Motorola

I worked at Motorola for four years. I liked the job and was one of 300 new employees that started on the day the facility officially opened. I had just moved to Arlington with GW in fall of 2002 and my job at Motorola has finally begun after many weeks of waiting for a start date. I think they had some inventory issues that set back the opening date for the new facility just North of Fort Worth. It was a huge undertaking to move an entire warehouse from Chicago to Texas. The plan was to get Fort Worth up and running, and as our warehouse ramped up production over the next few months Chicago production geared down. It would eventually close after about a year of transition. The facility in Fort Worth would assume the role of main production for all cell phone kits. The parts would be manufactured in other places and shipped into Fort Worth. Then warehoused and packed into the kits that are sold to retailers. Each kit was inspected to verify contents, serial numbers and ensure it meet customer standards. Standard items in each kit included the phone, battery, manual, charger, and back cover. All were packed in to glossy retail boxes that all had the large Motorola symbol on them. Rule number one at Motorola was never cover part of the symbol. The company took pride in symbols and brand name. My new job role was to pick and process orders for bulk distribution to the retailers. I did not have to work on the pack lines. That was a good thing. Standing in one place was not easy and hard on your back. Our smaller group ran only one shift and shipped bulk items such as phone chargers to stores like Best Buy and Walmart. I had no idea why Walmart would want 1000 car changers, but we just filled the order. I learned fast and took a great interest in meeting the expectations of our retailers. Ann was the lead for our group. She was from Chicago and was in Texas for three months to train new employees and help the new distribution center take off. She was an older white woman with long blonde hair. She spoke with a northern accent. She was friendly and she and I had a friendship right away. She was a great trainer. The very first day, she took a group of 15 new people, explained the process and defined goals. She put us to work and we had a fairly productive first day. It was impressive. I could see why she had been with the company for 20 years and worked her way up to lead. She would answer questions in a way that was understandable. Ann led our group for a few months. Then when it was time return back to Chicago, she talked to me in private. She shared with me that the lead job was going to be passed to someone in our work group. Ann was in Texas only temporally. She was going to suggest me. I was happily surprised. She recognized my ability to learn and had observed good work habits that could be developed in to a solid Group lead. She made her recommendation and the next week I started one-on-one training with Ann. I would become the Group lead for the next two years at Motorola. I had 15 people working for me and was responsible for training, daily work assignments and meeting production goals set our supervisor. I also learned a lot about warehouse logistics, and inventory management. These are two skills that have helped me in my career path. I was promoted to customer order expeditor in for the entire warehouse while at Motorola. The position had come open I and I applied. I did not get it. I was so crushed that I was ready to walk. But I chose to stay because I needed to keep my benefits. The woman they gave the job to, was a total bitch. And they felt that he would be more demanding and controlling when it came to pushing order through the warehouse. Actually it just made everyone hate her. My approach to working in the warehouse was one of cooperation, and team work, not by being an overbearing bitch. “The bitch” eventually got fired for talking down to the wrong people. She was too abrasive to be affective. So after a few months the job came open again. I did not apply. Why would I want a job working for the same manager who didn’t want me before? I knew they had made a mistake with the other woman. But they would never admit it. I was approached by another manager. Apparently he was replacing the existing and he wanted me to come work for him one he was officially in the leadership role. This was great news, I could finally work for someone who really wanted me and appreciated my skills. I applied and went to work as the new Expeditor for the warehouse. My new job was tracking orders, contacting customers, and serving a liaison between operations team and the retail customer. Finally I had what I wanted, advancement. I used my considerable operations knowledge to my advantage and was able to address issue directly with the inventory teams, because I knew them by name. I liked my new role at Motorola. I tried very hard and it paid off. But sadly the company had some setbacks. They were always in competition with Nokia and Apple was emerging as a lead in phone technology. Blackberry was always right in the middle. The last big hit was the Motorola Razr phone, but it could not complete with the apple products which hit the market in 2007. So in 2008, I was laid off by Motorola. The operations of the facility would be taken over by a third party company who felt they could undercut over head by using all temp workers. Motorola executives went for it and left their employees without jobs. I hear they got bonuses for saving the company money with this new scheme. So I finished out my term and left the company with a small severance based on my service time. It really was not much. I felt like a slap in the face from the company where I worked for four years. I turned in my badge on my last day, signed my paperwork in HR and never looked back.