 |
| Get the latest Packaging news and link to other industry resources. |
DISCUSSION
GROUP
What's on your mind?
Packaging Horizons
Fired? Laid Off? Downsized? Rightsized?
Whatever the moniker, you can look at it as the ultimate ego buster or an opportunity.
Editor's Note: Due to the sensitive nature of this subject, two contributors to this article wished to remain anonymous. Packaging Horizons felt their viewpoints were important enough to allow them to contribute without revealing their names or companies. You know the feeling. Even though you've heard the rumors, you've pushed them aside. You've just got too much to do to worry or the possibility seems remote, given your extensive responsibilities. Still, the tension grows. It's almost a relief when you're told you're being let go, rightsized, downsized, whatever the current euphemism is for what's happening to many capable, diligent and experienced employees.
If it's your first time, you could be devastated. But like so many other difficult experiences in life, once you go through them, you realize that lemons do make lemonade. There's got to be a reason why so many say after being laid off, "It's the best thing that ever happened to me."
Shall we make that pink lemonade? It's been about 20 years since Marcia Rieff, director of package design and graphics at Bestfoods Baking Company in Bay Shore, New York, got the pink slip, but the first thing she did was to rewrite her resume and contact everyone she knew. "I didn't ask anyone for a job directly. I just let them know the situation and that if they needed any freelance/consulting/design work in the future, I would be interested," recalls Rieff. She also hooked up with a temp agency and by the first week she was getting calls, which led her into being a full-time freelancer and more work than she could handle. Rieff says that this experience gave her more confidence in her abilities as a designer. "I proved to myself that I could do it," she states. "Because of that whole experience, being fired is not a stigma to me any longer."
Forging new paths - While many people who get laid off stay in their respective fields, others try completely new things, and find they can fly. The first thing that one of our anonymous contributors did after she was fired was to get involved in projects that didn't violate the non-compete agreement she had signed. Soon, she began receiving calls about consulting opportunities. The result was that she realized she didn't want to go back to the same type of job she had in that industry. "I realized that my entrepreneurial skills could serve me well with a new young company or that I could start my own business," she recalls.
Amy Hall, general manager of the flexible packaging at Universal Folding Box in Hazelwood, Missouri, was given the choice to leave her position in branch operations and become a sales representative in order to save her job. Instead, she came up with an alternative choice that would give her increased responsibilities. Being faced with the potential of accepting a position that wasn't in her best interests or being forced out the door, she opened another door in the flexible packaging area. She asked to be considered for the position of general manager. "I believe that flexibility and willingness to take on challenging roles in your organization can give you the opportunity to maintain a position and benefit your company by filling an opening in another area," she recommends.
Dealing with the unavoidable - Some might be able to circumvent being laid off, but most have to accept the inevitable. What's the best way to cope? Bettylyn Krafft, who is getting her new company Krafft Printing Systems (proposed name), off the ground, advises to network like there's no tomorrow. Getting laid off can be a financial challenge, but you should always have a backup plan to get you over the financial hump. Honesty is the best policy. Let family and friends know what's happened.
Act fast and don't mope is what Robin Fisher Roffer, president of Big Fish Marketing in Los Angeles, California, recommends. "Rally the troops, make a plan and ask yourself deep, existential questions like who are you, what are your passions and what do you really want to do with the rest of your life?" she counsels. Just by doing some selected reading and attending trade shows, seminars and classes, you can become somewhat of an expert in an area. Then target those companies you want to work at and focus on meeting people in those companies. "Being fired doesn't necessarily propel careers," she says. "People propel themselves into a new life when they get out of a bad situation and begin to live their mission."
That positive frame of mind doesn't come easily at first. But after you've recovered from the shock, disbelief and self-doubt, you should pick up your bruised ego, dust it off and remember that you have something of value to offer. Then go and do those things you never had time to do - like re-evaluating your personal life and career. Says our second anonymous contributor, "Do you have dreams of starting your own business, but were too busy at work to pursue it? Start it now. Did you want to focus more on your family? Spend that time with them now. Have you always wanted to re-locate to another city? Choose the city. Have you thought of a complete career change? Try it now," she says.
