Well, hey. Remember that speech that Jack gave at the SHRM conference? Some of his remarks made the paper…and, not in a good way. You can read the story here or, if you’re like me and don’t pay for internet content unless necessary, read the Salon post about it here. My savvy Uncle Tony saw it and forwarded it.
Hmm. When I was sitting there listening and he delivered the quote that is controversial, I looked around and saw a shocked sea of female faces. They had come to see a big shot who was “good at HR”, and they were seeing a curmudgeon who is unapologetically cranky and not family friendly at all.
The quote in question:
“There’s no such thing as work-life balance,” Mr. Welch [said]. “There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.”
Mr. Welch said those who take time off for family could be passed over for promotions if “you’re not there in the clutch.”
“The women who have reached the top of Archer Daniels, of DuPont, I know these women. They’ve had pretty straight careers,” he said in an interview with journalist Claire Shipman, before thousands of HR specialists.
“We’d love to have more women moving up faster,” Mr. Welch said. “But they’ve got to make the tough choices and know the consequences of each one.”
Sooooo.
What makes this more interesting to me was the reaction of a woman I met on the shuttle bus that night. She was still fuming, but from a surprising perspective. “I’m mad, but because I WORKED for him. I was in one of the GE divisions that he talks about, and we all knew that the window dressing did not match the world we saw from the inside. Now, he’s starting to reveal that truth.”
Employer of Choice? Perhaps, only in the marketing. Not in the execution…
Take a minute and read the comments on the WSJ article – no subscription needed, and very enlightening…
Your thoughts?
Smilin' Jack
Karl Ahlrichs' Uncommon Experience 
I did not attend the conference, but for several years I have steadfastly refused to be a Jack Welch fan. I have been in a large number of executive and manager offices where the bookshelf has a JW book, almost as a badge of honor, and others have gushed over JW. His “rank & yank” model of talent management was rejected by his successor, who continued to “rank” but was less inclined to “yank”.
Cool site, love the info.
If only more than 49 people would hear about this!