3 Action Step Strategies to help you to deal with retrenchment
This is a two-part Blog of Mindset & Action steps to help you deal with a retrenchment.
Being retrenched is hard.
Part 2: 3 Action Step Strategies to help you to deal with retrenchment
Being retrenched is hard. I honour and respect the intense emotions and roller coaster ride that the process can take you on. These three action steps will offer you something to get on with once you’ve dealt with where your mind is.
Be sure to read Part 1 – 3_Mindset_Strategies_to_help_you_to_deal_with_Retrenchment
1. Get accurate & Creative–
Scrutinize your bank account – how much time do you have before you need to draw a salary?
Have a clear timeline in mind. Then, challenge yourself to think laterally and consider what else can you do to generate an income? Be creative here and think who needs your help. Lead to serve and you could be surprised at how many people will willingly pay you for something you can do to help them.
For example, I had a superb client with a compliance / legal background who used his time to help his family members negotiate better insurance and medical aid deals with their providers by scrutinising their contracts. He came up with an hourly rate and a success rate, ie: a percentage of the money he saved his relatives from clawing back in their contracts. A win win gig that helped extend his savings and kepe him afloat whilst he looked for formal employment.
If you’re not sure where to start with this strategy give yourself 7 days to write down a minimum of 10 things you can do / make/ create/ help others with. 10 ideas every day for 7 days. Don’t edit the list until you have a minimum of 70 ideas. Some maybe wild and some maybe whacky, who cares, this is your time to try your hand at something that doesn’t look like work.
Tune into your own creative force and back yourself to stimulate cash flow from this list. And if it feels odd ask yourself ‘what’s the worst that can happen’. You may find, like my Johannesburg based marketing client that your daily jogs become shared dog walking for the neighbour events. This was never going to pay my clients bond, but it gave him a great chunk of satisfaction and he earned the admiration and respect of his community. Instead of their pity. This led to a contact of a neighbour reaching out and enquiring about his background which led to an invitation to apply to a newly created role. Turned out the role wasn’t right him, but the next one was and he was fitter and more confident than he has ever been when gainfully employed.
2. Invest strategic time on LinkedIn –
Have a clear focus, develop a sustainable daily strategy, be smart & and work smart and do not waste your time.
Read the blog I wrote on 4 Ways to plan your Linkedin strategy to get you started right.
Now is not the time to hide on LinkedIn. Now is the time to share your voice- even if it shakes at first.
Strengthen your online brand. Share value and be consistent.
Don’t fall victim to ‘scrolling the feed’ check your notifications and then use the search functionality to connect with someone new. Learn how to use # hashtags to follow content that inspires you.
Get strategic on the platform.
Be consistent in posting and strive to Create, Educate, Inspire & Uplift your connections and broader network. Don’t expect a pity party; be slick and share your thought leadership.
What expertise can you share? Start a movement with and use hashtags strategically. Participate in ‘community’ and do all that you can to show up for yourself & for your network.
Give in order to Get and LinkedIn will become a super charged platform of your enhanced visibility delivering opportunity after opportunity and options for you.
3. Connect Connect Connect –
Reach out to your network; not in an icky sticky way asking for help, please think & plan how can you serve them first before asking them to do something for you. Strategically place yourself top of mind by offering to help or sharing something relevant with them.
Create a categorized list of your network starting with your career champions. These are the people that you have worked closely with and can champion you. Designation wise they can be from 3 areas
1. Above peer level- who you have reported too.
2. On peer level- people alongside you on the same level.
3. Below peer level- people who reported to you.
Traditionally we are reminded to maintain contact with those above peer champions who can provide a reference for us; however, the other two designations are equally as key.
Intentionally and with daily deliberate habits work through the list and book virtual meet up’s and coffee connect calls with as many of your existing network. Do not underestimate the power of a well-timed meeting and how this can lead to huge possibilities.
Equally so actively focus your efforts on growing your network with new connections. Use LinkedIn as a strategic tool in this regard and especially the search functionality to highlight to you the diverse amount of people that you don’t know. 780, million professionals and you can search by title, industry, qualification, location and even keyword.
Get search savvy and grow your circles of influence.
Trigger Warning! 960 employees have been laid off from LinkedIn across sales/recruitment divisions this year alone. If you are not being strategic enough on the platform this could bring you bad news daily- here’s what you can do to stop that from happening; Know, Trust & Believe at your core that you are inherently resilient, inventive and creative!
When tested, you will discover that your inner strength far outweighs your outer reality.
Sell out to staying positive.
And if you have enjoyed reading this blog take a look at – 3-strategies-to-shift-a-negative-situation-at-work for more mindset and action steps to move your career forward.
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