Management Lesson #241

In my years at the old company I've seen some really good managers and some who quite frankly, I wondered how they tied their shoes in the morning.

So I thought I would bestow some words of wisdom from the trenches.   This one from the "I wouldn't do this" category.  About a month or so towards the end of our time with the old company, the top leader in the building thought it was a good idea to gather a group into a team meeting and hand out an anniversary award placard to one of the lower level leaders.  One month left, and this lower level leader was losing his job.  What does the boss think is a good idea? Let the company express their gratitude of his tenure with a lovely piece of paper recognizing his dedication to the company.  I was literally standing there with my mouth open and speechless. Awesome tact.

A friend who is in the HR field uses that story in her new manager on boarding.  Ugh, it would be funny if it weren't true.  I still feel bad for that guy.  I could tell he was as shocked, but he still mustered a smile.

Jane

Piss Poor Planning

One thing that hasn't changed from one company to the next is the number of people who want to make a fire drill of THEIRS be YOURS.   It amazes me how there are too many people in a company, and at all levels, who want to make their issue yours too.

Lesson here people...your responsibilities and lack of planning to do those responsibilities aren't someone else's problem.  Nut up!

Jane

Resentful? Who, me?

I'm finding that one of the biggest downfalls for working at the outsourcer is that I still have to directly communicate with the customer,  the old company.   Do you know how hard it is to put on a happy face to the very company who turned mine and 100+ other employees world upside down?  It's a pain in the ass!   

I like my new job, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around helping advance the old company's best interest.  While this all may play out in my head each day, of course I have too much pride in my work and I do my job.   The old company may have let me go, but they are still reaping the benefits of having me around.

Jane

A Whole New World

Wow, I have been a bad, bad blog mommy.  LOL  I can't believe something that brought me a great outlet to vent and post my worries has gone to the back burner.  Well, I'm back.  And would like to update everyone on what's been happening since my last post.  :)

Let's see, the Reader's Digest version:

*  My company abandoned me.  lol not really, but they did lay me off.  Late last year they announced they were outsourcing the office/warehouse where I work.  Whatever.

*  I was hopeful for a long time that with my 10+ years with "the company" that I would find something within "the company".  That didn't work out so well. 

*  Near the end, I was told there was nothing for me within the new structure in "the company".  Okay, talk about rejection.  (Side note, lesson learned; just because you're loyal to a company doesn't mean they have to be loyal in return.  Sort of like a relationship.)

*  I was able to get a position (pretty similar to what I was doing) with the new company right before the transition to the new company.  Good news?  Who knows, the jury is still out.

*  Flash forward to today.  I'm still finding my way in the new position.  And of course, with a new company comes new processes and things you knew inside and out with the old company, you feel like a tool not knowing with the new company.

The *old* company was big, the *new* company is pretty small in comparison.  And just when I found some of the benefits of working for a smaller company, a larger company comes into the picture and is working to buy out the *new* company.  Here we go again.  Not really though.  The new company doesn't operate the same businesses.  They're buying us out so they can enter the market with the type of work we're doing.  So there has been no talk of layoffs or anything like that this time around.  For now. I have to be somewhat cynical considering what we've been through.  Sure, for now they have no plans to close us.  I'll believe it when we're still here for a couple of years.

Anyway, I hope everyone who finds their way to my blog a very merry Christmas.  I'm hopefull for the new year and the opportunity it will bring.  :)

Jane

Dear Jane

Well, I finally received news.  It's not good news per se, but news.  I had a talk to my boss and they confirmed my position will not be in place once the outsourcer takes over.  I'm not surprised.  For the most part, I'm not the type of person who will start to lose motivation or do a poor job.   That's just not in my nature.  I can totally see someone losing their motivation pretty quick.  It's kind of messed up though.  LOL something like this going through my head...I need you to work hard and help us with the consolidation so you can be let go.   Umm, sure.  

We also know it'll be sometime in September too.  So I have less than 4 months before walking away from nearly two decades of dedication.  Sucks.   I know business decisions like this are made each and every day.  But it's difficult not to be bitter.   It feels like a company just tosses you aside.  I'll continue to come to work though with my head up, and be able to walk away saying the quality of my work didn't deminish.  :)

Jane

Just A Little Bit Longer

Well, the higher-ups have addressed the team again.  This time to mention our new "end" date.  Now set for mid-September.  How bad am I that I was hoping for it early in the summer so I could enjoy some time by the pool?   Anyway, another four months.  I should be happy though so I can try more to line something up.  They did tell us the outsourced would be interested in most of the employees to join their team. That's good news.

Dead pool update!   That supervisor I had a feeling was going to leave, did.  He actually gave notice just last week.  Good for him, he found a promotional opportunity outside the company.  Great to be able to leave and get a raise out of it.   I don't really have a good feel for who is next, so my choice is truly a guess.

For now, I'm still here.  I keep getting mixed messages about if I'll have a job post roll-in.  So as before I'll keep plugging away doing my usual fabulous work.   :p. The vendor was here a few days a couple weeks ago.  Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to spend any time with them.  I'm sure I'll have more opportunities to dazzle them.  Oh yeah, and since the date was extended to September, guess who has an anniversary in between and will get a new bank of sick time to use?  ;).

Jane

Out Of It

Hey everyone.  Sorry for the lapse in entries.  I ended up getting sick for the better part of a week and it just knocked me on my ass.  The good news is I'm better and back at work.  Well, the good news is I'm better.  Not sure if it's good to be back at work.  lol  I've never been hit that hard with being sick for that long.  It gets tougher to recoup as you get older.

Anyways, this is an exciting week at work.  They have announced the vendor taking over operations and they will be in, in mass, this week as they plan for the transition.  Pretty quiet today, but I'm sure that will change over the next few days.  The place is abuzz of speculation.  When the higher-ups dropped the news on us, they did mention the new vendor has an interest in taking over the workforce.  After of course, they interview folks.  But good news nonetheless.

On to the dead pool watch.  Okay, "dead pool" may be a bad term, but I'm referring to folks who have jumped ship. There's been a couple of hourly folks leave, but that's about it.  I did get wind that someone on the supervisor level has a lead with another company similar to ours. It sounds like a pretty good lead from what I've heard.  BTW, this supervisor was MY guess as being the next one going.  Too bad I can't find someone to take some good odds for that!

Anyway, almost time to leave work.  (I'm on break!  I don't take advantage of my work time for personal things).  So here's to a promising tomorrow.

Jane