Sunday, June 10, 2012
My "Career" ~ Part 8 ~ "Everything's Great"
Rumors started buzzing around, and none of us knew for sure, because nobody who was in a position to know would tell us, nor could they tell us, I guess.
I finally, one night, turned my TV to CNBC; the one and only time I ever watched that channel. A couple of financial guys were speculating about the buyout of our company, but nothing was final yet.
The next morning, as I was getting ready for work, I again flipped on the TV, and there it was. We were being bought out. Bought by one of the big boys.
Everybody got a printed memo that day, announcing the merger, and promising that they were going to play by our rules. That didn't make sense to me, since we were the buy-EES, and they were the buy-ERS. But I chose to believe that they saw in our company a better way of doing business, and thus, they had seen the light, so to speak.
The first inkling that this was not the case was when our employee insurance coverage changed. As employees of Acme Insurance Company, we'd had the best coverage ever. A miniscule copay for any type of service; no deductible. We could visit our doctor every day, if we'd wanted to, and it was all covered. The premium was picked up by the company.
No more. We had to start chipping in for our coverage, and the benefits were much worse.
Not only that, but our stock options were discontinued. I was so enamored of my company that I'd invested a ton of my 401K dollars into company stock. (DON'T EVER DO THAT!)
But, other than the insurance coverage, and the dissipation of stock options, our everyday business model didn't change.
Peter was still my boss, and he still was very supportive. He apologized over and over again for not being able to promote me to manager, even though I was doing a manager's job, and even though I was overseeing five supervisors and more than 150 hourly staff. And still supervising my own unit; albeit a "cream of the crop" unit; the best of the best.
Even though I was having daily telephone conversations with the gal at Kelly Temp Services; telling her what I needed. Even though I was scheduling and conducting job interviews twice a week. Even though I was tutoring my supervisors in the fine art of writing performance reviews.
Even though I was juggling my salary spreadsheet, and ranking employees on a one to five basis, in order to manage salary increases to the unworkable parameters that Peter had set.
Even though Peter damn well knew that I was able to retain staff with negligible turnover because my people liked and respected me, and they knew that I liked and respected them.
Even though I kept having the same conversation over and over with Pat in Allentown, trying to keep my impatience from bubbling over. Telling myself that eventually she'll "get it". If I just remain calm and repeat myself a lot, she'll catch on. She has to. Doesn't she?
And why in the world did Peter ever choose her in the first place?
Billy Joel kept running through my mind. I started daydreaming that all the factories in Allentown were being shut down because Pat was running them. And Pat was an imbecile.
And, despite all the dire news on the corporate front, I believed that everything was still okay.
Things were okay with IKFI. We were humming and strumming along. Our numbers, and our outlook, were great.
What could possibly go wrong?
Ominously, unforeseen, a cold wind was about to blow in.
To be continued...........
My "Career" ~ Part 9 ~ A Cold Wind
My "Career" ~ Part 10 ~ Thank You ~ Goodbye
My "Career" ~ Part 11 ~ Breaking the News
My "Career" ~ Part 12 ~ Loose Ends
My "Career" ~ Epilogue
Previous Chapters:
My "Career" ~ Part 7 ~ Another New Boss?
My "Career" ~ Part 6 ~ "Who Do You Think You Are?"
My "Career" ~ Part 5 ~ Welcome to the I-Land
My "Career" ~ Part 4 ~ Phil
My "Career" ~ Part 3 ~ Karma
My "Career" ~ Part 2 ~ Evil Bosses
My "Career" ~ Chapter One
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