Resources / Think of yourself

Think of yourself as a self-employed, free agent

Drop use of the word, job, from your vocabulary. The concept has too much baggage and association with the old covenant between employer and employee: “We’ll take care of you. Work hard and keep you nose clean and you can retire from this place.” “Work assignment” is a better term. Many firms opt for growth and improved profitability through mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, relocation to cheaper labor markets, and use of just-in-time skills (i.e. use of staffing firm employees) to compete with firms using workers in other locations in the U. S. and around the world. To stay employed, remain employable and always be able to find work, you’ll need to think of yourself as a self-employed "free agent".

During the past two decades, hundreds of organizations made the metamorphosis, changing the way they are organized, managed, and do business. In doing so, the way we look at and manage our careers and balance our personal and work lives has also been transformed.

Three significant changes impact one’s career planning and development.

First, new organizational structures have typically created flatter hierarchies, with less management and layers that have fewer players. Consequently, there are fewer promotions and places to climb corporate ladders, forcing one to look at options outside an organization or looking for opportunities for lateral moves into new areas of responsibility. Many firms are also focussing on "cross-functional teams", creating more project focussed work assignments (versus "permanent jobs"), more delegation of responsibility to “associates” (versus subordinates), and generally asking workers to be flexible and adaptable to new opportunities and challenges.

The impact on us? We have to take responsibility for keeping our skills up-to-date, seeking new work assignments, and keeping track of our accomplishments. Those who supervise us cannot do so and won’t. Failure to do so may imperil our careers. We’re responsible for our own career development and planning.

Second, changes in methods of management control means that supervisors are monitoring infrequently and teams are taking responsibility for their own decisions. The ability to work with others places more of a premium on our communication skills to benefit from diverse viewpoints within work groups. Conflicting opinions and work styles have to be recognized and used to organization benefit. Consequently, there is often no rule book to handle problems. Rather workers make judgement themselves or after conferring with team members.

Impact on our career development? Supervisors want to retain and hire individuals with problem solving skills or teach problem solving and facilitation skills so that teams function effectively. They also want to be able to observe or at least recognize work behaviors before giving individuals or teams new assignments--allowing for better team functioning. Interviewers and recruiters want to learn how applicants think and make decisions from the interviewing and selection process. Supervisors also want to have this information to organize teams with the maximum array of skills, personalities, and communication styles. Gone are the days of the employee depending on the supervisor, acting on their behalf, like a child depending on a parent.

Finally, the new employer/employee covenant means that no employer wants anyone to sense that they are permanent fixtures. There is no such thing as job security any longer. Fewer of us will spend long periods of time with one employer. The American workplace is shifting to a “job-less” society, where one has a primary “work assignment” but is expected to be flexible and adaptable to take on tasks and duties in other areas as needs arise.

Those with many skills will be those who are most employable. And to stay employed, we’ll need to think of colleagues (inside and outside our organization), supervisors, as well as whole departments as the “customers” for our services and skills.

Networking with others as a life style will be a critical skill to practice and develop.

We’ll be thinking as "entrepreneurs" do, starting businesses or new initiatives within companies, finding a newly formed, growing or reformed organization as our next employer, or having multiple sources of income or changing work assignments periodically. To many companies, the ideal worker is someone who knows their value should they be up for promotion, or when applying for a position at another organization.

One essential strategy to create career security is to track one’s accomplishments and work assignments on a weekly or monthly basis using a journal or daily calendar. This documentation becomes the repository of information that can be used to help supervisors give more accurate performance appraisals. Two weeks before your review meeting, send your supervisor a one-page memo summarizing your work assignments and accomplishments since the last performance review. The memo will refresh their memory and help that person see that you are tracking the value you are adding to he organization.

The journal or calendar can also be very helpful should you be looking for a new work assignment inside or outside your current organization--in networking, writing resumes, cover letters, and even in preparing to interview.

Copyright © 2002-2008 Ken Soper. All rights reserved.