Be crucial, not irreplaceable: Aalap Desai of TGTHR on surviving layoffs

Let’s talk layoffs. Even if you don’t want to.

The last year has surprised us, and we’re expecting more surprises this year. This, as always, has triggered the latest layoff season in advertising. It’s less publicised, but it happens at many agencies. I’m not sure why it’s not publicised. Maybe we’re just numb and deaf to it now. But it is happening. There is no doubt about it.

It’s an uncomfortable conversation to have, but we need to discuss this. In my limited experience, I’ve observed that there are two kinds of management. One type of management is focused on preventing layoffs, while the other is actively planning for them.

I think the first one contains most agencies, or we'd be in flames. In the case of the latter, I’ve had a fair bit of experience with layoffs, and I’ve observed a step-by-step process for recognising them. This is not rocket science; it’s just painfully predictable after the first time you experience it. Yes, it stupidly repeats itself every year too.

The process begins with management randomly hinting to leadership (you) in September of the previous year about how bad the numbers are and how we must fix them or layoffs will occur. False emphasis is given to fixing them.

In many cases that I was unfortunate enough to witness, this part of the plan is executed to enable a weird conversation starter a few months later when they want the layoffs done. Something that starts with, “Like we discussed/have been discussing…blah blah blah.”

The irony of this conversation is that, in many cases, it doesn’t matter what progress you show after these conversations; the layoffs will still happen. It is part of the plans for next year, and now the progress doesn’t matter.

After that decision, they are just planning to execute it efficiently, more than paying attention to the numbers being better or progressing. Like Hansie Cronje would say, “The match is fixed.”

A lot of you might look at this paragraph and retrace similar conversations and closed decisions in the past year with you. I hope you can’t, because then it confirms that you don’t work for that kind of leadership. God forbid you do. Please recognize this pattern if you can, and do something about it.

Unfortunately, if you are in this situation, those layoff conversations are happening with you today.

Let’s get real about that part of the equation. However absurd this may sound, some leaders feel irreplaceable because they derive power from being in the decision discussions with management.

Aalap Desai, TGTHR

Just think about it; most of those conversations are revenue-related, right? And the biggest salary package in that room, from your department, is? Yours.

I guarantee that when people above your pay grade were crunching numbers for the layoffs, a conversation about you happened. Just not with you. If you are still here, then either they need you to pull this off, or, in most cases, it’ll be a bigger loss to lose you. Mostly, it is a combination of both.

The reality is that if you are laying people off, it is a sad day. The agency being at this point, and you being part of the conversation, is the biggest show of weakness the organisation has ever seen.

You’re letting people go. It doesn’t get worse. I agree, understand, and acknowledge that, in most agency cases, the layoff situation is complicated and unavoidable. It is mostly because the network needs to survive so that they can hold on to most of their employees.

However, just because it's for the greater good doesn't mean that the situation is good. It is bad. Period. It’s a sad moment in your tenure there. Please don’t feel powerful.

I’m more of a realist than a pessimist, but this conversation calls for this kind of thing. That also calls for any kind of solution that we can discuss here. If you are a leader and you are dealing with this situation, please try to be kind.

Don’t make it a matter-of-fact conversation. Please talk to people outside the conference room and check if they are okay. You can’t solve for everyone, but try and at least talk to as many as you can. Words have a greater impact than we may realise.

Last but not least, in my experience, one way to avoid being in the same situation next year is to try and aim to be important, not irreplaceable. There is a big difference. Irreplaceable is a one-person game. 

Aalap Desai, TGTHR

As a leader, if you truly want to avoid this situation, my humble advice is to become a team player.

Turn this into an 'everyone' game by being important to all the work that is happening in the agency. If you are laying off people this year, the work needs you. Become the push behind one project, the brain behind another, the hands behind yet another, and so on. You know the drill. What this will eventually do is get more work done.

More work means more revenue, more awards, and more confidence in your voice when someone from management drops a hint about layoffs next September. Then, if you’ve been important enough to the work, and the numbers are delivered, ask the management to…