Bloomport U

Some years ago I had the unpleasant experience of being sold as part of an outsourcing.  While it was a pretty bad experience (I was working in Germany at the time), what I saw fundamentally changed my approach to my career and brought to life my predisposition for trying to “anticipate the future.”

Central to that experience was seeing the pain and frustration of my colleagues going through this situation.  Let me tell you about one of those fellows, let call him Bill.  Bill was a capable leader, a pillar of strength and dedication, decisive in his approach and deliberate in his actions, a real leader.  This was one guy who I would have expected to have his act together, he was a solid leader and I figured that for sure he would survive the outsourcing.

Bill was a wreck.  He had a near melt-down in front of his team which was understandably unsettling to everyone around him.  It was tough to see this 40-something pillar-of-strength turn visibly shaken as he realized that he had zero choice in the outsourcing.  His destiny was not his own.  He was without options.

I distinctly remember thinking “I never want to be in that position.”

Tammy Erickson had an article on blogs.hbr.org earlier this month titled “Predictions for 2010: Five Changes in the Way We Work” that got my attention.  Aside from suggesting out a few interesting trends (see below) what was most interesting was the news headlines she pulled from 2009

Company Furloughs at 17-year High: unpaid days, or weeks, off trims bottom line, but at a cost to employees – Ellen Simon, Associated Press, December 31, 2008

The new worker’s dilemma: take a pay cut or risk getting the sack – Gary Duncan, Economics Editor, The Times, January 22, 2009

More Companies Force Workers to Take Time Off: but not all welcome ‘banishment,’ especially when they don’t get paid – Eve Tahmincioglu, msnbc.com, January 29, 2009

The Recession Ripple Effect: A little pay cut goes a long way – Lynette Chiang, Fast Company Blog, February 17, 2009

Employers Hit Salaried Staff With Furloughs – The Wall Street Journal, February 24, 2009

Recession Finds Even Those with Jobs Losing Pay – Christopher Leonard, The Huffington Post, March 8, 2009

Her point was that although the tools used to navigate this crisis had changed (using furloughs and pay cuts) the result was the same as using traditional economic crisis tools (layoffs).  The result of the furloughs and pay cuts are that employees lose confident in their company’s ability to compensate them for work done, and the company’s ability to take care of the employees..

Ok, while I am resisting the urge to get all “who-moved-my-cheese” on you, it is time we all see the VUCA future.

Reality

Reality is that there are no more entitlements.  You can and likely will be sold, your job is not for life, you will have to find another job, and the company may not be able to (or may choose not) to take care of you.  Finally, you can trust the company to act in the best interest of the company; if that means firing/outsourcing/downsizing you tomorrow, you can trust the company will do so.

Will this happen to you?  Maybe it will, maybe won’t, but what I can guarantee you is that if you take responsibility for your own future / career, and mentally and physically prepare yourself for that crisis that might come tomorrow, you will be a better employee today.  How?  When those rumors about the sale of your division come up , you are going to be the calm one, the one others turn to for perspective, you will be able to focus and see a path through the turmoil, or see a path out. Net, you will be a stronger employee, husband, mother, you will be able to make a move from a position of strength, instead of desperation.  You will be with options.