Whenever there’s economic uncertainty, it’s easy to worry that your position is at risk. But what if the worst has happened: Your company has done a big layoff—and you and your team weren’t on the list? Of course, you and your direct reports may both fear that more cuts are on the horizon. And yet, there’s work to be done.
How do you support your team, keep them productive and also find the opportunities in the middle of such a big disruption, especially when you may face the need to ‘do more with less’?
We work with executive clients—Alisa Cohn as an executive coach and Dorie Clark as a keynote speaker and consultant—and have seen this increasingly as layoffs stay stubbornly in the news. Here are five valuable things you can do in the near-term to maintain your focus in the wake of a major shakeup.
1. Identify why you got saved
It’s helpful to discern why you weren’t included in the layoff. Analyze the situation dispassionately. What are the patterns you see in who was let go? Perhaps certain divisions were hit hard, indicating that their strategic importance has waned at your company. And it’s equally useful to identify what you bring to the table. Perhaps you work in an area the company has identified as valuable (a certain functional role, geography, or growth initiative).
For example, one of Alisa’s clients on the risk team was retained when others were let go because she had deep industry expertise in the most strategic area for the company.
Understanding your competitive advantage can help you leverage it further. This may be an area you’ll want to highlight by talking about your skills and experience more widely. For instance, as Dorie has pointed out, one of the most overlooked networking opportunities is how you choose to answer the question “What have you been up to lately?” because you can choose to talk about areas that matter to your company. If you know your company is prioritizing building its customer base in financial services, for example, you could talk about a recent conference you attended or article you’ve read about that industry. That will position you as someone focused on the most important things.
2. Reset expectations with your team
In an environment where there have been big layoffs, teams are certainly being scrutinized. Your team is likely upset and may feel bitterness about what happened. You might be inclined to soothe them (“this won’t happen to us”) or commiserate (“I can’t believe those idiots did that.”) But the kindest thing you can do for them is to help them deliver.
It’s a good moment to look at how you work together. In many companies, leaders often get in the habit of “playing down” a level and doing some of the work of their team. But after a layoff when you have more on your plate, you need everyone working at full capacity, and that means not doing their work for them. Push decision-making down wherever you can. Give high level guidance more clearly and more regularly so everyone is aligned on the most important things and can make smart decisions in the moment.
Alisa experienced this with one of her clients, a vice president of product in a large tech company. The deadline for a big project was only three months away when two of her key peers and a good portion of their teams got laid off, leaving her with massive pressure to finish the project but a lot less support and resources. She directed her teams to own their domains like general managers and asked them to run with decisions that were reversible. They created a process to huddle and quickly resolve conflicts as a team. The project shipped on time and the team got a lot more capable during this period—in fact, many of them said they’d grown more in those three months than in the past three years.
3. Rethink your calendar
If you’re like most managers, your day is filled up with meetings. Use this moment as an opportunity to look at all the group meetings and one-to-ones you’re doing and evaluate what can be cut (indeed, if you’re now being asked to manage more people, you may not physically have the capacity to take on any more meetings).
Alisa created the the “4R Framework” to assess how useful meetings are. They might be warranted if you’re using them to:
- Review progress
- Resolve conflicts and problems
- Refine strategy or decisions
- Reinforce alignment and understanding
But if your meetings aren’t meeting any of these objectives, they’re probably good candidates to omit.
Once you have more room in your day, think carefully about high value activities you could do instead. These include getting more involved with high visibility strategic projects or spending more time with customers.
4. Stand out and find the opportunities
Now that there are fewer managers or colleagues, the good news is that you’ll probably have more opportunities to shine. You’ll have more exposure to senior leaders and may be asked to join meetings with clients or other key stakeholders. Prepare for this by sharpening your presentation skills. It might be a good moment to get formal training, join a group like Toastmasters, or just practice more in small, low stakes environments.
You should also consciously build your executive presence and bone up on your strategic thinking. See if there are key projects you can become part of, or volunteer to take over.
5. Don’t neglect your network
The world of work is never certain and having a strong internal—and external—network helps you build more career security. Even though you may be busy dealing with the extra obligations this round of layoffs created, make sure you continue to nourish your network and build it more robustly so you’re prepared if the hammer comes for you. Examples could include hosting virtual one-to-ones or small group “coffees” with colleagues you haven’t seen in a while or making a point to attend conferences or industry meetings.
One professional Dorie profiled in her book Reinventing You—who realized with concern that his network mostly consisted of other people employed by his longtime company—decided to start weekly breakfast meetings with people outside the company, leading both to a fresher network and ideas about new technologies and acquisitions his organization could make. One client Alisa worked with resolved to get back in touch with people she’d lost contact with, leading her to a board director position, as well as a new career opportunity.
Layoffs are challenging for everyone, and it’s both emotionally and logistically difficult to lose a number of your coworkers. But by accepting reality and focusing on the things you can control, you’ll be able to move forward and keep your team focused, even in uncertain times.