Melanie says,

Wait, they didn’t even let you get your things? WTH is that? I’ve never heard THAT one before.
Well, glad you get a mini-vacation, in any case.

Chris O'Rourke says,

That sort of HR behavior is exactly why I consider HR departments to be anathema to a pleasant working environment. From your description of events, it’s clear that the positive Jive work environment was the first thing to go.
Hopefully you get your personal items soon.

Ryan says,

We’ll miss you, Kalani! Be sure to keep up that pushup regimen. I want to see a video posted when you hit your hundred, which I will proudly post posthumously on Brewspace.

Good luck, man. See you on the bus!

UncleNate says,

FWIW, I was involved with a firm that rented empty space in the offices of the former Rulespace location. It was a short time after they were purchased by Microsoft and it literally looked as if a neutron bomb was set off in the place. I had heard that that “bloodbath” incited a great deal of ire, in which everyone was escorted off-site all at once, none allowed to return. We sublet the call center from the wind-down staff, and there were personal effects galore; stuff you know that no one would have left behind.

I can understand that they need to protect the assets and IP from exiting the front door with those furloughed, but it still stinks to high heaven. I commend you on your timing, and we’ll pray that the others received at least a decent severance.

Hopefully this isn’t the first signs of the painful existence that many folks had wrought out during the last downturn!

david says,

good thing they got that big new building

Chris B. says,

We’re having a party tonight, under your old desk. There’s a lot of boogers under here. You should really consider getting some help with that.

(I’ll miss you man.)

jessa KALANI says,

well basically you got 3 days paid vacation, but it is extremely rude of them not to let you grab stuff from your desk… like oh i don’t know our WEDDING pictures.

Dylan R. Mullins says,

RIF is a bunch of bull-snot and federally-regulated red tape. Just be glad you had something else lined up.

I was actually laid off myself last week from DigitalBrewing.com. Hate to admit it, but the economy really is falling apart, and the first people to go are the ones without management titles. Unfortunately for us at DBC, we were laid off, without pay, and basically told, “Hey, you can continue working here for free ’til we decide if we’re really closing our doors or not, but you’ll be doing that for free if you so choose.”

Chris, I’m happy you have something else lined up though, and that you’re on your way to greater success. Leave it to the man to try and steal your wedding photo.

Funny how corporation these days think they are grandiose beings of rulership when all they really are is a name on paperwork with a price tag attached to it.

Josh Pyles says,

Dude, that sucks for a lot of people here in Portland.

At least you already found a new gig though.

If I was hiring, i’d keep an eye out for all the talent floating around now.

I hope they at least explain some of this mess. It probably has something to do with the crazy economy. Still… you should be able to grab your stuff.

Lisa Bettany says,

that’s absolute bollocks. i hope your mention on TechCrunch gets you some better digs. and seriously, i would macgyver your stuff outta that office asap. not letting you collect your wedding photo is just plain mean. :-/

J-P Voilleque says,

Back in the bubble days at LookSmart when we let go 1/3 of the workforce in a day, they all got to box up their stuff. It’s surprising to me that it’s advanced to the point of not letting people even return to their desks.

Of course, there were security folks everywhere, maybe the “solution” if you don’t have some sort of transition mafia in place, you send them out the door…but agree with previous comments that that is an incredibly stupid way to look at it…

Daniel Henninger says,

Didn’t even let you finish out the week? Geez! Nor get your stuff? I hope you get it soon!

As you probably know, I’m out as well….

Joemama says,

You couldn’t even box up your stuff at your desk? I guess they don’t want you to walk off with IP but that is ridiculous.

It is just a sad statement on how companies treat their workers nowadays. The least they could have done is to have someone escort you to your desk as you boxed up your stuff. I guess Jive Software was aptly named.

Bob says,

Wow…you sound like a total disgruntled employee. .

Jim says,

Memories: It’s like 2001 all over again. My layoff was somewhat similar except it was just my boss - a guy I had actually helped to hire originally as a contractor who took over from my old boss who was laid off in the RIF round before - that sat me down in the conference room with a tidy envelope with my last paycheck, vacation pay, and two weeks (whoop!) severance. Six months and 14 interviews later I finally got a job for 20% less salary and horrible 60/40 benefits. Must have been salad days for employers, but I sure was glad to have a job, any job, that was mercifully free of inviting my customers to order fries with their Big Mac.

Unfortunately I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of these kind of blog posts in the coming year(s).

Chris Kalani says,

@Bob, Not really. I didn’t say anything other than exactly what happened to me today. I’m not upset therefore not disgruntled. I had already put in my 2 weeks, I couldn’t care less that it happened to me.

Vassil Mladjov says,

Good luck Chris
V

Bob says,

Ms.C Kalani - admire your response, but the tone is unmistakable. Does your new employer know you exit companies in this fashion? I’m curious.

