Downsizing is a painful process. Sure, those who are let go feel the pain and fear associated with the unknown, but what about those who stay with the company? They should feel great, right? After all, they still have their job, no uncertainty there. They were chosen to remain so things should be great for them, right? Not so on both accounts.
A person who remains with a company after a downsizing may have feelings ranging from guilt to the same kind of grief as is felt with the death in their community. There will also most likely be feelings of anger, cynicism as well as a sense of helplesness and a reduction of loyalty to the company. These feelings are on top of the added stress of picking up the work of those who were let go.
Why do people feel these things when they should logically not feel anything? After all, shouldn't the most important thing be the money we make? If you are one of these people and are experiencing these feelings, you are experiencing what has been called "Survivor Sickness."
Factors to consider
The way a person feels after a downsizing is more or less influenced by their view of the nature of work, their sense of community, their support system, and how well the company finances respond.
The nature of work
Research indicates that work can be categorized into the job, the career, and the calling. For those people who view their work as a job, the most important thing to them is that they are getting paid for the services they provide. They receive fulfillment in other ways - ways that can be bought with the money they earn. These people could possibly have the easiest time going through a downsizing since they are the most detached from their work. This possibly could change depending on the nature of their community.
Career oriented people are more interested in self-fulfillment through their work. This comes in the form of promotions and the learning process they go through. These people will have a more difficult time since they tend to define themselves by their work.
Those who view their work as a calling, tend to be interested in the greater good of society and believe they have a specific responsibility to help to improve society through their work. People in this category will most likely have the most difficult time since they are fully immersed in their work, identity and all.
Community
It has only been fairly recent that research on community shifted its focus from community being a geographic location such as the neighborhood to studying what the elements of community are. What they found out was that a sense of community can develop just about anywhere. They discovered that what you felt was more important than where you were. They named this concept the psychological sense of community.
The key elements to community were, membership, influence, fulfillment of needs, and, shared emotional connection. Membership is understood as having a sense of belonging. For example, belong to or a part of the neighborhood in which your house is located. The same can be said about the department you work in at work, or the company you work for. Influence is about frienships and power within the community.
To be a part of a community, you feel that you need to somehow contribute to that community. However at the same time, you will gain benefit from that community. In the community, there will be leaders and followers. Overall, you will enjoy being a part of that community as long as you feel you are contributing and you are gaining some benefit from being a member.
It soon became apparent that community could exist anywhere. Now, social networking creates cyber communities that to a large extent have replaced the neighborhood as the community. Work also would have a tendency to replace the neighborhood as the community since that is where people spend most of their waking hours. They develop friendships there, and have a sense of belonging. Additionally, work can be very fulfilling.
It is possible that the stronger the sense of community, the more painful the impact of the downsizing, however, it is also possible that, if the downsizing does not destroy the sense of community, the stronger the sense of community, the easier it will be to find the kind of social interaction that will help to soften the pain of downsizing.
Support Systems
People are social creatures. To be productive in society, they need to be able to accept help from others as well as give help to others. In a downsizing, people will be hurting. If there is no relationships built within the organization, then there will need to be good relationships somewhere outside of the organization. Family and friends are important in the process of healing.
Another consideration is one's belief in God. Depending on one's orientation to God, they may find comfort in seeking a loving and personal God. On the other hand, if one's view of God is that He is more judgmental and exacting as opposed to loving and personal, seeking God will be of little help.
What to do
If you find yourself a survivor of a downsizing, there are some things you can do to help yourself. First, recognize that you will be emotionally affected. You may not recognize it but it is there. To help with this, seek out your most trusted friends and do not be afraid to talk about how you feel and go over the details of what happened. Talking it out is a big help. Second, find ways to boost your attitude. It will not help you to have a poor attitude. Forget about the organization, you are the one trying to survive. Being down on the organization's leadership doesn't help you and doesn't hurt them. Third, work through the new organizational structure by recognizing that you, and your co-survivors will go through two processes; grief recovery, and reforming of the work community. You can find information about grief recovery on the web by looking for the Kubler-Ross model of the stages of grief recovery and for the reforming of the community by searching for Tuckmans stages of group development.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
You just lost your job. Now What do You do?
