大厂裁员背后：你最重要的事情，是让自己变得不可替代

每次大型互联网公司曝出裁员的消息，都能在社会上引起一阵骚动。至于裁员的原因，除了整体经济形势不佳导致企业生存压力加大，因而被迫裁员，实际上也有部分原因在于员工自身。毕竟，如果你对公司来说可有可无，自然难逃被裁的结局。那么，你知道自己的价值到底有多大吗？你又如何才能成为公司里不可替代的人才？    

东南亚的一位银行家想要让一家汽车租赁公司的员工购买其雇主的二手车。然而，由于受到了现有产品组合、潜在风险或者监管准则的限制，没有一个业务单位能够把这样的一个产品整合起来。但是，这位银行家的一名同事在公司的各个单位之间进行了牵线，结果成功地让两个业务单位共同设计并推出解决方案，从而为公司创造了价值。

A banker in Southeast Asia wanted to allow employees of a car rental agency to buy used cars from the employer. But not a single business unit was able to put together that product. Different units were stopped either by the existing product portfolio, the underlying risk, or regulatory guidelines. One of the banker’s colleagues, however, was able to facilitate valuable introductions across the company. That led to the solution being co-designed and jointly offered by two business units.

这一新式金融产品的成功，要归功于这位银行家的非正式权力。尽管非正式权力跟正式职责毫无关联，但是它能帮助你调动资源、推进改革，还能让你为组织和你自己创造价值。在现代的职场中，非正式权力已经变得越来越重要，因为它能确保你在组织中的地位。

Credit the success of this new financial product to the banker’s informal power. Informal power — which is unrelated to your formal title — can enable you to mobilize resources, drive change, and create value for the organization as well as yourself. And in the modern workplace, informal power is increasingly pivotal and can secure your place within your organization.

为什么呢？如今，随着公司对客户的需要作出更精确的反应，工作流也正从专业的垂直领域迁移到各个垂直领域之间的空隙。在具有跨职能团队、客户经理或者矩阵结构的组织中，这一趋势很重要。即便是规模较小的组织，也已经变得更为以项目为导向。

Why? Nowadays, workflow is migrating from specialized verticals to the white spaces between the verticals as companies respond more precisely to customer needs. This trend matters in organizations with cross-functional teams, account managers, or a matrix structure. Even smaller organizations are increasingly project driven.

此外，有越来越多的组织在组织以外跟供应商、分销商和客户合作。许多公司也正在以众包的方式进行构思和完成工作。我们也跟自由职业者、第三方甚至竞争对手合作。

And more and more, work is done outside the organization in collaboration with suppliers, distributors, and customers. Companies are crowdsourcing ideas and work. We engage with freelancers and third parties. Sometimes we even collaborate with competitors.

事实上，不管你是在组织中促成跨部门合作，还是与外部利益相关者合作，你的正式职位、下属和正式权力不一定能让你变得高效。

The fact is, your formal title, direct reports, and formally granted authority do not always carry you far when working across your own organization and with outside stakeholders.

你是否具备了创造价值、完成任务所需要的非正式权力？以下是进行权力梳理的方法：

Do you have the informal power to generate value and get things done? Here’s how to do a power audit:

第一步：列出十个最有能力帮助你完成工作的联系人。这些人可以是组织中的人，也可以是组织以外的人。

Step 1: List your top 10 contacts that enable you to get work done. These contacts can be either internal or external to your organization.

第二步：给每个联系人打上一分到十分的分数，以表示你对他们的依赖程度。如果某个人能给予很大的价值，而且很难替代，你就要给他打高分。你要从广泛的角度思考他们所给予的价值，这包括了：事业上的建议、情绪上的支持、日常活动上的帮助、各类信息、资源的供应、与利益相关者的接触。

Step 2: For each contact, assign a score from 1 to 10 indicating how much you depend on them. If a contact provides a lot of value and is also difficult to replace, assign a high score. Think broadly about the value your contacts offer. This includes career advice, emotional backing, support with daily activities, information, and access to resources or stakeholders.

第三步：进行反向打分。你要从别人的角度给自己打分。你要估计你给别人带去的价值和别人把你替代掉的难度；为自己打分时，一定要诚实。

Step 3: Do the same in reverse. Assign a score to yourself from others’ perspectives. Approximate how much value you offer your contacts and how difficult it would be to replace you. Be honest.

接着，你要在进行权力梳理时注意一些危险信号。出现这类情况，意味着你缺乏非正式权力，因此有被替代掉的风险。

Next, look for red flags in your power audit. These could indicate that you lack informal power and are replaceable.

