Tough Cookies Time in the Labor Market: Be Smart About How and What You Say
Two communication-related topics people need to be aware of starting yesterday:
Employers tolerating insubordination and unprofessionalism for the sake of talent retention is over.
AI has provided employers with unprecedented leverage in the labor market.
If you disagree with these assertions, it’s tough cookies time for you. Those of you protesting in your minds (or out loud) that any or both of these changing conditions are not right, amoral, or unethical should take a step back and consider your position.
Stop complaining and fretting over these changes. It will likely make you a candidate to join ranks of those unemployed. Minds have been made up. Policies set. What you can control are your next steps to demonstrate you matter as an employee. This needs to be your communication focus.
Allowances for employees to complain and petition granted by employers are being revoked. Their expectations have become pretty simple. Do you job. Your opinions regarding current events and corporate governance topics are becoming largely null and void. Same goes with workplace demonstrations or demands that companies make statements on «insert cause here».
AI is not going anywhere. As an employee, your best strategy is to start thinking like a leader regarding how AI can provide competitive and financial advantages. Then to act on them.
At this point, AI has one of two roles. It replaces or augments talent held by people. Can your work function be replaced by AI? It’s time to pick up new skills to offset that reality. Can AI help you do a better job in quality and speed? Upskill on how to do this today and everyday.
How you communicate tomorrow and following days can impact if you have a job or not. Even if you abhor these new circumstances, fall back to reviewing your desired outcome. Put your feelings off to the side in a soundproof box. What is your desired outcome? What do you need to do to achieve it?
That should govern your decisions and actions. Not your emotions. You don’t have to like what you do at work. You do have to make that paycheck signer happy. That is part of a being a professional (not including illegal and/or unethical actions). There really only four choices:
Make a good faith effort to meet current employer expectations
Find another job
Start your own business.
Personal destruction
Any of the first three are reasonable. Not so much option four. It’s your call.
For additional background, see Wall Street Journal Article ‘Everybody’s Replaceable’: The New Ways Bosses Talk About Workers” @ https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/workplace/corporate-bosses-workers-culture-changing-cbd19c2c?st=BZoYYM&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink