Showing posts with label corporate mergers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corporate mergers. Show all posts

Friday, June 22, 2012

My "Career" ~ Part 11 ~ Breaking The News


I slept approximately one hour that night.

If that.

I had done everything right, and yet, everything had gone horribly wrong. 

My mind churned with questions; theories.  Had I offended someone irretrievably?  Was I perhaps too boastful about my department's achievements?  I knew I had never actually boasted, but maybe just our "being" had rubbed someone the wrong way.  Our success.  Maybe we'd shown up somebody who was wont to carry a grudge.

Why?  Why, when we had done so well, were we being scattered to the winds like this?

What about my people?  I'd seen the job ads in the newspaper.  They occupied about one inch's worth of print space. 

How were my folks going to react to the news?  How would I console them?  How would I reassure them?

I should have just stayed up that night.  I should have watched Letterman and then some late-night movie, and just stayed awake, and then, at 6:00 a.m., gotten ready for work. 

As it was, I tortured myself all night.  Until I drifted off, mere minutes before my alarm began beeping.

I had already determined that I was not going to attend the weekly strategy session.  Fire me!  Oh, that's right; you were going to do that anyway.

So, I showed up in my office at the usual time, and I just sat there.  I didn't know what to do.  Or why I should actually do anything.  So, I sat, and I mindlessly managed to complete my daily work chores.  And I sat.      

Peter strolled in around 8:00 a.m., and he gingerly eased into my visitor's chair and asked, "Why aren't you at the weekly meeting?"  And I said, "Why bother?"

He mumbled something about "appearances", and I just waved him off.  Like one would wave off a blithering idiot.

I was done with Peter now.  The tables had turned.  I understood that as long as my department remained in existence, I would have to play Peter's game, but I also realized that any consequences I would suffer would be non-binding.  What more could they do to me?

Instinctively, I understood that none of this was Peter's doing, but he was now my scapegoat, and I directed all my animus toward him.  If not him, then who?, was my attitude.  And, in the recesses of my mind, I harbored the thought that Peter could have stopped this, but he didn't.  Logically, I realized that he couldn't have stopped it, but damn, he could have gone to the mat for us, and as far as I knew, he didn't.  He looked out for number one, and as long as he still had a job, all was well in Peter World.

My day supes showed up for the start of their shifts, and I watched them as they settled into their cubes, put their heads down, avoided eye contact with their charges.  I understood exactly what they were feeling.  Soon, individually, they found their way into my office.

"What we're going to do is, we're going to be positive.  Supportive of the company's decision.  But encouraging.  We're going to be there for our folks."

"Prez and Petey can do the announcing and the explaining.  We're there for our people."

"We can do this."

I called Kristen into my office and filled her in on what was going down.  Kristen had been my assistant for three years, and she deserved to be a supervisor, but time had simply run out.  I hadn't chosen others over her; other existing supes had been moved over from Claims into my department.  I should have fought harder at the time, and now it was too late.  I knew I had let her down.

I told Kristen and my supes that we needed to be watchful of people's reactions, and we needed to be there immediately for them.  Be ready with a hug; a few words of encouragement.

It was going to be tough, but I knew my management team, and I knew they could carry through, if only I could set the tone.

And thus, the long announcements began.

I stood in the back of the cafeteria, my supervisors back there with me, and I did a lot of nodding in ascension to whatever blather the prez and Pete were dishing out.  And I watched my folks.  And I stood by the door as they exited out, and put my arm around some, and murmured reassuring words to all.

And then, we did it again.

And again.

And then, it was time to go home, finally.

And I slept soundly that night.  Because my mind and my body just finally gave up the fight.

My "Career" ~ Part 12 ~ Loose Ends

My "Career" ~ Epilogue


Previous Chapters:

My "Career" ~ Part 10 ~ Thank You ~ Goodbye


My "Career" ~ Part 9 ~ A Cold Wind


My "Career ~ Part 8 ~ "Everything's Great!"


My "Career ~ Part 7 ~ Another New Boss?


My "Career" ~ Part 6 ~ "Who Do You Think You Are?"


