Remember that change I wanted?

It's here. Well...part of it.

Had a pretty big day today. My boss came down and announced that they're selling our division. The whole shebang. The plant, people, and name.

Normally, I might be pretty nervous about it, but I'm ok so far. It's not like we didn't expect something to happen, but you know how it is when you're expecting something but don't know when it will arrive.

The president of the new company came down as well and gave us a general idea of when the transition is going to happen. We don't really know how it's going to happen, but maybe it won't be much. He repeatedly assured me that I wouldn't lose my job. We'll see how that goes, but for now, I believe him. We do have one salesman here that worked for the new owners years ago. He says they're a good company to work for.

The sale isn't planned to be be completed until the end of January, but the new president will be down the first week of January to start the process. I imagine that will be an interesting time. I've never gone through a transition like this, much less as the boss of the acquired company.

The new prez gave me the impression that the company is primarily run by the people at each of the 30 something locations. Browsing their website, I saw their "Meet the Team" picture, and there are only about 25 people managing the IT systems, purchasing, accounting, and HR of  all 750 employees. That helps with the assurance that we'll keep our jobs. It even sounds like not a lot will change as far as our day to day operations. He said that our town was kind of big, in relation to their other locations. Huh.

It's kinda cool that this sale gives our other divisions (of the old company) some breathing room. The big chunk of cash is going to help them for a while. Hopefully it's enough to get them through the rest of the winter and they can be profitable again next summer. Although maybe I shouldn't hope too much. Our new owners have another truss plant which is a direct competitor to our old owners. It shouldn't affect us, but who knows. It's kinda funny, but the plant manager of the other truss plant is a predecessor of mine. He was the 2nd plant manager our plant had.

I'm curious to see who's going to still be working here at the end of next year. The new owners say that while they've never fired anyone during one of these transitions (and they've done something like 6 in the last 8 months and 13 in the last 4 years) they still see people leave of their own accord. We have some 'old skool' / 'good 'ol boy network' salesmen here. I don't make predictions, but it'll be interesting.

The way our team is set up now is that there is no primary manager. We have a sales lead, a design manager, and me, the production manager. There's no real 'plant manager' per se, even though that's what's on my door. The sales lead reported to the corporate sales manager and the design manager and myself reported to the president. Makes me wonder if that's going to change somehow. The new prez was talking to me like I was the plant manager, but I'm not sure if he realizes how it's set up now.

The new HR manager also came down and handed out the new employee manuals. I wasn't in the room at the time, but she answered a question and told everyone that she had received a raise every year for the 30 years she's worked there. As a manager, I don't really appreciate the precedent she set with that little statement, since I'm the one that's going to have to make good on it, but as an employee it doesn't bother me a bit.

My guys have been asking me what I think about it all. Of course I told them I think it's going to be a good thing.

I don't think I lied.