1.
I'm very principled and stick to my beliefs. A lot of people don't like me for it but I'm a very black and white kind of person. I say and do what I think is right and stick to it.
No idea what your in to the executive level is or what you actually do but you could knock up a scenario paper for the board.
Scenario 1 what you've been asked to do with pros, cons, forecast etc
Scenario 2 what you think should be done with same level of analysis
Scenario 3 do nothing
It also means that the decision made is formal and is company direction and prevents you from being fired if it was still option 1 and things did go tits up.
2/ ride the ship onto the rocks BUT email your rational objections copying in bcc own email, cc HR, CEO & anyone else of influence you can think of. I have left many jobs simply on principle, however, I never had as much riding on jobs as you have.
The email may well result in your redundancy which would be win win
What's the betting that when Rags goes for his interview for his next job that the recruiting manager is that Vile bloke that he claims he passed over for a role.
Has he put in writing what he wants you to do?
Yes he has. (well, not the exact details obviously, that's my job, but the direction he wants to take)
He's quite blatant about it. To him it's a matter of priciple about the "way" he wants to do things .... to me it's solely about avoiding the carnage and detrimental effect it will have on the company.
I don't have a case to take to an employment tribunal - he's already told me (not in writing) that he will sack me for not doing things his way, which he's quite entitled to do, i admit that.
Anyways ... i just thought it would be good to have some inputs and use you lot as a sounding board -
i've got a meeting at 10.30am tomorrow and will be telling him then whether i'm prepared to do what he wants.
If you choose option 2 then will you get a payout and a reference ? OR will you be frog marched off the premises( eg gross misconduct)
If you get a payout/reference then you may as well get yourself sacked
2/ ride the ship onto the rocks BUT email your rational objections copying in bcc own email, cc HR, CEO & anyone else of influence you can think of. I have left many jobs simply on principle, however, I never had as much riding on jobs as you have.
The email may well result in your redundancy which would be win win
lol .. effectively he IS the CEO
Would doing what they say now also risk effecting your reputation when looking for future work?
Could be wrong, but I get the impression you're leaning towards the second option. If so and before you commit to doing anything, I'd try to get some serious reassurances from your boss that he'll back you to the hilt when the shit inevitably hits the fan later down the line. Id also want to make it clear that you are very unhappy at being put in a compromising position. Similar to what was said previously, keep as many records and correspondence as you can.
What a shit situation.
Sorry if this has already been asked Rags, but how long do you think it'll take for things to go "tits up"? Weeks? Months?
Could you not carry out the task as requested with as much damage limitation for yourself as possible, whilst looking for pastures new in the mean time?
If it came up during an interview I think most reasonable employers could understand your situation and it wouldn't damage your reputation, especially as the orders have come down from the top.
I'm all for taking the moral high ground but unfortunately that don't pay the bills so I'd be careful taking the route unless you A) know your can walk into another job fairly easily and/or B) have enough money saved to pay the bills whilst you look for new employment
Would doing what they say now also risk effecting your reputation when looking for future work?
Could be wrong, but I get the impression you're leaning towards the second option. If so and before you commit to doing anything, I'd try to get some serious reassurances from your boss that he'll back you to the hilt when the shit inevitably hits the fan later down the line. Id also want to make it clear that you are very unhappy at being put in a compromising position. Similar to what was said previously, keep as many records and correspondence as you can.
What a shit situation.
If I do what he wants, and things go disasterously wrong (as i absolutely believe they will) due to my high profile within the company and within the industry then my reputation would be tarnished... and there's no way he would take the blame. People would blame me, probably not those who work for the company who would know the situation, but those outside the company looking in would....
... and to be fair, my job is to be responsible for the things that would go wrong.
Sorry if this has already been asked Rags, but how long do you think it'll take for things to go "tits up"? Weeks? Months?
Could you not carry out the task as requested with as much damage limitation for yourself as possible, whilst looking for pastures new in the mean time?
If it came up during an interview I think most reasonable employers could understand your situation and it wouldn't damage your reputation, especially as the orders have come down from the top.
I'm all for taking the moral high ground but unfortunately that don't pay the bills so I'd be careful taking the route unless you A) know your can walk into another job fairly easily and/or B) have enough money saved to pay the bills whilst you look for new employment
Things would start to go wrong immediately and then continue to worsen. We're at a fork in the road with the choice of two conflicting future directions to take. Once we go down what I see as the wrong road then there's no quick and easy way back to where we are now.
He considers the one road or direction leads to spectacular immediate improvements, my view is that the way to get where he wants to be is best served by going down a much longer, slightly slower, steadier and predictable route.
To answer the other part ... money isn't a problem and i earn a lot more than I spend.
Elsewhere, at the moment, I would definitely earn more than where I am now, but I certainly wouldn't be as happy as I have been where I am now.
I have an excellent reputation in the industry at the moment ... if I ruin that reputation, and get the blame for the disasters that will follow, then future employment would be more difficult to find.
PS ... we can't discount the fact that he MAY be right and I MAY be wrong.
PPS ... if I stayed in this sector of the industry, wherever i go for a job i am already known. I'm confident that if I'm sacked now, for refusing to do what he wants, then at the moment other companies would employ me to replicate what I've achieved here up until this point .. but would be less likely to employ me at a future date if I was sacked with the resultant future disaster on my CV
PPPS ... just to repeat what I said earlier... I am NOT going to resign. To me that's not an option and it would cost me financially
He can either sack me tomorrow for refusing to do what he says .. or he can sack me in the future for things going tits up.
I suppose it's my choice to decide which will be best for me.
I’ve been in this situation a few times, it’s horrible and has affected me a lot every time.
First time around I went option 1, didn’t quit but didn’t push an agenda that I knew would cause harm. I got moved on, they initially offered me garbage package which I refused and I kicked up a stink until they offered me something decent. In the community that I work, I had good contacts and walked into another role and was asked to do the good things I’d done previously. I was gutted to leave initially ( I thought I’d retire there!) but on reflection later, I was glad I moved on because I work with better people now.
Second time around, I did option 2, I protested initially, wrote and presented a paper to the execs explaining my concerns and proposing another path, they chose option 2 anyway. I saw it all the way through including the predictable issues and eventual abandonment of that plan. I thought I’d get moved on again, but actually the person more senior than me who’d pushed for option 2 decided to move on (not sure if it was his decision or not). I got praised for my professionalism in trying my best with a solution despite it not being my preference. I’m still at this company and I think I’m respected more now.
Do you have the opportunity to document your concerns and share them with other exec members - who might still be around if this guy ‘cuts and runs’ when things start going bad? If you can get the chance to share your impact assessment and they still choose to proceed, then it’s on them, not you - so maybe option 2 and not be chased out?
Alternatively, if the person making this call won’t change from their view to yours, is there a chance to create intermediate position e.g. maybe option1 could work, but based on my experience I’ve got concerns, so could we trial option 1 with a small group first and check the results before proceeding further?
Getting people to change their mind is really hard, in my experience it’s much easier to get people to go from no to maybe (based on a condition), then maybe to yes! Rather than a straight no to yes… doesn’t always work obviously.
Good luck, chin up, cover your arse and remember that to them you are just a number, so try to not take it personal