The workplace

Some thoughts about making a living and living a life !

1. Prepare Yourself!

2. How to fight back !

3. What to do next?

4. Back to work.The workplace

Prepare Yourself !

With dire warning of continuing economic malaise in Hong Kong it is a wise manager who prepares him or her self for the possibility that they will be the next redundancy statistic.

This will probably have nothing to do with performance, appraisals or your relationship with your manager, your peers and your staff. Forget about weekends spent working for the company, too many late nights in the office. It is simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Yes - it has happened to me. Was I ready; yes and no.

My immediate reaction was that I would go through a three stage period of renewal.

The first challenge is to get as much compensation from your company as possible. Do not be loyal or sentimental. The company has decided that it does not want you. Your sole interest is to look after yourself and your family. The second stage was to take long vacations, learn new skills, enjoy new experiences and to try to live any unfulfilled dreams. And stage three is to find something new to do that offers you the challenge and interest that you want.

I had thought that none of these stages should overlap. That is probably not correct. There is no reason for not looking for new opportunities at the same time as living out your dreams and taking a good vacation.

Lets start at the beginning:

This is what may happen. You will be invited to attend a meeting on completely spurious grounds based upon some fictitious reason. The meeting will be with an human resources manager and ideally your manager as well. They will say as little as possible; they will probably give you a letter outlining the proposed terms of severance. They may or may not want you to leave immediately. However, you should at least leave for the day. The air in the office will not taste so good. Do not say much if anything. Acknowledge receipt of their letter and say you will review it and reply to them. Do not ask questions such as "why me". They probably do not know the answer. And do not sign anything !

Go for lunch or dinner with friends. Not with people from the company; it would be difficult for them and for you.

And then, in the cold light of day, think about getting what is due to you. Be angry. That is good and highly motivating.

Your job has been your life, if they do not want you it is their loss.

You are on the outside now; the people still employed at the company are there to safeguard the company's assets and to build their business. You are not their priority. Do not expect much help or much sympathy.

How to fight back !

It sounds obvious - but few people do this; maintain a file with all of your employment details; contract of employment, salary reviews, bonus targets and amounts paid, stock options, performance appraisals, relocation packages, allowances etc etc. It may well be that you records are better than those in the company; this can be a real negotiating advantage.

See a lawyer. A lawyer is your ally here. They can tell you what is reasonable and unreasonable about any severance arrangements.

But do not let you lawyer write to the company. The last thing you want is lawyer to lawyer correspondence - it is slow and expensive. Draft your reply; have your lawyer review it. And keep the pressure on the company. Reply quickly and ask for a reply by a certain date. The company will want to settle with you quickly.

What to do next ?

If you can afford the time - spend it with your family and friends. Go and travel. Do something completely different. Get your old employment out of your system. Refresh and revitalise.

Do not do what I did - which was to have my first ever (and only) flying lesson at Kissimmee in Florida at 9.00am on September 11th 2001.

Go around the world - there are some ideas on this web site.

Learn a language.

Get a single figure golf handicap.

Be with your family.

Learn a musical instrument.

Meet people and family for lunch.

Paid sabbaticals are so rare - enjoy it !

Back to work

This is the hardest part of all ! You are probably one of many managers all looking for work. What makes you different; why should someone hire you and not the next person !? I wish I knew the answers.

There are some important decisions you can make:

Where do you want to work; if you have been working away from wherever you call home do you want to return there?

What sort of company do you want to work for?

Do you want to be your own boss?

How important is financial security?

Who do you know that can help you look ?

There are plenty of books, articles, support groups that can help you. Outplacement services can be useful but you do need to find someone that you have a rapport with.

Interviewing

A first interview with a recruiter or a potential employer is basically a screening interview. This can be over in 20 minutes. Some useful tips on this first interview are here.

Resumes that work

For a new view of how to submit a resume that will get you more interviews see this page.

Some useful Hong Kong job links.

www.Ambition.biz          recruiting for senior finance positions and some useful job search tips
Boyden
Career Times
Future Step                                  part of Korn Ferry                 
Gemini Personnel
Heidrick & Struggles
Hughes Castell
Job Asia
Job Finder
Job Market Online
Job OK
JobsDB
Kernel Resources
Korn/Ferry
Links Recruitment
Monster
MyJob
Pacific Banks
Panda Planet
Recruit Online
Recruitment Company
Robert Walters
Russell Reynolds
Spencer Stuart
Taylor Root
TMP Worldwide