My "Career" ~ Part 5 ~ Welcome to the I-Land

My "Career" ~ Part 4 ~ Phil


My "Career" ~ Part 3 ~ Karma

My "Career" ~ Part 2 ~ Evil Bosses

My "Career" ~ Chapter One









    












Thursday, June 14, 2012

My "Career" ~ Part 9 ~ A Cold Wind


It was one of those ominous days.

Instead of a nice ease-into-spring May day, the wind was howling at 60 miles an hour.  I'd never seen anything quite like it.

My main supervisor, Laurel, had one of her rare days off.  We pitched in and covered for her.  Everybody covered for anyone who had the opportunity to take a day off.  It was the least we could do.  Everyone worked damn hard.

Peter called.  But this time, he sounded strange.  "Hey, we're flying in today."

What?  Just like that?  Flying in today?  

"Can you make reservations at a restaurant?  And make sure all your supervisors are there....and Bonnie from HR."

"Laurel is off?  Well, can you call her at home?  Can she be there?  She really needs to be there."

I called my four supes in.  I told them that their presence was required at a "dinner".  I told them that Bonnie from HR would also be there.

We all glanced around the room at each other.  Somebody made a crack about, "do I have to update my resume?".  We laughed uncomfortably. 

I reached Laurel at home.  She asked what was up.  I said, I don't know, but it doesn't sound good.  Laurel said she'd be there.

I called the East Forty and made a reservation.  The East Forty was the most "upscale" restaurant in our little middle-of-the-prairie town.  Since the president of our division was flying out with Peter, I figured McDonald's drive through would probably not be conducive to whatever conversation was forthcoming (although, in hindsight, the image of the president and Peter in the back of my Ford Taurus, scrunched together with Peg, Cathy, Laurel, Tracy, Lynnette, and Tasha, with Bonnie from HR sitting on Peter's lap, all yelling out their orders of Big Macs and large fries, with a chocolate shake for the prez, makes me feel a whole lot better)

My staff and I were, naturally, the first to arrive at the bistro.  I wore a light spring sweater decorated with blue and yellow flowers.  When I'd purchased it, I thought it was lovely.  Now it seemed hideous.  We sat there in the anteroom, with the fireplace crackling, and we ordered drinks all around, because our mindset was, if this is bad news (which we all knew it was), why not be half slockered?

Again, like earlier in the day, uncomfortable black humor was tossed about.  "I wonder if Target is hiring", somebody said.  "Gee, I hope nothing happens to the plane.  It is pretty windy out there."

When Bonnie from HR showed up, she kind of took a seat unobtrusively, and waited quietly.  We knew that she probably knew something, so we basically gave her the cold shoulder.  Bonnie had always been one to throw her weight around, and make herself feel all warm and fuzzy in her perceived superiority, so we didn't even feel bad ignoring her. We felt entitled, under the circumstances.

Eventually, Peter and the prez alighted upon the lobby.  Peter would not meet my gaze, so I, at that point, just thought, you know what?  The hell with you.  The two drinks I'd had before had bolstered my bravado.  I made the decision then that I would henceforth ignore Peter.

So, there we all sat, at that long dinner table, and we placed our orders with the wait person, and we choked down our fish or prime rib, or whatever we'd blindly managed to order.  If anyone felt comfortable, it was not the six of us.  I think we managed to grunt a response here and there to snippets of awkward conversation.  Mostly, we just fidgeted in our chairs.

And the prez, after everyone had been fed and sated, cleared his throat and announced, "Your division is the best division in the company.  You have exceeded; no, well exceeded everyone's expectations.  Everyone looks to you as the gold standard.  I can't tell you how proud we all are of you and your department."

"Now, let's all go back to the office, shall we?  Let's continue the conversation there."

And the cold wind stirred the crackled leaves past our window.



To be continued.......... 

My "Career" ~ Part 10 ~  Thank You ~ Goodbye

My "Career" ~ Part 11 ~ Breaking the News

My "Career" ~ Part 12 ~ Loose Ends 

My "Career" ~ Epilogue


Previous Chapters:

My "Career" ~ Part  8 ~ "Everything's Great!"

