If corporate downsizing were an opera, the fat lady would never sing.Initially, most executives took a hatchet to their work forces in an attempt to gain a onetime boost to earnings. But a funny thing happened. Once one company started downsizing, everyone did it. So, not only did managers lose the competitive advantage they thought they'd gain by shrinking their work force, they had to keep cutting deeper just to remain competitive.
The result of this if you are an investor, or have a 401K plan, is wonderful. These smaller work forces yield bigger profits. After all, a smaller percentage of the corporate till is being spent on salaries. And those higher profits are a key reason that Wall Street has been going ever higher in the past couple of years.
Unfortunately (and ironically if you are one of those employees with a 401K plan), as an employee you suddenly have a strange desire to go out and rent Mel Brooks' "High Anxiety." If you haven't been "riffed" (reduced in force) you either a) own your own company, a company that is doing well, or b) soon might be. But where there is a crisis, there is an opportunity -- at least if you think like a publisher. And so just in time for Christmas come a spate of books about how to survive being let go, or what to do to make sure you don't lose your job in the first place. I suppose it is better than a lump of coal.
|
Where do you begin?
So, how do you begin to think about the potential--or reality--of being downsized?
Psychiatrist Rochelle H. Gordon suggests this. Begin with recognizing that: "American workers have plenty of reasons to be anxious. And second, what is happening [in the economy] is no one's fault."
While Gordon's economic analysis of what is behind the current wave of downsizing is simplistic, her way of dealing with the situation is sound. In "Climb a Fallen Ladder: How to Survive (and Thrive!) in a Downsized America" repeatedly stresses the need to worry only about the things within your control. If you are a middle level manager, it doesn't do you a whole lot of good trying to figure out whether or not your company is a takeover candidate. Yes, by all means acknowledge your fears, but don't be paralyzed by them. Instead of spending all your time wringing your hands about what may happen, it is a far better use of your time to talk to others in your industry, to learn where the new jobs may be, or even go back to school.
|
One way, of course, from getting downsized is to be well connected and, in the words of Willy Loman to be well liked. That's where "Get What You Deserve: How to Guerrilla Market Yourself" by Jay Levinson and Seth Godin can help.
Their premise is simple. Most people judge others in a matter of seconds. It isn't fair, but it's a fact. Instead of complaining, Levinson and Godin argue, why not take advantage of this fact?
In fact, their book is built around the concept that if life is going to give you lemons, not only should you make lemonade, but you might as well market the heck out of that lemonade. As long as people are going to make snap decisions about you, why not help them decide in your favor? Ask Levinson and Godin, who were the authors of "The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook" and "Guerrilla Marketing for the Home-Based Business." Your mantra should be: "I can control the messages I send, and my life will be the better for it." The authors proceed to tell you how to do it just through the way you act, talk, dress and behave.
The book is slight and is prone to use the same example more than one time, but it does come with a money-back guarantee.
|
Okay, you have figured out a way to get people to like you. Now what?
You network, of course. You constantly talk to everyone you can think of with the goal of being in the right place at the proverbial right time.
If the concept of networking makes you nervous ("how do I do it?"), uncomfortable (you picture handing your business cards to thousands of strangers), or downright frightened, you will want to begin with "Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty: The Only Networking Book You'll Ever Need" by Harvey Mackay.
The author of "Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive" begins by doing a great job of pointing out that networking is a skill that goes far beyond just looking for a (better) job. He lays out countless non-work instances where you need to network (finding a lawyer, doctor or other professional; opening up your business; making sure you move into the right neighborhood). Then in microbite-sized chapters he explains exactly how to go about it, even if you were voted "most likely to never talk to anyone ever" at school. Mackay points out when and how to write a note, or pick up the phone, to establish, or re-establish contact with someone who might do you some good.
Mackay, who gave his three kids their own Rolodexes when they were small, points out that in almost every case, the key to establishing a successful network is what you can do for the other person, not what they can do for you. Once you have established the relationship, by doing someone a favor, you can count on that fact being reciprocated sometime in the future.
|
"101 Ways to Promote Yourself: Tricks of the Trade for Taking Charge of Your Own Success" by Raleigh Pinskey takes the same approach, but concentrates for the most part on how you can get your business noticed. While Pinskey, the author of "You Can Hype Anything," talks about how you can promote yourself personally by writing a column for your trade publication, or hosting your own radio or television show (you can buy time on just about any media outlet in the country) most of her attention is focused on ways of getting small business to stand out by developing new leads and projecting a winning image.
|
But what happens if, despite your best intentions and solid networking, you find yourself suddenly out of a job? You turn to "Firing Back: Power Strategies for Cutting the Best Deal When You're About to Lose Your Job."
Authors Jodie-Beth Galos, an attorney specializing in labor and employment law, and Sandy McIntosh make it clear from the outset that being fired is not the same has having no options. The company wants you off the payroll as quickly and as quietly as possibly, and that gives some leverage.
In step-by-step fashion they tell you how to negotiate (don't sign or agree to anything at what the company thought was going to be your termination meeting), what to ask for (you are not after revenge or vindication, just the best deal possible) and how to make it stick. They even suggest what kind of mind set to have during the negotiations. ("Since you have already been terminated, you have nothing further to lose by trying.")
None of this will ease the sting of being fired, but getting more money, and better benefits, upon leaving can help things some what.
Enjoy the holidays.
Paul B. Brown is the author or co-author of several business books, and he can be reached at PaulBBrown@aol.com He writes about business and finance books each month.
From our shameless plug departmentBack when the dinosaurs ruled the earth -- okay, so it was actually May of 1990 -- Doubleday published a book Carl Sewell and I wrote called "Customers for Life." It was the first book to say that customer service was a business strategy, not just something that was nice to offer the people who do business with you. Carl and I liked it a lot, and fortunately so did a lot of other folks. "Customers for Life," which has been translated into 15 languages, has sold something like 800,000 copies worldwide.In fact, the book has done so well that Pocket Books will be publishing a revised and expanded version next month. (It should start slipping into stores any day now.) If you buy a copy and send it to me, I'll not only sign it, but I'll give you my share of royalties on your copy. Believe me, it ain't much. |
©1997, ProMotion, inc.
Support your