I always get news from people concerned with very afraid of what to do in these times of crisis. “No one would hire me”, “no one is hiring,” “I need to keep my job, even a poor job.” And finally, one of the justifications most frequently used: “I have bills to pay.”
To 99% of people, the “crisis” appears as the ghost of unemployment.
I honestly do not see any reason to be a slave.
Meritocracy and Commitment
I’m a big proponent that career investment is the best way for someone to grow in life, learn and raise their overall quality of life. For those who cares with it, it is a way to change their social status. I notice that for the good companies to work for is the commitment – and no fancy graduation or intelligence – the main factor someone’s result. This is the merit of commitment and the assessment of this commitment is one important part of any respectable meritocracy.
That said, assuming that, regardless of the amount of schooling that a person had over his life, the commitment he demonstrated is what will be the determining factor to keep him employed or to found another job. The desire to be working is something that only depends on the professionals themselves. We can add that it does not depend on color, creed, race, football team.
The commitment one person has to a task depends solely on how much he wants to dedicate himself to a particular activity. In this case, we talk about a carrer.
Enterprise and Crisis
Only the commitment might not enough as we need to be in a reasonably stable company to make it through a crisis. I do believe this. Whether good or bad, a company must be able to hold its breath. Usually good ran companies have this ability and probably will not fire anyone because they already have a staff with excellent professionals. However, just as there are people and people, there are companies and companies and I do not rule that although it is unlikely that a good company is in difficulties, it might happen.
On the other hand, some companies will close, layoff divisions, reduce plant size and etc, all because of this crisis (we must add that several of these companies are companies that are someway dependent on the Government, on Petrobras and now , Vale). These companies will lay off good people and bad people.
Finally, there is a third group. There are companies that will replace staff. They go “shopping” during the crisis. They will fire professionals of poor performance and will hire good people who have just been laid off “due to the crisis.” As everyone knows, we are not in a brilliant era when there are a full of good people left in the market: we are in a precisely opposite phase. Good people are rare.
The point is that companies that someone should want to work must be in the first or third group (in that order). Moreover, even the low-performance professional knows that something is wrong with a company when that company has someone, like him, who does not meet his goals.
Career in function of Crisis
What to do in times of crisis? Nothing different from what should be getting done: to be engaged, dedicated and seek good workplaces to work. For those “lucky ones” who have been doing this, the crisis is actually a great opportunity to seek even better opportunities: the good companies are always hiring good professionals or use crises to cut bad people and seek refreshed blood – this is particularly important for anyone who is begining a carrer right in the middle of a crisis.
Moreover, even the low-performance professional knows that something is wrong with a company when that company has someone, like him, who does not meet his goals.
Those who dedicate themselves might even claim a promotion, even in crisis. The company may argue… Some companies might even make the bad choice and instead of challenging its employees to find new ways to save money, to reach more market and etc, will focus on scaring them with the classic statement: “the market is not well, think well what you are going to do”. A great suggestion I have for those who know their value, it is to argue, “Oh, this ‘difficulty’ does not allow good professionals to be valued? Then imagine this crisis without good people…”
For those who were not doing the homework, I recommend tidy explanations, evidence gathering that they have tried and, above all, be proactive and inform the company that they are seeking coaching (on their own, no encumber the company or complain – as usual – the company did not pay him one). More importantly, that they want to commit to really improve results.
Be it as it may, crisis or no-crisis, the commitment tends to generate a great result. Besides, in the end of the day, what really will protect someone from the crisis is a huge ballast accumulated good performance. Unlike the poor performance and results, I learned myself that good performance and results needs no explanation, they are justified on their own.
