Who is next?

As most of us had expected but prayed in vain to avoid, it’s “that” time again – the time for consolidation, for huddles, for heads to clash instead of meet, for harsh decisions and even harsher implementations. Sales slow down, projects go on hold, staff get downsized, new recruitments cancelled. Each day we walk into our offices, our subordinates look at us with longing eyes waiting for a few reassuring words , while the boss becomes ever more inaccessible. Some of us (especially technologists) have seen this twice in India – once now and once back in the cusp of 2000-2001 when yet another bubble burst. Different scale,, different factors, but a strange déjà vu. Calling it a” bubble” this time would be a little naïve. Recovering from a bubble before was about cutting losses, jobs and shutting shop and moving on to the next opportunity. This time around heads of businesses will have to rethink years of forecasts and relook years of historic data to construct newer, more ground-anchored castles that will live and produce for even longer while spending smarter. And this will have a long standing impact on job descriptions, resulting roles and of course, our fitment in them.

I remember the turn of the century bubble like it was yesterday. Back then, the big question was of how do we endure this collapse? We didn’t just need to “keep our jobs”, while everyone else seemed to lose their jobs OR eye ours. We needed to ensure a longer term role for ourselves in our organisational charts and secure ourselves in them.

Getting real, getting smart

It was hard back then, as it may be now, for some of us to digest what had happened. Our SUVs suddenly started hurting our wallets as fuel became dearer. No more “I got a new job” parties, since that suddenly stopped happening. Frantic eyes searching the screen for the latest Sensex change, cringing at portfolios diving. Had we fully come to terms with the fact that a meltdown had occurred and we were in the middle of it? We hadn’t. We were more bothered about environmental and lifestyle impacts than career impact. Even though some of us felt that the world elsewhere was collapsing and our job or company has no role to play in it, a reality check was the order of the day. It dawned fairly quickly, as the first heads in our company rolled. Some were the newest to join, while the others to go were either unreasonably expensive or not value for money. People started becoming commoditised assets. It was really happening to us. Though we didn’t fit even one of those types, it was hard to not anticipate doom. But we also knew panicking without a point was lethal. We needed a plan. Not just a plan to weather the storm, a plan that protected us then, without impacting a positive, growing future. A plan not just for us and our careers, but for our employers and our customers, helping them survive the recession, deal with an even lower market, build a stronger position for the future and possibly stock up in case it happened again.

Adding gumption and optimism to our job description

We live in uninspiring worlds, which become even more hostile at times of crises. Looking for motivation, inspiration, stimulation, anything that would help us do something to feel better and do better. Just then, over a particularly cheap, sorrow-drowning drinking binge, a very enlightened being taught us that conduct and behaviour are infectious. If you need to make your customers or colleagues feel intelligent, you should treat them as intelligent beings. Replace intelligent with any virtue or emotion, and it still holds true. If you need to make them feel secure, you need to treat them as though they are secure with you. Not just by words, but also by how you deal with them. We put this to the test, and it really worked, recession or not. In trying times when everyone is fighting passivity brought in by more denials, rejections and painful decisions, a partner or peer that acts to survive and endure, not only helps pass through hard times, but also assures them of a front row seat in the future. It certainly helps to see crisply dressed, brave looking men show up at their workplace with a promise to work with them and, for them, through the slump.

Quit the gloom, Stock up on hope

Of course, there were people who didn’t stick with making the plan or stick with the Spartans. Without naming the gent, we had some huge laughs on some before-and-after style pre-recession and post-recession passport-sized photographs of one dear, but daft lay-off. The gent, who looked like he was having a massage before and getting an enema after, had unknowingly cheered up a lot of us back then. Sure, bad times were here, but that did not permit anyone to go A.K. Hangal. It isn’t easy to smile as you watch half of your brood getting fired. It’s worse when you were doing the firing. But we still tried. We gave them hope, not the “praise the lord” kind of hope, but the “effort pays” kind. We tried to not get preachy, on the other hand, not get slapstick either. Be cheerful, be real and be hopeful – that was our target. We empathised with their bosses and were there for them. We helped out with the laid-off by showing them ways to get back on their feet and the retained by going the extra mile to help them cope with the new responsibilities to get their work done.

Even after all this, refresh your resume

None of us were taking chances. We decided we wouldn’t wait till the bucket was kicked. We knew the economy was troubled and our people were troubled. We weren’t still certain of how secure the next job was and as much as we loved our jobs, our jobs need not love us back. Hence, there seemed no harm in keeping our tools ready. Besides, reloading our resume AFTER getting laid off is the worse time to be doing it EVER. In the long, distressing history or resume mistakes, the most are made when the seeker has just been laid off and needs to get back at any cost, including pretense, exaggeration and the occasional extra credit. While preparing our resumes, our first step was a re-evaluation of our strengths, competencies and career goals, especially in the light of the new market developments. We asked ourselves where did we want to be and what did we want to do for the first time after college. It was easier to look when we knew what we were looking for. We spoke with old colleagues, emaiedl known agents and recruiters and updated our job site resumes. We had to get out there, subtly. An unspoken rule of economic consolidation is finding more efficient assets. Someone out there was probably looking for exactly us.

We did survive that time. We will probably survive this one as well. But what we learnt then and refreshed now is that any situation that you can accept, embrace, be optimistic about, and prepare for the worse for, can be sailed through without losing your job, your sleep or a lot of money.

The guest author, Alap Ghosh, has 9 years of in-the-middle-of-all-the-action experience in enterprise, portal and mobile products and solutions. Having worked with the top technology and media convergent companies of the country, Alap spends most of his time connecting brands and agencies with technology to create better internet properties and new-age inventory. Connect with Alap by email or on LinkedIn or on Facebook