3 Ways I’ve Discreetly Spared Myself from the Mass Retrenchment Axe
What can we do to escape the big axe?
No one saw this coming. Therefore, preparing for the unexpected is impossible.
Things happen at lightning speed when it comes to bad news. The rumors come first, followed swiftly by formal communication delivered by the Chief Executive Officer via email.
I will spare you the corporate sob story details.
The skeleton of the 7-scroll long email covers these 5 points.
- We are making losses
- We need to trim costs
- We have too many people
- We must drop some to save others
- We are sorry
I know you are waiting for the number behind the percentage. That was the number 1 thing I searched for before reading the long email.
Up to 9% of the workforce will be asked to leave.
The email ended with the following sentence.
“Your respective Business Unit Heads will be speaking to you individually to address these issues.”
I remembered thinking, oh, okay.
The Banging, Screaming, Threatening, and Crying Begins
Let me make a fair statement. I like to believe senior managers are given the tough job of telling people to pack their bags.
After all, there is no practice ground for this. And, maybe, Thank God for that.
One senior manager from the marketing department broke down emotionally after 3 hours. She had to excuse herself after asking 3 direct reports to leave.
Both managers and individual contributors suffer from this exercise. Nobody is at fault for poor emotional control.
But. It rubbed into me.
The following questions kept circling above my head.
- When will my turn be?
- What will my boss say?
- Is my C.V. updated?
You see, the environment you are in dictates your mood. It is difficult to stay calm when everyone else, within arm’s length, is erupting like a volcano.
My Turn Came 2 Hours After Reading the C.E.O.’s Email
I must admit. It was an excruciating 2 hours.
And the thing is… this will not be the first time I am asked to take an ex-gratia, severance package. I have been retrenched twice when my ex-companies failed to stay afloat during an economic tsunami.
Despite having accumulated relevant experiences… I panicked from within. Emotional volatility strikes when there is uncertainty.
I was asked into the boardroom at 1022am. I did not hesitate to march straight in and get the results. My mind needed clarity.
My boss started the ball rolling.
“Aldric, relax. I have good news for you. You are staying. But I also have bad news for you.”
I sighed a little sigh of relief. And then I asked what that piece of bad news was.
“Am I getting a demotion? A 10% pay cut? A transfer to other departments?”
“None of the above. Our department will be downsized by 20%. You have more work to do.”
I went from feeling relieved to being annoyed. More work! No one likes more work for the same compensation. No one.
“Why are we releasing 20% of our team? We worked hard.”
My boss seemed surprised by the question. But he decided to come clean with me.
Of Personas, Teamwork, and Performance
He mentioned Joe first.
It is not a surprise. In fact, Joe was the first to be called into the room. He was axed. And he made no attempt to conceal it.
You will regret firing me, Joe shouted as he walked back to his desk.
My boss says Joe spread negative vibes in the office. And he creates a hurricane of stress to the people around him.
The annual 360 performance feedback ranked Joe dead last for the past 2 years. The common bundle of reasons?
No one can work with him.
Only Joe thinks he is indispensable.
Everyone else believes that the opposite is true.
Then, my boss mentioned Sally. He told me to keep quiet until it was her turn. I agreed.
Sally will be asked to go because she has been missing her sales targets by 40% for the past 3 years. The Chief Revenue Officer took notice and had her name on the Death Note.
At least it sounded objective.
Finally, there is… Tom. I am not surprised that he is on the list.
His temperament is well known to many, including our diamond clients. Tom alone, accounted for 90% of complaints directed at the consulting sales team.
There was one incident when Diamond Client A asked for an additional 20% discount in exchange for a 2-year contract extension of services instead of the standard 1 year.
Tom called the client a cheapskate right there and then. We lost that client.
He wasn’t fired then as the Chief Revenue Officer was persuaded to give him a second chance. Tom apologized to our C.R.O.
However.
Tom exploded at another diamond client just 2 months ago. He is not so lucky this time.
Parting Keynotes
Every retrenchment decision is a difficult one to make. I believe so.
Of course, there is a library of reasons behind that one life-and-death decision. It can be objective at times. It can be highly subjective too.
But one observation stands out to me.
Stress creators are highly vulnerable during multiple retrenchment waves. They can be high performers too, don’t get me wrong. But they create a deep negative impression in the minds of others.
And that works against us… especially when it is time to decide who to go or remain.
As for me, I think… I am one lucky chap. I did not have issues that Joe, Sally, and Tom had.
Lady Luck is on my side… this time.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
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