The Counter-Intuitive Way I Applied to End Career Uncertainty as an Employee in the Manufacturing Industry

Make yourself less special by empowering others to do what you can do

Photo by kate.sade on Unsplash

Career uncertainty is something I struggled with for the first 5 years of my career in the manufacturing industry.

But after more than 15 years in the industry, you learn a thing or two to separate yourself from everyone else. Small size, medium size, large sized companies — I’ve tried them all. The common employee belief I learned is this:

Job security is highly dependent on your ability to follow procedures.

That’s true to a certain extent, but that framework makes you act in “defense mode” unconsciously.

“Defense mode” means, you put more effort into avoiding mistakes (and blame) than figuring out ways to innovate on what exists because it’s risky. You see a form of this whenever an employee strictly follows the standard procedures (instead of outperforming it). Or that employee who brings in other colleagues to hear their complaints about their team’s inefficiency (instead of proposing improvements to their leaders). That’s how I used to be…

But the route of “obedience and perfection” (to preserve my job security) is not as efficient as it was in the ‘90s.

There’s a much more effective way to do that today, however, it’s counter-intuitive: Figure out a way to make yourself less special.

It’s the opposite of the “old” approach to preserving job security — keeping whatever makes you special a secret.

More often than not, those “secrets” only benefit you — not the team. I’ve seen experienced people get laid off…along with their special-ness. Why? My guess is: what used to make them valuable to the company, is no longer valued by the company. Hoarding productivity secrets didn’t help much.

To avoid that, do the opposite: Aim to make everyone else special.

You heard the saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link”.

Therefore, the goal is to make every link in the chain to be as strong as they could be. It’s far more valuable for the company to have every team member be a high performer than relying on that one unicorn who keeps everything together. That’s what I intend to do with my fellow underlings.

Below are the steps I’m taking to achieve that:

1. Get good at what you do (by swallowing your ego).
2. Diminish the efficiency of Standard Operating Procedures (without getting in trouble).
3. Empower others to do what you can do.

Here’s how each step works…

Step 1 — Get super good at what you do (by swallowing your ego)

Nobody likes to make mistakes — but that’s our ego in play.

The more we listen to it, the more we forget that mistakes lead to growth. Now, purposely making a mistake (for the sake of making a mistake) is dumb. I’m referring to mistakes that happen as an unfortunate result of giving your best effort. Realize that when you’re not making mistakes, chances are, you’re not trying hard enough.

In other words, you’re being complacent.

I get it. It’s comfortable but it’s a trap.

Because the moment you become comfortable is also the moment you start caring less. It’s the feeling you naturally get when you rarely make a mistake. Your ego injects you with so much confidence you get blinded by it.

This reminds me of that time when I called for a rushed meeting with my boss.

I was too excited to share my progress because I finished the project — much sooner than the deadline I was given. However, three minutes into my presentation, my boss interrupted, “RJ, this is not what I was looking for…”. The meeting ended in 10 minutes.

I was so embarrassed that that moment left an imprint on how I approach projects today — and pretty much anything in life:

When things are comfortable, it’s time to level things up!

And the best time to make improvements to your process is when things are not stressful. Because levelling up comes with a risk — a minor stress that wouldn’t cause you to burn out. Level up so that when a more stressful situation comes your way, you’re more prepared to take it on.

This approach is what accelerated my growth within the team.

It all starts with getting your ego in check.

It puts you in a better position to accelerate your career development. How? You’re more likely to take calculated risks and dwell less frequently on your mistakes. Because you will make mistakes. And because you’re making mistakes, you’re also given more opportunities to learn about the subtle details of your process you never paid attention to before. The more you understand, the more effective you’ll be at what you do.

Keep in mind: it’s a corporate job — mistakes are not as risky as being a freelancer or a contractor or a solopreneur.

Take advantage of that!

Step 2 — Diminish the efficiency of Standard Operating Procedures (without getting in trouble)

Standard Operating Procedures make your efforts invisible.

