"Reorganization Meeting"

[Deleted]

Hopefully they're reorganizing your boss to some other department! Good luck.

[Bluerobin]

Crabby retired during a reorganization meeting. She didn't like her proposed new boss. She got up yelled F___ this S___. Left the meeting, went back to her desk and submitted her retirement papers. It was a thing of beauty.

[CarolinaKat]

Nov 30, 2012 10:36:44 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

Nov 30, 2012 10:34:51 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

Oh hell... that sucks. I'm assuming it's not terrible news if they scheduled it so far out. Don't the 'really bad' meetings usually get called immediately?

Anyone you can get the skinny from early?

That's what I was thinking. I'm never in the loop around here. My supervisor seems really freaked out.

When we had our really bad meeting, it was called in the afternoon. The layoffs were in the morning, and they sent the meeting notice out at 12 for a 2pm meeting.

However the re-org meetings are usually planned a couple of days to a week in advance and it's usually re-aligning people. IE if you haven't spoken to your boss ina year, you get a new one.

[movingforward]

Nov 30, 2012 15:50:55 GMT -5 Bluerobin said:

Crabby retired during a reorganization meeting. She didn't like her proposed new boss. She got up yelled F___ this S___. Left the meeting, went back to her desk and submitted her retirement papers. It was a thing of beauty.

That is awesome!

[Cookies Galore]

Nov 30, 2012 15:50:55 GMT -5 Bluerobin said:

Crabby retired during a reorganization meeting. She didn't like her proposed new boss. She got up yelled F___ this S___. Left the meeting, went back to her desk and submitted her retirement papers. It was a thing of beauty.

She's an inspiration to us all.

This is how I'll go out: (LANGUAGE!!!!!!!)

[Opti]

Nov 30, 2012 10:36:44 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

Nov 30, 2012 10:34:51 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

Oh hell... that sucks. I'm assuming it's not terrible news if they scheduled it so far out. Don't the 'really bad' meetings usually get called immediately?

Anyone you can get the skinny from early?

That's what I was thinking. I'm never in the loop around here. My supervisor seems really freaked out.

Well since something like this bit me in 2009 I would say your supervisor might be right. We were given days possibly as much as a week's notice about our meeting. There was much anxiety and I tried to stay positive hoping they would just reorg the client service end.

Because they laid off almost everyone in the office except for about 5 people I would say it is better to assume the worst than hope for the best.
It wasn't until the weekend before that my subconcious knocked me upside the head with a dream. I'd prepare a resume and job search plan just in case. If you are lucky you won't need it. If it is a tiered layoff, your shock might be less and you might be able to use some of your work time to search for work.

I really hope it isn't much, but in my experience Oct to Dec tends to be layoff season so you might have notice so you are prepared.

[vonna]

Hail to Crabby!

[ktunes]

Uh oh. This doesn't sound good, does it?

that depends...how busy is your department?...we have been doing some reorganizing, buts it's because we have grown and the way we were doing business needed to change...

[thyme4change]

Called so far out - no big deal. I wouldn't worry about it. They will move some people around.

If you were going to get laid off, you wouldn't be invited to the meeting.

[Tennesseer]

In 2003, my employer decided to downsize/eliminate some of their salaried professional individual contributor, front-line manager and middle manager positions. Very generous packages were offered. It was all voluntary. More took the package than expected.

The company also decided to eliminate some of their vice presidents. In their case, it wasn't voluntary. Very generous severance packages were extended. In my division's case, three of the five vice presidents were cut loose. But instead of calling in each vice president into his office to deliver the news, the divisional senior vice president got all three on a conference call and told them as a group they were gone. Each of the vice presidents had at least 20 plus years with the company.

I thought that was a bit cold the way the vice presidents were handled. But then they did make the big bucks.

[busymom]

A previous employer invited our entire department to a "big meeting". We all found out our work location was being closed in 6 months, & operations were being moved to another city. You could opt to move to the new city, take a job paying about 1/2 in another division in our city, or get a small severance package & leave. Most of us left....


I hope your meeting brings better news for you.

[Deleted]

Nov 30, 2012 20:46:34 GMT -5 @tbird said:

Nov 30, 2012 15:50:55 GMT -5 Bluerobin said:

Crabby retired during a reorganization meeting. She didn't like her proposed new boss. She got up yelled F___ this S___. Left the meeting, went back to her desk and submitted her retirement papers. It was a thing of beauty.

who's this crabby?

Crabby is Blue's wife.

[hoops902]

::If you were going to get laid off, you wouldn't be invited to the meeting. ::

Uhhhhh...based on my experience....not necessarily.

So based on my experience in the past 5 years, with both myself and others I do/have worked with...this is how these kinds of meetings have gone.

