Rewind... rewind... rewind...

what a strange day...

New hire that started on Monday forced to resign due to medical issues... I feel really bad for him because he's a real nice guy but it would have impacted his ability to do the job... prayers to you JH... be well

sales escalation took up another 2 hours this morning... stupid shit - support gets thrown under the bus and we have to jack it up ourselves and prove we were correct... Just ONCE I'd like to get some support from the sales team... sticking up for the customer is one thing, but throwing the people who bail your ass out time and time again is just plain wrong...

Had one guy "flake" on me this afternoon after offering him a new role that he interviewed for... oh well - back to the drawing board.

Keep smiling and keep the team together (mentally)... I'm glad my boss is so supportive of me... she really appreciates me being there and for that I'm thankful... 'Tis the Season!

Wacky Wednesday

Strange day... all hell broke loose even as I was walking in the door at the office...

Escalations from start to finish.
Sales people who forgot how to wipe their asses.
One employee who went brain-dead on how to do his job. Might have to fire this one...
Another employee who doesn't like to (or know how to) deliver tough messages to customers.

At the same time, what a good day because I was able to laugh throughout... it was just a very strange day.

The sales people kicked ass in April - good for business - if only there were a bonus structure... maybe in the future. Could have been a record month - we'll see when the final numbers come out on Friday.

Goodbye and Thanks for Nothing

Had a person on my staff resign today. Not that big a deal, but the way he did it left a lot to be said of his professionalism.

He showed up at about 5:30pm, after I had left. According to the people who were there, he dropped a note on my desk, dropped off his equipment, cleaned out his desk, bad-mouthed a member of the team, dropped a couple of F-Bombs and left.

Gee - thanks for giving me an opportunity to try to resolve some of your concerns. You were good, but you burned that bridge pal. You'll be lucky to get name, rank and serial number from me in a reference.

It's too bad because I thought that you could have helped me with this team. Guess that was asking too much from someone who waited less than 48 hours after I started to start raking me over the coals for not immediately changing things.

Change takes time, change takes patience. My advice to you? Get out of the technology field. Go into something where you don't have to interact with people and where there's no chance of any conflict. You can't handle it.

For my part, sorry charlie. For your part, you should be sorry and embarrassed by your behavior.

The Crumbling Empire?

Got a call this morning from one of the people who used to work for me... she was calling to say that she has resigned and will be starting a new job in the near future.

By my count there are 5 (out of 12) openings in the group I used to have and at least 7 others in the entire department that used to have 100+ headcount.

That's over 10% understaffed with a 41% understaffing in my old group... and the department was understaffed to begin with...

Seems like the empire is crumbling a bit. It's unfortunate too, but I'm not surprised.

When the resignation was given, my guess is that my former boss was happy on the inside but is shitting his pants as well. He wasn't fond of this person and was very open about it with certain individuals. But inside I know that he's thinking that he's lost another warm body - oh shit - another person gone, more overtime, what's happening???? He needs those warm bodies now. Who the hell is going to answer the phones? Since the company doesn't like paying OT, there's some big shit gonna hit the fan here pretty soon...

These people aren't leaving because I left - no - they are leaving because they are over-worked, under paid and under a hell of a lot of stress trying to live up to the unachievable goals set for them. Again - unfortunate. Signs were there that the goals were unachievable, but were ignored. Gotta push ahead and deliver the undeliverable... Yeah - right. At who's expense?

The saddest thing is that the upper management that is trying to run the company will see little to no repercussions mainly because they will just replace the previously under paid (yet talented) people who left with equally under paid "warm bodies".

The exit interviews are all the same - "the company is broken, the department is broken and upper management doesn't give a rats ass..."

The spiral continues... and it's about to hit critical mass because a lot of the knowledge that is walking out the door does so without anything documented behind them.

If a couple more key people leave then there's a major implosion about to take place - there won't be enough people to man the phones and train all the new suckers - I mean employees - who walk into the slaughterhouse.

As for me - meeting with a number of recruiters next week and have contacted a number of companies this week... the search continues for a company that really cares. One of these recruiters is actually trying to find my replacement... Now THAT should be an interesting conversation!!!

Are People THAT Blind???

With all the turmoil and upheval at the outfit I used to work at, you have to wonder why people at the top who are looking down don't see it for what it is... there is a major leadership problem in that organization and the problems flow from the top down.

Not once did the VP of our group ever come down to talk to anyone in my group. Hell, even the Director barely spoke with anyone in the group (including me). Pretty sad if you ask me.

Now there are a number of openings and people are still leaving - like rats off a sinking ship...

Shit - if people in high places had just opened their eyes a few months ago, things might not be so bad now.

My friend who had my position ahead of me let me know that she is also leaving now... all I can say is GOOD FOR HER!!! She deserves better after all the bullshit she's put up with (no support, no direction, no feedback, etc, etc, etc).

Dropping Like Flies

Got a call tonight from one of my former employees saying that she's sent out some resumes and that I might get a call regarding a reference... well OF COURSE I'll be a reference for any of the people who were there and trying to get out now...

I've heard it's worse there now than ever... more work with even less people. Not a good situation and I can't blame everyone in that group (and others) for wanting to get out.

Sad thing is that the HR person I did my exit interview with has also left and I bet the notes she took regarding my comments never got too far past her (unless the director of that group took them up the line - who knows)...

My search continues and I'm trying to be patient... we'll see what happens next

Update after this was originally posted - Found out just a few minutes ago that yet another key person in the department has given her notice and will be leaving in less than 2 weeks. Oh my goodness!!!!

Sometimes I Just Don't Understand...

Sometimes I just can't (won't/don't want to) understand how and why things happen.

Case in point -

I touch base with one of my former employees at retail-hell today and she lets me know that one of the best people on the HelpDesk was "suddenly let go" yesterday for "some reason"... only thing I can figure is that the guy didn't pass a mandatory drug screen after agreeing to come on board full time shortly before I left.

The other possibility is the background check that is run.

Sometimes things just aren't meant to be clear and that's a shame. Just goes to show that there are many reasons to keep your nose clean when dealing with the corporate world.

Be safe...