🤨 “What would you say…you do here?”
Remember the past years’ hiring blitz? Yeah…well, companies have begun reckoning with their bloated growth projections and are revisiting their chopping block, with middle management getting nixed in droves.
But don’t sweat through your swanky manager blazer! There's a protocol for preventing HR from ever having to ask your direct reports, “So, what does your manager do exactly?” (That's the bloody mary of Corporate America; have it said about you three times fast and a surprise meeting with HR will pop up on your calendar…)
🎙️ Ask Your Work Wife is a new podcast for ambitious professionals in Corporate America. Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Step 1: Check Your Redundancy Privilege
Lots of company resources go to paying middle manager salaries, which puts them at high risk when cutbacks roll in. Let’s pause for a moment of self-reflection:
The Redundancy Test:
Do qualifiers like Junior, Senior, or Associate dominate your title? Are you THE Director? Or are you the Director’s little helper? 🧐
Is your work product based solely on managing people?
Are there multiple VP’s or associates within reach?
Answering “yes” to any of these questions makes you susceptible to difficult redundancy accusations. Let’s pull you out of that red zone and towards the green zone of the P&L.
🫡 Assistant to the manager? Hang in there. Work on making yourself indispensable and share this newsletter with everyone you know who's a Junior Something, a Senior Something, an Associate Something, or an Assistant Something.
Step 2: Cling to P&L
Strive to become the person who “does the thing” or “owns that budget.” Your mastery of a diverse skill set should directly impact the bottom line, thus directly impacting your employment outlook.
Step 3: Consider Lateral Moves
Set career goals while sticking close to the product. Strategically fall back when offered inflated titles that may be more dispensable than your junior title. Being truly exceptional at the junior job is a much comfier position than a mid mid-level manager.
Episodes for Mid Mid-level Managers
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