The future looks bleak or bright depending if you are a "cup half empty" or a "cup half full" kind of person. Some people who have just lost their job would be saying "oh no, what am I going to do?" while others are saying "great, what do I get to do next?"
If you have just lost your job, it is likely you are eligible for some form of unemployment benefits. These benefits generally are pretty pitiful unless you are a CEO with a golden parachute, and they don't last forever. That being said, there are some things that are worth thinking about before you start looking for a job again.
The Meaning of Work
What does work mean to you? Research has shown that we can categorize the meaning of work into basically three categories: The Job, The Career, and The Calling. Each of these categories have specific caracteristics that, when you understand them, will be helpful in making your next job more rewarding.
The Job
People who view their work as a job are in it simply for the money. Fulfillment comes from what they can do with the money, or through some other means. If you are one of these people, then the type of work you will do really does not matter as long as you are getting paid what you see as fair value for your services. In this case, you need to look at your skill set and then study the work market to see if your skill set is reasonably in demand to get you the maximum value for your services.
When you view work as a job, you need to consider what other skill sets you could acquire to make your services more valuable to potential employers. You will also want to market yourself. This involves developing an image of who you are that would be appealing to a prospective employer.
As a person who views work as a job, you might consider entering into jobs that pay for performance such as piece work or contract jobs with bonuses for performance built in.
The Career
People who view work in terms of a career have found some skill set that, when they use it, gives them fulfillment. It really does not matter who they work for, just so long as they can use their skill set.
People in this category tend to want to pursue a consistent path of learning in their particular career choice. Sometimes a career lasts for the full working lifetime of an individual, however, at other times, it may only be for a few years, then something else comes along for which, they have a skill set and interest to pursue. Another element these people are interested in is advancement and the rewards it brings.
The making of money for people in this category is not as important as being able to do something that they find fulfilling, that uses their unique gifts and abilities. These people tend to find work to be a fun and enjoyable learning experience.
If you are one of these people, you will need to assess your skill set and interests against what is available in the market place. If the market is weak for your interests, it might be in your best interest to take a career interest inventory. There are many such programs available on the web.
Unless you are completely bored with your current skill set, when you select a new career path, it is wise to try to align your new career choice with as much of your current skill set as possible so that you do not have to enter the new path from the bottom.
As an individual in this category, career choices will be those with a career path that leads to ever increasing responsibility. It would be helpful for you to have management training, a college education, and, most likely a graduate degree or high level technical training would be beneficial.
The Calling
There are similarities between career and calling in that the people who are interested in a career and those who are interested in the calling are both more interested in what the do as opposed to how much money they make. However, while a careerist tends to have a long term objective of a career path that possibly leads to the board room, the calling person is more interested in the fulfillment of the work its self.
People with this type of interest become passionate about what they do, so much so, that the money they make does not matter nearly so much as the fulfillment they receive. At the extreme end of this are the volunteers. In some cases, volunteers work extremely hard for no financial reward, and they do it for a long period of time. But then we need to recognize that some people can afford to be volunteers while others need to earn some money.
Originally, the concept of the calling was attached to religion. A calling was something coming from a source greater than ones self, and was about being a part of something bigger than ones self. While there have been attempts to change religious attachment, at least the attachment of the calling to God, it is a difficult change to make. Many people feel called or even compelled to be a part of a bigger program that works for the betterment of society.
If you are someone who is searching for something that is bigger than you, you may want to check out work opportunities in the nonprofit sector. The nonprofit employment sector requires the same skill sets as the for-profit employment sector, however, the emphasis on a mission other than making money is greater, and you will also know that you are not working to make someone else rich since nonprofit organizations do not have the same stakeholder relationship as for-profit companies. All of the profits in a nonprofit organization are put back into the programs that organization is working for.
If this type of work appeals to you, do a search on the web and check out job opportunities in the nonprofit sector.
Make the most of who you are
Once you have figured out your work preference, take time to discover your personality type. But, that is for another time. In the current economic times, understanding your work preference can have rewarding effects by helping you narrow your focus to work that you will be more receptive to and you will find employers that are looking for just the type of person you are.
