At the end of next month it appears that I will be retrenched from my current position. I say “it appears” because the date is not firmly fixed and there are plenty of things that I do (and those in the same roles in other parts of the state who are also being retrenched) that no one else knows how to do, or even knows that someone currently does.
It’s a little surreal, somewhat disappointing, not unexpected, and not entirely unwelcome!
The organisation for which I currently work is a not-for-profit company that assists people in direct and immediate need in communities. One of the hallmarks of this type of work should be the provision of fast service to these clients, and this is best done by having the service provider representatives as ‘close to the ground’ as possible. I describe it as seeking to provide an appropriate service at the clients point of need. Senior management thinks otherwise and believes centralisation and corporatisation of these services is a better approach. I’ll agree to disagree.
But this will not be my first retrenchment. It won’t even be my second retrenchment. It will be my third retrenchment (should it be a re-re-retrenchment?)
My first was way back in the dark ages which was in 1999. The organisation I worked for then was a multi-billion dollar Australian-owned multinational that comprised four or five separate divisions (only vaguely related with very few synergies). The division I worked in, in the divisional head office, was not profitable and so was sold to a competitor. The competitor was interested foremost in brands, partially interested in manufacturing facilities and distribution channels, and not at all interested in divisional head office functions or personnel. All up around a dozen people lost their jobs in that merger/takeover/rationalisation. It was my first retrenchment and it was a time when we had four young children, a mortgage and responsibilities. I took it personally and can still recall my indignation that this company who had acquired us could possibly even consider retrenching me with all my skill, knowledge, experience and responsibilities! But they did anyway.
That first retrenchment was something of a wakeup call to me to not pursue the corporate ladder. It isn’t worth it. It’s slippery. It wants your soul. Some rungs are broken. Some rungs have splinters.
My second retrenchment (re-retrenchment) came four years later in 2003. It, again, was the result of a takeover or merger. I was working in the head office of a company competing in the safety/PPE market and another company which owned our main competitor purchased our business and proceeded to merge the two entities. Once again the head office personnel weren’t high on their retention agenda. To the victor go the spoils, or so they say. That retrenchment was more like a war of attrition. Our office of around 40 or 50 people were gradually whittled down person-by-person, department-by-department, week-by-week. From memory it took around six months for the retrenchment scythe to reach the department I was working in, and my workload gradually declined over that time until I was only working a couple of days a month (although still being required to be at work, even if I was doing very little work). Needless to say this retrenchment was less of a shock and more welcomed!
So my third retrenchment is looming. And, as I mentioned very early on, it isn’t unwelcome mainly as a result of the change in atmosphere that senior management (SM) is bringing. I have sought to highlight that local service delivery to our clients will be degraded as a result of the restructure. It also seems that SM is intentionally trying to eradicate our previous corporate culture. One of the problems is they have nothing to replace it with apart from mistrust, disingenuity and corporate-speak. None of those are what I want so in many ways I’ll be glad to go - but somewhat concerned for the clients and employees left behind.