While the hype
around start-ups continues we start hearing about some start-ups laying
off their employees. Layoffs are surely a matter of pain for those laid off
with or without golden handshakes. This piece is not for those unfortunate souls.
This is for the remaining unfortunate and unlaid-off employees.
How does one shield
oneself against a possible layoff? Here is my ‘Ducking Layoff- 101’.
If you are yet not
laid off, constantly keep in mind that you are in the queue. This is not
negative thinking but proactive thinking. If you are reasonably sure that you
stand a fair chance (you sure, are working in an organization that is fair.
Hence you always stand a fair chance) of being laid off, probably you would
build exit barriers for yourself and entry barriers for others (to get into
your office chair). Fear could be a good motivator to run in a dangerous
situation. Imagine a hungry tiger is chasing you. If you run instantly and at Usain
Bolt’s speed chances are that you reach a safe place and the tiger spots something
better on the way. If you don’t run you become instant breakfast.
I am told companies
lay off the least suited guys first and not always go by the LIFO (last in
first out) method. So your seniority need not be a guarantee against lay off. But
who decides your suitability? When you joined the company you were told the
company hires only the brightest talent! But that was then; no harm re-checking
now. What you can do is to check with your boss, boss’s boss and 10 friends
closer to boss and boss’ boss whether you are suitable. And do this every day. Every
day is a new day. Why take a risk? I am reminded of a story about the Roman
soldiers whose first job in the morning was to check and report if their heads
are on their shoulders! Of course, they were not worried about being laid off
but there was always the Damocles’ sword hanging over their neck!
The feedback
mechanism as discussed above need not work well all the time in all
organizations. Only a few people around you want to tell the truth. Those who
want to tell the truth do not want to give a bad news. Those who want to give a
bad news do not know how to break the bad news. Not all are trained counselors.
Therefore, with all good intentions and regular feedback, you could still be in
the dark valley of misinformation. So what to do? When others do not do it for
you, the best way is to do it yourself. What would you do if on one fine
morning your driver did not turn up? You drive the car yourself. So, walk
around every day and tell your boss, your boss’ boss and 10 friends who are
close to the boss and boss’ boss, that you are the last person the company can
afford to lose. Do it everyday. People will start believing you. Repetition
builds reputation. My friend told me that an ounce of reputation is worth more
than a ton of hard work.
OK, I know you are
not confident of always coming up winner in this game of image building. So you
can do some crowd sourcing for this exercise. To start with, make 10 other
people (if you can manage the same old 10 guys who are close to the boss and
boss’ boss, nothing like that) talk about you and testify that you are the most
wanted guy in the organization. You know the power of word of mouth publicity.
But there is a catch to it. What is the big motivation for your 10 trusted
friends to talk great about you? It could be that by doing so, they are
reaching the end of the queue faster than you! There is a way. Get into a
mutual agreement. You talk great about them and they reciprocate. It is the
same old principle of you scratching my back and I yours. This might work. ‘Scratch
and win a prize’ is a proven technique in sales!
But will it work
always? There is no one trick that works always. You know that. So what is the
solution? When one trick does not work, you need more tricks. Have you heard of
in-basket exercises or assessment centers? The principle is same. Use a battery
of tricks to get the best results. But even then these tricks may not work. Your
boss need not be as dumb as you think. And it is possible that the boss himself
could be trying the same tricks. After all he too has a fair chance in the
organization!
Now you have two
options. Invent more tricks and continue the trial and error method till you
are on the payroll. Second, turn real and sincerely do your job well and leave
everything else to your karma!
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