on the directors getting a good rise and bonuses, certainly far higher that the little rise and bonus the ntl workers are getting these days.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Remember Russ i had the dates for the increase and you have known me more right than wrong in getting info first;)

Re: Directors pay rise
 

There is a large customer base out there in a cable franchised area. Waiting for the cable BB to come this increase in money should be used wisely like expanding the network building a future plan for greater growth. Showing vision of better things.. not lining the pockets of those few wealthy bosses who can only see a way to increase profits by reducing staff..

A healthy company increases customer base while retaining the old customers which in turn increases the profits. If they turned their hearing aids on for a while and removed their blinkers they might see a better why ahead.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

No need to be sorry, I of all people agree with openness but not when it extends to just feeding the rumour mill, especially with somene who takes such delight in spreading the word.

There's quite enough of the rumour mill grinding to be had within the company without somene who appears to be fairly senior releasing info to someone like th'eng (he knew the dates of the tier uplift before I did....) In this case it's absolutely irrelevant and will just drop the morale of staff some more which does no body any favours apart from a little ego massaging.

I'm sure the 12,000 of us left really enjoy having this stuff rubbed in our faces, it's none of your bloody business this stuff stop obsessing about your cable company for God's sake it's ridiculous. When the service works be happy, when it doesn't you have the absolute right to know what has gone wrong, what goes on behind closed doors that doesn't concern you is none of your £^%$ÃƒÆ ’ƒâ€šÃ‚£% business.

Yes my comments are in no small part due to whomever the leaker is being rather nosey, and a lot better informed apparently about everything including my job and things surrounding it. Is wonderful I'm sure for the morale of all of the staff knowing that someone high up cares more about leaking to you than informing their own staff.

Escapee: I am rather bored of your sympathy, you left the company a while ago, stop painting the rest of us out as being depressed, overworked, etc. Some levels no doubt are but some are ok. Fact is NTL was heavily overweight of people compared to its' peers in the rest of the world, so redundancies and consolidation were an absolute necessity. Far too many sites with work spread over them.

The only thing I agree with you about is engineers on the ground at service tech and network level, I'd love to see more of them.

Anyway must go, I have a gun to my head and am being forced to work the last 24 hours of my 72 hour shift now.....

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Oh well you may be bored of me thats OK.

The one thing you agree with me about ie: network and service techs, is the very thing that management doesn't seem to agree on.

I do indeed have sympathy for people being treated badly, not a single month goes by without hearing of some new bad news from people in these departments. It's clear that management are trying to wipe these service and network technicians off the bottom of their shoes.

I also find it amazing that many people such as yourself who have stuck up for ntl in the past and had a go at criticising anyone like myself who gives a balanced but negative view about ntl and how they really operate in technical areas other than CS and Swansea support. Most of these previous posters who had never even worked in the departments that I describe have now fallen generally into 3 categories.

1: Redundant, bitter and not posting anymore.
2: Gone quiet because they have realised "they" are now being s**t on themselves.
3: Putting their tongue in their cheek and saying everything is great at ntl.

There are of course the few and far between ones that are happy, and the ones that are happy because they dont know any different. I can also accept that many employees feel it personal when an attack is made on their employer, as someone who took a bit of pride in his work I felt exactly the same. The big difference was among the service and network technicians in the area that I worked, I can never remember any of them saying ntl was a good company. if they were to be questioned publically they may give a different view though.

It's suprising what some managers used to say about the company after a few beers!

ntl will not alter, never.
Until management realise their problems are not just financial, things will loaf along on that same crest of Bulls**t that it has done for years.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

I've been saying that for a very long time....

Re: Directors pay rise
 

I agree with some of what you say Escapee, while I disagree with your assessment of your own views as always balanced I agree with more of what you say than you realise...

Re: Directors pay rise
 

The problem faced by so many companies is one of pay, the disparity between directors and 'coal-face' employees and delivering results.

There is the headline that directors will be paid more, and I cannot say I am surprised. They have been tasked with improving results, lowering debt, increasing revenue. They have (to arguably varying degrees) suceeded in these goals.

The next problem faced is retaining quality senior management - I don't know any of the characters we're talking about, but as a customer there have been improvements (nowhere near like what I want to see, but improvements all the same).

