Point Lookout: a free weekly publication of Chaco Canyon Consulting
Volume 24, Issue 36;   September 4, 2024: Beating the Layoffs: I

Beating the Layoffs: I

by

If you work in an organization likely to conduct layoffs soon, keep in mind that exiting voluntarily before the layoffs can carry significant advantages. Here are some that relate to self-esteem, financial anxiety, and future employment.
A game of Jenga underway

A game of Jenga underway. One characteristic that makes this game so fascinating is the sometimes-surprising result of removing a block. Systems are interconnected in surprising ways. So it is with removing people from organizations. Sometimes the results of layoffs are surprising — and not in a good way.

Image by BobMcEvoy courtesy Pixabay.com

Suppose you work in an organization that's circling the drain. It has been doing so for some time. You have little faith in the ability of Management to put things right. Some layoffs have already happened, and you're certain that there will be more layoffs. But even though you and everyone you know agrees with all this, you haven't started to look for another job. You haven't done a thing about that. Not a thing. Not one. What are you waiting for?

It's just barely possible that even if there is another round of layoffs — even when another round comes, you yourself won't be laid off. But because you do recognize that possibility as wishful thinking, you wonder: What can I do to get myself moving? Why am I just waiting for someone else to determine the next chapter of my career?

Maybe this post can help. Some people are best motivated by avoiding disadvantage; others by reaching for advantage. This post explores the disadvantages of being laid off. By implication it shows how an early voluntary exit — before the layoffs — avoids those troubles. Next week's post suggests four more ways an early voluntary exit provides actual advantages.

How exiting before layoffs avoids trouble

In this section, I'm assuming that you've hung in there, in the vain hope that layoffs might not come, or if they did, that your own position would somehow be spared. In the end, you weren't spared. Along with dozens or hundreds of others, you were given notice that today was your last day. Or next month would be your last month. Or some other deadline. In any case, this job has a definite end date.

What follows are some of the consequences of having made the choice to risk being laid off, and then having that risk materialize.

Self-esteem
Being laid off is often a ticket for a ride on an emotional roller coaster. Some people make a meaning of the layoff that threatens their sense of worthiness professionally. Some take it a step farther, interpreting their own layoff as a statement of their worthiness as human beings. In nearly all cases, these interpretations are incorrect.
To believe that being laid off is an indication of unworthiness, one must believe that the layoff selection process includes accurate assessments of worthiness of all employees. In other words we must attribute to failing organizations abilities, which, if present, could have prevented the organization from failing in the first place. In other words, if the organization could accurately assess employee worthiness, layoffs would have been unnecessary.
Indeed, layoffs are not statements about the worthiness of employees. They are instead a statement about the worthiness of the organization conducting the layoffs. And that statement is that something is wrong with the organization — very, very wrong. Once you're laid off, loss of self-esteem can be a serious disadvantage as you take steps to find a new position. Keep this in mind: Being laid off is not about you.
But how you deal with being laid off is another matter. How you deal with it is about you. Reflect on how your job contributed to your sense of self-esteem, and find ways to restore what has been lost. If you've lost contact with friends and colleagues, find ways to restore contact, or to build new relationships and a professional network. If your job provided structure to your day, replace that structure with one of your own. If your job provided mental challenges, find new challenges by regarding your job search as a job in itself.
One way to accomplish all this is to declare yourself to be a career consultant. Begin building your practice by becoming your first client and retaining yourself.
Financial anxiety
The suddenness and definitive nature of
the announcement of the ending of your
job can be startlingly disruptive,
both personally and professionally
The suddenness and definitive nature of the announcement of the ending of your job can be startlingly disruptive, both personally and professionally. The more tightly bonded you were to the hope of escaping the cuts, the more startling and disruptive is the actual event. The hope of escape likely led to more than a mere delay in the start of a search for employment. Perhaps you could have done more to build financial reserves, or worked harder to reduce your ongoing expenses. All these factors contribute to a sense of regret and anxiety.
Start reducing expenses now. The Internet is replete with advice. Example: "how to reduce expenses when laid off." Every step you take to reduce expenses relieves a little more anxiety, and that improves your affect when you enter discussions with prospective employers.
It also limits the feelings of desperation that can be so intense that some people accept the first offer of employment they receive, even if the organization they join is no better than the one they just left; even if the position is a step down; even if the compensation is inadequate. Make no sudden moves. Manage the anxiety first.
Future employment
How you see and value yourself is fundamental to a successful effort to find a new position. You can control how you see yourself, but you can merely influence how prospective employers see you. For example, are you among the hordes of people like yourself searching for new positions? Being one of the crowd is one of the disadvantages of waiting to be laid off. Another example: By waiting to be laid off, you become vulnerable to being tagged as someone who was among those less worth keeping than others.
Most important, if you wait to be laid off, you're unemployed or soon to be so. Prospective employers wonder whether your skills are current, whether you're difficult to work with, or worse, difficult to manage. These questions arise less often and less urgently when the candidate is still employed.