If you have just lost your job, it is likely you are eligible for some form of unemployment benefits. These benefits generally are pretty pitiful unless you are a CEO with a golden parachute, and they don't last forever. That being said, there are some things that are worth thinking about before you start looking for a job again.
The Meaning of Work
What does work mean to you? Research has shown that we can categorize the meaning of work into basically three categories: The Job, The Career, and The Calling. Each of these categories have specific caracteristics that, when you understand them, will be helpful in making your next job more rewarding.
The Job
People who view their work as a job are in it simply for the money. Fulfillment comes from what they can do with the money, or through some other means. If you are one of these people, then the type of work you will do really does not matter as long as you are getting paid what you see as fair value for your services. In this case, you need to look at your skill set and then study the work market to see if your skill set is reasonably in demand to get you the maximum value for your services.
When you view work as a job, you need to consider what other skill sets you could acquire to make your services more valuable to potential employers. You will also want to market yourself. This involves developing an image of who you are that would be appealing to a prospective employer.
As a person who views work as a job, you might consider entering into jobs that pay for performance such as piece work or contract jobs with bonuses for performance built in.
The Career
People who view work in terms of a career have found some skill set that, when they use it, gives them fulfillment. It really does not matter who they work for, just so long as they can use their skill set.
People in this category tend to want to pursue a consistent path of learning in their particular career choice. Sometimes a career lasts for the full working lifetime of an individual, however, at other times, it may only be for a few years, then something else comes along for which, they have a skill set and interest to pursue. Another element these people are interested in is advancement and the rewards it brings.
The making of money for people in this category is not as important as being able to do something that they find fulfilling, that uses their unique gifts and abilities. These people tend to find work to be a fun and enjoyable learning experience.
If you are one of these people, you will need to assess your skill set and interests against what is available in the market place. If the market is weak for your interests, it might be in your best interest to take a career interest inventory. There are many such programs available on the web.
Unless you are completely bored with your current skill set, when you select a new career path, it is wise to try to align your new career choice with as much of your current skill set as possible so that you do not have to enter the new path from the bottom.
As an individual in this category, career choices will be those with a career path that leads to ever increasing responsibility. It would be helpful for you to have management training, a college education, and, most likely a graduate degree or high level technical training would be beneficial.
The Calling
There are similarities between career and calling in that the people who are interested in a career and those who are interested in the calling are both more interested in what the do as opposed to how much money they make. However, while a careerist tends to have a long term objective of a career path that possibly leads to the board room, the calling person is more interested in the fulfillment of the work its self.
People with this type of interest become passionate about what they do, so much so, that the money they make does not matter nearly so much as the fulfillment they receive. At the extreme end of this are the volunteers. In some cases, volunteers work extremely hard for no financial reward, and they do it for a long period of time. But then we need to recognize that some people can afford to be volunteers while others need to earn some money.
Originally, the concept of the calling was attached to religion. A calling was something coming from a source greater than ones self, and was about being a part of something bigger than ones self. While there have been attempts to change religious attachment, at least the attachment of the calling to God, it is a difficult change to make. Many people feel called or even compelled to be a part of a bigger program that works for the betterment of society.
If you are someone who is searching for something that is bigger than you, you may want to check out work opportunities in the nonprofit sector. The nonprofit employment sector requires the same skill sets as the for-profit employment sector, however, the emphasis on a mission other than making money is greater, and you will also know that you are not working to make someone else rich since nonprofit organizations do not have the same stakeholder relationship as for-profit companies. All of the profits in a nonprofit organization are put back into the programs that organization is working for.
If this type of work appeals to you, do a search on the web and check out job opportunities in the nonprofit sector.
Make the most of who you are
Once you have figured out your work preference, take time to discover your personality type. But, that is for another time. In the current economic times, understanding your work preference can have rewarding effects by helping you narrow your focus to work that you will be more receptive to and you will find employers that are looking for just the type of person you are.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Why do we watch the news?
So, I took a look at the headlines today. Pretty depressing and in many ways graphic. The majority of headlines we see in the news are of a violent nature. Ever wonder why? Violence, like sex, sells.