You have to ask the question, could any other director (not working for ntl) do it better given the state (in my opinion) that the previous pair (Carter and Knapp) left it in? It's going to be a slow process, but if they are delivering results for then they should be rewarded.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

As a customer (not for long) my personal experience has been that things have not improved. After my recent fiasco with threats from a debt collection agency and customer care hanging up on my calls "Three" times, I have to say things are not an improvement from my experiences.
(Please note they didn't hang up because of abuse, just couldn't be bothered with another customer problem)

As an ex-employee, and someone who socialises with old collegues from ntl I must also say that things are on a downward spiral. the signs are that management have squeezed everything and cut employee numbers to a minimum to please the financial people. Management in certain departments are trying things in desperation to keep the bosses further up the ladder sweet.

I think customers and shareholders will only see the results of the short sighted actions in the long term, ntl should put effort into showing their employees they are a valued asset. I feel that for many its past this stage and they are already as cynical and negative about ntl as I was on leaving the company. Posters sometimes mention that its a long time since I left ntl, thats true but nothing positive has happened to the departments I was involved with since I left, all I hear about is the latest thing that management have done in what appears like an effort to p**s people off so they will leave on their own decision. :td:

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Agree with some, disagree with other parts. Reduction in staff numbers, and a massive reduction at that has been absolutely necessary and a natural part of consolidating so many companies into one. I will say however that some of that reduction has come in the wrong places.

Centralisation is a vital part of getting more economies of scale out of the company, there's no point in having callcentres all over the UK, it's simply a waste of money and uneconomical from the point of view that one region can be absolutely caned with calls another idle. Cable companies of comparative sizes elsewhere have 12,000 or less staff - ntl at one time was massively massively overweight .com boom and all that and is still a little heavy. Financial security is an essential thing to look after, while ntl still suffers under a fairly large debt burden you have to expect financial restraint to be an issue.

I think Escapee the people you talk to must be the ones who are having the real issues and are actually undermanned / having bad times of it, because they've never ever had anything positive to say, which makes one wonder why they are doing a job they hate so much when you yourself I believe left it and immediately got a better paid one elsewhere?

People who are already 'urinated' off are rarely unbiased judges of anything new. At the same time no doubt in their opinion there's nothing to be happy about. Some no doubt remember the good old days with the original cable company that built the network.... and would probably now be very very much bust if it hadn't been acquired.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Yes ntl is still overstaffed in some areas, the department I left had no work and that situation three years on is still the same. There are other departments running in very similar circumstances and its a delicate balance because paying people to do nothing is sometimes the best option because their skills could be needed in the future. Some people have built up skills in certain areas over a number of years and getting rid of these people will cause a big headache further down the line.

yes again, I do know people in ntl who are very negative. There was a big move in the networks department in my old region a few years before the planning for growth fiasco when the company lost some good employees in the networks department. We cant generalise on the ones that are left in the department but I can say morale has over the last 12 months or so spiralled downwards. I know two technicians that were both exceptionally keen (I really mean that) they were very thorough and could always be counted on to work awkward hours when there was an emergency.
Both these employees are now off work with stress as a result of treatment by a manager who has no understanding of handling people and quite frankle held the position of "Storeman" in ntl not to many years ago.

The field operation managers are controlled by a guy who was previously a switch technician, I never ha dto work with the guy myself but everyone complained about his lazyness and unhelpful attitude. This guy was on a disciplinary for not carrying out a task that caused ntl a lot of money in lost revenue, as a result he went sick with stress. He returned to work and was given a supervisors position when one became available.

its just ironic that this same person is hounding technicians and has actually been warned for listening in on technicians phone calls whilst they clear them with the faults department. his latest idea is apparently to get the headend technicians out into the field working on faults, this will only result in the increase of time to clear headend faults as they have to travel back from the network. He has taken this decision because of the amount of network technicians off work with stress/sickness, perhaps if he had the sense to treat them a bit better he wouldn't be in this situation.

The company has trodden the network/service departments into the ground, they have slowly removed perks such as Fuel, Cars, use of phone, decent bonus and forcing lower grade technicians onto callout with the threat of disciplinary procedures even though their contract says different. The company has used bully boy tactics because they know in the current climate there are very few oppertunities for these technicians to go elsewhere. Some of these guys are approaching retirement age and are just riding it out, others have asked for redundancy but there were too many on the list asking for it when the last redundancies were carried out.

Yes, I did leave ntl for a job with more money. I also found it funny whilst bumping into some ntl people who were having a leaving drink one night, one of these was a former HR person and for once an HR person was telling the truth as we all knew.

I could of stuck it out, I wasn't in the slightest worried about redundancy but more worried about ending up working for some pr** of a manager as the one mentioned above. I was listed on three organisational charts and decided I had no intention of working under 2 of the people listed. I'm sure if I had stayed, I would of been demoted and ended up back out on the network where I started because of a skills shortage due to very few suitably experienced engineers.