Chris Kalani says,

Yeah I put it on my resume.

Pasquale says,

I guess I won’t be popping into Jive to say hi anymore :(

Peter says,

that’s pretty awesome. corporations rule. especially jive software.

gk says,

Whats up with this Bob fella ? The company lays off the guy who’s about to leave anyway and doesn’t let him even collect his personal stuff. And Mr Bob senses a tone ? And wonders if Chris (who is laying it all out on a public blog) is being forthcoming ? Hilarious !

Allan says,

Chris - sorry to hear about what happened to you today. Have you heard about when/if you might get your wedding photo back?

Pasquale says,

Also haha dude, you are way famous now. I wish everyone knew how naked you are.

Christopher's Mom says,

Chris, you are blessed beyond words in so many ways. God protected you and gave you another job before this all happened. Don’t forget that Jive was a blessing for you. You made a lot of new friends and learned a lot. Changes in your life have always been for the better and this won’t be any different. Your new company will be better to have you just like Jive was!! I know you aren’t upset about this, just surprised that stuff in the world happens in the manner in which it did!!

patrick says,

Some HR lady - do you mean the HR axing function is externalised?
I’ve been involved with the office2.0 initiative - and this really goes against some principles presented and the basis of some of their product line. Would be interested on how this issue is treated on their intranet/community site?
Good luck on your next assignment

Raul says,

Interesting thread. Moving beyond the personal experience, it’s become standard practice to behave in this silly fashion when firing workers which is insentive but this is the world we signed up for.

Today you face this, tomorrow you and many of the commentators here may be in a situation where you have to implement something like this, since in most cases this will not be your decision how does one handle it then?

The bigger question is, is this the most elegant, professional way to handle lay offs? Seems a bit paranoid and even vindictive. Can there be for want of a better word a more ‘humane, thinking, non robotic’ way accomplish this without the petty behavior, or is it the better to presume all retrenched employees pose certain risks?

More than the fired employee it appears it the organization that comes off as ‘disgruntled’, and from Bob’s post since he seems to represent that kind of thinking, you can detect the insensitivity to other people since he is more concerned about the impact on an organization’s reputation, rather than behaving honourably with people who have worked for you. The paradox is there is such a word as ‘honour’ and organizations expect it from employees everyday of their lives under any circumstance yet when it comes to the organization the slightest challenge and all talk of values, honour, we care for employees dissipates it seems in seconds.

That’s perhaps an accurate explanation of the kind of attitude that drive these kind of policies and behavior, an obsession with one’s self in this case one’s company and wildly overestimating the risk from retrenched employees. For an IP/research lab in a major industry one can understand the need for security and extreme measures but a general workplace it does appear like a gross overreaction.

Susan Scrupski says,

Hey Chris. Can I impose on your Mom to leave a comment on my blog if I get RIF’d too?

Actually, his post is breaking new ground in social media IMHO. Good for you for posting it. Psst… nGenera is always looking for new talent. http://www.ngenera.com/pages/co_careers.

Bob, but not that Bob says,

FWIW, I spent 14 years at a $20B/year company, and back in the late 90s and early 00s we handled RIFs in exactly the fashion stated at this top of this thread. There is no easy way to tell someone “you’re done.” As a manager I had to let many people go in my past life.

Like it or not, processes are in place because at one time or another something bad happened. The process mitigates risk of it happening again. Process also protects companies from inconsistent management of difficult situations and RIFs are hard for all the people involved. Key word there is “people.”

Someone here mentioned CK’s post had a tone of disgruntlement (the other Bob) and another gave a dissertation I couldn’t decipher, but I think it was defending CK.

As an outsider looking in, if you grammatically dissect CK’s post, I suppose you could say it sounded disgruntled. But that’s not a bad thing. Just look at the disgruntled tone in the proper context, that’s all. CK is disgruntled about “the environment and handling of the event” not the event itself.

Don’t misconstrue this as defense of RIF (layoff) processes. We can understand them while hating them and the environment that makes them reality.

Maria says,

Sounds pretty unprofessional. I would have gotten my stuff off my desk anyways. Jerks

Chris says,

Why people would upset about having to leave right away? The company needs to protect their IP from some disgruntled workers.

I don’t see a problem to leave immediately unless you have stored lots of personal stuff on the computer which lots of employees do and on employer’s time.

You would do the same if you were in the employer’ shoes.

Molly - Jive HR says,

Yikes Chris, sorry there was confusion yesterday about taking your personal items. Everyone had the choice to get personal items before they left. Some did and some elected not to. I know you plan to stop by and pick up your things, so we’ll see you soon.

Molly (HR at Jive)

Chris Kalani says,

@Chris, I totally understand that. Someone who was pissed could easily delete all the work they’ve done for the company or something else that would be harmful. But the things on my desk are really what I was referring to being upset about.