Rieff concurs that when you're laid off or fired you're vulnerable, but change is good. "It forces a person to take stock of one's self and recognize that change helps you grow," she says. Roffer also sees that you can use being laid off as an opportunity to expand your horizons. "It depends on you. Being laid off is an adventure and another opportunity to choose your life path," she concludes.
Amy Hall can be e-mailed at ahall@universalfoldingbox.com or phone (201) 659-7373. Bettylyn Krafft can be reached by e-mail at bkrafft9@hotmail.com or phone (704) 309-3748. Marcia Rieff can be reached via e-mail Mrieff@baking.bestfoods.com. Robin Fisher Roffer is author of "Make A Name For Yourself, 8 Steps Every Woman Needs to Create A Personal Brand Strategy for Success." When ordering books, please use the code WMPKG. For more information go to www.makeaname.net, phone (323) 874-2737 or e-mail bigfish123@aol.com.
War Story
The division of the company I work for is currently being sold for the second time in a year. Each day is another rumor, another closing date. The topic of conversations are: o who is getting a package o who is getting pushed out o who is just going to stay The longer it takes, the more anxious we all are. - Marcia Rieff
War Story
I knew during the corporate restructuring that a number of people would be let go and that many making higher incomes would be the ones cut. I was in that category. But since I had just landed the largest prospect for the company, and we were just beginning to manufacture that business, I felt they would have better sense than to change representation on that account. A very large bid was coming up, and I had had a very good relationship with that customer over the years. However, they laid me off anyway!
-Anonymous
I have been through it all - fired, downsized, rightsized - in the last six years. The first time I got fired I had worked for the same company for seven and a half years. I was devastated and felt that my life had come to an end. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was fired on a Thursday, and by the following Monday I had four offers. I doubled my salary and became a member of the best working team ever. - Bettylyn Krafft
War Story
I was approached by my company president and was informed that our parent company had "eliminated" all director of marketing positions in their branch operations. I was not prepared for that statement but suspected something was up when he asked me to lunch. I was lucky in that he was able to "save" me by offering me up to our parent company as a sales representative. Unfortunately for me, sales was not what I desired. I had already left a sales position at another company to take on the marketing challenges. I had recently completed my MBA and was looking forward to the change. Now, one year later, that opportunity was being taken away. Where I feel I was successful in staying on board was by asking for new responsibilities in an area where I had a new-found interest. - Amy Hall
Eight Steps to Get You Over the Hump
by Robin Fisher RofferStep One: Dig deep to unearth who you are. If you were a product, what would you be and why? Discover your key attributes and your true purpose for being here. Put your talents, your passions and your specialty into a brand description.
Step Two: Define your dreams and put them into action. What is your heart's desire? How can you accomplish it while still "living well," according to your own definition of that phrase? Create a mission statement that can remind you every day of your dreams, and outline a plan of action for making them come true.
Step Three: Go after your target audience with a vengeance. Who and where is your audience? Better yet, how will you attract them and what is it you want them to say about you? Increase your visibility and beware of competition.
Step Four: Don't crash and burn. Figure out what's stopping you. Fear stops you in your tracks. So can competition and perfection! Examine each hurdle and how to overcome it. Look at the worst thing you think could happen to you and realize that you can move through it. You can protect yourself from internal and external disasters.
Step Five: Recruit a squad of brand cheerleaders. Everyone needs a mentor and a support group for continual feedback and lessons on how to keep your brand from collecting dust. How will you find yours and establish that crucial relationship?
Step Six: Learn the secrets to packaging your brand. First impressions do make a difference. What does your audience assess about your brand from your appearance, professional accessories, workspace, Web site?
Step Seven: Get comfortable in your own skin. How you move and sound when presenting yourself to your audience is critical to establishing your brand. Act like the CEO of your life and you will be one.
Step Eight: Devise a plan and get on with it. Where are you going? Do you have a plan for getting there? How will you market yourself and how will you support yourself in the process? Create a timetable and follow it, and don't forget long-term objectives like re-evaluating yourself every year to keep your brand current and fresh.
RETURN TO PACKAGING HORIZONS EDITORIAL HIGHLIGHTS PAGE