Our 50 signs of an unhealthy organisation and 50 more signs articles have prompted the latest article from FTdynamo.com written for HR Zone
Yoshiro Mori, Japan’s Prime Minister, has decided to resign. His brief tenure at the top was marked by economic decline, official misstatements, scandals, and plunging popularity with the public. For some time, there has been speculation that he would step down.
So when do you know it’s time to do the same in the corporate world? Here are some clues:
- You give a speech to stock analysts, all the while thinking, “wonder if anyone’s swallowing this?”
- Your chief operating officer seems to have a “lean and hungry look”.
- Your human resources chief stops telling you “what people really think”.
- You walk by office cubicles in your company and everyone has their heads down.
- An uncomfortable number of senior officers ask if you’ve given any thought to early retirement.
- People have to be ordered, and paid overtime, to attend a company rally.
- You have to beg the press for an interview.
- A lot of your top execs are magically finding “better jobs”.
- You can’t think of any company to buy – and instead fret over the many that could easily buy your own.
- You wonder what will happen next because you don’t know if anyone’s left on your management team to make it happen.
- You laugh when you read your current strategic plan.
- You wake up and wish you could just go fishing, every day.
- You find it critical to check your financial portfolio before the drive to the office.
- You have a hard time finding friends to go to lunch with.
- You get automatic email alerts from your broker advising you to dump your own company’s stock.
- While you wax on, your board mainly sits silent – and stares.
- Secretaries in mahogany row say “Yes, sir!” until you’re halfway down the hall, then they titter.
- You have oodles of time to think — about nothing, really.
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