Have you ever thought of going without watching the news for a week? While you're at it, turn off the TV, radio, and computer (you can keep your cell phone on but don't brows the internet with it. If you did this for two weeks, you would just begin to realize how little you need these things.
The news really is nothing more than gossip. If you think about it, news is provided to you through other people's eyes. It is not factual, but rather spun in the direction of that individuals predispositions. For instance, if you are liberal, turn to something like Huffington post. Conservatives can go to the Drudge report. Or for Democrats, MSNBC or CBS might work while Republicans might go to Fox News. CNN is Democrat leaning as well.
Most marketing types will tell you that the business of news is no different than any other business. It is just as much about making money as anything else. So, as with regular TV shows and movies, sex and violence sells, politics and religion are also good targets as long as you are poking at them.
Have you ever thought of going without watching the news for a week? While you're at it, turn off the TV, radio, and computer (you can keep your cell phone on but don't brows the internet with it. If you did this for two weeks, you would just begin to realize how little you need these things.
The news really is nothing more than gossip. If you think about it, news is provided to you through other people's eyes. It is not factual, but rather spun in the direction of that individuals predispositions. For instance, if you are liberal, turn to something like Huffington post. Conservatives can go to the Drudge report. Or for Democrats, MSNBC or CBS might work while Republicans might go to Fox News. CNN is Democrat leaning as well.
Most marketing types will tell you that the business of news is no different than any other business. It is just as much about making money as anything else. So, as with regular TV shows and movies, sex and violence sells, politics and religion are also good targets as long as you are poking at them.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
The God thing
I was reading about the 49 million year old spider fossel that was recently found and wondered how they new it was 49 million years old. Furthermore, I wondered how the spider got into that rock anyway. Think about it. Scientists were able to say without a doubt that the spider in that rock was 49 million years old because they were able to date the rock.
What was really interesting was the comments made about that spider in that rock. The Athiests and Evolutionists chewed on the Christians while the Christians quoted Bible back to the Athiests and Evolutionists. Of course, no one was really listening, but it does point out some interesting things. First, belief systems are strongly rooted in our "contract" with God.
Think of it, everyone has a contract with God whether they want to admit it or not. What do I mean by "contract"? It is the perception one has of who God is and His expectations, rewards and gifts to us. For each one of us, it is different. For example, athiests say they don't believe in God. Their reasons range from the inconsistencies they see in the christian lifestyle to rational thought. On the other hand, christians have a contract with God that differs from the Jewish religion and Islam religion, to a great extent, because of the way they view Jesus.
Science weighs in on the subject the the philosophy of rational thought by suggesting that because a phenomenon cannot be observed, it therefore must not exist. This philosophy eliminates the alternative of the philosophy of creation or intelligent design. And while Science is comfortable suggesting that origins were evolutionary, while rejecting the alternative of intelligent design out of hand.
At the center of all of this is really the discussion of God's existence and thus our individual contracts with God. Why is it so important? It has eternal consequences.
What was really interesting was the comments made about that spider in that rock. The Athiests and Evolutionists chewed on the Christians while the Christians quoted Bible back to the Athiests and Evolutionists. Of course, no one was really listening, but it does point out some interesting things. First, belief systems are strongly rooted in our "contract" with God.
Think of it, everyone has a contract with God whether they want to admit it or not. What do I mean by "contract"? It is the perception one has of who God is and His expectations, rewards and gifts to us. For each one of us, it is different. For example, athiests say they don't believe in God. Their reasons range from the inconsistencies they see in the christian lifestyle to rational thought. On the other hand, christians have a contract with God that differs from the Jewish religion and Islam religion, to a great extent, because of the way they view Jesus.
Science weighs in on the subject the the philosophy of rational thought by suggesting that because a phenomenon cannot be observed, it therefore must not exist. This philosophy eliminates the alternative of the philosophy of creation or intelligent design. And while Science is comfortable suggesting that origins were evolutionary, while rejecting the alternative of intelligent design out of hand.
At the center of all of this is really the discussion of God's existence and thus our individual contracts with God. Why is it so important? It has eternal consequences.
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