There are six more workdays left until I retire as a full-time salaried
employee. I will be working after this, but as a freelancer who chooses his
own hours and doesn't have to hear from the entire workforce. So in the days
that are left, it is time to part from as many employees as possible.
Today there was a 'farewell party' in the branch where I have worked for
the past 36 years, my 'home team'. First, my manager, the chief financial
officer, praised me to kingdom come in front of all the employees there
(about 20). At first this was OK but towards the end became a little
embarassing. She spoke about how I have always served professionally whoever
would come to me for help, and how I have solved many thorny problems over
the years. She told how I have created an information eco-system for the
company, creating reports and work protocols that have advanced the company
over the years. This was as much for those who are not aware of what I have
done over the years as it was for those who were well aware.
I began my speech by noting that whenever I attend a funeral on the
kibbutz, I hear the deceased being praised in glowing terms, and I always
think that it's a shame that the deceased never got a chance to hear all
these wonderful things being said about him/her. I have the advantage of
being alive to hear my 'eulogy'. I then talked a little about how it was in
the early days, and how certain workers who are still with us began their
employment. I said that like on Yom Kippur when we all request forgiveness
for anything bad that we might have done, I request forgiveness from anyone
with whom I might have had a dispute: if so, these disputes were always on a
professional basis and not personal. I did say that I have personal and
professional satisfaction from the legacy that I am leaving behing. I also
recalled the late CEO who would often substitute the word 'challenge' for
'problem'; he challenged me frequently and I doubt that I could have
achieved the same results had he not been there with his challenges. I
mentioned that this branch implemented ERP 'by the book' and would always
use it as an example to the other branches who frequently did their hardest
to implement ERP as it is not meant to be implemented; I had to find ways
that their protocols could match those in Priority as much as
possible.
Several people came up to me personally after the speeches to shake my hand
and say a few words. Most surprisingly, one was a new employee who said that
he didn't know me but that he had heard of me and wanted to wish me well.
That was very kind of him.
There will be another such 'party' in Karmiel next Monday; there it will
quite different as first of all, my connection with that factory started
only in around 2008 if not later, and secondly because I am only there once
or twice a month, so all communication is either by email or by online
meetings. My manager will not be there, but I will hear either from the CEO
or from the factory manager (if not both) what they have to say.
There will probably be some form of 'party' in Tel Aviv towards the end of
August as well as a special celebration for the finance department to which
I belong.
I am not resting on my laurels: there are still some thorny problems to be
solved at work that only I can deal with. After a minor upgrade a week and a
half ago, there are several procedures that have stopped working for most
people (but not for me), where the problem seems to be connected with
choosing parts as input. I figured out how I can run these procedures
under the debugger when the person running the procedure is not me but an
ordinary employee. I saw that when I run these procedures, a normal SQL
statement is created, but when they run the procedure, a ridiculous
statement is created that apparently joins one part with the entire table of
parts, causing the procedure to crash eventually . I have passed
examples of this problem on to the company that gives us professional
support, but I haven't heard back from them yet.
I have prepared a general farewell letter to be sent to the entire company
by email some time next week. I will send it a few days before I finish as
it would be nice to read what people have to say. After I retire, my account
will be closed so that no one can write to me anymore with their problems -
or even their best wishes. I will leave a message 'this email address will
self-destruct in ten seconds', but I doubt that many people will get the
reference. I must also remember to write to the company that supports
us, although I will stay in contact with them, only with a different email
address.
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