I’m preparing to be laid off … and didn’t even realize it

Have you ever had that feeling that today might be the day you’re going to be laid off? I’ve been so lucky in my career that it’s never happened…yet. Through most of my career, I’ve woke up and I’m truly excited to go to work and create solutions and services for my customers. I do that today. I work with an awesome team but you never know if that day could be today. Sure, I could wait and hope it doesn’t happen but that just doesn’t seem like a bright idea. I have friends and family that have been laid off and I know it’s extremely stressful. Most of them move on and find another or even a better job but not always. It’s better to be in control of your destiny vs shocked and lost. Let me tell you why I started feeling this way and better yet, action items you can do to take control of your career. This control will prepare you in the event it happens and also drive you to be better in your current career.

When did this start…

I suspect it started 8–10 years ago when I was at my previous employer. I was working for a very large company and had rarely seen layoffs. Others in my company had experienced it but not me. I was in a particular line of business that did well, even in slower market times. That changed when I took a chance and moved to another section of the business that wasn’t so protected. I do not remember too much about the first round of layoffs. It didn’t really affect the corporate office and no one from Information Technology department was affected. The second layoff was different. A very passionate co-worker who seemed to generally enjoy and care about his work was laid off. I was “volunteered” to take over his previous responsibilities. That might have made sense to the company but he was managing a very small call center and I was hired to manage our growing software development team. I knew nothing about managing a call center and honestly didn’t want to. I kept it going with no major changes since I didn’t really have a passion for that work and tried to focus as much of my time on things I did enjoy. The third layoff wave was crazy. I was warned it was coming and was told it was affecting my bosses level and primarily just the IT team. That didn’t happen. It seemed like a nightmare. People were asked to come into an office one by one and told they were being let go. It started with the President of our division, then the Chief Financial Offer, next was VP of Marketing and it kept going. When it hit the Manager of the Accounting team, I knew I could be next. My boss was spared but transferred to another role created from the consolidation. I made it through the day but was not sure it was a blessing. I continued to work in a role farther and farther from what I wanted to do. I suspect if you’ve been in any industry for over 10 years, then you’ve probably seen these activities. They might have called it something else and used words like Transformation, Realignment or Consolidation. At my employer when this happened, we were combining Line of Businesses and when three of them combine, we now only needed one VP of Marketing, one VP of IT, instead of three.

How can you be better prepared if your laid off…?

· Know what you want to do… Throughout my career, I’ve loved working in the Software Development profession. Writing and building applications that solve business problems is so amazing. While I’ve grown more and more passionate about coaching and mentoring others, my first career goal was to write code. That is why when I was given the role of managing a call center, I had no passion for it. If you focus on what you enjoy and do well, the rest will eventually fall into place. If you’re not sure or if you don’t know, don’t stop experimenting as you might find something else that gives you happiness and allows you to shine.

· Be a constant learner… If you are constantly learning, you’re going to be more valuable at your current job and will be better in case you are laid off. Personally, I’ve never stopped learning. While I typically don’t code every day, I write code as often as I can, even on the weekends. Today, I don’t just write code, but I read articles on Project Management, Management Techniques and how to grow my teams. If you want to learn, there is so much out there and usually for free! Helping to understand how you learn is extremely important. For me, its through visual and physical activity. I watch a lot of videos, either on Pluralsight (online educational training for IT professionals), YouTube or LinkedIn. Then I enjoy going to hands-on events or creating real-world proof of concepts. Look around in your industry and see where you can gain those new skills.

· Does your career only start at 9 and stop at 5…? If your reading this, then I suspect you consider yourself a professional of your industry. As a professional, you must learn and enhance your skills. I’m sure you hope your doctor is always learning the latest medical procedures. Do you really think they stop everything at 5 o’clock? I regret to inform you but your evenings and weekends aren’t just for fun ☹. This means you should be giving your company the first 40 hrs. per week and then spending another 5+ hrs. a week learning something new. If you’re the first on your team to learn that newest thing, wouldn’t that also reduce your risk of becoming the person laid off. It also might open up new opportunities as well. We’ve been doing more and more Lunch and Learns at work which are great. Learning these new skills and preparing for it doesn’t start at 9 and end at 5.

· Network, network, network… It’s not hard these days to network with all of the great technology we have but I occasionally do find this one of my more challenging activities. I should be taking lunches with my co-workers and past associates. Get out and create great relationships with your team. I find it easier using Twitter, LinkedIn and then going to Meetup groups. Following other passionate professionals on Twitter can greatly help you read new articles or get up-to-date on the latest trends. I’ve reached out for assistance to others quite a few times and they always give up their time to help. There is also a meetup for almost anything. These events are usually free, provide food and one of my events even gives free headshots for your LinkedIn provide. This is critical in the event you do get laid off and then want to reach out to understand who might have roles open.

· Give back as much as you want to receive… Wow, did I learn this one later than I should have. I’ve always been learning. I watch Pluralsight, listen to podcasts, create proof of concepts and constantly try and learn new things. Even on my honeymoon, I brought a book on creating ASP websites. The problem was, I didn’t give back or share anything I learned. Now it’s all #LearnGrowShare. Everything I learn or grow in, I want to share it with everyone. I’ve been working for over 20+ years in my career and while the hero person is great when you’re in a difficult position, I’d rather always work with the person trying to help others. One person is not a Team and your definitely in a much better position if you’re positively moving the team forward instead of running out in front of it by yourself.

· Don’t be an A$$… This one seems easy but could be a lot harder than it seems. I don’t think people want to work with someone who is always negative or is difficult to work with. I judge this one if people want to work with you again. We’ve all had previous co-workers ask for a recommendation and that might be easy unless they want to then apply at your organization. Do you really work with them again? I hope my co-workers would want to work with me again but you’re not going to know until your looking. There are a few things you can do to help you out here. Be Positive…. No one wants to hang out with the person always complaining. Lift People up… We all make mistakes and when that happens don’t focus on who did what, focus on fixing the issue and not repeating it. Congratulate… Just as you want to be praised for what you did well, make sure you do the same. As a manager of great people and teams, some of the most valuable people are those that get their work done but more importantly also coach and grow others. Don’t overlook this one. Many of my co-workers have crossed paths in their career.

Now I hope you’re in Control …

Usually no one wants to be laid off but hopefully you can now put the steps above into place and avoid being laid off or better yet, if it does happen, you’re going to find even a better position. Start creating a culture of learning, network with leaders in your field and find an area of expertise that you can be very passionate about. I wish you the best of luck in your career and don’t forget to help someone that does get laid off, it just might be you someday.