Job security is the highest priority
Right now, job security is a concern for many employees. Rightly so. Regardless of your political beliefs, the economy is going sideways. All sectors are reducing staff and placing holds on salary adjustments. It doesn’t matter whether you work in government, private institutions, or a publicly traded company. All companies are putting the brakes on. Some groups are not worried about salary adjustments. They want to keep their jobs. How do you increase job security in these times?
As a professional in HR, I have unfortunately witnessed numerous layoffs. After every layoff, the company learns that the wrong people were let go. The company laid off critical skill sets. A few days after the layoff, depending on the missing skill set, some roles may be rehired.
Managers don’t know what all employees do
A few days after most layoffs, a department discovers that critical skill sets were laid off. How does this happen? Managers don’t know what all their employees do. Most managers are have an opinion about employee job performance. But they often do not know individual roles and responsibilities.
How often have you heard, “My manager doesn’t know WTF I do.”
Shame on the manager for not knowing what their employees do. But at the end of the day, this is the employee’s fault.
This is especially true when a company has had multiple rounds of layoffs. After multiple layoffs, responsibilities are shifted, and managers have more work with less people.
One way to increase job security is to consistently keep your manager informed about your tasks, responsibilities, and progress. This may be weekly or every other week, depending on the type of work. I have met with my CEOs every week for the past 20 years. If we didn’t meet, I made sure to send an email update. This accomplishes several things that are crucial to job security. Updates keep your manager informed on WHAT you do. In HR, there are weekly and monthly tasks that everyone is aware of. Additionally, some tasks occur less frequently. Regular updates educate your manager about critical tasks they may not be aware of.
Critical but less frequent responsibilities
- We only renew benefits annually; however, we conduct a pulse check with employees every six months and with our broker on a quarterly basis. Yes, the benefits were renewed without a hitch, but a lot is going on behind the scenes that employees outside of HR are not aware of.
- HR conducts employee investigations and manages the potential financial liability. Regular updates ensure the company is aware of the possible financial liability associated with the investigation.
- A 401 (k) audit only occurs annually. There is a lot of nuance involved in a 401 (k) audit that my CEOs in the past weren’t always aware of. I can utilize this opportunity to demonstrate my subject matter expertise. There is no reason my CEO needs to know the minutiae of a Safe Harbor Plan.
Raise and retention
The second thing regular updates do is equip your manager with reasons to recommend you for a raise or retention a reduction in force. How does your manager give you a salary adjustment if they don’t know your role’s value? If your manager is unaware of your responsibilities beyond the job description, your job security is at risk.
Here is a common scenario that has happened with every company I have worked for. Sales are stagnant, product is slow to deliver, or the economy or COVID is impacting the company. The CEO and executives can anticipate a layoff 6 to 12 months in advance. An employee’s performance, both good and bad, will inevitably come up in conversations throughout the year. Executives are not fishing for people to let go through these conversations. These are strictly performance and commentary conversations about employees.
The employee’s career and the employee’s fault
It is common for a manager to have a conversation with their boss and not be able to give their manager highlights about employee projects or performance. The conversation is generic and “unnoticeable.” These conversations do not put any chips in the employee’s job security bank when it comes to layoff time. Some may be thinking this is the manager’s fault. You have read it here before. It’s not our manager’s job security; it is our job security. If you want your manager to plug your performance, give them the Cliff Notes. Make it easy for your manager to share your wins.
Progress updates are not bragging
For those of you who are thinking an update sounds like bragging or showing off, trust me, your manager wants to know what you do. You are not bragging or showing off. I have found that folks who are worried about showing off or bragging are not capable of either.
It may FEEL like you are bragging, but this demographic doesn’t have the cojones to be braggadocio.
Can your manager justify your annual salary?
A progress update is just that. Managers must justify salaries to their bosses when discussing potential layoffs. No manager wants to be left speechless when defending someone on their team. Other managers can see through any bullshit and trust me, when it comes to layoff, the bullshit meter sensitivity is turned all the way up. Every manager is trying to retain their team. If they can’t justify a position to their manager, their manager will wonder what the employee is doing on the team. This is not a good look for your manager, and your manager is aware of it.
If you want to secure your job in uncertain times, provide your manager with a consistent and predictable progress report on a regular schedule. Make it easy to defend your salary.
See you at the after party,
HRNasty
nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.
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