Chaos doesn't always mean personal disaster and hardship. It could also bring opportunity. Look beneath the flooding hull to see if the damage can be repaired and the boat righted.
James E. Challenger, president of international outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, advises veteran job searchers to pursue troubled companies. Contrary to what most job seekers believe, Challenger contends troubled companies that have made cuts or layoffs have a more urgent need for qualified people than do many economically fit companies.
Of the discharged managers Challenger counsels, some 40 percent get jobs at troubled companies. His advice: Disregard adverse news about a company-unless, of course, it is news of impending bankruptcy. Negative reports foster the illusion that no job possibilities exist at the company, when in fact the opposite is true. Bad news about layoffs is a signal of urgent opportunity. An alarm is blaring, cannons are firing. The company needs an infusion of talent-and pronto. You could be part of the new management regime.
HOW HEROES ARE BORN
How many businesspeople emerge as household names, their face as familiar as a movie starts?
But what's wrong with being a local hero? Save a failing company and you'll get more than a pat on the back and congratulations from well-wishers. You stand to get a powerful management position with a salary and perks to match. And what about hard-won respect? You're the godlike turnaround artist who helped bring a company back from the dead. Beyond securing yourself a powerhouse position, you've saved other people's jobs.
Imagine throwing caution to the wind and joining GM or IBM during 1993 when it was slashing jobs and restructuring its operations with a vengeance. GM's John F. Smith and IBM's new chair man and chief executive Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. were hell-bent on saving their companies. The world watched while these two men did their magic. Not ordinary companies by any stretch of the imagination, GM and IBM were the proud superstars of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the standard bearers of American industrialism.
Together, the two companies employed more than 880,000 people in scores of cities and towns. IBM led the world in patent holdings and GM headed an industry that accounted for one in eight jobs in the United States. But like hundreds of others, the two multinational companies grew fat and unwieldy. Their commanding officers went about the nasty job of saving the company by dumping dead weight, buoying the losses with superstars who could do the work of five. Since 1986, IBM has shrunk its payroll from 406,000 to its present slim and trim 215,000.
Gerstner created cost-cutting task forces, dramatically improving efficiency and eliminating waste. An immediate result was speeding up the turnover of IBM's computer inventory. In 1993, the $10 billion inventory of computers turned over 2.8 times a year. In 1994, the inventory turned over 3.5 times, translating to about $2 billion in savings.
eginning in 1991, GMs Smith aggressively cut costs by shrinking employment in North America by 74,000, or 23 percent. In 1991, the company lost $10.7 billion, before interest and taxes. Making a dramatic turnaround, in 1994, it made a $362 million profit. Fortune magazine praised the giant automaker, calling it "GMs $11 Billion Turnaround."
Imagine if you were one of the chosen recruits in either company. You gambled on its superstar managers turning the companies around. Your instincts proved right. Your reward? A starring position on the new management team.
But there is a flip side you ought to consider as well. Putting Walter Mitty's fantasies aside, you could still go down with the ship. No matter how much effort you put out, sometimes nothing can be done to save a sinking company. If you think you lost out and made a poor decision, you're dead wrong. Either way, you win. Crisis presents opportunities available at no other time.
THREE ADVANTAGES OF CRISIS
Beyond making you a hero, crisis presents three other opportunities, according to Meyers.
1. Chance to demonstrate talents.
If anyone secretly thought you were out of touch, dried up, and (I shudder to use the word) "old," here's a ready-made opportunity to prove you are a force to be reckoned with.
Taking advantage of a crisis can be likened to taking over for the ailing star of a successful Broadway play. If the understudy gives a brilliant performance, his or her career can be launched in one night. Sadly, many talented actors never have the opportunity to prove themselves. Getting a chance to be part of the team rescuing a sick company is not very different.
2. High-priced skills.
A couple of decades ago, the term crisis management didn't exist. Today, prestigious business schools such as Carnegie Mellon and Wharton actually teach it. They're led by people like Meyers, who salvaged companies on the brink of disaster.
Thanks to rampant corporate turmoil, crisis management has become a high-priced specialty. Invest 6 months working for a troubled company and you've got a crash course in the new science. Better yet, you've captured marketable skills.
3. Contacts and leads.
Crisis is the ultimate networking experience. Do the best you can and you won't be forgotten. Virtually every contact-company brass, employees, vendors, clients, and customers-is a potential networking lead. Keep notes, get phone numbers, and most important stay in touch.
JUNGLE TACTICS FOR THE HEARTY
Those are the compelling advantages of working for a troubled company. No matter how potentially rewarding, however, it's not for everyone. Many of us don't have the temperament and nerves to endure nonstop stress. It's nothing to be ashamed of, either. If you don't have the constitution, don't even consider it. Here's what you can expect.
1. Daily uncertainty.
Every day is different. Gone is the comforting security of daily routines. During periods of crisis, new rules apply. It's a time of intense experimentation, with management trying everything possible to get the company on a profitable track. If you aren't flexible, you won't cut it.
2. Long hours.
The old 9-to-5 regimen goes right out the window. If you plan on giving this experience your best performance, expect to put in 10- and 12-hour days, maybe more. You might be working weekends too. Until the situation is resolved, or the company is buried, your job becomes your life. That fact had better be a turn-on, rather than a turnoff.
3. Mounting responsibility.
The more involved you become in the process of saving a sinking ship, the more you'll be doing. Chances are there's been a series of layoffs, making you part of a skeleton crew. That means you're doing the work of two, maybe three people.
What's more, your responsibilities could change daily. One day you're directing sales and marketing efforts; the next you're super vising the loading dock or purchasing operations. You're a jack-of-all-trades, the consummate master of everything you touch.
4. Numbing deadlines and short tempers.
With creditors, bankers, and angry customers breathing down your neck, there's a good chance you're fighting the clock so that doors aren't padlocked for good. Your job is to help get the company back on track, producing exceptional products or services. That's a tall order when morale is poor and remaining staffers are waiting for the right moment to jump ship. Not everyone can take the kind of chances you can afford to take.
Expect new stress factors every day. A company warding off creditors is in a battle zone. Keeping your cool isn't easy. There will be days when nothing goes right and you rue the decision to get involved. But there'll also be days when everything goes right and you're experiencing incredible adrenaline highs.
Still interested? If you are, give it a try. One thing is certain: You won't be bored. Who's to say you won't walk in one day and discover your office furniture was repossessed or the doors padlocked by the sheriff's office? No joke. It's happening every day throughout corporate America.
Can you endure this kind of angst 7 days a week? If you're uncertain, find safer ground offering a more secure future.
FINDING TROUBLED COMPANIES
These days, finding troubled companies is easy. The signposts of trouble are all around. You'll find plenty just by reading the daily papers, watching the news, and staying plugged into your industry.
Warning signs: Planned layoffs, cash flow problems, sliding prof its, product failures, facility closings, and rapid declines in stock prices, to name a few.
Making contact isn't difficult either. The fastest way is through a connection. The next-best strategy is a letter to the president or a major decision maker. Get right to the point. Sell the skills you think the company needs to overcome the crisis. Follow up in 5 days if people don't get back to you first. If you're lucky, you'll be called immediately. The response: "It takes guts to take a chance on an ailing company. When can we meet?"
