My boss resigned

My boss resigned. He gave 3 days notice and was gone. I didn’t even have time to post a blog titled, “My boss is leaving”; he’s already gone.

So now what? I have no idea. Chaos, so far. There’s no clear successor, and our Bureau Chief is not appointing anyone to be temporarily acting in his position. She’s just going to advertise it as fast as she can.

Unfortunately, she probably can’t get the position filled very quickly. Not only is it holiday season, but both of our key HR personnel left for other jobs last month.

And we just elected a new governor. The previous administration has already left, so we’re basically without administration management until mid-January when the new administration gets going. The higher level positions (my boss was a section chief) aren’t typically filled without administration approval. And with no administration, that may not happen. In fact, frequently the Bureau Chiefs are rotated to other Bureaus when a new administration starts. My entire management chain could change.

It’s never boring at this job.

Despite the short notice, we did manage to buy my boss a couple of going-away gag gifts. By “we”, I mean a coworker of mine managed to buy him gag gifts and give him a friendly “roasting” at our last meeting. I was impressed – I don’t have that kind of humor and wouldn’t have been able to pull that one off. Here he is in his special new glasses and fake mustache.

I did manage to buy him a card that everyone signed. And we co-opted our Fall Luncheon to become a going-away party.

Here he is with our Bureau Chief in front of the buffet table.

We have at least one staff member uncomfortable with the designation of “Thanksgiving Celebration” so it became “Fall Luncheon” and then after my boss gave notice our luncheon degenerated into just “Oh, shit, today is his last day!” Complete with turkey, cranberry sauce, pies and someone managed to get a certificate framed for him. Here is the Bureau Chief presenting him the certificate (with a worried-looking colleague in the background).

Best of luck with your new job!