My "Career" ~ Part 7 ~ Another New Boss?

My "Career" ~ Part 6 ~ "Who Do You Think You Are?"

My "Career" ~ Part 5 ~ Welcome to the I-Land

My "Career" ~ Part 4 ~ Phil

My "Career" ~ Part 3 ~ Karma

My "Career" ~ Part 2 ~ Evil Bosses

My "Career" ~ Chapter One









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Sunday, June 10, 2012

My "Career" ~ Part 8 ~ "Everything's Great"



Rumors started buzzing around, and none of us knew for sure, because nobody who was in a position to know would tell us, nor could they tell us, I guess.

I finally, one night, turned my TV to CNBC; the one and only time I ever watched that channel.  A couple of financial guys were speculating about the buyout of our company, but nothing was final yet.

The next morning, as I was getting ready for work, I again flipped on the TV, and there it was.  We were being bought out.  Bought by one of the big boys.

Everybody got a printed memo that day, announcing the merger, and promising that they were going to play by our rules.  That didn't make sense to me, since we were the buy-EES, and they were the buy-ERS.  But I chose to believe that they saw in our company a better way of doing business, and thus, they had seen the light, so to speak.

The first inkling that this was not the case was when our employee insurance coverage changed.  As employees of Acme Insurance Company, we'd had the best coverage ever.  A miniscule copay for any type of service; no deductible.  We could visit our doctor every day, if we'd wanted to, and it was all covered.  The premium was picked up by the company.

No more.  We had to start chipping in for our coverage, and the benefits were much worse.

Not only that, but our stock options were discontinued.  I was so enamored of my company that I'd invested a ton of my 401K dollars into company stock.  (DON'T EVER DO THAT!)

But, other than the insurance coverage, and the dissipation of stock options, our everyday business model didn't change.

Peter was still my boss, and he still was very supportive.  He apologized over and over again for not being able to promote me to manager, even though I was doing a manager's job, and even though I was overseeing five supervisors and more than 150 hourly staff.  And still supervising my own unit; albeit a "cream of the crop" unit; the best of the best.

Even though I was having daily telephone conversations with the gal at Kelly Temp Services; telling her what I needed.  Even though I was scheduling and conducting job interviews twice a week.  Even though I was tutoring my supervisors in the fine art of writing performance reviews.

Even though I was juggling my salary spreadsheet, and ranking employees on a one to five basis, in order to manage salary increases to the unworkable parameters that Peter had set.

Even though Peter damn well knew that I was able to retain staff with negligible turnover because my people liked and respected me, and they knew that I liked and respected them.

Even though I kept having the same conversation over and over with Pat in Allentown, trying to keep my impatience from bubbling over.  Telling myself that eventually she'll "get it".  If I just remain calm and repeat myself a lot, she'll catch on.  She has to.  Doesn't she?

And why in the world did Peter ever choose her in the first place?

Billy Joel kept running through my mind.  I started daydreaming that all the factories in Allentown were being shut down because Pat was running them.  And Pat was an imbecile.



And, despite all the dire news on the corporate front, I believed that everything was still okay.

Things were okay with IKFI.  We were humming and strumming along.  Our numbers, and our outlook, were great.

What could possibly go wrong?

Ominously, unforeseen, a  cold wind was about to blow in.


To be continued...........

My "Career" ~ Part 9 ~ A Cold Wind

My "Career" ~ Part 10 ~  Thank You ~ Goodbye

My "Career" ~ Part 11 ~ Breaking the News

My "Career" ~ Part 12 ~ Loose Ends 

My "Career" ~ Epilogue


Previous Chapters:

My "Career" ~ Part 7 ~ Another New Boss?

My "Career" ~ Part 6 ~ "Who Do You Think You Are?"

My "Career" ~ Part 5 ~ Welcome to the I-Land

My "Career" ~ Part 4 ~ Phil

My "Career" ~ Part 3 ~ Karma

My "Career" ~ Part 2 ~ Evil Bosses

My "Career" ~ Chapter One