Is Your Job at Risk?

How would it affect you financially, mentally and emotionally if you were dismissed, especially in the uncertain times we live in?

Unfortunately, I have seen the, sometimes, brutal way employers let employees know that they are no longer required. I fully appreciate that we are in a rapidly changing world and business pressures lead to inevitable reorganisation, but a bit of human respect can go a long way.

The favoured technique of one CEO was, without warning, to take an employee into a room and fire them. In some cases, the employee had worked for the organisation for many years. Naturally playing on the element of surprise and bully tactics, the CEO would offer a package to the employee to leave immediately. And, if they walked out of the room without signing away their employment rights, the amount would be halved.

Thankfully, this kind of old-fashioned, out-dated behaviour is changing, but as an employee in our fluid, constantly changing world, you must always be ready.

My core message this week is that lockdown is NO excuse not to network, In fact, you have more time! Your job could be at risk if you do not.

No alt text provided for this image

Imagine the impact of that happening to you…

Recently, a sales director who had overachieved on challenging sales figures for the year, was let go because the board had lost confidence in him. I took his phone call the morning after he had found out he was fired. He was absolutely devastated, in fact, so upset that he could not even speak and had to end the call after the third attempt. He thought he would never get another job in the industry and that he was worthless.

My most proactive clients are excelling in their roles, yet find the time to network every month and have potential jobs lined up in their pipeline even though they do not need them yet.

Accessing the hidden job market is key.

Remember, over 80% of job positions are not advertised.

So, you need to make connections – which 10 people would most accelerate your career right now?

Firstly, update your CV and social networking profiles such as LinkedIn and Twitter.

Next, build time into your day to make these connections – try 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon. Taking this small amount of time to ensure that your career is future-proofed, is essential.

No alt text provided for this image

Ask people from your network and in turn, their network, for positive referrals to key connections.

Put yourself in their shoes - offer your new connection a valuable market insight, article or a well-qualified business lead to build your relationship.

Be flexible, detach yourself from the results and do not take non-replies as personal. All feedback is about progress and resilience. Of course, not all of the conversations will be productive; just like most of business and life, the 80/20 rule applies. However, 20% of the conversations will produce 80% of the results. So, two connections may well end up being ‘career pearls’.

Finally, record all progress so that you are prepared and ready for the next step should you be made redundant or let go.

By making these key connections, you will have unearthed previously unknown opportunities that you can convert into live jobs. You will have put yourself in the driving seat of your career search because you will have little or no competition for these roles.

Enterprise Sales Club is now LIVE at https://www.enterprisesalesclub.com.

Our purpose is to enable SaaS Sales Professionals to achieve their potential through the power of life-enhancing connections, shared experiences, and collaborative learnings.

If you want to take your career to the next level, as well as improve your skills in Enterprise Sales, please contact me at [email protected]