Lesson 8: Now, how do you keep it? Do you still want it?
You’ve got it, now how to keep it, even if the company is going through a downsize.
You got the job! Now, how to keep it?
Just doing your job is not enough anymore, but it is not in your best interest to just slave away at work either with long hours. So, how to maintain your worth to the company?
Always be on the lookout for new ways to improve work conditions and/or your environment.
This does NOT mean ways to criticize, but actively participate in ways to improve the work or methods. Most companies nowadays offer bonuses for the best “improvement” of the month – so companies realize the benefit of an employee always on the move to improve. Just look around you – too many memos about the same thing? See if there is a way to consolidate information. Too much paper wasted? Consider posting common memos on a common bulletin board. Too many emails with “Reply to All” – try to implement a system where only the person initiating the email gets the response, especially if it is to generate a ‘brain storming session” – then that person can collect all the emails, summarize, and then forward the summaries to all participants.
Who’s who, what’s what This is inter-networking, and is NOT sucking up. This is actually knowing the names and faces of who does what, and where they are on the ladder – meaning who reports to who, what’s the internal department structure. This is invaluable in knowing what your COMPANY actual does; its goals; decision makers; etc. Where is the company heading? You will not often get that in the official mission statement. If they told their competitors what they are actually doing, they’d be out of business. So you have to read between the lines, and since you DID sign a confidentiality agreement, most likely someone will tell you what the company is actually doing for the future. Knowledge is power. By knowing something of the direction, you can align your work that way.
The company is downsizing/merging This is not a matter of “where do I go now” but “where do I fit into the new structure”. By doing your research in the above matters, you will probably be able to get a copy or general idea of the new structure, even if it is due to a merge. Then find a spot for yourself. In all the mergers/downsizings my work has encompassed, there has always been something the company has missed, and that missing information was gathered by talking to the employees – the ones who actually did the day to day work. Often a middle manager was slated for “job relocation” (another word for pink slipped, fired, laid off, whatever) who’s talents/interest/experience were being underused anyway, and a new spot was found for that manager in the new structure which suited all involved.
But you won’t be able to do this if you are just a cog in the wheel that refuses to know WHY the wheel is turning. As stated before, knowledge is power. Remember, there is always something the new structure forgot, and the company will have to hire a new person anyway – it might as well be you!
