“If you’re not confused, you’re not paying attention.”
Tom Peters
There are a lot of confusing and noteworthy messages floating around the news. Among them, the recent slash and burn government layoffs are a cautionary tale worth considering.
Taking emotion and politics out of the equation (for this post), let’s consider the larger theme of the dynamics of reorganizations and restructures. In the upcoming year we’ll likely see many organizational restructures. Today focuses on what you can do to position yourself as valuable and essential to best insulate yourself against this likely scenario.
Fact: Restructures are part of the fabric of business culture. You will be part of an organizational restructure sometime in your career.
If you’re wondering why restructures happen, the most straightforward answer is the desire to fulfill three essential business pillars – better, cheaper, faster. Private, public, and government sectors all operate by these three pillars.
To achieve the better, faster, cheaper dream, organizations relentlessly maximize the relationships of existing customers and markets as they explore new offerings or customer segments. Even if a business is highly successful, if leadership senses that their practices aren’t efficient enough or see new opportunities or competition arise, they adapt through cost-cutting and doubling down on technology.
The result is organizational restructuring that often involves layoffs.
This context will help you prepare and get ahead of the curve by positioning yourself as the personification of better, faster, cheaper. Five areas are worth paying attention to.
Articulate your value
If you’ve read my newsletters over the past decade, you’ve heard much of this before. That said, it bears repeating and expanding upon. Even if you have a great relationship with your boss, don’t assume they know the extent of your value.
It’s your job to articulate why you are valuable and relay those proof points to your boss so you are viewed as essential when the directive to cut costs comes. Value comes in many forms, which we will discuss throughout this piece. Here, let’s focus on being valuable in areas that directly affect restructuring.
Customer or client value – why you are a trusted relationship builder and problem-solver
Efficiency – why your experience and your role are key to service delivery. Include any improvements you’ve instituted or technology you’ve adopted to make your role more efficient.
Institutional knowledge—If you’ve been with an organization for a long time, be a leader in sharing, not hoarding, institutional knowledge. This will position you as collaborative rather than a hoarder of information.
Once you have defined your value, don’t be shy about sharing examples of it in one-on-one meetings and performance reviews. When possible, emphasize your collaborative efforts.
I am a big fan of humility in leadership and the workplace, but within the context of positioning yourself in the event of a restructure, too much humility can work against you. Incorporating your value into daily conversation, gives your boss the talking points they need to advocate on your behalf.
High staff retention is a leading profitability metric, so leadership will want to retain valuable team members.
Performance goal clarity
If your performance goals for the year have not yet been set, ask for a meeting to do so. It is easy to set clear metrics against quantitative targets (e.g., new customer acquisition, or number of people served). Setting success metrics against software skills and competencies, such as collaboration, critical thinking, or ideation, can be more challenging, yet these are crucial metrics for your value proposition.
Start by asking for examples of success and ideal performance in the competency areas your organization emphasizes. Targeting the ideal will help you and your boss develop benchmarks and success metrics, giving you data that establishes you as a valuable team member.
Generate ideas
Whether an internal process improvement, new product or service, or team building idea, be an idea generator and a person sought out for the way they think.
Generating ideas tells your supervisors that you are invested in and thinking about the future of the business. It also allows you to collaborate and create cross-functional work groups to develop or execute new ideas. When restructures happen, those perceived as flexible and forward-thinking are less likely to be let go.
Bring others along
Don’t be a lone wolf. More valuable are those who actively mentor and are deeply embedded within the fabric of a team. Join an affinity group, actively mentor new staff and network, and be visible.
If these practices are new, create doable weekly targets for mentoring and networking so you can build these behaviors into your workday. To get started as a mentor, there are prompts and conversation starters in Part Three of my book. Highlight your efforts in your one-on-one meetings.
Capitalize on your human skills
In a time of lightning-speed technological advancements, elevate the human side. Technology doesn’t invent business opportunities, humans do. At the end of the day, business runs on human interaction and relationships.
Capitalize on your critical thinking, idea generation, and collaboration skills, and most importantly, connect these skills with revenue generation or cost efficiency. Exhibit an interest in learning, especially when adopting new technology, so you are seen as forward-thinking and flexible.
Possessing both hardware skills – technology adoption and technical proficiency, and software skills – as well as human and relationship-building ability, will position you as an essential part of a team.
Restructures happen. Building visibility in these five areas will help insulate you and your role. If you are laid off, growth in these areas will give you the necessary tools to find a new opportunity.
Control what you can. Pay attention to the rest.
Thank you for reading.
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