Cox Auto Trader Makes Strategic Moves to Improve Online Automotive Advertising Business

[Former Employee (blog)]

I have come across this site years after working at a branch for Trader Publishing located in NC. Unfortunately, I had lost my job just as the merger was taking place. I would have loved to have the opportunity to put years in this company but had this opportunity taken from me under the grounds of petty personal greed and corruption.

The higher ups in this company (much like many) did not even have a remote idea of what was happening in this office. Even some of the managers and other supervisors did not know what was really going on. I watched so much happen before my eyes while still trying to remain optimistic while believing that things were not really as corrupt as they were beginning to seem. I am not focused on the company as a whole in my account, but this specific branch and more specifically, a division within this branch.

I was honestly a great worker that had much to offer this company. I was placed in this division with two others. I was efficient with my work and was there to offer the reps techniques to make the ads for their dealers be outstanding. However, when I was helping the most and really shining in this branch; the others in the office with me would only treat me with indifference. They had begun to sabotage my position within the company and seemed outraged by my "go the extra mile" approach. For instance, when tailoring some graphics and other aspects of ads they would tell me to tell the reps that "the program will not let us do that"....even though I had proven that it could and it was fairly simple for me.

I had this person trying to keep customers on the phone while discouraging them to talk to me when they would can to speak with me after previous correspondence. After completing my work, I would be working on the work of the other division members after they would become behind (this was nearly everyday). I also came to realize that they were even holding onto to incomplete work until I would come in. They would receive bonuses after I would play a major part in the work that they received bonuses for. They would go on vocation, be extremely late, or have to miss days and I would be there to full in for them. This is while they received full time hours every week, health insurance, a savings plan, and vocation time while I received none of these regardless of my work and devotion to the company. I was mocked for "not having a life outside of work" by the same people in my division because I was so dedicated to this job. I had reps that would tell me what a dealer expected and I would help them reach that goal. This led to satisfied reps and dealers.

I saw sales rise while I was there. I realize that as an individual that I played a small role within the company. I also realize that I still made a great impact within that company. Eventually, the women that I worked with got together with our immediate supervisor (who was also a friends that they went out with after work) and planned. I came in one day to have them seemingly more motivated than I had seen them at work as the exclaimed "today is a wonderful day!" while in the most professional attire that I had seen them in. The same day, I realized why they were so enthusiastic after being taken into the conference room to be fired by this supervisor. I was fired for being late. As I understand that companies should not tolerate lateness; you must also be aware of the fact that I filled in for the others in the same division as they were extremely late (sometimes so that they could take care of personal business). I was told by this supervisor that "the five minute grace period did not apply to me because I was a part-time worker".

If you give the power in your company to those on the relatively low levels of the company, then you can lose good employees based on personal thoughts of this person. The better I was, the more I was disliked. It was not about how great the work was, but the feelings of these other division members. If you keep employees based solely on seniority then you will lose chances to have more dimensions and better work ethics added to your company. I do feel bad for the workers that had been there for years that lost their job. I would have loved to have had the same opportunity before my job was ripped from me after I had begin to grow within the company.

 

[Doopie]

hmm, being a sort of long time employee, I just hate to see what was once a good thing. I was lucky enough to be there when Stewart Arnold owned it back in the late 80's, and when they were bought by wayne hazinga. Then sold to Landmark/cox... But when I was re-hired later on things were going along fine until Dominion and Cox got into a spat.... And Dominion wanted to sell out..... I figured cox would buy them out, but alas they had higher hopes...they were trying to sell the dot com name and nobody wanted it while it was attached to the publications. But we all know the next part with Dominion buying cox out. Because cox only made a 23% profit, instead of 25%. For 2 years I've heard that Dominion was

dedicated to printing, and those of us who were left put a ton of hard work into keeping them profitable... But first cox pulled their national books out of interco to save $200,000 a year... Sure doesn't seem like a lot to me to kill off the books. But Dominion started seeking outside work, after years and years of not looking for it. But how dedicated to printing and outside work can you be when the total of our local sales force is NONE... WTH? do these people think a line is going to form outside the door just because you went commercial...? Get real! I've had the luck to work at a real commercial print company in between auto trader stints... And they had a WHOLE office of people dedicated to selling our services. And now every week another publication disappears. Come on how can Florida not sell enough books to keep a boat magazine profitable...REALLY? This is all just a case of 2 big companies being greedy and having a different vision of the future. I still agree that at least 1/4 of the US looks at print since they don't have a computer or even access to one. But I am in no means bitter about this whole thing, times change technology moves on, it was great in it's heyday, now it's on the endangered list. In a few years people will remember printed books/magazines like we remember the 8 track, cassette, VCR's.

My main reason for the hint of venom is for the way we the workers have been treated, even though we see the "writing on the wall", they don't have the cahonas to man up and just tell us when the actual last day is. It's not like anyone still here is going to just stop doing their job, we all want the severance we hope is coming. But you should at least show us some class and make the last day public, 'cause we all KNOW it's coming around the first of the year. Just show some class, soon to be x-employees would like to move forward with life.... Until you grow up and give the date there will be an air of disgust coming from Norfolk.