My thoughts on a Friday afternoon take me back to last year at this time, when we all went through the same thing with “restructuring and optimization.” I received information today that I cannot publish, but I can paraphrase what was said. Maybe it will help. Read between the lines and you can see what I was told.
Upper level management takes orders from people more senior than they are. Even though there are fewer upper level managers, being tasked with firing people is never an easy job unless you hardly ever see real people. Some of the people-level managers are also having a very tough time of it. They are also worried about their own jobs.
You might recognize some of these managers. They are the ones always on conference calls. Keep in mind that some managers care only about themselves, but good managers think of their people as a team. They also train and develop their people like they are their own children. For some it is easy, and for some the current climate is very hard.
Let me speak to an incident when I was a manager in the grocery business. I always hired additional people over the holidays. One year I hired a man I knew. He was a good grocery man. He also happened to be African-American, and a good friend of mine. He was one of the best grocery clerks, but by January my manager told me to fire the “black man.” I refused, and my manager said he would fire me, and then he would fire my friend. I still refused, but later I turned in my resignation.
Your management, from the branch level up to, is not spending their time recruiting, training and developing business. Constantly badgered, they are forced to re-evaluate their teams, rank them, determine their fate, and they must execute those plans.
It was reported to me that sales activity and efforts that focus on turning HSBC Finance losses to profits are not happening. At the same time, and with everything in turmoil, managers need to keep the good people on board. I’m sure there is a politically correct way to say that, and you know what I mean. To do that, managers must control the expectations of employees. Don’t make matters worse than they are, but sometimes we twist reality to make it appear we’re all going to be ok. Is that lying, wishful thinking, or optimism? I don’t know how to answer that, because it is not a perfect world.
From my days as a government contractor I know for a fact that some managers carry out attacks on personnel. At HSBC Finance, or in my case, there are planned efforts to make a person quit so they aren’t able to draw unemployment, and they get no severance. Do you see attacks on managers, AEs, ASMs, etc., as they carry out the terminations and layoffs that are mandated from the top?
How does a manager prevent a walkout when unwarranted attacks take place? You do it in waves. Those who aren’t attacked are glad it wasn’t them, although it may be them in a week or two. It can be a miserable time, either because of boredom, personal attacks, or something similar. The unknown is even worse.
In conclusion I am not defending all managers, regardless of what echelon or level they might ‘enjoy’ at HSBC or HSBC Finance. Some managers are very good, and losing a team member is like losing a member of the family. Some managers are so bad that we wonder how they got to their present position, which is clearly above their skill level. Those are the ones to watch out for. Can I say with certainty that you have been lied to or stabbed in the back? I cannot, but it does happen, has happened, and will continue to happen.
As for my friend in the grocery business, after I resigned I talked to all area managers and store managers in our area. I told them that Mike was a great employee, and a good man. He was hired immediately by the competition.
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