The Problem
I work for a bank that is making heavy job cuts. So far they have been made more on the basis of political horse-trading than on ability, and I'm wondering how to play it. I've worked here for three years and am a solid performer, not a star. Losing my job now would be bad timing – I have a young child, a pregnant wife and an eye-watering mortgage. Should I play the sympathy card with my boss? Or eMBArk on a shameless bout of self-promotion at the expense of my colleagues?
Analyst, male, 30
LUCY'S ANSWER
I'm surprised you've lasted as well as you have in the City, given the quaintly outdated way in which you describe yourself.
The language of most companies, especially banks, is now based on the notion that everyone is outstanding, even the tea lady. So if you go about saying that you are merely “solid” you are begging to be fired.
You also need to drop the disapproving talk of “shameless self-promotion” and “political horse- trading”, as this is how it works. It is a market and you need to sell yourself, not just when job cuts are in the offing, but all the time.
There are two ways of playing the political game. Which one is right for you depends on your personality. Either you can take the boasting route – that is, every time you do anything good you shove it under your boss's nostrils. Or you take the sucking-up route and make yourself charming by complimenting him and generally being chummy.
The trouble with both approaches is that they require some natural flair – especially the second. Badly done, sucking up can end up alienating everyone.
I also fear it may be too late to start practising either, both because if you suddenly start behaving differently everyone will think it odd, and because your boss will probably have made his decision already.
If I were you I would do practical things like renegotiate the mortgage, get a lodger and send out your CV. And maybe start wondering if this rough, up-and-down world is really the one you want to be in for ever.
Don't even think about playing the sympathy card. Talk of your unborn child will make no difference to your boss – it will only make him want to end the interview as soon as possible.
YOUR ADVICE
Trumpeter
Blow your own trumpet. There's nothing shameful about self-promotion: it is a fundamental career skill. You worry that it would be at the expense of your colleagues, but if they cannot promote themselves that's their problem. But you shouldn't deliberately undermine them: that would be wrong (though not entirely without precedent).
Manager, male, 35
Welcome it
If it happens, embrace it and exploit it. I was made redundant twice, once at 29 and once at 39; in each case a forced change took me in an interesting new direction. I have now ended up doing the dream job – freelance motoring journalist – that the 16-year-old me yearned for with a passion before teachers, parents and others nudged me towards the orthodox path taken by so many other FT readers: Oxbridge, MBA, job in consulting and so on.
Anon, male
Fight it
Go on the attack. Take your boss aside and quietly ask to take voluntary redundancy. The likelihood is he won't pick you, as he will assume you've got a job offer elsewhere and would be loath to hand over a six-month tax-free redundancy payment if you are already out of the door. It's risky, but it might work.
Director, male
Hatchet man
In banking roles over the past 10 years or so I have made a lot of people redundant. I used to worry that they would never find other employment, but I cannot think of one who failed to find another job, even when times were tough. It's easy to say, when you feel the weight of expectation in terms of supporting your young family, but stay positive, do the best job you can for now, be philosophical if the worst happens and put yourself about in the market.
Manager, male, 54
中文見下頁
問題
我供職的銀行正大舉裁員。到目前爲止，裁員決定的做出更多地是政治交易的結果，而不是出於對能力的考量，我不知道怎麼玩這個遊戲。我在這兒工作了3 年，表現一直不錯，但算不上明星員工。如果我現在失去工作，時機會非常糟糕——我有年幼的孩子、懷孕的妻子和不堪重負的抵押貸款。我是應該跟老闆打同情牌呢？還是應該以犧牲同事爲代價，厚着臉皮進行一番自我推銷？
分析師，男，30歲
露西的回答
我很驚訝你竟然能來到倫敦金融城，並在這裏待了下來，因爲你在描述自己時使用的是那種古怪過時的方式。
大多數公司，特別是銀行，如今使用的語言都建立在這種觀念之上：每個人都很出色，即便是端茶倒水的女工。因此如果你到處去說自己只是“不錯”，那就是在要求人家解僱你。
你還需要停止使用“厚着臉皮進行自我推銷”和“政治交易”這類不滿的言辭，因爲這就是它的運作原理。這是一個市場，你需要推銷自己，不僅是在裁員的時候，而是在任何時候。
玩政治遊戲有兩種方式。哪一種適合你取決於你的個性。你可以選擇誇耀路線——即每次有什麼事情做得不錯，你都要拿到老闆鼻子底下宣傳一番。你也可以選擇拍馬屁的路線，透過奉承老闆，跟老闆套近乎，增加自己的.魅力。
這兩種方式都存在一個問題：它們需要一些天生的才能——特別是第二種。如果做得不好，拍馬屁可能最終會讓每個人都疏遠你。
我還擔心，現在開始採取任何一種方式，可能都已爲時過晚：一方面，如果你的舉止突然改變，大家會覺得奇怪，另一方面，你的老闆可能已經做出決定了。
如果我是你，我會做些實際的事情，比如重新協商抵押貸款條件，找個房客，投遞簡歷。此外，你也許應該開始考慮，這個殘酷多變的世界，是否真的是那個你想永遠待在其中的世界。