Sunday, February 22, 2009

Jobless...

Have you seen the TRUE effects of the recession on the economy? If not, than I'll let you escape from your fantasy to reality. Reality is that there are VERY few jobs and many losing jobs as we wait around for some type of government aid. Ha! I laugh at those naive people who thinks things are okay the way former President Bush left our economy. Why is it that we have people holding their homes hostage or pleading with their electric company to keep the lights on another week until they get a check...? What a sad thing happening in this oh so great country we call America. People all over the world needs help and there has been NONE so far. As a recent college graduate with my B. S. of Public Relations and holding an A. A. in Business Administration/Econ, I've seen these hardships first hand through friends and family. I've been in search for a good job for some time now and never have I had any worthy company give me an opportunity worth my while. When will we as Americans get a chance for success. I have an extensive resume, so that makes me either "over" qualified or "underqualified" for jobs. In many cases, I am over qualified. I think it's merely BS that not even the city has any job opportunities available. As the older generation destroy's our furture for us, our children, their children and so on we are left to wonder what quality life will we all have...? Help us Mr. President we need jobs!

Sincerely,

An Advocate for LIFE and preservation of Tradition.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Awards & Honors: Wachovia

Being recognized through publications is the best achievement one could have...right? Well for Wachovia, they pride themselves in their accomplishments. The following is a list of awards they have received to a best in class and diverse workforce:

"Working Mother magazine has again named Wachovia one of America's 100 best companies for working mothers

DiversityInc has named Wachovia one of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity for the sixth consecutive year.

For the seventh time, LATINA Style magazine has recognized Wachovia as one of the top 50 companies for professional Hispanic women in the United States.

Wachovia's solid reputation for hiring and promoting African American women has won the company another honor from Essence magazine. For the fourth time, Essence has named Wachovia to its list of the 25 Great Places for Black Women to Work.

Wachovia is one of the “Elite Eight” named to Pink magazine’s inaugural list of the Top Companies for Women.

Military Spouse magazine recently ranked Wachovia fifth on its list of the nation's "Top 10 Military Spouse Friendly Employers

The Black Collegian's Top 100 Employers Survey included Wachovia among its major employers in industry, government, and business examined for hiring trends.

For the seventh year in a row, Training magazine has named Wachovia one of the best companies in North America for employee training and development. Wachovia ranked 31, an increase of 17 positions over last year

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recently recognized Wachovia as one of its Top 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces. " (http://www.wachovia.com/misc/0,,498,00.html)

Wachovia uses their awards and recognitions to show the public the diversity within the work place, background and their involvement within the company. These recognitions help the public awareness and the actions the Wachovia company is taking to help better serve its neighborhoods and it's employers. I think that a company's recognition is vital for its reputation and should always be apart of their social media presence. The website only shows a partial list of awards and recognitions they have received, but the list they have is yet again diverse in content and useful. I was actually shocked at the vast ethnic awards and recognitions they have acquired and commend them for their commitment to fair work place values.

Based on my research, I am more likely to want to work for the Wachovia Corporation. My decision to want to work for a company like wachovia comes solely from what I've dicovered about the company. For instance, the awards and recognitions would be on the "Pros" for wachovia. A diverse workforce shows the companies willingness to practice fairness in the work place. Additionally, I really admire Wachovia's efforts to help it's clients, customers, investors and etc through a tough transition, as well as thier community involvement through educational programs and other funding that is needed in our communities.

Using the Groundwell: Wachovia

The Groundswell has become an increasingly growing means for corporate companies. The Groundswell is something that many companies are adopting. What is it? The groundswell encourages the use of social media networks in order to get more feedback and to see what people are saying about your company. In this generation, Social media has become a part of our everyday lives.

My fortune 500 company choice was Wachovia and in order to examine to what extent they are engaging in the use of the groundswell…I hit the internet! Immediately, I went to search Google for “Wachovia twitter” and up pops the Wachovia Company via twitter! Surprised? I think not! Twitter also includes a list of Companies that uses social media and those that do not at the following link: http://twarketing.com/tag/fortune-500/

Wachovia engages with their audiences on twitter, Blogs, myspace and other networks. I'd have to say that Wachovia is getting use to the Social Media and how it's important to participate with the audiences watching you.

As a current account holder at Wachovia and an active person in social media I am always looking for news about the company...especially since they are in the midst of a transition. I'd recommend that Wachovia continues the use of the groundswell due to the technology trend of social media. It's engaging and always good to receive feedback, but to utilize the data one receives will be the ultimate test for the company.



*A condensed version of my previous blog Wachovia and the Groundswell

Wachovia: Newsroom

When one is searching for information online about the current events within a specific company, they often look for something that is user friendly and easy to get navigate through. With Wachovia, I'd have to say that their current newsroom is extremely user friendly and organized. They provide users access to press releases dating to the year of 1997 to the present. I firmly believe that Wachovia's newsroom is highly effective as well. They provide press kits for individuals seeking information in the following categories:

"Community Media Connection
Loss Management Media Center
Wachovia Security PlusSM
Way2SaveSM ", According to the Newsroom of Wachovia.

Each of the categories provide some sort of back ground, related press releases, biographies, fact sheets and other vital information that may be seeked from specific publics. As a Public Relations practioner, I would enhance the awareness of the above categories for customers using social media outlets via Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, but treating them as indiviudal services could help with the outcome and use of these particular services. My rationale for a more enhanced awareness is the increase in social media with today's technology. Social media has become a fast growing advancement and many companies are adopting this new trend in order to have more of a prescence and reach within communities.

