Outwit, Outlast, Outplay

Have you been downsized, resized, our outsized? Are you one of the statistics and looking for a job in Dayton, Ohio or are you one of those holding tight to the job you have? The new slogan of today’s employed may be coined like the famous Survivor television series, “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.”

If you are currently one of the eight almost out of ten in Dayton, Ohio that is actively employed, then you may count your blessings and seek out new ways to instill your value with your boss. This may be a game of Survivor to keep your skills in tune, and put in some extra time and focus on what you do, and how well you do it.

Most successful professionals learn to train and sharpen their skills all the time. This can be found in the professional athlete to the toughest executive in the board room. It is also true with the top producing sales professional to the highly productive tradesperson.

Here are my top 5 suggestions:

1) Make your accomplishments known. It’s time to continuously “toot your own horn”. This can be accomplished by allowing your boss to see that you are hard at work. Get to work early, even before the boss is there. Stay a little late to make those last phone calls, or finish the loose ends on a project. Strive to finish projects ahead of schedule and below budget. If you closed that sale, always let your boss know as soon as possible, and celebrate with your co-workers. Offer to help with projects or areas that are not necessarily within your job description. The more you can truly demonstrate how hard you are working, and able to work out of the box, the more valuable you are.

2) Knowledge is power. Stay on top of your skills. Learn as much as you can about yourself, and your strengths and apply those each and everyday. You may need to go back to the basics. Even the finest martial artist to the professional golfer continuously practices the basics. Invest time after work in reading educational material about your industry and how you may improve your results. If you have been putting off those Continued Education classes or an additional certification, it’s time to get those completed and make sure everyone including your clients know it. Take some time to discover the jobs and functions of those who work around you and for you. When a downsizing occurs you may have that additional knowledge to increase your value.

3) Know what your clients want and under promise and over deliver. Your clients are one of your top assets and primary revenue for the business. If you deliver impeccable service you will be an impeccable and valuable employee. If there is a problem, rally around fixing it immediately. There is nothing better than a boss obtaining a testimonial about how you served a client above and beyond your role. Keep in close contact with your clients by phone, email, e-newsletters, surveys and on-site visits. Protect your customer base. A business should always seek to attract new clients, however most professionals know it is more profitable to maintain existing clients then it is to hunt new clients. Keep those clients happy and engaged, and they will keep subscribing to your services. Subscribing and happy clients often means increased job security.

4) Know the environment. I am not an advocate on absorbing and spreading gossip in the workplace, however you need to be keen to facts. Assemble those facts to understand the environment of what factual changes may be taking effect in your organization. Know what revenues may be coming in, and what revenues may be going out. Understand what segments in your business and industries are on the rise and what may be on the downfall. Become the knowledgeable professional on profitable and growth areas of your business and stand out. Stay on top of what your competition may be doing and why. Good or bad. You may discover a better way in capturing additional business or reinventing a more profitable way of doing business than what your competition had tried.

5) Stay positive. Positive energy is contagious and people like to migrate to those who are positive. Let your peers and your supervisors know how pleased you are to have a career with the organization. It is also a well known fact that positive people are more productive and typically more valuable to an organization. Take time to list your success and what you accomplished in a day, a week and a month. If you stay focused with a positive attitude you may be amazed at the results and how you would be much farther from the “chopping block.”

However, if you practice these behaviors, and still become one of the growing statistics of being laid off, do not fret. You have not failed the ultimate survivor game of life. You have possibly internalized a skill that will be sought after by another employer, or even something you can apply in a business that you start. Trust me, I have both outlasted many downsizes and have become a statistic. The most important attribute you can internalize is a positive attitude, coupled with passion. If you add knowledge to those attributes, you should be able to quickly land a new job, or possibly become the entrepreneur you dreamed about.

Today’s business in today’s economy need to look “out of the box” for solutions.

It seems by the newspaper headlines large corporate America keeps downsizing and resizing. The ‘cliché’ for the first decade of the 21st century may well be “under-employed” or “un-employed”. Read More