I think its much different in the forward support roles to office based, I guess one callcentre or tech support job is the same as the next no matter what company. The guys on the networks these days are not getting the support of their managers, the managers are just jumping on them at every opportunity.

PS: I understand the one tech who has recently gone sick with stress in my old region, did so because his manager boll****d him for still being in the headend after 9.30am when the guy was actually working on a faulty piece of equipment in the building. I understand he was told there was no exception to the rule! Do we expect a storeman to understand the technicians job! :rolleyes:

Re: Directors pay rise
 

That's what they have been tasked with - it's not going to please everyone (I'm a customer too and I'm still not pleased with their service), but these guys work for the shareholders not the customers.

There's no doubt talking to people like yourself that there are many issues that still (after many years) need addressing - and it sounds to me like you're better off out of it :)

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Nice one. :tu:

Typical of big companies, instead of using the money they have saved to improve the network, they line the "gold diggers" pockets instead.

Who are we to argue? We are not shareholders, we are just your customers. :)

Re: Directors pay rise
 

We are all "stakeholders" in the company customers associates shareholders.

If we voice our concerns usually with most companies they take notice of the customers.

Re: Directors pay rise
 

But is NTL like most companies? :)

Re: Directors pay rise
 

:D

Re: Directors pay rise
 

i agree with everything in your last statement and can confirm everything about the "storeman" and "switch tech", it was unbelievable when S.T was b...ocked for being in the headend working. i heard this week that another network tech has resigned for being disiplined for making two phone calls on his company mobile to tell his manager he would be in on monday and the other to arrange a lift off another tech!!!!!

Re: Directors pay rise
 

If that is true then the fool who disiplined him should be disiplined themselves for total idiocy and incompetance. How stupid can you get. :rolleyes:

Re: Directors pay rise
 

I am glad you have backed up my claims, too many times in the past mainly on .com but here as well, I'm sure my posts have been treated with contempt and sometimes rubbished by other ntl employees who are not in departments experiencing this sort of treatment.

I understand certain techs have been singled out and being watched for things like mobile calls, all because there face doesn't fit or their particular manager happens to be a b*****d to work for. The service and network techs seem to be treated like little kids these days, a far different approach from when I worked in that department.

You will probably agree with my view that S.T. (not the manager) is or should I say "was" a very good worker, his keen attitude and willingness to undertake all that he was asked of made him a valuable asset to that department. The other guy who was/is off with stress F.M. is/was another good guy, he was always noted for doing a thorough job but unfortunately thoroughness takes time, and getting the job done right first time so there is no repeat calls to that fault does not count in ntl's attitude to running what is essentially a maintenance department on statistics. These Network Technicians are employed to maintain the network and my opinion is maintenance people having to run around while there managers act like headless chickens shows there is much wrong with the organisation.

I have not heard about the other network tech resigning but as the jobs market picks up it will surely happen more often, the network techs will start leaving as opportunities arise as they did about 4-5 years ago.
We all know the least capable employees are not going to be the ones leaving in that department, when it happened last time it took a few years to encourage and train new suitable people to move up the ladder. I don't think that will be as easy now with morale on an ever downward trend.

How the h*ll did the worst employees in those departments become managers :erm:

Re: Directors pay rise
 

It is a well known phenomenon called "brown nosing". :D

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Yes I know, the two latest additions to my department/company are fantastic at it, It amazes me how my boss can't seem to see straight through them!

I'm afraid it's not one of my qualities, if my boss comes up with a crap idea I just tell him straight. :D

Re: Directors pay rise
 

I always find it annoying that when a company is doing well the "fat cat" bosses are quite happy to take high salaries, bonuses and pensions but when a company starts to do badly they still take the high salaries and bonuses and make cuts at the expenses of other people's job, salaries and pensions.

One thing very rarely heard is a boss admitting that the parlous state of their company is his/her fault and it's even less rare to have a failing boss tendering a resignation.

In many cases, unlike lower ranking sacked employees, they have a golden handshake deal, which allows them to retire in comfort often well before the statutory retirement age.

Isn't it time we had a fair deal for ALL the workers?

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Update!

That single small department now has 1 person long term sick and 3 others off with stress.

The person who resigned is a seperate item, this was another example of poor treatment and the unwarranted discipline was just the final straw for this person.

They have lost another good, well experienced guy. :erm:

Where will it all end, will management ever realise they can't go on treating people like **** without them hitting back.

ntl managers :td:

Poorly treated service/network techs :tu: Give them crap managers hell!

Re: Directors pay rise
 

Think we need to really look at who makes the money for the company the workers or directors