New year, new boss? No sweat

WE have all been there before. A new boss - be it your department head, direct supervisor or chief executive - arrives, and suddenly, everything is up in the air.

Processes are being tossed out, people are being reshuffled, new directions and strategies are being bandied about, but nobody knows quite what to do next. The new boss is bent on shaking things up, and what was once predictable has given way to a whirlwind of changes.

It is not surprising that people tend to see these situations as a sign of impending doom, especially if the business has been on a downhill trend or if they were especially close to the previous leader. It is often in periods of uncertainty that staff jump ship, rocking the boat even further.