Expecting Employer Loyalty is a BS
Whenever quarterly results are off by a few decimal places the very first solution that rears its ugly head is to “Lay-Off” a section of the employees. At the drop of a hat the same set of associates who were “assets” quickly transform into burdening “Liabilities”. Remember these are not mediocre employees but meritorious ones who passed through the blazing furnace of a multi-prong selection process. Is laying off the only option? can’t the CxO community agrees to a 2% drop in their bonuses to protect the employees? perhaps the celebrated “Team Spirit” is only for the flowery newsletters and town hall rhetoric. Indeed from time immemorial, loyalty was never a bi-directional route. “Employer Loyalty” has always been an elusive utopian dream that explored and exploited the loopholes in the fine print pushing the employee into a hopeless and helpless dystopian reality
While we can keep whinning about how Human Resources are reduced to glorious Corporate caricatures, such ranting will offer little solace and no definitive solution. Whether we work for FAANG or funding starved startup, the size, and make of the Palanquin changes but the employee always remains a dispensable palanquin bearer. I am not humming the infamous hymn of “Staying Relevant” but to shine in the crucible of the job market it’s not sheer technical competency but social competency that is the need of the hour.
Let me illustrate, all of us have the capabilities to convert an interview call into an offer, but the real challenge is “Getting Called” for an interview. This needs a meaningful network. Close your eyes for a moment and start counting the number of new professional connections you had formed since January, besides your working team. That number is a direct score of your employability. The greater your seniority, the higher your number should be. We remain so myopic and deeply engrossed in the project confining our views within coffins of the next deployment, anything outside of it doesn’t excite us. Many of us haven’t updated our resume in light years and when suddenly asked to face a job market, the anxiety stems not due to our inability but from the fear of the unknown. What differentiates successful people is that they are not always super intelligent or incredibly talented but they are absolutely at top of the game in forging an active network.
“The World is Not Out to Get You” rather its always wide open with a plethora of blossoming and blooming options even during the most trying times. Ask a stock trader, you will get to know the best time to buy is during a bear market. This hamster wheel of job boom and recession will continue in a cyclic way for ages to come. It’s easy to blame the top of the pyramid but remember, self-centeredness is unfortunately an integral part of our DNA and will not cease. Perhaps when you become a CxO you may have your reasonable justifications for not taking the 2% haircut on the comp package. Let’s stop whallowing in the system and focus on items that “Truly” matters to us. Focus on Building your Brand, get active on professional networks, start engaging in the areas of your expertise, attend meet-ups, and workshops, show up to conferences even if it’s on your dime(it pays back!!), and foster a network (at least have 10% credible connects). Finally, for God’s sake stop believing the BS fallacy of “Employer Loyalty”