Relying on Standard Operating Procedures invites a quiet-quitting-level of effort. Following it can help you avoid getting fired, but it’s not enough to protect you from getting laid off. Its purpose is to ensure the company gets the minimum value it needs from you.

Everyone follows it.

Therefore, if you’re wondering why you’re not getting paid “your worth”, there’s a high chance no one in your team notices how you perform better than the standard procedures:

When your efforts do not stand out from other team members, you cannot expect your leaders to see you as someone ‘more valuable’ than the others.

When the value you create is about the same as everybody else on the team, it’s a lot more difficult to avoid getting laid off when the company budget is not enough to afford you.

The young-inexperienced me failed to realize that back in 2011.

I felt like I wasn’t valued by my leaders despite the extra effort I put in. It didn’t occur to me that tasks are almost always repetitive for someone who has a non-leadership role…in an office environment…in a corporate company. Standing out is difficult. My salary raise reflected that. I’ve been getting the same raise 3 times in a row — it’s as if the value I provide is not improving.

Unable to change my circumstances, I quit.

Now, I do not suggest you quit when you’re experiencing what I experienced. Before you even think about quitting (because your leaders don’t seem to care), I’d suggest you ask yourself the following first:

• Is my process more efficient than the standard procedures?
• Is everyone aware of my contributions?
• Is my performance this year better than last year’s?

If the answer is “No” to any of these questions, it’s harder for your leaders to notice your potential value.

Here’s what I did to avoid the same fate as my young self:

1. I pushed myself to get in the habit of spotting problems in our process and solving them.
2. I spent extra time on the side to learn skills or ask for opportunities to help without asking to get paid extra.
3. I learned to ask specific questions (to my leaders) to clarify their requests or whatever task they assigned to me.

These 3 approaches trained me to act more like a problem-solver and less of a complainer. Because of them, I learned how to create my brand at work. And when you have a “brand”, you stand out from other team members.

And when you stand out, you increase your chances of avoiding the “layoff list” and getting a bigger chunk of the salary raise budget.

Step 3 — Empower others to do what you can do

I’ve experienced working with older folks about how they operate and manage to secure their job for a long time.

What I learned is that they prefer to hoard their secrets. They see the workplace as a platform for competition for their productivity. This could be a process, a framework, a style, a tool, or pretty much anything that makes you more efficient than everybody else. Because without their secrets, they’ll perform like everybody else. And when they’re performing like everybody else, their job may not be as secure as they’d think.

But that’s an outdated thinking.

I remember in 2008 when I was a new hire, and the person in the cubicle in front of me started packing her stuff. I wondered, “I’m new and I get to stay?! Should I say something?”. I pretended like I wasn’t seeing anything but deep inside, I was worried I might be next. Here’s what that moment made me realize:

Your age and duration of experience don’t matter much if it does not translate into monetary value to the company you work for.

Most of us take pride in our accomplishments.

They’re proof we are worth more than what our role says. However, none of these accomplishments, awards, certificates or degrees mean much if it’s not benefiting the company or the team. Because when it comes to gauging your value, it’s less about how you see yourself and more about how the company sees you.

Therefore, whenever you keep — whatever makes you special — to yourself, you’re limiting the value you could’ve provided for the company.

Leaders care about their team’s performance more than the performance of each member. Instead of using your expertise to raise your own value, it would be more valuable (to your leaders) if you could raise everyone else's value. You can achieve that by empowering everyone to do what you can do.

In other words, make yourself “less special” by creating a new norm.

Position yourself as a trendsetter. It’s a form of leadership without the title.

When you approach your corporate office job that way, you’re more likely to stand out — and feel more valued by your company. And when you feel more valued, you automatically feel more secure about your job. In addition to that, you also unlock new skills, which, would make you even more valuable.

Again, here are 3 ways you can do to end your career uncertainty:

1. Get in the habit of taking calculated risks.
2. Act more like a problem-solver and less like a complainer.
3. Lead without the title.

To kickstart this process, start viewing “job security” as the preservation of employment in the industry — not the preservation of employment in a company.

Good luck!