Mark W
Well-known member
Some of you may recall a ways back, December 5, 2008 my working group was dissolved and all jobs eliminated. I survived and was offered a new position with the same company the day before I had my hunting violation court case resolved. Fast forward to March 30, 2017. I was on the tarmac in New Orleans coming back from a conference and a few meetings. Got a call saying there was an mandatory emergency group meeting for March 31 at 8:00 sharp. Having gone through this before there was only one reason this would occur.
Our group was small by the company standards and we assembled in a conference room. Boss was there and not saying much as he didn't know anything. In walks someone we have never met and as she is walking in she let's us all know the group is being dissolved and all jobs eliminated. She handed everyone their severance paperwork, answered a couple of questions and left the room. We were in shock - no one saw this coming. We now had the clock on us again and 45 days to find another position within the company, take the severance, or retire. Company was having another record year for sales and profitability and other groups were hiring so it shouldn't be too hard to land somewhere else.
Long story made short, myself and a couple of others found new positions within the company but others did not. This rant is about one of those who was forced into retirement - my boss. A better boss would be had to find in this day and age. He was both tough and fair and had a heart as big as they come. This is how he was treated after 40 years of service to this company.
The big boss never came down to tell us why were being eliminated. Our group was responsible for taking new to the world technologies and commercializing them to start new businesses for the company. A job we all enjoyed as it was quite challenging and cutting edge. Our next level boss who is the CTO and R&D VP, never had the courage to thank the group for all we had done nor explain the reason for our dismissal. It couldn't be performance as we had brought 3 programs through commercialization this year which is a pretty darn good hit rate. Considering only a small percentage of these types of programs get this far, it was a good year. Couldn't be blown budget as we were under it. Couldn't have been bad behavior or complaints s we never heard about it. So here we sat and wondered.
45 days came and went for my boss and he had no luck finding a new spot. I don't think he was trying all that hard as he was at the age where full retirement was real for him and he didn't have the energy to start over again. He mentioned more than once that after 40 years of service he wanted to go out on his own terms which wasn't going to happen.
His last day of employment was this past Friday. He had an employment lawyer look over the severance documentation and the lawyer requested some changes. Boss submitted this redlined document back to HR requesting more than once to meet to discuss. The severance documents are vague using words like "reasonable" loosely in areas where clear definition is required. He never heard back. He had to have this document signed ad delivered by that Friday and he didn't know quite what to do. Big boss was no where to be found and HR was gone as well.
While I was observing him clean out his office, I got very sad. This company has an award, highly coveted, for teams and individuals that develop products that sell so many dollars in a set period of time. It is a hard standard to hit. As I was walking by the garbage cans in front of his office, I noticed these award plaques in the dumpster. Something he was quite proud of tossed aside just like he was being tossed aside. I also notice his many patent plaques and awards in the dumpster as well. I thought of taking them out and seeing if in a month or so he would want them back but he made his decision and who was I to get in the way.
These awards were for big programs. Ever use a drive through? Notice the headset and communication system the fast food joint is using. There is an 85% chance it is a system made by my company. My boss was the Electrical Engineer who developed that suite of products. Ever walk in a store and hear piped in music? This too was a program invented by my boss. LED light bulbs - boss was the program manager for these as well. If you measure a persons success by dollars of product sold, he was significantly above average for others at the company.
Friday mid afternoon had come and he was ready to leave. As is normal, proper, and a sign of some respect, the big boss typically comes down to the person retiring, "checks him out", takes his employee badge and helps him carry that last box down to his car. A handshake or man's hug follows and the retiring person drives off to start the next chapter of his life. No one came down, no one called. The people he needed to see were nowhere to be found. When you get to this point, when you are finally ready to leave, you want to leave and not wait around not knowing what to do. As he was ready, I helped my boss carry the last bit of personal items to his car, gave him a big hug and said with tears in my eyes that he will be missed - greatly.
I got in the office today and got a text from the old boss. He left his signed severance, un redlined in his middle drawer and asked me to run it over the HR. I did so. I handed to our person, didn't say a word, turned around and walked away.
I am disappointed in myself for not having the courage to speak up for what is right, I am disappointed that I couldn't do more to help him. Mostly though I am disgusted by the actions, or inactions of the company I have spent 33 years with. Discarding good people without saying a word, not being respectful of what this person has done for the company, letting him go and costing a good man some of the dignity he held tight is not how people should be treated. Ever. Even the worst of us. I hope and pray no one has to go through what I witnessed first hand over the past few weeks.