Having a current position addresses these issues, even if it's a volunteer position. Or even if it's your own consulting practice.

Last words

To limit the disadvantages of having been laid off, manage three sets of perceptions. First, manage your own perceptions of your own value as a person and as a professional. Second, manage your own perceptions of your financial situation. Third and finally, work to influence your prospective employer's perceptions of your value as an employee.  Layoff Warning Signs: I First issue in this series   Beating the Layoffs: II Next issue in this series  Go to top Top  Next issue: Beating the Layoffs: II  Next Issue

Go For It: Sometimes It's Easier If You RunLove the work but not the job? Bad boss, long commute, troubling ethical questions, hateful colleague? This ebook looks at what we can do to get more out of life at work. It helps you get moving again! Read Go For It! Sometimes It's Easier If You Run, filled with tips and techniques for putting zing into your work life. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrenyrWpTxHuyCrjZbUpner@ChacnoFNuSyWlVzCaGfooCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.

About Point Lookout

This article in its entirety was written by a 
          human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Not feeling so goodPlease Remove My Appendix
When an organization is experiencing problems with conflict, "pushback," or "blowback," managers often hire trainers to present programs on helpful topics. But self-diagnosis can be risky. Often, there are more direct and focused options that can help more and cost less.
FedEx logoFedEx, Flocks, and Frames of Reference
Your point of view — or reference frame — affects what you see, and how you experience the world around you. By choosing a reference frame consciously, you can see things differently, and open a universe of new choices.
Admiral Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, first Baron Mountevans of ChelseaGuidelines for Delegation
Mastering the art of delegation can increase your productivity, and help to develop the skills of the people you lead or manage. And it makes them better delegators, too. Here are some guidelines for delegation.
Masonry archesPerformance Issues for Nonsupervisors
If, in part of your job, you're a nonsupervisory leader, such as a team lead or a project manager, you face special challenges when dealing with performance issues. Here are some guidelines for nonsupervisors.
A workplace training sessionTen-Minute Training
Despite decades of evolution of technology-assisted workplace learning, instructor-led classroom formats remain the most popular and effective. Now perhaps videoconferencing can help to achieve that effectiveness at lower cost.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

A white water rafting team completes its courseComing December 11: White Water Rafting as a Metaphor for Group Development
Tuckman's model of small group development, best known as "Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing," applies better to development of some groups than to others. We can use a metaphor to explore how the model applies to Storming in task-oriented work groups. Available here and by RSS on December 11.
Tuckman's stages of group developmentAnd on December 18: Subgrouping and Conway's Law
When task-oriented work groups address complex tasks, they might form subgroups to address subtasks. The structure of the subgroups and the order in which they form depend on the structure of the group's task and the sequencing of the subtasks. Available here and by RSS on December 18.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenyrWpTxHuyCrjZbUpner@ChacnoFNuSyWlVzCaGfooCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

Reprinting this article

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Follow Rick

Send email or subscribe to one of my newsletters Follow me at LinkedIn Follow me at X, or share a post Subscribe to RSS feeds Subscribe to RSS feeds
The message of Point Lookout is unique. Help get the message out. Please donate to help keep Point Lookout available for free to everyone.
Technical Debt for Policymakers BlogMy blog, Technical Debt for Policymakers, offers resources, insights, and conversations of interest to policymakers who are concerned with managing technical debt within their organizations. Get the millstone of technical debt off the neck of your organization!
Go For It: Sometimes It's Easier If You RunBad boss, long commute, troubling ethical questions, hateful colleague? Learn what we can do when we love the work but not the job.
303 Tips for Virtual and Global TeamsLearn how to make your virtual global team sing.
101 Tips for Managing ChangeAre you managing a change effort that faces rampant cynicism, passive non-cooperation, or maybe even outright revolt?
101 Tips for Effective MeetingsLearn how to make meetings more productive — and more rare.
Exchange your "personal trade secrets" — the tips, tricks and techniques that make you an ace — with other aces, anonymously. Visit the Library of Personal Trade Secrets.
If your teams don't yet consistently achieve state-of-the-art teamwork, check out this catalog. Help is just a few clicks/taps away!
Ebooks, booklets and tip books on project management, conflict, writing email, effective meetings and more.