Job Security: The Real KPI

Job security is something many people obsess over when searching for employment. The company has to be financially stable. Your superiors and colleagues have to be easy to work with. If turnover is too high, likely there's a problem. If you're too easily replaced, it's also a problem.

I've seen people worry too much about being replaced, or about becoming obsolete in the company. They do whatever they can to hold on to what they have. There's a long laundry list of petty office politics which doesn't make for pleasant reading.

Examples

User resistance. You could have users deliberately not use the newly-minted web application because it involves redefining the workflow and possibly rendering them obsolete in the long run. Or users deliberately asking for advanced features for the system at the last minute so that if you fail to deliver, they can always declare that the new computerized system is inadequate for their purposes, therefore best to continue doing things the old way.

Finger in every pie. Or you could have colleagues try to stick their noses into your assignments and offer unsolicited advice - not because they think they can do better, but because they're desperately trying to appear relevant.

Apple polishing. Then there are those who try really hard to get the higher-ups to like them, just so that they get to stay on no matter how goddamn useless they are.  They'll send emails at ungodly hours to appear as though they're working really late, or stay after office hours even though they ain't got jackshit to do. I don't really need to go into that, do I?

Need more examples? I could go on, but in a nutshell, all this occurs because people are insecure. And they are insecure because they lack quality. And they lack quality either because they were a misfit for the job in the first place, or because they failed to keep up with evolving workplace changes. And decided that instead of evolving with the workplace, they should try to make the workplace evolve to suit them.

This is a tragic case of tunnel vision because they have a flawed idea of what job security is. They think it involves hanging on for dear life to their rice bowl at all cost, being indispensable to the company, or being on good terms with those in a position to keep your job safe. It's not wrong. It is just terribly limited.

Newflash

Nobody is indispensable. Some are simply more dispensable than others.

Jobs evolve. Deal with it.

The world changes. Change with it or get left behind.

Think about it

If you no longer had this job, how long would you take to find another job?

If you updated your resume on LinkedIn, how many calls would you get in the following days?

If no other company would hire you at that price, why in the bloody heck should your company keep you on?

Feeling secure yet?

All this applies equally, whether you're an office peon or the general manager. You think you're building a secure fence around your territory with all these little tricks? Wrong. You are merely reinforcing the bars of your cage, a cage that will keep you imprisoned within this job. When your better-qualified colleagues move on to greener pastures, you will be stuck where you are precisely because you can go nowhere else. And if this ship that you've bound yourself to, ever sinks, God help you.

So what exactly is job security?

Yes, what's job security when your boss can decide to make life difficult for you just because his mother doesn't like your face? What's job security when the skills you learn today might be obsolete next year? What's job security when company structures can shift and leave you out in the cold, any given instant?

Job security is not about ensuring that your company will always need you. Job security is about ensuring that in the event that your company no longer needs you, ten other companies do. It is about keeping yourself relevant - not just to your company, but to your industry. It is about ensuring that you're always in demand.

When people think of job security, they think of it as securing a job in one particular company. Think bigger. Make sure you'll always have a job wherever you are, period.

That's the real KPI you should be looking at.

Taking control

As for your company, can you guarantee it will be around the next five years, or ten? No? That's because it's not within your control. In fact, very little is within your control. Trying to dominate the playing field is a constant struggle. You'll always be looking over your shoulder.

But you can control yourself. Learn that new skill. Take that course. Earn that certification. Ensure that your value to the company does not outstrip your value to your industry. Obtain the confidence that your experience and skillset transcend the boundaries of your company.

Once you do that, you'll have achieved job security. You will find that petty office politics are beneath you. And instead of spending time and effort to hang on to your job, you will be spending time actually doing it. Don't secure your job. Secure your career!

Indispensable regards,
T___T