This week was my last week of work before I was off for the holidays. I manage a team of five people and our CEO announced a few weeks ago that a restructure was coming in January. He refused to give any details because he doesn’t want people to panic and ruin their holiday. That obviously missed the mark because people are all freaking out.
During my last meeting with my boss, he casually asked me to rank my team, knowing full well that my answer will determine their fate. He specifically said he didn’t want to give me time to think about it because he wants my honest feedback.
I have a wonderful team, all people between 25 and 40 with families. I didn’t know what to do. They are all great at their jobs and whoever does get laid off it has nothing to do with their performance.
Since I couldn’t give less of a shit about the success of this company, I ranked the people on my team with the greatest needs first. e.g. a member on my team with a son who has lymphoma and needs the health insurance.
I hate being a cog in the corporate machine, but I don’t know how to escape.