The Battlefield !!

Fear!! Casualties!!

These are two things I’ve seen often in my life.

While I do consider myself rather fearless, I have oft felt it too and as far as casualties go, well, I’ve seen far too many to ever want to be reminded of again.

I’m talking about the battlefield…actual military operations.

I’ve seen fear and casualties in the outside world too…but it was never the same. So, in my mind, that kind of fear and those kind of casualties were restricted to the battlefield.

But the past few weeks have changed my perceptions.

The co. I work in/for is going thru’ a serious downsizing ….. I’m told it’s a cycle nearly all corporates go thru’ at some point in time or the other. I’d read about it, heard about it….but never went thru’ it because I belonged to a different world………till now.

Ever since the CEO wrote an e-mail to all employees worldwide saying there would be a serious headcount reduction…. fear set in. Real, palpable fear.

It was an amazing (and yes, sad)sight to see/feel. I’d never thought I’d see this usually brash, confident lot of youngsters looking like they were about to undertake their first house clearing or hostage rescue operation in a maze……in the dark….bare handed!!

For one whole month…this fear pervaded the office. So darn perceivable, so darn contagious, so darn all-pervading.

It truly left me bewildered. I am new to this world, and I’m not very wise to the way things are done here…..but don’t the powers that be realise that fear causes impotence? Morale went down, mutual trust and faith went down, productivity dropped, the metrics started going South….it was all so evident.

So whats my point?

My point is that if you have to reduce headcount, do it. Don’t f****** talk about it, announce it…and then sit and wait. Effect a surgical strike and get on with life. Who has to suffer will suffer, in any case, na? I mean, if 10 guys out of 100 have to go…then why are the remainder 90 running scared too? And for so long??

Anyways, the long wait carried on….and finally the casualties happened. It was sad… I thought corporate leaders and HR professionals had more class, more empathy, more frigging sense !! I watched the whole proceedings from the side lines…and believe me, while I did see at least some examples of inspiring leadership…on the whole, it was like watching a bunch of neighbourhood butchers performing brain surgery.

Really, really tragic….and if this is the way the corporate world displays professionalism, then I really have nothing more to say.

I can think of several ways I would have conducted the whole exercise myself…but then, thats neither here nor there.

All I can say is, people didn’t get laid off…they got laid… or rather…raped!!