Reduction in force: Difference between revisions

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We have a view that an organisation which needs a periodic [[reduction in force]] is not properly managing its human resources month-by-month.
We have a view that an organisation which needs a periodic [[reduction in force]] is not properly managing its human resources month-by-month.


the JC has a view that redundancy in a complex organisation is, at some level, quite a good thing; a [[reduction in force]] is an ''elimination'' of redundancy, and is therefore more fraught than it should be. Elimination of ''superfluous'' redundancy is one thing, but over what period should we measure superfluity? If [[Credit Suisse]] is any guide, it is [[Archegos|something like 250 years]].
the JC has a view that [[system redundancy|systemic redundancy]] in a [[complex]] organisation is, at some level, quite a good thing; a [[reduction in force]] is an ''elimination'' of redundancy, and is therefore more fraught than it should be. Elimination of ''superfluous'' redundancy is one thing, but over what period should we measure superfluity? If [[Credit Suisse]] is any guide, it is [[Archegos|something like ''250 years'']].


{{sa}}
{{sa}}
*[[System redundancy]]
*[[Lateral quitter]]
*[[Lateral quitter]]
*[[Mediocrity drift]]
*[[Mediocrity drift]]

Latest revision as of 08:54, 1 August 2023

The Human Resources military-industrial complex
The instrument (the “telescreen”, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.
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Reduction in force
rɪˈdʌkʃən ɪn fɔːs (n.)
(Also “RIF”)

The permanent removal of headcount — mass redundancy — usually targeted at that sweet spot in the organisation whose own reports aren’t so useless they can’t get by without meaningful supervision, and who aren’t so senior that they get to make decisions about who should be subject to a RIF.

Usually, therefore, it is a means of taking out a swathe of mid-ranking subject matter experts. We of the guild of mid-ranking subject matter experts find this fact rather chafing, to say the least.

We have a view that an organisation which needs a periodic reduction in force is not properly managing its human resources month-by-month.

the JC has a view that systemic redundancy in a complex organisation is, at some level, quite a good thing; a reduction in force is an elimination of redundancy, and is therefore more fraught than it should be. Elimination of superfluous redundancy is one thing, but over what period should we measure superfluity? If Credit Suisse is any guide, it is something like 250 years.

See also

References