How To Avoid Getting Laid Off From Your HR Job
by Alan Collins
The unemployment rate just topped 7% for the first time since the 1980s. Ouch! As unemployment conditions worsen, HR folks are not immune to layoffs. With this in mind, here are list of strategies you might benefit from given the current economic climate:
1. Make yourself indispensable to your team.
Be a team player by multitasking or volunteering to assume the work of someone who has been laid off. Make it tough for your manager (and the organization) to carry on without you. Add value by going above and beyond your scope of responsibilities, and make sure your manager is aware of your contributions beyond the scope of your assignment
2. Be valuable and visible.
Figure a way to distinguish yourself and stand out in your department. If you’re working remotely, make sure that “out of sight” doesn’t mean “out of mind.”
3. Promote yourself.
Talk up your contributions to your manager, even to your manager’s boss. Discussing your achievements with your management is not outright bragging, but objectively promoting yourself. Don’t wait for a performance review to let others know about your accomplishments.
4. However, don’t get hung up on getting credit for everything.
When you chose to work in the world of Human Resources, you chose to become a servant to your business, your team and to your employees. Lots of the work you do is transparent to all. However, the best work you’ll ever do is behind the scenes, under the cloak of confidentiality helping your organization deliver results or by keeping it out of jail.
5. Be positive.
Attitude at work matters because the ones who are happy and satisfied are less likely to get laid off. If you are not happy and satisfied, perhaps it’s time to re-assess what really matters – regardless of the prevailing employment landscape – and what you really want to do, where you really want to be, instead of being whiny and grumpy at work.
6. Specialize and brand yourself as an expert.
The quickest way to attain credibility is to establish yourself as the #1 “go-to person” on some important HR initiative. It could be delivering training, or some critical aspect of compensation or labor relations. If you have a specialty, also be flexible with the tasks and projects assigned to you. Remember that the narrower your focus or range of the tasks you can do in your role, the easier it will be to eliminate your position if the tasks are streamlined.
7. Focus on coming up with ways for making and/or saving money for your company.
Think of ways to minimize cost for your department or your company in general. If you have an idea about a new cost-saving process, bring it up and work on it. During a recession, management retains employees who can help make money or help save money for the company. If you do neither, your position is more at risk of being eliminated.
8. Network, network, network.
If you should lose your job due to downsizing that is not the day you should start calling for the first time former colleagues and former managers you’ve worked with. That’s crass. You should continuously build relationships by staying in touch with classmates and co-workers.
9. If you’re an HR leader, take the lead to eliminate unnecessary HR programs.
It’s important that you do this BEFORE YOUR ORGANIZATION FORCES YOU TO. If it’s not possible to eliminate them, then THEN improve or streamline them. Every program has a stakeholder. Hunt him or her down and team up together on this. Control your own destiny or somebody else will.
10. Finally, don’t whine.
I mentioned this in #5. But it deserves to be mentioned again. Have a good attitude. Be the morale booster. Set an example by maintaining an even-keeled demeanor to your co-workers. Don’t wait to direction…become self-directed. And then ALWAYS exceed expectations.
These are just a few strategies for avoiding the pink slip in Human Resources.
However, if you want to discover additional, very specific action steps you can take to avoid getting laid off from your HR job, then download our FREE 20 page special report: “HR Recession Guide: 7 Ways To Recession-Proof Your HR Career & Avoid Losing Your HR Job” (pictured left) at: http://www.HRRecessionGuide.com.
About the Author: Alan Collins is CEO & Chief Editor, SuccessInHR.com. He was formerly Vice President – Human Resources at Pepsi where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses.
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