Why I was laid off

My former place of employment was an interesting place: one with a split personality. There were offices in the U.S. and a headquarters in Germany, with radically different business styles. Different styles is precisely why two offices are needed – a company needs to understand the business culture of the country in which it does business. What works in Germany does not work here and vice-versa.

It was in this cultural tug-of-war that I got caught. My official boss was in Germany while at the same time I had a boss that was local. Each had different visions for what my role was supposed to be. The adage about pleasing two masters applies here in a big way.

I first suspected something was afoot in early October. The local boss was on his way to Germany for a week-long business trip. It was a trip I was supposed to be taking with him. However, I asked weeks earlier (before my local boss made plans) that I not be gone for my son’s weekend birthday. It was a simple request and – if push came to shove – I would have soldiered on and made the trip. It turns out my local boss traveled over Travis’s birthday weekend anyway, taking my employee with him rather than me. I felt shut out.

Then the week or so my performance was called into question, by none other than Susan, the CFO, who happens to be the wife of the owner. I found this puzzling as she was nowhere in my chain of command. I sat through a call where a litany of supposed issues blindsided me. It was the first I’d heard of them and really knocked me for a loop, as just weeks before I was given a glowing performance review from my official boss in Germany. Something didn’t smell right.

Then a quick follow-up call was scheduled by Susan. I had a chance to respond to the issues and provided a list of new initiatives. The tone of the second call was much better, all parties seemed satisfied, and I thought things would be fine.

A week or two ago I learned Susan would be visiting Raleigh, obstensibly to train a new office manager. Booked at the last minute was another unannounced “performance review” for Wednesday. Remember this was only a week after our last review – how would there be anything to review?

Right from her arrival Monday Susan treated me like I was invisible. Big warning flag. No empathy shown for having just totaled my car, just nothing. She was all about my employee.

My local boss got called out of town Tuesday and Wednesday for a family emergency, leaving me with no one to back me up. Wednesday morning, I helpfully got Susan’s printer drivers installed, not knowing she would be using them to print out my termination letter.

Finally, after having her go well past the time we were supposed to meet, I tracked her down and we sat down for the meeting. With my official boss listening in from Germany, she told me there wasn’t enough work for me and they were letting me go. She emphasized it had nothing to do with my performance, which is pretty odd considering this was supposedly a meeting to review my performance. I was given two week’s severance and health insurance to the end of the year. With that, I packed up my stuff and called Kelly to meet me. There was no reason for a scene as I’ve done this before.

So, if my performance wasn’t an issue, why the big charade? My guess is its all money. My theory is that when the CFO got wind I was due a handsome bonus check this week for meeting my objectives, she and/or the owner moved to get rid of me instead. That’s my take on things.

And I found out that I was the U.S. employee with the highest salary. That’s not hard to do when three out of five employees work primarily for commission and the fourth was still an intern just months ago. Not only that, but my job offer included being provided health insurance for my family. No other U.S. employee needed that done, as they either were single or were covered under their spouse’s coverage.

When the chopping block comes out its best not to have the longest neck.

So those are the breaks. I’ll move on and leave behind some good colleagues in the Raleigh office. I’ll also leave behind a dysfunctional company excruciatingly slow to evolve, micromanaged to the point that the German staff allegedly must clock out simply to use the restroom. Its no wonder that outside of the U.S. no one dares take any initiative.

At the end of the day, I know my capabilities and I am proud of what I accomplished. Should a local startup company appear with the same feel as the small office I shared, I would be right at home.

I am nothing if not innovative. I am constantly looking for new and better ways of doing things. I just know I’ll find a company out there that appreciates this.