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Career Counsellor Psychologist Career Coach POSITIVE STEPS FOR A POSITIVE FUTURE
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How to Save Your Job |
There are things you can do to improve your chances of riding out the recession,
by Karalyn Brown (article for the Weekend Australian)
Despite growing green shoots of economic recovery and unemployment figures being better than forecast, there is still a great deal of uncertainty in Australian workplaces.
Type "save your job in a recession" into Google and 6.4 million references come up.
The advice you'll read ranges from the practical — "keep writing down your achievements to present in your performance reviews" — to the political: "Pick off the organisation's opinion leaders and talk to them one by one."
With such an avalanche of advice, how will you really know if your job is in jeopardy? Like any romance going wrong, several small signs will indicate the likelihood of a rupture.
''Sometimes you know if your division is a little on the nose," says Psychologist and Career Counsellor Jacqui Rochester, who deals with many clients with uncertain futures.
"You're not getting the same positive response from senior managers as you did previously. Your team is not as included in decision-making as they were in the past. You are targeted for expenditure cutbacks. You are sidelined or feel you are not being listened to."
Other indicators include no training in your team or talk of forward planning.
Management does target individuals for retrenchment. This may be likelier if your workplace relationships are problematic. You clash with influential individuals, are seen as inflexible, or are not performing in your role.
Bonita Croft is the group executive human resources for the Investa Property Group. She has seen people retrenched for reasons other than their role becoming redundant, but she believes this is becoming less common.
David Lawson is HR director of an Australian consumer goods company. In his experience, who stays or goes can be political but is often a result of a round table team discussion between senior management, HR, and a manager from the section under the spotlight. The first question is about organisational structure: "How do we make the structure keep working for us?"
The group canvasses questions such as: Is this role duplicated, and are the skills available in the rest of the team? If two people are performing the same role, the management team may decide who is of most value to the business in terms of output, capacity and skill levels.
So, at what point can you save your job?
''It's my observation that once a decision is made, there is not a lot people can do at that stage." says Rochester. Lawson agrees.
Rochester has seen many people waste energy trying to change decisions. Croft cannot recall management reversing a final decision to retrench a person but suggests people could try to present new information such as other skills they may have that the organisation has not considered.
Are there some strategies you can employ if you sense that the organisation is in trouble? Croft has had her team offer to cut down their hours when they saw a downturn in business. But both Lawson and Croft caution about how you present this option.
Lawson says there is a possibility that management may see you as less committed at precisely the time when they are looking at loyalty. He suggests that you offer to reduce your hours as it may benefit the business and to say you are open to this along with other options involving flexibility.
With acute underlying skill shortages and the potential of a recovery just around the corner, unemployment statistics suggest organisations have been reducing hours rather than laying off staff. Other tactics include bringing forward annual leave and reducing salaries. Your success in suggesting these or any other strategy may depend on your seniority and the structure of the workforce.
"If you are a senior manager, you may have a lot of discretion and scope," says Rochester. "You can suggest more potential strategies than someone down the food chain. For that person, there's not an awful lot they can do."
In heavily unionised environments you may be prevented from making any changes that affect working conditions.
How true is the old adage that "it's not what you know but who you know" when it comes to keeping your job or staying within the organisation? Lawson and Rochester say networking is critical.
"It's not about being boastful [about your performance] but it's really important. If you can build trust with a small, intimate group, they are your real value," Lawson says. You can have conversations ahead of significant development, saying: "I'm concerned about this situation, and if I need help, can you give me a hand?" With an intimate, widespread network, you will hear whispers of changes.
Lawson suggests the higher you go in your career, the more often any new role you take on will come from such discussions.
He recommends keeping in regular contact with people with whom you have a common interest.
So, can you talk up your achievements? If an organisation has strong performance management systems and rigorous reviews, then it can be very obvious when you are not performing.
However, a good relationship with your manager may save your job, particularly if a decision comes down to a choice between you and another person. Lawson emphasises that your manager needs to understand who you are and what you do, but if you find this difficult he recommends that you focus on developing relationships with your team. "Managers may have the wrong idea if you are a quiet achiever; sometimes, if that's the case the team will step up," he says.
Can you reverse your poor reputation? That takes time. "A reputation takes years to create and can be ruined in seconds." Croft says. "Recasting your reputation has to be done with deliberate action. You need to understand that changing behaviour needs to be done more consistently and for a longer time for people to believe that change."
Lawson agrees: "Put your head down. Be productive and deliver on your promises. If colleagues ask for something, deliver on the date you promise."
Croft and Rochester have seen many people paralysed by the uncertainty tenuous times can bring. But now is not the time to do nothing, suggests Lawson. "Don't play safe. It's counter-intuitive but step forward to do your best work and take a risk," he says.
''You should be thinking how will it sound in interview [if you have done nothing]." Lawson suggests that if you start kicking goals, you will be more likely to keep your job.
So, what happens if you do lose your job?
Things are not necessarily all bad. Rochester and Croft have seen many people make better decisions about their career after redundancy, particularly if they take some time to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, what has made them happy in their roles and environments that may suit them, and they market themselves accordingly.