I was a special case because I had 3 days left. I already had the task of organizing my files and cleaning up my stuff. I was in the middle of finishing up some last minute things as I knew my time was limited and all that was kinda thrown out the door.

E-Mac says,

whoa. i can’t believe this happened.. i feel so sorry for all the other employees.. but dude, how crazy is it that you already had another job lined up and then this happened only three days before your last day there?? you are totally and completely blessed, chris. i just can’t even get over it. it tis a-maaazing. i love it.

E-Mac says,

PS you did not sound disgruntled whatsoever. i don’t understand bob’s comments. you just said what happened. it is what it is.

Steven Tedjamulia says,

Jive Employees Are Welcome at Vignette, Please Apply!

As Jive finds it necessary to lay off 1/3 of its staff, Vignette welcomes the Jive team to check out our job postings and consider a career at a company that is investing, and will continue to invest, in a long-term Social strategy…..

http://collaborationblogs.com/2008/10/15/jive-employees-are-welcome-at -vignette-please-apply/

former colleagues says,

We are really upset and hurt to see your post, Chris. Seems unlike you, and you’ve hurt your friends and former colleagues with your actions and irresponsibly blogging.

Anyway, glad to hear you got another job. Where are you going?

Chris Kalani says,

@former colleagues, listen… when you comment I can see your IP. And, hmm… it matched Bob’s IP exactly. So either you’re lying about being from Jive or all along you’re someone I know and is lying about your name being bob. Either way, I’m blocking you and I’ll delete any future comments.

jessa KALANI says,

“Bob”/”former colleagues”/whateverotheraliasyoucomeupwith-

Who ever you may actually be, you need to look at some facts about Chris’s post as it relates to your judgment of him as being an irresponsible blogger.

Let’s examine a few key points relating to the situation and whether or not it was ethical of my husband to write what he did. 1) To the best of his knowledge everything he posted was true. 2) He made no slanderous remarks about the company itself. 3) He did not name names or make any personal attacks against the company. 4) He made no speculation as to the reason behind the layoffs. 5) He signed no confidentiality agreement that would have prohibited him from making a statement.

So what, exactly, about his actions was ‘hurtful’ (and in what way), and what was irresponsible about them? Nothing? Oh, yeah.

I’ll just add that Chris is an incredibly laid-back person who doesn’t often get riled up about things, including this situation. I, on the other hand, am extremely annoyed that anyone would question my husbands integrity or damage his reputation.

Also, on a side note, many people (including higher-ups) at Jive were fully aware of my husband’s blog. They know that he posts regularly about many things.

courtney rogers says,

Yeah, Jessa!! Lol

This is a great thread. Very entertaining.

@ Chris and Jessa…
let’s hang out soon so i can hear all the “slanderous gossip”, er, i mean details about this situation hahahahaha

ttys

Dylan R. Mullins says,

Lol, Bob needs a hug.

After re-reading the comment thread and re-thinking things, I guess I could see where forcing an employee to leave the office immediately upon being fired could be an operational procedure.

“Hey, can I grab my things in a second? I need to run to my car real quick and grab something out of my glovebox, but I’ll be right back, I promise. Oh, how I promise –– I’ll be right back.”

Ross says,

“We are really upset and hurt to see your post, Chris. Seems unlike you, and you’ve hurt your friends and former colleagues with your actions and irresponsibly blogging.

Anyway, glad to hear you got another job. Where are you going?”
–

heh Bob isn’t the brightest tool in the tool shed huh. Even if “former colleagues” wasn’t in fact Bob and really were former colleagues (and friends) they’d already know where you’re headed.

EJ Hill says,

Nasty. Seems like people are loosing their humanity. If I had to lay off people, I’d call them into a room, at least tell them why and when, and see if any were willing to resign, so others could stay. Communication? I don’t think it’s very respectful of anyone to terminate someone’s employment without advance notice. What about their families? What about their debts?

If Jive are experiencing financial troubles - it’s most probably their own doing. What you sow you will reap. Treat people like crap, and ‘life’ will return the favor.

Anyway, best of luck with your new employer ;-)

Dr. Otto Van DerWahl says,

So I guess this makes you a Jive Turkey??

mike O says,

What does this mean to Jive customers? Is the company doing that poorly that they have to remove 1/3 of the staff?

Ben L. says,

retweet: collective amnesia is sometimes the best temporary defense against evil but it boomerangs back to ya eventually, pain is usually exacerbated

Bob Hardner says,

We used to use Jive forums years ago when they were a company of less than five people and they were moving from “shared source” to a commercial closed source product. I’m surprised to hear they had grown to a company of this size to begin with. Back in the day, the small, tight nit group of developers and techies that were there (Matt and Bill heading them up) were top notch talent and we, as customers, really though their small company size was a strength of theirs.

Jason Amor says,

lots of comments, i couldn’t read them all. see ya