Every day that I pick up a newspaper and see those depressing job headlines I ask myself, "Who is this really for?" Is it really breaking news that more people are losing their jobs and that the ranks of the unemployed are increasing beyond previous expectations? We can bucket the readers of these headlines into a few separate groups.
The first group is those that have lost their jobs. With every headline they inch closer and closer to the edge of the bridge wondering, "Just when is there going to be news that does not push me deeper into despair?" This of course does not help decrease those horrible numbers if the level of despair gets to the point where they can not even bring themselves to be presentable enough to get a job if there were one available. So I am willing to believe that that there is a certain level of goodness in the people who publish the paper and that their intention is not to exacerbate the problem. That means that those headlines are not for the people in this bucket.
The next bucket is the people who are still employed and who read that article and thank their lucky stars that it is not they who have increased the statistic. These are the "at least it's not me" folks. But of course they always need to be aware that it would not take all that much for them to wind up as part of those statistics. So the headlines might be for these people if the media is in fact in cahoots with their employers to try to motivate their workers to work harder, do more, be a team player, and shut up about any adverse conditions because the worker should feel lucky that they have a job. But in fact I do not believe that the people who publish the paper have that level of altruism for the employers (though they do try to get ad revenue out of them) so this one is plausible, but not so likely.
Finally, my last bucket is the high corporate muckimucks who have the power to set budgets, determine the vision and strategy, and ultimately decide to hire more personnel. Do they read these headlines and think, "Oh my goodness, we better hire some people fast because the economy is in trouble." While I would love it if that was the case, I know that it is not true. In fact quite the opposite happens. They think, "Hmm, no one else is hiring and other companies are laying people off, this seems like a good time to do that. We'll save money and won't look too evil in the process since everyone is doing it." So here I submit that these headlines, not intending to do that (I hope), are really not for these people either.
So I guess it's just what we've come to accept as news for the sake of news. But if you really think about it, on some level, this makes me think of a scenario where a man jumps off a 150 story building and as he passed every 25 floors someone shouts out the window to him, "you've jumped off the building" or "you're falling" or "you're heading downward" or "you're gonna hit the ground". Do any of those shouting people really think that the man who jumped did not already know all these things? They are in fact really only shouting for the sake of shouting. And while it may make them feel better for doing it, it really doesn't make him feel any better nor is it helpful in any way.
This is the part where I usually go into my rant about what you can do to be helpful. I'm going to skip that for now. You can read an earlier blog entry if you need that vibe right now. Instead I'm going to focus on what might be good to do now so that you can be more helpful later.
In terms of the unemployment situation. Now is the time for companies to not just look for the cost cutting opportunity, but also look for the better plan going forward. How can a company prepare itself for the upturn (please let there be an upturn) if they only focus on how to respond to a downturn. Companies go from cutting costs to spending out of control on a regular basis. Why does this happen? Lack of effective planning. They've cut costs, scaled back programs, removed vendors, slashed requisitions, cut travel budgets, and laid off numerous workers which has all actually created a high degree of darkness in the workplace and the marketplace. So now what? Now they need to start creeping back towards the light a little bit. Little by little they can create the appropriate and scalable infrastructure. They can establish parameters and processes without business partners that will enable us to scale up slowly and reach plateaus along the way that will allow for them to survey the landscape and decide what to do as they move forward.
So here is what I am saying. Take the time now to get the right people in place to plan for the future. Look through the amazingly large pool of candidates carefully and deliberately to find the people who will hit the ground running but will keep your best interests in mind. Find the people who have been out there under their own frugality plan, who understand how to find scalable cost effective and creative solutions on a daily basis. These are the people who are hungriest not to mess up any opportunity they are given. Do your research, your due diligence. Make sure that you are not just engaging someone with a well written resume, or who interviews like a pro (cause they've had a lot of practice and by the way - why is that?), but someone who has really done the work you need done or someone who can bring a new level of creativity to the table. A Real Person is preferable to a stuffed shirt any day and there are a lot of real folks out there. They may not be pretty, or imposing, or have a commanding presence when they first walk into the room, but take a few minutes to get to know the Real Person inside. Having a real person who is willing to get their hands dirty if need be and work hard to prepare tor whatever comes next is a key component of carefully and deliberately planning for success.
How does all of this help our friend from the 150th floor? We Plan carefully. First we create a situation where he has no reason to jump. Then, just in case let's make sure the windows and doors are locked up there so he can't get out. Then just in case he decides to hurl a chair through the window or door to get to the balcony let's give it a high un-climbable fence or something. Then, if he is still so determined to jump let's put out some nets a few floors down to catch him and set off an alarm so someone will go get him before he climbs out and falls down to the next set of nets or something. Now, if he has done all his due diligence and pre-planning and he's read this article and he feels really prepared for his jump, well...Don't waste his time telling him what he already knows on the way down and …congrats to him on his success.
Bottom line? If you can plan effectively during this time and engage the right people to come up with and implement the plan, then you will not be making the same dark and depressing headline garnering decisions everyone else is down the road. You'll be better prepared for disaster and you'll be growing your business when everyone is cutting back.
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