Redundancy - Helping my Employer Prepare for my Departure?
Discussion
You're wondering now
What to do, now you know this is the end
I’m being made redundant. Public sector, very specialised niche role. So specialised that on at least a weekly basis I’m asked to help other public sector organisations with their data / mapping / statistics / analysis problems, which I generally enjoy!
Redundancy process was entirely amicable – continuous service back to 2009, they give me some tax-free dosh, I take four weeks off (strange public sector regulation, else I have to give the money back), then start another job in a related field. No money worries: less than £5k owing on the mortgage, my wife in the private sector earns more than me, and there’s a selection of jobs out there, although I haven’t been successful in applications for the really glamorous / exciting ones, and my commute is going to be a pain.
Process was amicable. “Gardening leave” is against policy, and I’m now being sucked into sorting out how the organisations will run without me. My role is so specialised that the organisation couldn’t predict the wrinkles and ripples that would result with me not doing it.
I’m a non confrontational person, but I think just too much piss has been taken in the last couple of weeks, and I’ve started to decline how do we do x after you’ve gone? type meeting requests.
What are the reasonable expectations on me? What are the emotionally intelligent ways to decline requests beyond the reasonable? But they are still paying me!
What to do, now you know this is the end
I’m being made redundant. Public sector, very specialised niche role. So specialised that on at least a weekly basis I’m asked to help other public sector organisations with their data / mapping / statistics / analysis problems, which I generally enjoy!
Redundancy process was entirely amicable – continuous service back to 2009, they give me some tax-free dosh, I take four weeks off (strange public sector regulation, else I have to give the money back), then start another job in a related field. No money worries: less than £5k owing on the mortgage, my wife in the private sector earns more than me, and there’s a selection of jobs out there, although I haven’t been successful in applications for the really glamorous / exciting ones, and my commute is going to be a pain.
Process was amicable. “Gardening leave” is against policy, and I’m now being sucked into sorting out how the organisations will run without me. My role is so specialised that the organisation couldn’t predict the wrinkles and ripples that would result with me not doing it.
I’m a non confrontational person, but I think just too much piss has been taken in the last couple of weeks, and I’ve started to decline how do we do x after you’ve gone? type meeting requests.
What are the reasonable expectations on me? What are the emotionally intelligent ways to decline requests beyond the reasonable? But they are still paying me!
Countdown said:
It's unlikely that the role is completely redundant, IME it's more likely that the OP's role is the one that can be most easily absorbed by others and/or his role will have the least immediate SHTF impact.-
Yes - there is a considerable resourcing change (from 2.5 + 1 Researcher, to just the Researcher). Part of the crunch is that there appears to have been an assumption that partner agencies would take some of the work back - and quite possibly that was agreed at some high level - but in the real world the reason we’re doing the work now is that the capability and capacity has long gone from these organisations.Countdown said:
OP - it depends on how much goodwill you think your immediate Line manager and the Organisation deserves. In some ways it's no different to leaving for another job and how much crap you want to leave your colleagues in. I've always tried to be as helpful as possible (even on the one occasion where I loathed my boss) because I've always liked my team and wanted to minimise their headaches after I'd left.
I liked them a lot, but despite my best efforts they’re going to really struggle. Half our conversation is me trying to persuade them that problem x isn’t their problem - it’s the organisation’s, and senior management’s!Thanks for the replies people - I was a bit down for a while.
Update: I’ve negotiated a slightly earlier departure date, so just another three weeks to go.
One of the real bitter taste moments was a very upbeat invitation from a partner agency to a meeting to pick my brains about data. Except I’d already applied for an advertised role there - evidenced every requirement on the application, two good interviews . . . and the post went to the internal candidate! So I declined that meeting (being helpful with others).
Also finishing the last two projects I’m working on to an officially awesome standard - so that I’ll be missed!
I can’t see that there’ll be any prospect of consultancy work at my (soon to be ex-) employer . . . they’ve shovelled out dosh in the past, but there’s a real budget crunch now.
Update: I’ve negotiated a slightly earlier departure date, so just another three weeks to go.
One of the real bitter taste moments was a very upbeat invitation from a partner agency to a meeting to pick my brains about data. Except I’d already applied for an advertised role there - evidenced every requirement on the application, two good interviews . . . and the post went to the internal candidate! So I declined that meeting (being helpful with others).
Also finishing the last two projects I’m working on to an officially awesome standard - so that I’ll be missed!
I can’t see that there’ll be any prospect of consultancy work at my (soon to be ex-) employer . . . they’ve shovelled out dosh in the past, but there’s a real budget crunch now.
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff