You know it’s coming… have known for a long time. You don’t want it… have tried to avoid it. But the time of safe haven avoidance is about to expire. And so is your job. The pink slip is coming. How to ready yourself for the news you can’t know?
What do you think? Leave your comment below after this Tru Blog post.
It’s Not You, It’s Us
These days, it may not be pink and isn’t even a slip. Might be a trip to the boss’s office, a quick phone call, or an emotionless text. The boss herself or your supervisor may not be on the other end… but HR will be present and can cut to the chase with precision.
“We’re moving in another direction.”
More likely, “Your position has been eliminated.”
The latter is preferred non-discriminatory verbiage that says, “It isn’t you, it’s us. We must restructure and your position will not exist going forward.”
Efficiency is Ever-present
Why me… is your question. But they just told you. And that’s about all they will tell you… you know, HR, legal guidelines, and such. The overall “why” may be organizational or technological (AI) but it’s always financial. If an economic dip or surge in computerized productivity has emerged… the good and bad of all that produces the ugly… job elimination or right-sizing as HR calls it. The pain of payroll reduction brings about the end goal of efficiency. Or so goes the theory.
Not So Fast News
It doesn’t always go like clockwork. Take the business of broadcasting where we worked many a year and participated on all sides of the pink slip process. Presently, Nexstar is waiting to possess TV stations and media outlets purchased from TEGNA. First the Justice Department, then the FCC signed off, and the deal closed March 19… until it didn’t. Wait… what? Federal District Judge Troy Nunley in California senses anti-trust in the air and essentially told the parties to unclose their deal and entanglement… turning back the clock. One need not know the fine print of fiduciary finality associated with completing a $6.2 billion transaction to imagine the chaos now created.
While lawyers lather and jurists judge during a temporary restraining order, staffers are in limbo. Never mind the broad implications to free TV and local news hinging on this outcome. For now, ponder the plight of what are likely hundreds of staffers who understand by now a deal completed may be a job lost. Nexstar and TEGNA compete in multiple markets where the prospect of a right-sized joint staff and duopoly operation made merger and acquisition attractive in the first place. TEGNA already set the table via a series of job eliminations, new tech, and regional management. Nexstar will surely follow suit. It is the way of the world in publicly held M&A.
Pink Slip Prep
So, what’s a staffer to do? Whether it’s this scenario or some other, there are necessary and constructive steps to be taken by each employee who sees the pink slip process on their horizon.
- Know your business
- Like the circumstance above, understand the players and what constitutes financially winning and losing in your arena.
- Seek details
- Restrictive guidance goes with M&A, so be assured your boss is not taking the easy way out when he “doesn’t know much.” He probably doesn’t. But there are resources and insight at the general level that can serve as predictive information for what’s ahead.
- Prep now, not later
- There may be temporary shelter in collective gossip and office handwringing, but don’t waste time here. Your resume, contacts and connections need to be in high gear. Now.
- Plan like it matters
- You may survive… but what if HR sends that text? Decide now what next steps should be on a career path that may include change.
- Have a Plan B
- This forces the necessity of having a Plan A (above).
Why Me Won’t Work
If after all of this, you’re still stuck on why me… take heart. You’re human. Not all employees will be in the future. AI and automation are, in fact, the game changers you read about every day. But let’s even say you assume to have found another culprit… an answer to why me. In the example above, decades of dormant FCC inactivity allowed unregulated tech and social giants to financially crush old school broadcasting. Now Local TV is merging and scrambling for survival. Great insight… but too late. Why me sour grapes get you nothing and nowhere in the pink slip process.
All the more reason to find some way to hurdle the emotion of why me. Action always helps. Know, seek, prep, plan. And plan again. Godspeed and keep moving.
