I recently got an email from a friend who just got laid off several weeks before Christmas. She works for a major bank and figured that the layoffs were finished and that her job would be safe but alas, it wasn’t.
Two of her family members also lost their jobs in the past few months too so she has plenty of company.
In my friend’s case, she commented that the company she works for is fairly unorganized and tends to make decisions like reducing staff that don’t seem to indicate any sort of plan. The two of us used to work together about 11 years ago and the company we worked for would restructure and have many downsizings numerous times while we were there, often more than once in the same calendar year. So in that regard, she is used to facing this sort of thing except this time, she was one of the people being downsized.
We’ve already discussed a number of aspects of downsizings and restructurings in previous posts but in general terms the best ways to remain include are to ensure that you do the following:
Make the company money, save the company money or ideally do both: If you can quantify how much money you bring into the company (ie. sales) and/or how much you save the company, chances are the company can quantify this too and will therefore know your value to the company compared to your peers. Sometimes you might be working in a position that neither brings in money or saves the company money (ie. customer service roles for example) so it can be difficult for you to quantify your importance to the company especially when the downsizing axe starts getting swung. In this case, the following points might be even more important for you to consider.
Be high profile: If you’re someone who is well-known in your company and has a good reputation, this can only help when it comes to deciding who will be let go and whose job will remain. Taking part in high-profile tasks that show people within your company your skills and accomplishments not only helps your resume, but it can help to separate your from your peers. Certainly being well-known within a company doesn’t guarantee anything but it can help.
Be well-liked: This is more about having a good personality and being someone who others in the company like to be around than it is about kissing ass or becoming a sycophant. No one likes a whiner so make sure you aren’t the person that the company looks at downsizing if only to rid themselves of the personality.
Go the extra mile: During downsizings I witnessed earlier in my career, I noticed that many times the people who got downsized were the people who were (not surprisingly) generally poorly regarded in the company and they more often than not tended to be the people who were last in and first out each day, too. Offering to help out and do more than what your job requires can often help your cause and remind your colleagues and superiors that you are a valuable resource to the company.
