At what point is it ok to suck up? When I found out that my job was going to be eliminated, I had a few choices of how to behave. I could be all pissed off, moaning and groaning all day long, doing the least amount of work possible, just to stay employed. Or, I could continue on, business as usual, demanding the very best of myself and my team. Or, I could start to suck up to anyone and everyone that might help me extend my time here at BMX.
I have expressed my thoughts on some of the management staff that I deal with. Some of the people I work with are absolutely great managers. They truly seem to care about what does and does not happen here. That is not to say that there are some other managers who could care less. It is apparent though, to me, that some managers are doing what they need to do to get their job done and keep complaints to a minimum. But beyond that, their desire and drive to excel, to go above and beyond, that I don't always see.
So far, I am the only department manager who is facing unemployment. There are a couple of other managers who do not know their future beyond the tasks they are currently responsible for. So they too are a bit nervous about the future. But for now, all of these managers could be an opportunity to me, an opportunity to remain employed, just a little bit longer. So, even though I disagree with some of the ways and processes, is it wrong to suck up to these managers in order to stay employed?
I have always been vocal about those people who use others to get ahead in life. But as the economy gets worse, and more and more people are unemployed, it has become apparent that the best way to get a job, the best way to get an interview, the best way to stay employed, is to suck up. Find the person who can help you the most, and do whatever it takes to get on their good side. Be the first person they think of for anything. Do whatever they ask. Follow all their instructions and never openly complain about anything they do. If that is going on, it can make a difference in your employment.
Now that I find myself in the position to do this, I am stressing over the actual act of sucking up. I never wanted to be one of those people. It felt dishonest to me. I will tell you if I like or dislike something about you, the way you manage, the skills you have or do not have. To pretend, to not speak out, to go along, that is not the course I have followed. So, I ask, is it ok to suck up, even though I have these strong feelings and beliefs about it? Or have I crossed that line and become just what I disliked and what I make a point to call out?
Whatever!! I need to stay employed. I like this company. Whatever it takes......
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Statistics
My boss rolled into town yesterday. Since the buyout of our company, I have been reporting to someone in North Carolina. It has been kind of nice, a lot less meetings and late nights, like I experienced with my past boss. But there is always the nagging wonder of what is going on. What is happening in NC that I have no input on and cannot see, until too late? When you report to someone who resides in the same location as you, it is a lot easier to read and stay on top of every situation. Rarely have I been blindsided by anything, when my boss and I worked together. In the same location.
Anyhow....My boss came in to town and I had a scheduled meeting with him pretty soon after his arrival. He hooked up a projector to his laptop and started a beautiful Powerpoint presentation. The first slide, the transition of Toronto business to Montreal. I knew about that, and it was expected. No big loss. The second slide, the transition of all Canadian orders to Montreal. This too was expected. It would cut into my business, causing me to lay off at least 2 people. But the plan was always, Canada business in Canada, US in US.
The next slide was also expected. A transfer of all of my Clinical business to Durham CS. That transfer, happening in July or early August, will result in another 3 people being let go. I would have a team of 3 + me. We would handle our core business, Industrial media sales. That was always the expected end game in this transition. But there was one more slide. One slide that was not expected. That slide, with it's bright colored map of North America, locations boldly listed, arrows pointing this way and that, that slide had still not been discussed. That slide, was not expected.
So, late August/early September, Portland Customer Service will be no more. All Industry business will be moved and handled in Lombard Illinois. This was a surprise. A big one. The site manager of Lombard is moving to Portland to manage this location. The CS group in Lombard is small. Their infrastructure is ancient and in need of serious upgrade just to handle their current load. We have a Fax Server. We have new PC's and a bright, clean office space. And most important, my CSR Team has experience with the media we sell and the customers we sell to. Lombard and Durham have never sold our product line. Our customers have been with us for 30 years, and some of my people have been here for 15. Everything made sense for keeping all Industry business here in Portland. However, that will not be the case.
So 9 more people will become part of the ever growing statistics by September. I have the joyful duty of slowly letting people go. Like a weeping wound, the blood will flow for the next 4 to 6 months. 2 here, 3 there, until no one is left. My boss was nice about it, but business is business. I have been around long enough to know that this is how things work out sometimes. It is sad though. The potential opportunities with this new company were pretty good. Much more than we could ever expect with the old ownership. But, we are just a purchase. Just a business venture. There was no reason to take the experience here and integrate it into their structure. After all, every business feels they have the best people and processes. Sometimes that is true and other times......
