What signs are there that you might be facing redundancy?
Tricky this one.
From experience it seems to be based on some of the following:
Finally deciding to buy something expensive that you want (but don't need) that you've been putting off for possibly years, finally saying "yes let's do it" and finding the next day you are off to the workhouse. Only problem with that theory is you'll go through life always putting things off being thoroughly miserable and live on offal in a tent as you consider that something awful is always just about to happen. Like people born in Yorkshire do.
Possibility of "it" happening: Negligible to high. Advice: Enjoy life and live in the moment.
Saying to yourself words to the effect that "I'm doing OK at the moment". Hubris - the Gods of Fate just love that. Now this happened the first time when I'd just got a very large executive company car and 24 hours later...
Possibility of "it" happening: Negligible to high. Advice: Enjoy the car, smell that new car smell and, if it's a BMW remember that the laws are different for you and you can legally drive exclusively in the third lane on a motorway 1 metre behind the car in front until they move out of the way.
A new MD. They love change, they love to do things differently and change stuff around. They love to say "Look here! 4 minutes and everything is going to be different. I am now the CEO of consolidated HooHaws and The Rinkydink Corp and that makes me important and able to pull wings off flies and stare at you." They do not ask whether it is sensible, that what they are proposing means the only person that understands how the IT system works has just been marched off the premises or whether closing something down will mean chaos.
Possibility of "it" happening: Medium to high. Advice: Get on with it. What can they do, sack you? Well yes of course. However, do not brown-nose, suddenly start working excessive hours and laugh uproariously at every utterance the new MD makes. It doesn't fool him/her, it doesn't fool your colleagues (they know what you are really like) and they will plan your downfall behind your back. Do what you do and do it well. You have no control over what happens anyway.
A new owner. Worse than the new MD as they have just gone through the due diligence, think they've bought a lovely shiny new toy and then find out it's riddled with maggoty things that no one told them about in the finely crafted presentations in the expensive hotels. "If only they'd asked us, we'd have told them there were unexploded bombs in the fields, the customers actually hate us and the contracts we have are more worthless than an England footballer's shirt from the last World Cup" all the management say. But they, the Board, don't let you go anywhere near them otherwise they wouldn't have bought the pile anyway.
Possibility of "it" happening: High. Advice: You can't change anything but check all your insurance policies and start prudent saving. And the same thing applies again about brown-nosing -totally ineffective except in amusing your colleagues.
Large losses. This is more like it. Everyone can see that large losses on the P&L mean trouble. The early signs are a retreat into management speak that actually means nothing but sounds good to the plebs and grunts in the workforce (that's you and me). The first indication of potential trouble is the "We must do SOMETHING NOW!" from the Senior Management Team" (why the hell nothing has been done earlier when the iceberg first hit and water started flooding into the boiler room is, of course, a mystery to all). This is followed by the quest for "quick wins", the picking of "low hanging fruit" (I'm feeling nauseous), the ludicrous demands to stop ordering pencils, biros and stationery (always a good turn around strategy that one, almost as good as the time when phone calls were cheaper in the afternoon so no one could call anyone until 1pm). Anyway the accepted wisdom when Large Losses are experienced is to construct a hit list of employees that are expendable. Now, if you are lucky, you are one of the people who constructs the list and on the principle that turkeys don't vote for Christmas you should be OK. Don't bank on it as someone will have another list with your name on it too.
Possibility of "it" happening: Medium to high. Advice: You can't change anything but check all your insurance policies and start prudent saving. Do not talk in management speak - it's mostly rubbish and designed to stop clear ideas being discussed.
Several senior people start avoiding you. This is a good indicator that something is up. When you are used to doing a task and someone else is volunteered for no good reason, raise an eyebrow in Spock fashion (Star Trek, not the child care expert, though in many businesses that would be an asset) . When you are not included in meetings you used to go to, even if they were deadly dull, raise both eyebrows in a surprised look. When your colleagues, who used to try and pass on the their worst jobs to you, start to hang onto them with zeal then start to look around very carefully at the organisation. Time perhaps for a good conspiracy theory of corporate musical chairs.
Possibility of "it" happening: High. Advice: You can't change anything but check all your insurance policies and start prudent saving. Don't start running around being terribly important but use the time to make sure you have all those network contacts you promised you would make but didn't get around to. Should have.
Complete surprise. Had to have this one as it happens. There were no indications, none of the above, boss is genuinely upset (but secretly relieved it wasn't them that had received the news).
Well it's happened. How we handle this is comes in a later blog.
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