s_d_g
Junior member
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« on: April 27, 2007, 01:24:40 PM » |
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So about a week ago I stumbled across some confidential information: The entire division within the university I work is going to be "rocked" in the next month by re-structuring, shifting job assignments, and for some, termination. In my "stumbling" I was assured my employment was secure, but am concerned for my fellow co-workers and friends. Any advice on how I should handle this information or how I should act before and after this news is delivered? Thanks
SDG
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michigander
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« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2007, 02:20:06 PM » |
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I've been there, lost my career in the process, and lived through it. First of all, do not believe that you are secure. What you were told is what I was told a year before my adminstrative job of over ten years was abolished in a reorganization and I was terminated in a "reduction in force."
Start a diary and document everything that could even be tangentially related. Keep copies of everything at home. Leave none of your notes on campus when you're not there. If you keep your stuff in your car, park it off campus. You might even want to have an exploratory conversation with an outside attorney who can legally guarantee confidentiality. [Yes, this all sounds paranoid, but sometimes paranoid people really do have something to be worried about, even if they don't know specifically what.]
All of that being said, there are lots of specific things about where you are that only you know that will determine in the end whether and when you will discuss this with anyone else on campus. How reliable is your information? How likely is your informant about your status to be correct? What is your relationship with the people who could be hurt? What is your relationship with the people making the decisions? What's the potential harm to you if you start talking about this? Are you on the tenure track or in a bargaining unit? Are any unionized personnel involved? Will this be of interest to the local media? Do you agree with the impending changes? Is there anything in your past performance that could be used against you if someone decides that you've become a problem? And that's only the beginning of the list. I'm sure that other members of the forum will have more to add.
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s_d_g
Junior member
Posts: 53
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« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2007, 02:48:55 PM » |
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Thanks for your response, those are the exact questions I hoped my post would generate. Looks like I have a bit of thinking to do over the weekend.
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conjugate
Compulsive punster and insatiable reader, and
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 17,026
Tends to have warped sense of humor
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« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2007, 03:49:04 PM » |
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Also, don't forget to polish that résumé to show all your most recent accomplishments. It may be you'll be dismissed, and it may be that you'll be retained but not want to stay, and it may also be that everything will be fine. But if you're ready for the worst, the only surprises must be good surprises, right?
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Unfortunately, I think conjugate gives good advice.
∀ε>0∃δ>0∋|x–a|<δ⇒|ƒ(x)-ƒ(a)|<ε |
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alto_stratus
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« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2007, 11:12:01 PM » |
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(Suddenly feeling paranoid.)
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sibyl
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« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2007, 08:35:50 AM » |
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It seems to me your toughest question is whether, and how much, you should tell your coworkers. So there are a couple of questions. First of all, how much will you help your coworkers by telling them? Will the extra lead time help them find new positions, or rally to save their own?
Second, how much will telling them help you? If it gets back to higher-ups that there was a leak, and they trace it to you (either through fact or suspicion), you will lose their trust, and thus seriously damage your ability to advance in your current position, work with those higher-ups, and obtain job references for future positions. Those are all pretty severe consequences. You may still decide to burn those bridges, but you should be certain that you don't ever want to recross them.
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"I do not pretend to set people right, but I do see that they are often wrong." -- Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
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margomcp
Duck Feeder Extraordinaire
Junior member
Posts: 72
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« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2007, 01:00:34 PM » |
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Do let us know what happens, we voyeurs with nothing to lose love a great drama? :-) Good luck! The way you worded it, sounded to me like those that would be let go were those thought not to be doing such a great job? I don't think I've ever been truly surprised in a big shakeup, what happens? One kind of has a clue beforehand which way the ground will tilt. The only time I was ever laid off, I was saving money/paying down my bills in order to quit.
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Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people. ~George Bernard Shaw
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s_d_g
Junior member
Posts: 53
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« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2007, 08:47:40 AM » |
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At margomcp's request, here's what has happened:
Our division has been "shaken up" (as opposed to a harsher word like "rocked"). A hand full of people have been let go and several other have been reassigned and/or had their jobs restructured. Nothing that doesn't happen in the corporate world everyday, though something entirely new for my university. The only question now was forshadowed by conjugate's perceptive comment: "it may be that you'll be retained but not want to stay". I suppose only time will tell, as the division adjusts to the changes.
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