Do you have a survival plan?
During this troubled economic situation that we all experience, job security is far from given in any organization. Morale is down; your manager’s door is mainly closed; new clients are missing; new projects from existing clients are postponed; budgets are reviewed more often than ever; your subordinates look to you for reassurance; people from your professional network have lost their positions. Although the chances are that all these look familiar to you, the last thing one should do is to panic and be passive.
Rational planning, being proactive and looking reality in the face are of paramount importance in career management, regardless if we are in danger of redundancy or not. Here are some survival tips:
- Behave like a survivor. This might seem like an oxymoron since preparing to be out of work implies pessimism, however reality is out of our control. Besides, everybody within a firm, regardless of seniority, prefers to work with people who demonstrate a winning attitude and enthusiasm, and not those who continuously remind everybody of how miserable the situation is. Survivors visualize a better future and are therefore driven by achieving it.
- Focus on your company’s customers. And this is valid regardless of your function and seniority. The customer is the only factor that a company’s existence depends upon. Find ways to serve your company’s customers and make this contribution visible internally. Your job will have many more chances of survival if customers find your existence important.
- Contribute in more than one way. During a heavy storm each crew member forgets his/her “job description” and contributes in any possible way in order to save the boat. During layoffs and consolidations various opportunities may appear to display your capacity and how necessary you are.
- Swallow your pride. During a re-organization you and your department may be down-graded. In such a case, focus on the company’s benefit, demonstrate commitment to the new hierarchy and be certain that your loyalty will be rewarded once the economy recovers.
Obviously, no advice can guarantee that the worst case scenario will not happen to you. Therefore, you need a plan for facing a job loss. First of all, it will psychologically help you to realize that this is not personal but business reality. Activate yourself: update your Resume, ask for references from your previous employers, approach prominent headhunters and utilize your business and personal network in any possible way. Prepare yourself for any job interview not only regarding your technical competencies, but also your personality strengths by reviewing the personality assessments and analyses from your previous positions. A final note: perhaps this situation will lead you to an alternative route, what you have always wanted to do but never dared it. Remember, the recent film “Up in the Air”, where George Clooney convinced an employee whom he laid off that this is THE opportunity to start his own restaurant business.