Wachovia: Career Opportunities

Have you ever wondered what other opportunities the Wachovia Corporation may provide outside of finances? Well, Wachovia offers a wide variety of possible careers within the company.
Below are some of the types of jobs that make up their daily operations:
"Administrative/Clerical
Analytics
Contingent, Contract, and TemporaryCorporate Administration
Customer Service
Fiduciary Management
Finance and Accounting
General Services
Human Resources
Industry Research
Information Technology
International
Investments
Legal
ManagementMarketing and Product Development
OperationsProject Management
Risk Management
Sales
Teller and Financial Center
Trading " (http://www.wachovia.com/inside/page/0,,137,00.html)

As a potential person of interest for the company Wachovia's website provides users a webfriendly search engine that allows for individuals to search for potential jobs "inside/outside the U.S., Campus Recruiting, Contract Employement, Calendar of Events, Benefits for those that are hired, Career development, Workplace Dversity, Hiring Process, and even interview tips." The help and encouragement that Wachovia offers has helped them as a company earn the repuatation as a great place to work. Wachovia also prides themselves "to being an inclusive company where all people are treated fairly, recognized for their individuality, promoted based on performance and encouraged to reach their full potential,"according the Wachovia Careers.

These reasons alone makes me as a soon to be Public Relations graduate want to work for the Wachovia Corporation. They have proved themselves to operate on the basis of its publics in which I admire about the company. The power of the content that Wachovia has available on its website has helped them to establish a credible reputation, as well as their proactive inlvolvement within their enviroments.

Currently in News: Transition for Wachovia

Recently, in news, Wachovia is the talk of the media. However, the concerns for the new transition of the company ownership has created alot of questions regarding its current client/customers with accounts, investments, and other financial services.

Talk of a Merger:

Circulating in the media is the talk of the new merger. "Citigroup buys the bank operations of the Wachovia corporation. They will assume about $42 billion on losses tied to Wachovia's riskiest mortgages and will pay the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants" according to the NewYork Times September 30, 2008, (E. Dash & Andrew Ross Sorkin).

The reason for this merger was "to prevent what would have become the second largest big bank failure in lesss than a week." "Previously, the government seized Washington Mutual and sold the bulk of it's operations to JPMorgan Chase. " (E.Dash & Sorkin)

According to Shelia C. Blair, the chairwoman of the F.D.I.C., in a statement that "This action was necessary to maintain confidence in the banking industry given the current financial market conditions."

All these stern measures in order to protect whom exactly? Well for some, these measures will alot of the current account holders within the company. It seems that they are taking all of the necessary actions in order to protect all of it's clients.

Ms. Bair also added that, “There will be no interruption in the services and bank customers should expect business as usual.”

These actions have conclusively showed the efforts of the Wachovia Corporation to help make an easy transition to adapt to the current changes in ownership. Keeping customers informed of the changes is not only the right thing to do, but it also shows the responsibility of the company and its clients. But, others still want to know what does this transition mean for the customers and how will they relay this change to it's customers?

Wachovia Corporation advises to its publics that it "will remain a public company with two main operatin subsidaries: Wachovia Securities, the nations 3rd largest brokerage firm, and Evergreen Asset managment, a leading provider of asset management services." (http://www.wachovia.com/)

"The merger is "simply an incredible fit that will result in an immensely strong, stable financial services company that will carry on Wachovia's proud tradition of being one of the very best financial institutions in the world. Wachovia also states that "This isn't a bank failure. Wachovia's banking operations has been acquired by Citigroup, but will continue to operate as an open bank."(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/business/10bank.html?_r=1)

How to Deal with the Crisis...
The circulation of rumor that Wachovia is closing has become turmoil for the company. With the current economic conditions the country is facing, yet again another company is needing a "bailout." Don't fret Wachovia customers, clients, investors, stock/stakeholders...You have Citigroup to the rescue.

Wachovia also "encourages employees and vendors to continue to operate business as usual and that shareholders of Wachovia's stock won't be wiped out of this deal." Also, there are "no current changes to Wachovia's board of directors however, two Wachovia directors will be joining Citigroup's board." (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/business/10bank.html )Furthermore, Wachovia stresses that "customers of both companies to continue banking as usual, and to feel confident that their deposits are secure." With an increase in uncertainty amongst customers, Wachovia has "temporarily extended customer service call center hours in order to help participants during this time of financial market volatility." (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/business/10bank.html)

Wachovia and the Community

Have you ever wondered about the involvement Wachovia has within it's communities? Well if not, this blog will be a great chance to introduce you some of the current involvements the company has within its community. Wachovia has become a part of your community and has undoubtly proved themselevs with top customer service, and educational programs to better the lives of the community.

Wachovia offers:
- "a committment to the building of "strong and vibrant communities, improving quality of life, and making a positive difference where we live and work." (www.wachovia.com) "They have focus in resources and employee talents on two key priorities within the community:

Improving education

Strengthening neighborhoods

Wachovia currently invests billions of dollars in order to improve neighborhoods and expand education in the 49 states where they have a banking or brokerage presence. "

According to the Community Involvement of Wachovia, 2008 they also provide:

"Provide hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours for national and local efforts

Encourage employees to take four paid hours per month for volunteerism through our Time Away From Work for Community Service policy

Help hundreds of lower-income families achieve the dream of home ownership every week

Partner with local and regional non-profit organizations to deliver services and programs

Donate over $ 1 million a week to charity."

For those who thought that Wachovia was nothing more than a bank where you handled only financial transactions...you are highly mistaken.

Wachovia assists in improving education through the following programs:
"Reading First®
Teach For America
Teacher Development and Support
Wachovia Student Experience
Scholarships "http://www.wachovia.com/inside/page/0,,139,00.html)

In order find more information regarding the programs above, click on the hyperlink to find out more about how Wachovia is involved in its communities.