What if you lose your job today?!

Without an iota of doubt, this is probably one of the scariest questions anyone is willing to entertain in the mind—“What if I lose my job today?”

Living in a world recently hit by global financial recession with major world economies experiencing record down-turns in decades; organizations issuing letters to employees they regrettably have to part with, visualizing a job-loss, you’ll agree, isn’t a hard task after all.   

So, say you get to the office tomorrow, and then rumours start to fly in the air: “learned we are about to down-size and redundant positions will be announced today” or more nicely put “the board has approved that the company is right-sized and letters will be dispatched today”. First thought that comes to mind: “Is my job secured?” Obviously, you will probably be unable to find an answer.  You have no idea why the organization has decided to trim-down its size or what direction they are headed. Then reality sets in—you could lose that job today!

You are a high-performing staff—as much as you know—but that’s as much as you know. However, your boss had just issued you a set of queries in the past few months following a relationship break-down between you both. It’s tough to escalate to your Manager’s Manager who is almost inaccessible; and no one is there to help your plight and refute your boss’ assertion that you are a “poor-performer”. Two queries issued plus a warning means you might just be on your way out today! You could be asked to leave—“dismissed” or in milder terms “relieved of your job”.

Still day dreaming—nightmare or whatever you call it—say you get to work tomorrow and right there the dispatch-man arrives at lunch time, hands you a letter and BUM!...“we regret to inform you that the company will no longer need your services”! Shivers run down your spine; you start to sweat…think of home, family, kids' school fees, other commitments—you remember the benefit…free mobile-phone and calls, housing allowance, security, official car with driver—all gone! The most reasonable question appears: What’s Next?

“What’s next?” might stay unanswered for as long as you remain in that shock. In fact, the answer to that salient question dwells in “your past actions” not “subsequent actions”. "What’s next?" should have been prepared and set—like an already baked cake, ready to be decorated and presented.

Major question! When you are on a job, do you go to work to fulfil your tasks as meticulously as you can to be a great-performer on the job; or do you go there to explore how much development and value your job is adding to you. There might be a thin-line between these two purposes; nonetheless that thin line is the differentiator that predicts what sort of life is next when you exclaim: “What’s Next?”

Jim Rohn advises: “the greatest value in life is not what you get; the greatest value in life is what you become. Major question to ask on the job is not “what am I getting here?”...major question to ask is “what am I becoming here”. Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job”

My attitude, when I work for any organization [note that I’ll rather say “I work for an organization” than say “I work with an organization”—Bottom-line: I work there to add particular value and in turn gain particular development; not just pass time with the organization even if I’m percieved as very productive] is to take inventory of my development within the organization in relation to the new tasks and responsibilities I handle which are complaint with global best-practice. If I am not getting that from my organization, then it’s time to walk away! (even if I do not have a new place I am walking to) Crazy idea uh? I’ll tell you how that works.

In this time and age, organizations have discovered that competitive advantage lies with their people and apparently within the tacit knowledge possessed by each of these individuals called employees. Tacit knowledge is defined as “knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalizing it” [source: Wikipedia]. This kind of knowledge is required to perform tasks and more importantly to generate such innovative ideas that can out-compete the competition. In contrast, explicit form of knowledge can be taught and learnt—such are common work practices, tasks and routine responsibilities—anyone can learn it, anyone can do it. The more tacit knowledge you possess, the more valuable you are! Big question: How many more people can do what you do?

Waking up to the reality of the “knowledge market”, “future-thinkers” and "next-generation-talents", who are bound to survive the increasingly competitive job availability, have started giving greater “priority” and “loyalty” their own development over company interests. Don’t get me wrong, I do not mean that they do not have the interest of the companies they work for at heart. They are people of integrity and see themselves as being in an agreement with the company to ensure growth within their area of work. As such, they are committed to that “bound”—the agreement, the contract! However, should the interest of the company compromise their development (acquisition and utilization of their tacit knowledge—the competitive advantage), it seizes to make common sense why they should remain in such companies at the detriment of growing their tacit knowledge for competitive advantage. Such people possess the guts to initiate “the loss of a job” all by themselves--they do not even wait to be told to go.

And when you ask them “What of if you lose your job today?”…the response is loud, clear and said with utmost conviction “I will be out there tomorrow doing something more valuable and profiting, working for the next “client” that needs my value-adding tacit knowledge!”