Croft has this final reminder for anyone on shaky ground: "Security is not having a job. Security is knowing if someone takes it away, you are good enough to get it back."
by Karalyn Brown (article for the Weekend Australian)
Despite growing green shoots of economic recovery and unemployment figures being better than forecast, there is still a great deal of uncertainty in Australian workplaces.
Type "save your job in a recession" into Google and 6.4 million references come up.
The advice you'll read ranges from the practical — "keep writing down your achievements to present in your performance reviews" — to the political: "Pick off the organisation's opinion leaders and talk to them one by one."
With such an avalanche of advice, how will you really know if your job is in jeopardy? Like any romance going wrong, several small signs will indicate the likelihood of a rupture.
''Sometimes you know if your division is a little on the nose," says Psychologist and Career Counsellor Jacqui Rochester, who deals with many clients with uncertain futures.
"You're not getting the same positive response from senior managers as you did previously. Your team is not as included in decision-making as they were in the past. You are targeted for expenditure cutbacks. You are sidelined or feel you are not being listened to."
Other indicators include no training in your team or talk of forward planning.
Management does target individuals for retrenchment. This may be likelier if your workplace relationships are problematic. You clash with influential individuals, are seen as inflexible, or are not performing in your role.
Bonita Croft is the group executive human resources for the Investa Property Group. She has seen people retrenched for reasons other than their role becoming redundant, but she believes this is becoming less common.
David Lawson is HR director of an Australian consumer goods company. In his experience, who stays or goes can be political but is often a result of a round table team discussion between senior management, HR, and a manager from the section under the spotlight. The first question is about organisational structure: "How do we make the structure keep working for us?"
The group canvasses questions such as: Is this role duplicated, and are the skills available in the rest of the team? If two people are performing the same role, the management team may decide who is of most value to the business in terms of output, capacity and skill levels.
So, at what point can you save your job?
''It's my observation that once a decision is made, there is not a lot people can do at that stage." says Rochester. Lawson agrees.
Rochester has seen many people waste energy trying to change decisions. Croft cannot recall management reversing a final decision to retrench a person but suggests people could try to present new information such as other skills they may have that the organisation has not considered.
Are there some strategies you can employ if you sense that the organisation is in trouble? Croft has had her team offer to cut down their hours when they saw a downturn in business. But both Lawson and Croft caution about how you present this option.
Lawson says there is a possibility that management may see you as less committed at precisely the time when they are looking at loyalty. He suggests that you offer to reduce your hours as it may benefit the business and to say you are open to this along with other options involving flexibility.
With acute underlying skill shortages and the potential of a recovery just around the corner, unemployment statistics suggest organisations have been reducing hours rather than laying off staff. Other tactics include bringing forward annual leave and reducing salaries. Your success in suggesting these or any other strategy may depend on your seniority and the structure of the workforce.
"If you are a senior manager, you may have a lot of discretion and scope," says Rochester. "You can suggest more potential strategies than someone down the food chain. For that person, there's not an awful lot they can do."
In heavily unionised environments you may be prevented from making any changes that affect working conditions.
How true is the old adage that "it's not what you know but who you know" when it comes to keeping your job or staying within the organisation? Lawson and Rochester say networking is critical.
"It's not about being boastful [about your performance] but it's really important. If you can build trust with a small, intimate group, they are your real value," Lawson says. You can have conversations ahead of significant development, saying: "I'm concerned about this situation, and if I need help, can you give me a hand?" With an intimate, widespread network, you will hear whispers of changes.
Lawson suggests the higher you go in your career, the more often any new role you take on will come from such discussions.
He recommends keeping in regular contact with people with whom you have a common interest.
So, can you talk up your achievements? If an organisation has strong performance management systems and rigorous reviews, then it can be very obvious when you are not performing.
However, a good relationship with your manager may save your job, particularly if a decision comes down to a choice between you and another person. Lawson emphasises that your manager needs to understand who you are and what you do, but if you find this difficult he recommends that you focus on developing relationships with your team. "Managers may have the wrong idea if you are a quiet achiever; sometimes, if that's the case the team will step up," he says.
Can you reverse your poor reputation? That takes time. "A reputation takes years to create and can be ruined in seconds." Croft says. "Recasting your reputation has to be done with deliberate action. You need to understand that changing behaviour needs to be done more consistently and for a longer time for people to believe that change."
Lawson agrees: "Put your head down. Be productive and deliver on your promises. If colleagues ask for something, deliver on the date you promise."
Croft and Rochester have seen many people paralysed by the uncertainty tenuous times can bring. But now is not the time to do nothing, suggests Lawson. "Don't play safe. It's counter-intuitive but step forward to do your best work and take a risk," he says.
''You should be thinking how will it sound in interview [if you have done nothing]." Lawson suggests that if you start kicking goals, you will be more likely to keep your job.
So, what happens if you do lose your job?
Things are not necessarily all bad. Rochester and Croft have seen many people make better decisions about their career after redundancy, particularly if they take some time to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, what has made them happy in their roles and environments that may suit them, and they market themselves accordingly.
Croft has this final reminder for anyone on shaky ground: "Security is not having a job. Security is knowing if someone takes it away, you are good enough to get it back."
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