Episode 372 : Letting go, and letting down
'He is going to get his superannuation from that company', my classmate from college remarked.
I laughed.
It was a practice for a lot of people at this company to retire after putting in several years of service. One of the managers that I had worked with, had joined after he finished university and worked here for 39 years. When I put it in perspective, he joined a few months before I was born!
A few days later, I found a question at Quora that asked how to handle a termination from a company you were working for. It made me realise how much I had moved from that phase of my life where I was unsure of myself to a phase where I am willing to try out a new role so that I could learn something from it. It is another thing that when confronted with a choice to leave the present company I seem to buckle down instead. 'Ten years is a long time, but let's see what else I can learn from here' was the reason I kept giving myself.
It was around that time that rumours began to spread about an impending sale. I somehow found myself being uncertain and had to regularly convince myself that I had gone through an uncertainty at the same workplace and how I came out of it. I was sure that my business unit wouldn't figure in it because we were a part of the long-term strategy. That was what everyone said and we believed it too.
When the axe fell, when we were told that that we were no longer central to the strategy, everyone from the senior managers to the youngest employee felt a measure of betrayal. Some people were told to go, including that manager who put in 39 years of service, while the rest of us were told to expect a brighter future. A new owner brings in a new plan and a clearer strategy.
Sure.
It is the beginning of end of an era. The company I joined over ten years ago initiated a split that was unheard of. Like a radioactive element, it began to disintegrate into smaller chunks, each time trying to stabilise. I am in Chunk #2, and somehow I feel there will be more until it no longer exists.
Ten years is a long time. I absorbed the work and personal ethics that we bandied about so proudly. There was a loyalty that steadily built up even when others poked fun and declared that the company is no longer what it used to be.
I will be watching from the sidelines, even though my loyalty has been told to serve elsewhere.
I laughed.
It was a practice for a lot of people at this company to retire after putting in several years of service. One of the managers that I had worked with, had joined after he finished university and worked here for 39 years. When I put it in perspective, he joined a few months before I was born!
A few days later, I found a question at Quora that asked how to handle a termination from a company you were working for. It made me realise how much I had moved from that phase of my life where I was unsure of myself to a phase where I am willing to try out a new role so that I could learn something from it. It is another thing that when confronted with a choice to leave the present company I seem to buckle down instead. 'Ten years is a long time, but let's see what else I can learn from here' was the reason I kept giving myself.
It was around that time that rumours began to spread about an impending sale. I somehow found myself being uncertain and had to regularly convince myself that I had gone through an uncertainty at the same workplace and how I came out of it. I was sure that my business unit wouldn't figure in it because we were a part of the long-term strategy. That was what everyone said and we believed it too.
When the axe fell, when we were told that that we were no longer central to the strategy, everyone from the senior managers to the youngest employee felt a measure of betrayal. Some people were told to go, including that manager who put in 39 years of service, while the rest of us were told to expect a brighter future. A new owner brings in a new plan and a clearer strategy.
Sure.
It is the beginning of end of an era. The company I joined over ten years ago initiated a split that was unheard of. Like a radioactive element, it began to disintegrate into smaller chunks, each time trying to stabilise. I am in Chunk #2, and somehow I feel there will be more until it no longer exists.
Ten years is a long time. I absorbed the work and personal ethics that we bandied about so proudly. There was a loyalty that steadily built up even when others poked fun and declared that the company is no longer what it used to be.
I will be watching from the sidelines, even though my loyalty has been told to serve elsewhere.
Aired at 9/09/2016 08:25:00 pm
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