We told Smallsteps last night that I will be ending my day job at the end of the week and she asked why. The best I could really come up with is that what I do, is not needed there at the company at the moment, so there is no job for me. This isn't actually the case, but explaining budgets and headcount reductions seemed unnecessary. I can talk to her later about such things.
What was interesting at work today is that it seems that there has been a fair amount of compartmentalization, because most people I talked to, didn't realize headcount reductions were even on the table, even though they are happening company wide. This is something that wouldn't have happened a few years ago I believe, but the culture has changed in the last year and moved away from transparency. This likely has to do with the recapitalization, and the soon-to-be new owners.
People were a little more than surprised.
What I discovered that while I am "meant" to do some work in order to get my final bonus, I have ended up talking to people instead. There has been a lot of words of encouragement, but mostly confusion and then self-reflection, as well as predictions on the future for the company and themselves. At least from what I have heard from people I generally trust, they feel that their opinion about the company has changed. This is not just because of me and others leaving now, but just over time.
The average tenure at the company at the moment probably sits around 8-10 years, which is a lot for a company that is only about 20 years old and has grown a lot since the startup days. But because it has grown, it is natural that the culture has shifted along with it. Startups operate very differently to more established companies, and as such, require different kinds of people. A new company generally has versatile people with many hats doing varied roles and responsibilities, while older companies tend to hire based on role description, with well defined tasks. It makes hiring easier in many respects, but also brings in formality, and a tighter perspective of expertise.
I am an in-betweener.
I don't think I am a startup person, nor am I an established business person. I am more suited I think to the growth tract, where people need skill development. Of course, that is needed at all stages, but there is a range of company approaches to this. Some have well-thought-out plans, others just bumble around, and some just focus on key roles, or people. My business works with key roles and people, looking to make small changes in specific areas to improve their results, and affect parts of the organization. This is what my "new role" would have been, had I stayed.
But, if I had stayed and it continued on the path it seems to be, I might not have stayed long anyway perhaps, because it shifts to more mass information sharing, and group skill development. I am not a fan of this kind of training, because it fails time and time again to make lasting behavioral changes, and they are average changes at that. This could also be part of the reason it was my head that was lopped, because I have been pretty vocal about this over the last eighteen months.
I am okay if that is the reason.
The unemployment rate in Finland is approaching 9%, which is very high. It really isn't a very good time to find another place to work as an employee, and that also means there are challenges to build a business. However, perhaps with some grind, it might be possible to pick up some mitigation consulting work for key people who don't lose their job. When there is staff turnover like this, it affects morale and culture, and previously high-performing people, can be "surprisingly" affected and struggle. This puts additional cost on the process for the future too.
Not great when trying to save money.
What I am going to also do is focus on my "sales strategy" because I am not great at selling myself, and have always relied on word of mouth. That isn't going to get me far enough at this point, so I have to think it through in more detail. At least, I have been enabling sellers in sales methodology, and although it has been for a SaaS business, I should be able to apply parts of the framework and put it to the test.
This all has been consuming a lot of my thoughts over the last weeks, but as of Friday afternoon, there will be nothing more that I can do, and I can put it all to rest. I don't get to rest for long, but at least I will get to work on only the things that I want to work on and that I think will make a positive impact.
That might not pay the bills though.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
