Sign Of The Times

Last night my son in law came home saying he was part of the new retrenchment package at work. This didn't quite make much sense as his company has been busy throughout the lock down period. Maybe it is more like he was one of the last ones to be hired before the lock down came into place. That would make sense as anything else wouldn't unless it was him.

I do believe that you can help yourself though by doing the extra things so at least you are noticed. How many people out there who are now facing this same prospect? There literally must be millions around the world who have been off loaded and are now jobless.

I know how hard it must be and not everyone deserves to get the chop and it is just purely a numbers game. Many could have helped themselves though by going the extra mile I believe. I am not saying it could have saved them anyway as it could be you were one of the last ones in and by law have to be the first ones out when this type of thing happens.

I always used to be flabbergasted at some of the employees I have had under me who arrived in a new position and showed no initiative. There was no will to even try and succeed and mainly it was down to their CV being ramped up too much. I have no problem with a few embellishments here and there but when you can't do the basics we have a problem.

This reminds me of a manager I once knew who delegated everything he was supposed to do. He was a really nice guy yet without his staff doing his work he couldn't function. When his employees were retrenched the job had outgrown him leaving him in the dark. The delegated roles he had delegated had changed so much over the course of 5 years he didn't know the basics. This is all too common though and many get away with it when they shouldn't.

When I see companies retrenching I tend too look at middle to upper management as that is where the real problem lies. Decisions made at boardroom level having consequences further down the line. This I find unfair and one that should never happen, but it does. Many are graduates who haven't got the experience yet their CV says they have and they can hide away until they are found out eventually.

I know one company that has haemorrhaged R1.9 Billion over the last few months. Many of us saw this coming as there whole business approach was wrong. Moving a head office away from where it was because the person in charge wanted to go home and didn't want to relocate was selfish and stupid. He has since been replaced yet the staff are all in another Province and most likely facing retrenchments as well.

This company got into bed with certain suppliers kicking out ones that had been with them from the start and now have been found out. The stores are empty as they have been struggling to obtain stock. It doesn't matter how big you are and actually makes it worse as mistakes become major mistakes very quickly. This is Walmart in South Africa for you and so happy I am not supplying them after all. I wonder what the man in charge will put on his CV after this train smash?

This is why a CV is good to give someone a rough guide and that is it, nothing more. One can learn a lot by chatting with someone and watching how someone carries them self.