The payout is decent. I will more than likely stick around until the very end because of that. I also keep hoping, albeit a stretch, that something will change. Something will come up that will require me to stick around and assist. I thought I would at least make it a year here. I thought that I would start to develop a long term future with this new company. Everything about them was good. After all, it was a foreign based company, which meant that they offered things no American company does. That was a nice thing to have. But it was fleeting. It will pass. And that is sad. I never wanted to be a statistic in this economic climate. I did not want any of my people to be part of the unemployment numbers. But they will as will I.
I have no doubt that things will work out for all of us. Some will use this as the kick in the butt they needed to reach for something more than what they were doing. Others will end up doing the same thing they are doing now. Maybe for a better company. Maybe for better pay. But all in all, the team that I built, that will be no more. The friendships that have developed, they will be there for a while and then slowly but surely dissapear. I know it because I have lived it. Several times. All in all, shit happens. And that really sucks!!
Anyhow....My boss came in to town and I had a scheduled meeting with him pretty soon after his arrival. He hooked up a projector to his laptop and started a beautiful Powerpoint presentation. The first slide, the transition of Toronto business to Montreal. I knew about that, and it was expected. No big loss. The second slide, the transition of all Canadian orders to Montreal. This too was expected. It would cut into my business, causing me to lay off at least 2 people. But the plan was always, Canada business in Canada, US in US.
The next slide was also expected. A transfer of all of my Clinical business to Durham CS. That transfer, happening in July or early August, will result in another 3 people being let go. I would have a team of 3 + me. We would handle our core business, Industrial media sales. That was always the expected end game in this transition. But there was one more slide. One slide that was not expected. That slide, with it's bright colored map of North America, locations boldly listed, arrows pointing this way and that, that slide had still not been discussed. That slide, was not expected.
So, late August/early September, Portland Customer Service will be no more. All Industry business will be moved and handled in Lombard Illinois. This was a surprise. A big one. The site manager of Lombard is moving to Portland to manage this location. The CS group in Lombard is small. Their infrastructure is ancient and in need of serious upgrade just to handle their current load. We have a Fax Server. We have new PC's and a bright, clean office space. And most important, my CSR Team has experience with the media we sell and the customers we sell to. Lombard and Durham have never sold our product line. Our customers have been with us for 30 years, and some of my people have been here for 15. Everything made sense for keeping all Industry business here in Portland. However, that will not be the case.
So 9 more people will become part of the ever growing statistics by September. I have the joyful duty of slowly letting people go. Like a weeping wound, the blood will flow for the next 4 to 6 months. 2 here, 3 there, until no one is left. My boss was nice about it, but business is business. I have been around long enough to know that this is how things work out sometimes. It is sad though. The potential opportunities with this new company were pretty good. Much more than we could ever expect with the old ownership. But, we are just a purchase. Just a business venture. There was no reason to take the experience here and integrate it into their structure. After all, every business feels they have the best people and processes. Sometimes that is true and other times......
The payout is decent. I will more than likely stick around until the very end because of that. I also keep hoping, albeit a stretch, that something will change. Something will come up that will require me to stick around and assist. I thought I would at least make it a year here. I thought that I would start to develop a long term future with this new company. Everything about them was good. After all, it was a foreign based company, which meant that they offered things no American company does. That was a nice thing to have. But it was fleeting. It will pass. And that is sad. I never wanted to be a statistic in this economic climate. I did not want any of my people to be part of the unemployment numbers. But they will as will I.
I have no doubt that things will work out for all of us. Some will use this as the kick in the butt they needed to reach for something more than what they were doing. Others will end up doing the same thing they are doing now. Maybe for a better company. Maybe for better pay. But all in all, the team that I built, that will be no more. The friendships that have developed, they will be there for a while and then slowly but surely dissapear. I know it because I have lived it. Several times. All in all, shit happens. And that really sucks!!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Inflexibility - Is that a word?
Last night I encountered a situation that caused me to stop and think about things in a "big picture" kind of way. And the more I thought about it, the more irritated I became. And since this is where I decided to vent, here it is.
I sent two of my employees on a road trip to Chicago. We are in the middle of transitioning over to a new software package to operate our business. Good times indeed. Anyone who has ever done this, knows exactly what kind of good times we are experiencing. Anyhow, I am getting off topic.
