10.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

When her organization went through a massive restructuring, throwing many people into the unknown, Jennifer Gale,¹⁰³

Director of Technology at an international financial institution, took matters into her own hands. It was 2011 and like most international organizations, the repercussions and impact of the 2008 economic crisis were still being felt in various pockets across the corporate world. Companies were reducing staff and very little hiring was taking place. Making the required cost savings meant making an ongoing review of resource profiles and re-evaluation of necessary deliverables. Jennifer had been offered a new role within the organization, but found out that the team she used to manage were going to be affected by the cost reductions.

Jennifer had spent many years investing in this pool of talented people. She worked with them to help develop their professional skills and broaden their experience. She also watched them meet their partners, start families and establish their roots on foreign shores. She found the experience of seeing their roles at risk very distressing, considering their skills, contribution and commitment to the organization.

“Then comes the choice: do I accept the top-down remit to reduce costs by approximately $1 million or do I explore all avenues to see what can be done to avoid loss of jobs and subsequent impact on these people’s lives?”

It could have been very easy for Jennifer to brush this off as not being her problem. It was no longer her team and it wasn’t her budget to protect. She remembers the exact moment when she decided that she was not going to sit back without doing anything.

“Sitting there staring at my computer, in complete anguish about the challenge put before us, in a single moment I decided that I could not live with myself knowing what was going to happen to these people without having tried to do something to help them retain employment.”

With this newfound focus and energy, Jennifer took to her contacts. One by one, in alphabetical order, she systematically went through the list emailing, instant messaging and phoning them, asking if they had any open roles for some top-quality, experienced resources. To her surprise, her network of people pulled through. Jennifer started setting up interviews with hiring managers in parallel to talking to the candidates about the new opportunities. “It was protocol to not indicate that their roles were at risk, so I was forced to rely completely on my influencing skills, encouraging them to be open to interviewing about new potential opportunities for their careers. Then taking a risk by not knowing the outcomes that were to follow, if they refused this new role presented to them.”

One week later, working across many areas of the company, having identified strong candidates that met the requirements of the hiring teams, 25 people were secured new roles in exciting new opportunities that were going to help develop their careers. The budget targets were also met.

“The choice to take responsibility not only made a huge difference to 25 people’s lives, it made a significant difference to mine for knowing I did the right thing!”