Here’s a blunt question you may never hear, but one that could be in your boss’ head as he or she wrestles with operations management: “As your manager, I am wondering what value you bring to a skill set I can buy most anywhere, and maybe for less money. We may be looking at some organizational changes due to the economy and I need to determine what value you add to this job.”
It’s a recessionary jungle out there, folks, so now’s the time to sell yourself as never before to those above you on the organizational ladder. You have a lot of company in the ranks of people sweating bullets about job security in these very uncertain times. How will you remain standing in place if your organization contracts its workforce? What can you do to cheat The Reaper?
Tough People Last
Tough times don’t last, tough people do, as the saying goes. These certainly are tough times, and if you want to be a survivor it’s time to develop and practice mental toughness to get through the wilderness, with or without the team.
“You might not be able to control an economic downturn and a lot of other things, but you can be in control of your attitude,” says workplace psychologist Judith Belmont, a partner in Allentown, Pa.-based Worksite Insights. “Unfortunately, many people focus on what’s not in their control instead of focusing on what is. If you are fearful of losing your job, try to think rationally, and focus on the inside, not the outside, for solutions.”
Belmont, who conducts seminars on workplace behavior solutions, says people often feel helpless and hopeless when they feel out of control in situations such as the current economic climate. They may obsess on external factors beyond their control—like the recession—instead of focusing on things within their control.
Good feelings come from good thoughts, so the solution is to control the thought processes. Otherwise, emotional overreaction sets in, and so do bad habits like procrastination, overeating, disorganization and conflict avoidance, she notes.
“Don’t focus on whether you’ll get cut or not,” Belmont says. “Look at your other options and devise a best plan of action to grow and develop—now. Remember, in Chinese, the word crisis equals danger plus opportunity.”
In the practical realm, Belmont recommends proactive thinking and behavior for dealing with a possible job crisis.
“Don’t hide and don’t not talk about it,” she says. “Do talk with people who might have ideas and leads, in case you need them. Let people know how you are feeling and ask for advice. Do the networking and creative brainstorming that will get you going.”
Cultivating good communication skills is one of the best ways to set the stage for good things to happen to you, she maintains. Look for a workshop that can guide you with assertive (you are upfront about reasons why something should be this or that way, and you use “I” statements to set limits) versus aggressive (goal is to change someone else’s opinion or behavior) communication skills. These skills are helpful anytime, but most certainly in times like now.
Doing the Practical
Once you have your head firmly in survival mode, it’s time to implement some very practical ways to add value to your reputation as a professional, industry veterans advise.
Look around for ways to streamline the operation, says Rosina Romano, manager of meetings and events for the National Association of County and City Health Officials in Washington, D.C.
“When I started here a couple of years ago, I was on a three-year government grant, and I was supposed to plan eight meetings a year. Back then everyone in the association was planning meetings,” she says. “Since then, I’ve developed a team of four: two managers and two assistants. I am now part of the organization, and we are planning for everyone now, so this has helped boost my personal stock.”
Together, Romano’s team has demonstrated value because they’ve developed a lot of templates for doing meetings, and the association’s staff are now their customers.
“They come to us rather than try to do it themselves,” she says. “We always try to say yes to requests—even last-minute meetings—because we want to keep the door open. We want people to come to us.”
Keeping the door open on her operations is another technique Romano uses to show value.
“Our senior advisors are invited to our biweekly meetings,” she says. “This way, they know about our ongoing projects.”
Jessica Schanbaum, senior event planner for FedEx Office in Dallas, agrees with Romano. Now is the time, she stresses, for strategic thinking.
“This means planners should be looking at how to do things in a minimal way and still make the desired impact,” she says. “We aren’t canceling events, but we are scaling back on a tighter budget, and having more events in our offices so we don’t have to pay room rentals and F&B charges. We’re still flying people into Dallas for meetings through 2009, and we are calling on local vendors, suppliers we have been loyal to, to help us out.”
Schanbaum says her team is also looking at using virtual technologies more, especially for regional meetings.
“I am encouraging our team that if they want to do one large face meeting a year and use alternative technologies for regional meetings four times a year, it might make sense,” she says. Yet it still costs a lot to do virtual, so you have to compare airfares and other travel costs in the planning.”
Educate for Now and Beyond
Schanbaum and Romano join industry veteran meetings manager, facilitator and trainer Joan Eisenstodt, cheif strategist of Washington, D.C.-based Eisenstodt & Associates, in putting education at the top of any meeting professional’s list of personal value-adds.
“Education and certification are the tools for staying competitive,” Romano says. “I’m now finishing up my master’s degree because I think it’s important for my career future.”
Schanbaum says she participates in every free industry webinar she can find.
“During these times, training may not be the top priority, but I want to get all the knowledge and experience I can, and this means attending all the industry meetings I can,” she says. “I am also working on my CMP certification. I just hit the required three years’ experience, so I’m going for it this year.”
Eisenstodt believes education is a priority—if not the primary—tool for raising personal value in the workplace. Busy people can take deep breaths and carve out 15 minutes a day to add to their personal stock, “on their own time” if necessary, she advises.
“There are lots of things one can do quickly, because there are so many online tools,” she says. “If you participate in listservs or meetings intelligence gathering sites, you will know what’s going on and where to go for help. You may not learn in a 30-minute webinar how to do something, but you can learn enough to talk about a subject intelligently.”
Time for Wider Communication
Good workplace communication skills are the close companions to education when it comes to workplace success, Eisenstodt says. Now is not the time, she stresses, for putting one’s head in the sand and shutting down, saying you don’t have time, energy or interest in doing certain things to keep going.
“Show how you integrate into the overall fabric of the organization,” she says. “Planners haven’t done this so well historically, and some people still think planners don’t contribute to the business bottom line. Everyone needs to know what their organization does and how outside forces impact their meetings. Know, for instance, what the airlines are doing, so you can know if there are problems in getting your people to the event site.”
Written reports about your projects are important, too, Schanbaum advises.
“After every event, I do a full write-up with a sequence of events, how much time it took to plan, recommendations for next year’s meeting and a budget overview with narrative about how we saved money,” she says. “This shows value on the bottom line.”
She also advocates good dialogue skills with both internal and external constituents.
“I have to serve every internal department we have,” she says. “This includes technology, HR and accounting. And, we must be able to communicate with our external partners, vendors with whom we maintain working relationships. So you have to know all the lingo to be effective.”
In other words, say these planners, it’s time now to let your leadership shine, and collaborate with industry peers so you discover new ideas and ways of doing things that will boost your stock in front of those who hold your job reins.
Positive Scenarios Amid the Negativity
The recession has a lot of people nervous, Schanbaum acknowledges.
“Almost everyone is worried about their job in every industry,” she says. “Although I work for an incredible company that puts people first, I’ve seen our team go from four to me, between attrition and one layoff since the beginning of last year. Now I have a lot to do because it’s just me, but I continue to network and be active. I plan meetings and manage travel on the job, and on my own time I do event planning for local charities. It’s a 24-hour job, but I love it. And it helps to be organized.”
If your pink slip day does come, it’s not the end of your world.
“If your job is in jeopardy, know that you can live and breathe again,” she says. “You’ll find another job—maybe not the ideal—but there must be other things to make one happy. There is not just one job for each person. My advice is to focus on what you can control, not on whether you’ll get cut or not. Look at your other options and be ready to grow and develop.”