I sent these two people to Chicago. On their trip, they experienced flight delays, including an hour tour of the Chicago airport, thanks to some extra taxi time in their plane. I booked the entire trip thru the approved company travel representatives. I used my credit card information but supplied all of their personal information. Itineraries were sent out, indicating everything was in order and ready for their arrivals. They left on a Sunday. Just in time to be ready for a long week of learning.
Around 9pm or so, I started getting semi-frantic phone calls. The car rental was not paid for. I am at home, in a drugged out frame of mind (extra morphine), watching SNL, drinking Baileys spiked hot chocolate. I am informed that I need to fax a copy of my license and credit card, as well as a statement authorizing my employee to rent this car. Maybe I am behind on things, but I do not have a fax machine. A printer, scanner and alot of computers, but no fax. Not even a landline. All cellular in my 'casa.' So, my brain goes into overdrive. How do I fix this? I am starting to get annoyed, because I am sure I had all of this taken care of before they left. I paid extra for the service to avoid this kind of thing. I used to travel alot when I started out, and I have been in situations like this. The last thing I wanted was for my own people to experience this. But, in true drugged up fashion, I come up with a super complex, yet simple solution.
The rental car company faxes the "form" to my work #. I log in thru my VPN connection, and email that fax to my home address. Then I print it off at home, fill it out, scan it and email it back to work. Then, back into my work PC, and fax it back to the car rental company. Freaking McGruber all the way. The only thing missing was a gum wrapper.
All of this worked out. The rental company released the car, and I happily settled in to watch the rest of my SNL show. Thank god for DVR. But there is more. Around 10pm or so, another phone call. The same crap at the hotel. What is wrong with travel agencies these days? No wonder no one uses them anymore. I think I am going back to self booking. Anyhow, they wanted to fax me a form, and wanted pretty much the same information. So, I attempt to follow the same process.
This time however, the fax that the hotel sends over is so light that when I scan and send it back, they cannot see anything but what I had wrote on the form. My team calls me back to inform me that the girl behind the counter needs me to fill out "the form" not just write on a blank piece of paper. Because that is what I do, on a late Sunday evening, when my employees are in a situation. I pull out a blank piece of paper and write random crap on it. Really!!? I tell them to put the lady on the phone. She is the "manager" so there is no one I can speak to above her. She needs the form filled out. She cannot understand that I did fill the form out. Match it up!! All the lines correspond with the flippin form!! But that is not good enough. She "needs the form, sir." I had this feeling that I would be making a trip to Kinko's for a late night faxing session.
The hotel sent another, darker copy of their precious form. I filled it out and faxed it back, and apparently everything is good at this point. But it started me thinking. Why was this form so important, that they had to hold up my tired, late night employees from getting their rooms? They had my credit card. They had held the reservations under that card, for those two people. The rooms are for the entire week. Why, if they needed additional information, did they just not request it, and then allow me to address it all this morning? Why? Because the "night manager" was never trained to deal with issues. She was never trained to work with situations as they occur, in a logical and sensible manner. No, instead she was trained to follow a process that did not compensate for any deviations. And then, as the only person there, she was forced to deal with this issue in an inflexible manner.
I notice alot of businesses fail in this area. The "common sense" approach has been eliminated. For whatever reasons, be it to save cost, allow for less training, provide stability, whatever, they have moved away from doing the right thing in situations. Now, if the blanks are not filled in completely, if the documents are not all in order, if the answers are not all there, then the transactions cannot be completed. And that leaves people stranded. It leaves people wanting. It leaves people angry and upset and less likely to ever use that business or service again. And no matter what the rule or procedures were for, I am quite certain it was not to lose business. It was not to piss off customers. But that is exactly what is happening.
I decided right then and there, that the common sense approach to business is the way to go. There is a need for rules and processes. Too many people try to take advantage of businesses. They try to get the most they can, for free, when they can. But not all situations are like that. This one was not. This was two people in need of their room. They wanted nothing free. They wanted to sleep. I want common sense to make a comeback. The "night manager" had to see that the reservation was for the week. She had my credit card information in front of her. She could have easily put my employees in their rooms, and addressed all of the paperwork the next morning. But she lacked common sense. She was not able to think outside her policies and procedures. And that is makes no sense.