- You're being laid off because we're outsourcing, your layoff is effective 9 months from now
- Your coworkers are being laid off because of outsourcing, but you're being retained
- You're being laid off because of work volumes, effective 4 weeks from now
- Your coworkers in the other meeting just got laid off
- We're changing reporting, you'll be reporting to a new manager
- We're restructuring, managers are being let go/reassigned, you may or may not be under a new manager
- We're outsourcing, and you're being "traded" to the outsourcing company which will disqualify you from unemployment if you choose not to accept
- Your coworkers are being traded to an outsourcing company

Basically what I've learned is: Screw it, there's no good way to guess what the hell is going to happen at these things.

[thyme4change]

Uhhhhh...based on my experience....not necessarily.

Mine neither - but there is no use in stressing about it. You will find out on Wednesday whatever you are going to find out. The best thing to do is to work like you are still going to have a job.

[Deleted]

I would come up with a back-up plan, just in case. That way even if they close your department, lay you off, you are not in too much panic. Just write down possible networking contacts, other companies/colleges you could apply at, etc. When they furloughed some people in my company, I made an "Oh Sh!t!" list for myself even though I wasn't too worried, which made me feel better when I put down my options in writing.

If they are specifically having a reorganization meeting, I would assume it is something more than just getting rid of your boss.

[Deleted]

Well then problem solved

[thyme4change]

Hey wrongside - did you have your meeting? Are you employed? Did the fantasy happen, and all the people you don't care for have been let go in great shame, and all the great people were hoisted on shoulders and paraded around and now you only have bosses and co-workers you love, and there are the perfect number of employees and all tasks are spread evenly? Because that would be awesome.

[thyme4change]

End of day? Eeek! I like companies that fire you in the morning.

[andi9899]

You have GOT to update us when you are done with your meeting. What time zone are you in? I want to check it out.

[andi9899]

Damn! And I'll be gone by then. I'll have to check it out on my phone from the waiting room at the doctor's office. I'm nosy like that.

[thyme4change]

Boo - this is taking way too long.
Speed it up missy, we can't sit here all day to find out if somethign happened anywhere that doesn't really effect us that much.

[Peace Of Mind]

I think it's not only appropriate but that you will stand out by doing that. She opened the door by discussing it and it will show your initiative.

I'm glad the meeting wasn't horrible for you.

[movingforward]

I am certain this will not be the case in your situation since you are at a college but 2.5 yrs ago I heard the words "the company is reorganizing the department" and a few months later the entire dept was gone. Yep, I would say that is definitely reorganizing

[thyme4change]

Would it be inappropriate for me to send her an email saying something like "it was nice meeting you, blah blah blah, by the way, once that answer center opens I'd be really interested in working there"?

Absolutely send the email - but make sure you craft it really well. Include why you would be great at the position, and treat it like you would a cover letter to an unknown employer. You want to look polished and professional and have her drooling over you before she has to make the decision to talk to you about it. there may be others who will casually say "Hey - I'm throwing my hat in the ring." You want to say "I'm the one you want because of A, B and C."

[Deleted]

I agree.

But, you need to remember, 24/7 really CAN mean 24/7! So although I'd definitely go for it, I'd also advise you to think about your own personal parameters, and how you'll go about respecting them. I'm up REALLY late, and I get a load of emails from my students about this or that. After my first year, I decided I would NEVER respond to a student after 11pm, even if I am up till 3 am that night. That's my business, not theirs.

That's just an example. But if you are asked to interview for this position, I would assume they would ask how you would deal with students emailing you 24/7, so you should have a plan.

I also think you homeschool. Although working from home would be great for you, you'll likely need a barrier there too. So you need to think about that too.

Believe it or not, you might find that you would PREFER to go into work for part of the time so that you can deal with work uninterrupted.

Whatever you decide, best of luck!

But whatever you do, DON'T underestimate college students' definitions of 24/7 LOL.

[Deleted]

Oh wow that sounds PERFECT! I wanted to suggest finding a colleague to share that job with, but I know people generally don't want to share.

But if you're working shifts, that would be PERFECT!

ETA: If you really want that job, you might consider offering to take 40% or 50% of it plus the scheduling. If you get it, it means that YOU would be in charge, so you'd also be in charge of the scheduling.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Dec 5, 2012 18:01:45 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

Well, it wasn't a horrible meeting. I'm not out of a job or anything. The college is doing a lot of reorganizing and my department will be completely different, although the specifics haven't been worked out yet. Nothing is going to happen overnight.

I have a question for you guys. The person facilitating the meeting is the VP of Student Recruitment. While she was talking about all of the upcoming changes, she mentioned a new job that I would be really interested in. There is going to be an "answer center" that will be available 24/7. She said somebody would be working from home for this position. It was all I could do not jump from my seat shouting "I want it! I want it!"

Would it be inappropriate for me to send her an email saying something like "it was nice meeting you, blah blah blah, by the way, once that answer center opens I'd be really interested in working there"?

I'd send the email and express interest. Maybe more along the lines of "do you have any details of when X job will be posted? I'd like to interview for it." I'm assuming your job posts openings for existing staff before going outside.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

[Deleted]

Great news! Maybe you could still work part time but more than you do now?

Only if you wanted to, of course. I just mean there may be a "happy compromise" between the number of hours you are working now and full time.