Bitter sweet week
Oh, what a week...
I often read blogs and occasionally come across a statement like " Oh what a week" and think, wow that is an overused phrase, however if you spoke to the 40 folks at our company that were let go this week, you would realize that my first comment was not an over reaction.
If you have been reading my blog, you know that there has been much volatility at work. After being acquired in October, working thru the planning process and strategy, loosing employees, and getting by the first round of layoffs, our IT group had a major hit this week.
My boss (Director Level) and his boss (VP Level) were both given severance packages, one direct report and a peer at my level were also given severance packages. In total 36 IT folks were released, and another dozen were given 30 - 90 day packages to transition their responsibilities to others. The focus of the change was to move the leadership from our old organization to the new organization in another state.
I was one of the lucky ones. I was not given a severance package, but instead, I was asked to stay. At first I was pretty much in shock. I had anticipated the loss of my boss or maybe his boss but not both, and the loss of one of my direct reports, and a peer who was a good friend, was very hard to deal with. It is always hard to see folks that you have worked with, loose their job, but when you loose good people you wonder why. I am not afraid to ask why, and I did, and after a little positioning, I was told that the new company is not management heavy and prefers to run with less management. However, it appears that most of the management positions are held by employees from the acquiring company, and not our company.
On a positive note, I have been asked to stay and I have been asked to try an motivate my folks to stay. I was pretty skeptical on the first day, however, after multiple conversations with my new boss and his boss, I feel better and feel like the outlook is positive. We have been told that there are no more planned reductions in IT, and the current organization is the organization for the future, only time will tell if this is true or not. Our new senior management team is very direct and does not dance around issues, instead they let you know one way or another, good or bad, and so far they have been straight with us and done what they said they were going to do. As a manager, I like that.
However, this is were I struggled this week .....
One of my direct reports was given the severance package this week. I questioned why and was told that she was the only person in her role and that her role and the application that she supports will be phased out.
Also, a good friend and peer was also given a severance package. The stinger here is, I was given the responsibility to manage his group as well as my own group. It's great that management thought enough about me to increase my responsibly, and give me this new group, however it sucks that it came at the expense of my friend. What do you say to your new staff who just lost their longtime manager ?
I told them just that .... " It sucks, and it is so bitter sweet for me to take on this new responsibility."
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