I sent two of my employees on a road trip to Chicago. We are in the middle of transitioning over to a new software package to operate our business. Good times indeed. Anyone who has ever done this, knows exactly what kind of good times we are experiencing. Anyhow, I am getting off topic.
I sent these two people to Chicago. On their trip, they experienced flight delays, including an hour tour of the Chicago airport, thanks to some extra taxi time in their plane. I booked the entire trip thru the approved company travel representatives. I used my credit card information but supplied all of their personal information. Itineraries were sent out, indicating everything was in order and ready for their arrivals. They left on a Sunday. Just in time to be ready for a long week of learning.
Around 9pm or so, I started getting semi-frantic phone calls. The car rental was not paid for. I am at home, in a drugged out frame of mind (extra morphine), watching SNL, drinking Baileys spiked hot chocolate. I am informed that I need to fax a copy of my license and credit card, as well as a statement authorizing my employee to rent this car. Maybe I am behind on things, but I do not have a fax machine. A printer, scanner and alot of computers, but no fax. Not even a landline. All cellular in my 'casa.' So, my brain goes into overdrive. How do I fix this? I am starting to get annoyed, because I am sure I had all of this taken care of before they left. I paid extra for the service to avoid this kind of thing. I used to travel alot when I started out, and I have been in situations like this. The last thing I wanted was for my own people to experience this. But, in true drugged up fashion, I come up with a super complex, yet simple solution.
The rental car company faxes the "form" to my work #. I log in thru my VPN connection, and email that fax to my home address. Then I print it off at home, fill it out, scan it and email it back to work. Then, back into my work PC, and fax it back to the car rental company. Freaking McGruber all the way. The only thing missing was a gum wrapper.
All of this worked out. The rental company released the car, and I happily settled in to watch the rest of my SNL show. Thank god for DVR. But there is more. Around 10pm or so, another phone call. The same crap at the hotel. What is wrong with travel agencies these days? No wonder no one uses them anymore. I think I am going back to self booking. Anyhow, they wanted to fax me a form, and wanted pretty much the same information. So, I attempt to follow the same process.
This time however, the fax that the hotel sends over is so light that when I scan and send it back, they cannot see anything but what I had wrote on the form. My team calls me back to inform me that the girl behind the counter needs me to fill out "the form" not just write on a blank piece of paper. Because that is what I do, on a late Sunday evening, when my employees are in a situation. I pull out a blank piece of paper and write random crap on it. Really!!? I tell them to put the lady on the phone. She is the "manager" so there is no one I can speak to above her. She needs the form filled out. She cannot understand that I did fill the form out. Match it up!! All the lines correspond with the flippin form!! But that is not good enough. She "needs the form, sir." I had this feeling that I would be making a trip to Kinko's for a late night faxing session.
The hotel sent another, darker copy of their precious form. I filled it out and faxed it back, and apparently everything is good at this point. But it started me thinking. Why was this form so important, that they had to hold up my tired, late night employees from getting their rooms? They had my credit card. They had held the reservations under that card, for those two people. The rooms are for the entire week. Why, if they needed additional information, did they just not request it, and then allow me to address it all this morning? Why? Because the "night manager" was never trained to deal with issues. She was never trained to work with situations as they occur, in a logical and sensible manner. No, instead she was trained to follow a process that did not compensate for any deviations. And then, as the only person there, she was forced to deal with this issue in an inflexible manner.
I notice alot of businesses fail in this area. The "common sense" approach has been eliminated. For whatever reasons, be it to save cost, allow for less training, provide stability, whatever, they have moved away from doing the right thing in situations. Now, if the blanks are not filled in completely, if the documents are not all in order, if the answers are not all there, then the transactions cannot be completed. And that leaves people stranded. It leaves people wanting. It leaves people angry and upset and less likely to ever use that business or service again. And no matter what the rule or procedures were for, I am quite certain it was not to lose business. It was not to piss off customers. But that is exactly what is happening.
I decided right then and there, that the common sense approach to business is the way to go. There is a need for rules and processes. Too many people try to take advantage of businesses. They try to get the most they can, for free, when they can. But not all situations are like that. This one was not. This was two people in need of their room. They wanted nothing free. They wanted to sleep. I want common sense to make a comeback. The "night manager" had to see that the reservation was for the week. She had my credit card information in front of her. She could have easily put my employees in their rooms, and addressed all of the paperwork the next morning. But she lacked common sense. She was not able to think outside her policies and procedures. And that is makes no sense.
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