It Really Has Been Awhile

Astonished was the first reaction when I logged in and realized how long it had been since I blogged. I suppose I could attribute it to having too much to do, however, the truth is more that I was involved in having too much to say for over two years during an all-consuming merger that took place in my workplace of the previous ten years. As communications was my job, that I did.

Looking back on it I see some basic truths in the process that I felt might help you if or when you go through a rather uncertain and difficult time in your career. For me, it was relatively simple to decide my next career step...step out. I recognized early on that I'd been given a golden opportunity to reshape my direction and travel on a new road, move to a new location, embark on a new journey. I decided with my friend and housemate that we should look into a pre-retirement community. We craved warm weather, a more relaxed lifestyle, less hustle and bustle. We also wanted to escape from a one-bedroom high rise apartment to a house we could call our home. Now I won't say it was an easy process to step out of the workforce and embark on a new adventure but I will say it has been the happiest few years I've spent outside those spent raising my children!

Perhaps the worst reaction to being involved in a merger as a worker not involved in upper management is one of frustration that you have no part in the decision of when your job ends. Some who had been on staff less years made an independent decision to forego the offered severance package and immediately segue into a new job. Our departures were 'staged' which left some feeling uncertain and nervous about their futures. The next negative was the guilt felt when you learned that your friends were not staying and you were. Another reaction was initial anger at the representatives of the organization on the other side of the merger. I quickly realized that to be angry with these folks was placing ill-deserved 'blame.' These men and women were suffering through their own set of problems borne of the decision to merge organizations. They were already facing overtaxed schedules and now needed to position themselves to take on additional work and, in some cases, face the question of whether their processes could be improved upon by absorbing the merged company's either entirely or partially. Our organization was incredibly fortunate to have had a management team and board who looked after our interests and kept us informed of the stages leading up to the merger vote. And, they provided us with a variety of tools to help us determine our next steps once we were no longer needed. Our leadership made it easy for us to stay loyal to them and continue to do our best throughout in some cases 2-3 years of traveling toward the eventual successful merger of the organizations.

Looking back on the entire process, I am amazed at how simply accepting the inevitable and praying for a good outcome influenced my departure. Turns out I was one of three individuals who were retained post-merger and I accepted a part-time independent contractor status which allowed me to move to our new community and become involved in helping individuals who were not as fortunate. The new community is largely a retirement area and jobs are scarce to non-existent.