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In two years, the new CEO has replaced the COO, CFO, Sr. HR VP and several business presidents and functional Vice Presidents with his old colleagues...

August 2006

Dear Office-Politics,

I work for a very large aerospace company. We have gone through numerous acquisitions. With the last acquisition our CEO retired and turned over the reigns to the CEO of the most recently acquired company. Mind you it was the heritage company that did all the heavy lifting to make this company what it is today.

However the new CEO is slowly squeezing out the heritage folks and bringing in his cronies. The culture has totally changed, now that there is a new team at the top. It is impossible for anyone to get promoted unless you worked at the same company as the CEO. In two years, he has replaced the COO, CFO, Sr. HR VP and several business presidents and functional Vice Presidents with his old colleagues. They all put on a very good act until they took over the power of control, unfortunately the heritage company had never come up against individuals so cunning and conniving, the employees from the newly acquired company were welcomed with open arms, we have also tried to integrate some of the acquired companies culture with the rest of the company.

I am one of the heritage employees, who work at the corporate headquarters; all I want to do is survive in an environment that is totally foreign to me from the company I knew 2 years ago. I have 16 months until retirement. I am starting to feel the squeeze. They have reorganized and my staff has gone down from 6 employees to 2. They have taken about a quarter of the work that my organization was responsible for and given it to another manager, who came for the acquired company, he was given a very large promotion since his department grew in size, duties and responsibilities, their rational was that this realignment made the company more efficient. It has been too short of a time to prove whether or not that is true. I have not been downgraded, however I no longer receive the same incentives as I had in the past.

I am looking for some advice as to how to survive in this kind of culture. A culture where you know that you are not wanted and they have someone in mind for your job. Where you have seen long time employees offered termination agreements to leave. I work in compensation and have in fact had to prepare several of these agreements for employees who I know worked hard and gave there all to this company. I would welcome any words of wisdom you can offer.

Heartbroken heritage employee

Dear Heartbroken heritage employee,

It's very clear from your letter how hurt and frustrated you are with the current situation. Acquisitions and transitions are never easy and I'm sorry this one has been especially hard for you.

I hear you saying that you want to survive 16 months until your retirement date. But before you commit to gritting it out: ask yourself why that is important to you. Do you have a good reason to stay and survive this? How has the quality of life for you and your family been impacted by the changes at work?

If you discover that you'd rather not stay, you have options. Typically, in an acquisition there are opportunities to take early retirement. Investigate whether that option can work for you. You may be able to negotiate a severance package that allows you to keep your anticipated retirement benefits. Of course, you should find a lawyer to assist you.

If you choose to stay, you will fare better if you can find a way to detach yourself and not take the actions personally. Continue to do good work but find other ways, possibly outside of the office, to be recognized and appreciated.

Because transitions are filled with highly charged emotions you may also want to talk with someone about your feelings as a way of either preparing for a brighter future or coping with the challenges ahead.

Be good to yourself during this difficult time. Thanks for writing to OfficePolitics.com.

Dina

Dina Beach Lynch, JD
Ombudsman
http://www.workwelltogether.com
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