Keeping your head up during tough times at work
My employer, like many tech companies, is going through layoffs. While it’s too early to say with certainty, my role is probably fine. Even if it wasn’t, I’m not too worried about finding another employer. So, I’m not going to be writing a “please hire me” post. Instead, since a big part of being a “tech enabler” is broad across the organisation, I thought it would be interesting to share how I’ve been keeping my head up during this period. I know many colleagues, many of them very well. The tough times they face are tough times I face.
My week-to-week work prior to the layoffs is pretty diverse. I adapt to what the organisation needs - a mixture of short term tasks, and long term tasks. When there’s a problem that I see that we handle reactively, I make a note to try to turn it into something we’ve approaching proactively. Some things are fine to be reactive to, others require proactive changes to handle better next time.
These days, it’s a lot of helping individuals to understand what’s happening to them. Sometimes people just need someone to talk to. Sometimes people have questions. I don’t have all the answers, but I can ask questions on their behalf. Sometimes people need honest career advice, which I can do. I would estimate over the last few weeks, I’ve talked to around 15 people 1-to-1 on average, every day. Sometimes it’s a lot higher, sometimes it’s fewer.
It’s pretty tiring. I use a lot of my mental energy, so much so that I have no physical energy at the end of every work day. But luckily, because I’m not too worried about my own job, I can spend that energy helping others.
Days like this fall into the “reactive” category. People come to me, as more information reaches them, and I help them if I can. However, long term, I’m proactively thinking with two hats on: how can I help employees understand the information they need to make wise decisions, and how can I smooth over the cracks in the emotional safety of the company?
Some solid anchors I have:
I’m very passionate about the journalistic mission of the company, and very passionate about the employees.
Last time I mapped out the number of employees I’ve had a meaningful conversation with in the past, it’s around 250. Those I know well - around 80. Knowing people makes it easier for me to be a sympathetic ear.
I know the leaders of the tech organisation well, and trust them - and their passion for employees and the company.
I don’t have any problem challenging others - or raising concerns, which often puts me in a unique position to do so.
That responsibility obviously does not fall only to me. Nor to anyone, in fact. Sometimes, work life is difficult. That’s the nature of a capitalistic world. If there’s not enough revenue to cover the jobs we have, then those jobs have to change.
I like to remind myself of some generalities about the world:
Most people are good people, who want the same thing. Safety, happiness, and peace for themselves, their family, and their friends.
Change is constant, change can be good, change can be bad, but change will always happen. Change is temporary - maybe with long term consequences, but a fork in the road now does not limit the future, much.
In the majority of cases, people manage to live good lives. Bad things may happen, but when looking at it from the whole timeline of someone’s life, things happen to work out somehow.
In business, difficult decisions have to be made that people may be unhappy or negatively impacted by. These decisions, in Norway and Sweden, are rarely based on animosity. We have some of the most equal societies in the world - and therefore it’s not a Meta/Amazon billionaire-CEO situation.
Mammals will often stop feeding some of their litter when there are too many for the mother to sustain. If the mother tried to feed them all, then the entire litter may suffer. However, if the mother limits her feeding, then the remaining puppies will survive. In this metaphor, the mother is a company. The litter is the employees. And the milk is the cash-flow of a company. Nobody benefits if the company collapses, or goes bankrupt.
A simplistic drawing, but it represents life well. There are always moments in life that give you a new direction - a new environment. Today you are in a forest, tomorrow a desert. It’s okay if the road you’re currently on is rough, or through an area you didn’t want to be in. One day, it will be a good, well-paved road, in an area you’ve been dreaming of.
When it comes to my own energy, I’m tired. These periods have probably been some of the most difficult in my career. But every weekend, I’ve made sure to do fun things with my loved ones. Each day after work, I relax. I go to the office far longer than I usually would, just being available for people in common areas - but when I go home, I’m mostly “done” for the day. I spend the rest of the day with my loved ones, watching things, writing, coding, playing games, and cooking. Normal things, everyday things.
Since one of my biggest drivers in life is helping others, I’m more motivated than ever. Since the world at large is going through a scary, challenging time - I’m more motivated than ever in our journalistic mission. There are often things you can’t control, changes you don’t like. I have control over my own reaction, by taking action, through helping others. I’ve struggled in the past with needing to be over-prepared for every bad situation, but much like software development, resilience is a crucial skill to have.
This morning, on the tram, there was a beautiful pure moment: a woman got up to leave, nearly to the door, when another woman who had been sitting near her began yelling. I, with the other passengers, turned to look at the yelling woman. The exiting woman had forgotten her glove, the yelling woman rushed to give it to her. The tram was just about to leave, the now-gloved woman got off. As the tram departed, the gloved woman stood by the window of the yelling woman, smiling at her with complete warmth. Two strangers, who had a better day as a result of a simple interaction. Life is full of these moments. Small factors that add up, making the world more enjoyable, memorable, and genuine.
If I can help others find their gloves, then I feel I’m doing a good job - as an employee, as a colleague, as a friend, and as a human.