Thanks for letting me vent and ramble on and on. The company lost a very good man over the weekend - not that they care.
Mark
Our group was small by the company standards and we assembled in a conference room. Boss was there and not saying much as he didn't know anything. In walks someone we have never met and as she is walking in she let's us all know the group is being dissolved and all jobs eliminated. She handed everyone their severance paperwork, answered a couple of questions and left the room. We were in shock - no one saw this coming. We now had the clock on us again and 45 days to find another position within the company, take the severance, or retire. Company was having another record year for sales and profitability and other groups were hiring so it shouldn't be too hard to land somewhere else.
Long story made short, myself and a couple of others found new positions within the company but others did not. This rant is about one of those who was forced into retirement - my boss. A better boss would be had to find in this day and age. He was both tough and fair and had a heart as big as they come. This is how he was treated after 40 years of service to this company.
The big boss never came down to tell us why were being eliminated. Our group was responsible for taking new to the world technologies and commercializing them to start new businesses for the company. A job we all enjoyed as it was quite challenging and cutting edge. Our next level boss who is the CTO and R&D VP, never had the courage to thank the group for all we had done nor explain the reason for our dismissal. It couldn't be performance as we had brought 3 programs through commercialization this year which is a pretty darn good hit rate. Considering only a small percentage of these types of programs get this far, it was a good year. Couldn't be blown budget as we were under it. Couldn't have been bad behavior or complaints s we never heard about it. So here we sat and wondered.
45 days came and went for my boss and he had no luck finding a new spot. I don't think he was trying all that hard as he was at the age where full retirement was real for him and he didn't have the energy to start over again. He mentioned more than once that after 40 years of service he wanted to go out on his own terms which wasn't going to happen.
His last day of employment was this past Friday. He had an employment lawyer look over the severance documentation and the lawyer requested some changes. Boss submitted this redlined document back to HR requesting more than once to meet to discuss. The severance documents are vague using words like "reasonable" loosely in areas where clear definition is required. He never heard back. He had to have this document signed ad delivered by that Friday and he didn't know quite what to do. Big boss was no where to be found and HR was gone as well.
While I was observing him clean out his office, I got very sad. This company has an award, highly coveted, for teams and individuals that develop products that sell so many dollars in a set period of time. It is a hard standard to hit. As I was walking by the garbage cans in front of his office, I noticed these award plaques in the dumpster. Something he was quite proud of tossed aside just like he was being tossed aside. I also notice his many patent plaques and awards in the dumpster as well. I thought of taking them out and seeing if in a month or so he would want them back but he made his decision and who was I to get in the way.
These awards were for big programs. Ever use a drive through? Notice the headset and communication system the fast food joint is using. There is an 85% chance it is a system made by my company. My boss was the Electrical Engineer who developed that suite of products. Ever walk in a store and hear piped in music? This too was a program invented by my boss. LED light bulbs - boss was the program manager for these as well. If you measure a persons success by dollars of product sold, he was significantly above average for others at the company.
Friday mid afternoon had come and he was ready to leave. As is normal, proper, and a sign of some respect, the big boss typically comes down to the person retiring, "checks him out", takes his employee badge and helps him carry that last box down to his car. A handshake or man's hug follows and the retiring person drives off to start the next chapter of his life. No one came down, no one called. The people he needed to see were nowhere to be found. When you get to this point, when you are finally ready to leave, you want to leave and not wait around not knowing what to do. As he was ready, I helped my boss carry the last bit of personal items to his car, gave him a big hug and said with tears in my eyes that he will be missed - greatly.
I got in the office today and got a text from the old boss. He left his signed severance, un redlined in his middle drawer and asked me to run it over the HR. I did so. I handed to our person, didn't say a word, turned around and walked away.
I am disappointed in myself for not having the courage to speak up for what is right, I am disappointed that I couldn't do more to help him. Mostly though I am disgusted by the actions, or inactions of the company I have spent 33 years with. Discarding good people without saying a word, not being respectful of what this person has done for the company, letting him go and costing a good man some of the dignity he held tight is not how people should be treated. Ever. Even the worst of us. I hope and pray no one has to go through what I witnessed first hand over the past few weeks.
Thanks for letting me vent and ramble on and on. The company lost a very good man over the weekend - not that they care.
Mark
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