« test taking | Main | powerful words »
October 20, 2006
and the truth shall set you free
I've complained about work way too many times in the short period that I've been blogging. Part of the reason has to do with *what* I do. I work as a consultant. Perish the thought of the suited up guy who blazes in, tells everyone, "If you do this, you will be X times more efficient or save X% of money.", closes up his briefcase, takes his check, and disappears. One, I work for an Indian consulting firm, which in a word means: offshoring. Two, my consulting work has specialized in dealing with startups. In reality, we are the hired guns who are brought in either because they are cheaper than the company having employees to the same thing in the short term, or we're brought in to provide expertise that the client firm doesn't have.
The hired gun part is the one that probably affects us the most. Mainly because client companies treat us like sh*t. Most of the time, they look at us and see the dollar signs that we cost them. On the extreme level, you get some managers who work for the client who stroll around and complain to our bosses if there is anything that doesn't look like work on our monitors. Why? Because they feel they are entitled to, since we are charged to them by our consulting firm.
Then there is the gulf between that type of treatment vs how employees are treated. However small, there is always a difference. In some well-run companies, the difference is negligible and people work tirelessly to overcome it. At the extreme level, you get virtual "class" divisions.
Recently, our client has undergone a bit of a panic attack in regards to their future prospects due to one of their major clients throwing in the towel. They made some cuts, and now the onus is on our firm to do the same for our group here at the company. Everyone, employee or consultant, is wary and looking around for that ax.
Its funny, once the ax has fallen in any layoff, you have two types of people. One type of person believes the company spin that it was a temporary setback/necessary measure, and soldiers on. The second type of person immediately ascribes the layoff to the fact that the ship is sinking and looks to jump immediately. Sadly, I was once naive enough to be the first person, but I've been through enough layoffs to become the second type. Companies will *always* tell you that its temporary and that the sky is blue right around the corner.
You'd think that at this point politics aren't in play anymore, with people too worried about what their future holds, but its still around. We've got people still angling for positions of responsibility at this point. I suppose when there's a vacuum, people step in to fill. And even when there isn't, ambition still drives some people. And the game is still going on, in between and during meetings on the forward direction of the company.
I don't care anymore. And I no longer feel constrained by what I'm supposed to say and what I'm not supposed to say. I've never liked that mentality of management, where its bad to know too much. If you trust peope with putting out your product, you should trust them with other knowledge as well. I admit that giving someone too much advance notice of their job's demise is bad (a la corporate sabotage and all that), but it also puts a bad taste in my mouth to deceive someone about the ultimate health and future of a company in the name of morale and productivity.
Posted by spoof747 at October 20, 2006 11:45 AM