delegated financial authority: $0

friday was my last day at company “e2, an h2 company” and today my first day at company t.

not much of a change since whilst i at company e2 i had been on assignment at company t – so same job title, same location (one desk to the left), and many of the same people. but i have always enjoyed my time at company t and I look forward to working with them more as a member of their team than as a supplier.

i’ve taken a bit of a chance since i’ve moved from a “permanent” role to a contractor position, but i think in today’s economic conditions there is no such thing as a permanent position, especially at company e2 where the ceo is ruthlessly “repositioning” the company whilst collecting the largest cash bonus of any ceo in the states. plus company t is a new zealand company and has a more balanced view of profits-at-any-costs, and is much less likely to toss employees overboard to make a few more dollars for the shareholders.

one particular item during my new hire training that i found humourous. during my early days in boston my employer would frequently send out a memo with the spending limits for the senior staff: ceo: $100k, vps: $50k, directors: $25k, managers: 10k. me and my colleagues were not listed so we would update the list by including our names at the bottom: antony: $0, david: $0, sheila: $0. over the next 20 years i was able to break through the $0 barrier and be granted increasing financial authority. that all changed with our move to nz. during my induction training company policies were reviewed including that as a contractor i have no authority to spend company funds – my “delegated financial authority” is $0.

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