Wells Fargo is an American international banking and financial services holding company that was accused by Federal regulations of illegal activity where the employees at the bank secretly created millions of on authorized bank and credit card accounts between 2011 and 2015 allowing the bank to make more money in fees and me the internal sales targets this scandal lead to 5300 low level employees being discharged. The bank paying 185 million dollors in fines and the southern retirement of longtime CEO and chairman John Stumpf.
Several former Wells Fargo employees described that the bank’s culture was built on selling as many products to customers as possible, and that management was putting relentless pressure on their employees and setting wildly unrealistic sales targets. It even led to managers asking their employees to cross ethical and legal lines in order to meet sales quotas. Some workers tried to stop these illegal tactics and contacted the HR department to report the unethical sales activities that were instructed upon them. Wells Fargo then retaliated against the whistleblowers by discharging them based on different reasons. Some of the employees were terminated because of tardiness, while others endured harsh workplace bullying and were either being pinned for something they didn’t do, or forced to sign false confessions of illegal behavior. This shows a major breach of trust from Wells Fargo, not providing protection for employees who were willing to speak up about illegal activities happening in the workplace.
Several former Wells Fargo employees described that the bank’s culture was built on selling as many products to customers as possible, and that management was putting relentless pressure on their employees and setting wildly unrealistic sales targets. It even led to managers asking their employees to cross ethical and legal lines in order to meet sales quotas. Some workers tried to stop these illegal tactics and contacted the HR department to report the unethical sales activities that were instructed upon them. Wells Fargo then retaliated against the whistleblowers by discharging them based on different reasons. Some of the employees were terminated because of tardiness, while others endured harsh workplace bullying and were either being pinned for something they didn’t do, or forced to sign false confessions of illegal behavior. This shows a major breach of trust from Wells Fargo, not providing protection for employees who were willing to speak up about illegal activities happening in the workplace.
Wells fargo had a cutthroat work environment where managers forced their employees to engage in illegal activities and used threats of employee terminations if they didn’t comply. These types of work environments result in employees working in fear of getting discharged, leaving no room for real employee engagement or ways for employees to develop and grow in their workplace. It’s clear to see that the management at Wells Fargo was too focused on getting their monetary awards that they turned a blind eye to the unethical and illegal behaviors that were happening. This case was a clear example of a company using an incentive system where the pressure to produce and meet targets resulted in undesirable behaviors of deceiving, stealing and engaging in identity theft of customers.
After the illegal acts became public, Wells Fargo’s leadership shifted the blame onto lower-level employees, an outrageous act committed in an attempt to salvage their damaged reputation. After the scandal broke, former CEO and chairman John Stumpf declared that they were going to drop sales goals that fueled bad behavior, as well as to abandon their old business model of boosting pay based on the number of products sold. However, many of the employees still remaining in the company continue to suffer from anxiety and depression due to the high-stress work environment. In the aftermath of the scandal, the workforce still didn’t feel understood or heard by the management. They were angry that the company put the blame on the employees, when it was the management that set too unrealistic targets and forced their employees into making the fake accounts. This is a case of lost employee engagement when the workforce sees how the management cares more about receiving monetary awards than the well being and fair treatment of their employees.
After the illegal acts became public, Wells Fargo’s leadership shifted the blame onto lower-level employees, an outrageous act committed in an attempt to salvage their damaged reputation. After the scandal broke, former CEO and chairman John Stumpf declared that they were going to drop sales goals that fueled bad behavior, as well as to abandon their old business model of boosting pay based on the number of products sold. However, many of the employees still remaining in the company continue to suffer from anxiety and depression due to the high-stress work environment. In the aftermath of the scandal, the workforce still didn’t feel understood or heard by the management. They were angry that the company put the blame on the employees, when it was the management that set too unrealistic targets and forced their employees into making the fake accounts. This is a case of lost employee engagement when the workforce sees how the management cares more about receiving monetary awards than the well being and fair treatment of their employees.
Sources:
BBC News 2016. Wells Fargo boss John Stumpf steps down. URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37639648. Accessed: 2 May 2017.
BBC News 2016. Wells Fargo boss urged to resign over accounts scandal. URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37419968. Accessed: 2 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. I called the Wells Fargo ethics line and was fired. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/21/investing/wells-fargo-fired-workers-retaliation-fake-accounts/index.html. Accessed: 2 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. Inside Wells Fargo, workers say the mood is grim. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/03/investing/wells-fargo-morale-problem/index.html. Accessed: 3 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. “Wells Fargo isn’t the only one”: Other bank workers describe intense sales tactics. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/22/investing/wells-fargo-fake-accounts-banks/index.html. Accessed: 3 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. Wells Fargo made me work overtime — without extra pay. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/30/investing/wells-fargo-workers-wage-theft-overtime/index.html. Accessed: 3 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. Workers Tell Wells Fargo Horror Stories. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/09/investing/wells-fargo-phony-accounts-culture/index.html. Accessed: 3 May 2017.
Gomez-Mejia, L.R., Balkin, D.B. and Cardy, R.L. 2016. Managing Human Resources. Global Edition 8/E. Pearson. London.
BBC News 2016. Wells Fargo boss John Stumpf steps down. URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37639648. Accessed: 2 May 2017.
BBC News 2016. Wells Fargo boss urged to resign over accounts scandal. URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37419968. Accessed: 2 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. I called the Wells Fargo ethics line and was fired. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/21/investing/wells-fargo-fired-workers-retaliation-fake-accounts/index.html. Accessed: 2 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. Inside Wells Fargo, workers say the mood is grim. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/03/investing/wells-fargo-morale-problem/index.html. Accessed: 3 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. “Wells Fargo isn’t the only one”: Other bank workers describe intense sales tactics. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/22/investing/wells-fargo-fake-accounts-banks/index.html. Accessed: 3 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. Wells Fargo made me work overtime — without extra pay. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/30/investing/wells-fargo-workers-wage-theft-overtime/index.html. Accessed: 3 May 2017.
Egan, M. 2016. Workers Tell Wells Fargo Horror Stories. URL: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/09/investing/wells-fargo-phony-accounts-culture/index.html. Accessed: 3 May 2017.
Gomez-Mejia, L.R., Balkin, D.B. and Cardy, R.L. 2016. Managing Human Resources. Global Edition 8/E. Pearson. London.
