Reduction in force: Difference between revisions

From The Jolly Contrarian
Jump to navigation Jump to search
← Older editNewer edit →
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
{{a|devil|}}{{d|Reduction in force|rɪˈdʌkʃən ɪn fɔːs|n|(Also “RIF”)}}
{{a|devil|}}{{d|Reduction in force|rɪˈdʌkʃən ɪn fɔːs|n|(Also “[[RIF]]”)}}


The permanent removal of headcount, usually targeted at that sweet spot of lower middle management whose own reports aren't so useless they can't get by without supervision on their own, and who aren't so senior that they get to make decisions about whose BC roles should be subject to a 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 supervision by [[Subject matter expert|someone who genuinely knows what is going on]], and who aren’t so ''senior'' that they get to make decisions about who should be subject to a [[RIF]]. Usually, therefore, largely mid-ranking [[subject matter experts]].


Every one bar the CEO has a line manager. The from is organised like an inverted, multilayer family tree.
A word about [[Line manager|line management]]: a modern corporation is organised like an inverted, multilayer family tree, trading back to great, great, great, great grandfather [[Hank]]. Everyone, bar [[Hank]], has at least one [[line manager]]. Fortunate staff have only one: ''les miserables'' have a “[[dotted line]]” into someone else. Having a dotted line is somewhat like having an open relationship or an affair with a distant uncle. But we digress.
The basic job of a line manager, ''qua'' line manager, is to supervise her direct reports. Line managers are human beings of course, and they all have other things to do them supervise their direct reports.
 
The basic job of [[line manager|line management]] is to supervise direct reports. Line managers all have other things to do ''besides'' supervising their direct reports, though the mix of
Three things change the higher up the multi level marketing scheme you go:
Three things change the higher up the multi level marketing scheme you go:
# executives get paid more. It is no linear progression, but something more like an exponential curve. There are many, many Belarusians on 30 grand, only ten executive board members on five million a piece.
# executives get paid more. It is no linear progression, but something more like an exponential curve. There are many, many Belarusians on 30 grand, only ten executive board members on five million a piece.
# the proportion of your time spent on line management increases — we take this to be a trivial observation: the contractor at the call centre in Belarus has no direct reports, so soends no time managing; the CEO ultimately has every direct report, so does almost nothing but line managing.
# the proportion of your time spent on line management increases — we take this to be a trivial observation: the contractor at the call centre in Belarus has no direct reports, so soends no time managing; the CEO ultimately has every direct report, so does almost nothing but line managing.
# the purpose of your upward line management shifts: the Belarusian contractor who arrived from the jobcentre in Minsk in knows nothing: his interaction with his manager is almost completely substantive, functional and necessary: the chief operating officer has been at the firm forty years, knows its every idiosyncracy and foible; her interaction with her live manager is almost entirely formal: when she presents issues to her boss she should know the answers as well as her boss will
# the purpose of your upward line management shifts: the Belarusian contractor who arrived from the job-centre in Minsk in knows nothing: his interaction with his manager is almost completely substantive, functional and necessary: the chief operating officer has been at the firm forty years, knows its every idiosyncracy and foible; her interaction with her live manager is almost entirely formal: when she presents issues to her boss she should know the answers as well as her boss will

Revision as of 10:02, 18 November 2021

In which the curmudgeonly old sod puts the world to rights.
Index — Click ᐅ to expand:
The Devil’s Advocate
Tell me more
Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

Reduction in force
rɪˈdʌkʃən ɪn fɔːs (n.)

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 supervision by someone who genuinely knows what is going on, and who aren’t so senior that they get to make decisions about who should be subject to a RIF. Usually, therefore, largely mid-ranking subject matter experts.

A word about line management: a modern corporation is organised like an inverted, multilayer family tree, trading back to great, great, great, great grandfather Hank. Everyone, bar Hank, has at least one line manager. Fortunate staff have only one: les miserables have a “dotted line” into someone else. Having a dotted line is somewhat like having an open relationship or an affair with a distant uncle. But we digress.

The basic job of line management is to supervise direct reports. Line managers all have other things to do besides supervising their direct reports, though the mix of Three things change the higher up the multi level marketing scheme you go:

  1. executives get paid more. It is no linear progression, but something more like an exponential curve. There are many, many Belarusians on 30 grand, only ten executive board members on five million a piece.
  2. the proportion of your time spent on line management increases — we take this to be a trivial observation: the contractor at the call centre in Belarus has no direct reports, so soends no time managing; the CEO ultimately has every direct report, so does almost nothing but line managing.
  3. the purpose of your upward line management shifts: the Belarusian contractor who arrived from the job-centre in Minsk in knows nothing: his interaction with his manager is almost completely substantive, functional and necessary: the chief operating officer has been at the firm forty years, knows its every idiosyncracy and foible; her interaction with her live manager is almost entirely formal: when she presents issues to her boss she should know the answers as well as her boss will
Retrieved from "https://jollycontrarian.com/index.php?title=Reduction_in_force&oldid=60519"