你的人脉网络是不是都在同一个团队、职能部门、产品单位或者一栋办公楼里工作？如果是这样的话，你能产生的价值也就只局限于你的工作职责内的基本要求。

Do all of your contacts work in one team, function, product unit, or office building? This could indicate a limited ability to generate value beyond the basic requirements of your job description.

你的人脉给予你的价值，是不是高于你所回馈的价值？这样的关系是很难长远维持下去的。不对称的相互依赖关系，意味着这份关系的权力由别人掌握着。

Do your contacts provide you with more value than you return? Such relationships are difficult to sustain in the long run. Asymmetries in dependence indicate others hold the power in a relationship.   

你的依赖分数是不是都很低？这可能意味着，你交到的人脉有很多只不过是你来我往的交易。相比之下，高度依赖性的关系，给你们之间的互动赋予了不可估算的价值。

Are your dependence scores low throughout? This could indicate the prevalence of transactional relationships, ones often driven by quid pro quo. In contrast, high-dependence relationships can be imbued with values and relational dynamics that are not simply calculated.

你给予和获得的价值是不是只局限于几个人脉？如果你失去了这些人脉，或者你和他们的关系发生了变化，你就有危险了。一位高管告诉我，他的人脉网络的价值都是由两个重要人脉带来的。遗憾的是，其中一位去世了，另一位又搬去了另一个地区，结果这名高管的非正式权力就在一夜之间消失了。

Is all of the value you give or receive concentrated in a couple of contacts? You could be vulnerable if you lose these contacts or your relationship changes. One senior executive shared with me that two key contacts drove the value in his network. Unfortunately, one passed away and the other moved to a different region. This executive’s informal power shut down overnight.

那么，做完了非正式权力的梳理之后，你要怎样提升自己的地位呢？

So, now that you’ve conducted your informal power audit, how can you improve your standing?

首先，如果你的评分不理想，一个纠正的好方法就是为你的人脉提供价值，以在彼此之间建立关系。你要问问自己：你能给予他们什么样的价值呢？其中一个方法，就是学会并不断提升一套技能，让别人重视你的贡献。接着，你要超出自己的正式职责，积极地利用你的技能来帮助别人；不要当一个没人认识的专家。

First of all, a prime way to rectify unfavorable power audit scores is to earn relationships by delivering value to your contacts. Ask yourself: what value can you deliver to them? One way is to develop and continuously improve upon a skill set that leads others to value your contributions. Then proactively use your skills to help others, well beyond the demands of your formal role. You don’t want to be the expert whom nobody knows.

第二，你要让你的工作帮助你。你要对自己的工作职责进行管理，这样你就能为组织中的数个职能部门、客户、外部合作伙伴和监管机构的工作流做出贡献。当有跨职能活动的时候，你要自愿参加。你要把横向移动看作是晋升的一种方法。只要把自己定位在数个工作流的交叉点，你就能够接触到组织中的各个不同领域的群体，并在向他们学习的过程中为他们提供价值。

Second, let your job help you. Manage your job description so that you can contribute to the workflows of multiple functions inside the organization as well as customers, outside partners, or regulators. Volunteer for cross-functional initiatives. View lateral transfers as a move up. By positioning yourself at the intersection of workflows, you position yourself to meet, learn from, and deliver value to a variety of diverse groups in the organization.

第三，你要进一步认识你的利益相关者和合作者。某件事对你来说可能很容易做到，可是对他们来说却具有很大的价值——这一点可能会让你惊讶。有时候是因为我们相信，我们要么必须为别人作出巨大的贡献，要么必须给别人帮上大忙。但是，只要深入认识别人，我们就有了实用的替代方案可供选择。此外，建立人脉的时候，不要把自己局限在专业领域。

Third, get to know your stakeholders and collaborators better as individuals. You may be surprised how something that is rather easy for you to do carries significant value for them. Sometimes we freeze because we believe that we have to offer really significant contributions or do massive favors for others. Knowing others well can present us with helpful alternatives. And don’t limit yourself to the professional domain.

在工作以外，你除了要加入专业协会之外，也要加入社交协会。参加共同活动能帮助我们扩大人脉网络，使我们的人脉不只局限于一群孤立的直接同事而已；它所发挥的影响，比我们想象中还大。我的一位朋友是一名企业家；他是从他的游泳俱乐部同伴那里，首次学到了风险投资公司选择与资助生命科学公司时所用到的标准。最终，这位同伴成为了他的第一个投资者。

Outside of work, join social associations as well as professional ones. Shared activities have an underestimated impact on expanding our networks beyond an insular group of immediate coworkers. A friend of mine, an entrepreneur, first learned from his swim club partner about venture capital firms’ criteria for selecting and funding life science companies. That partner ended up being his first investor.

你的价值不应只局限于你在组织中执行正式职责的能力。假如是这样的话，你可能要有麻烦了——公司迟早会有一位更便宜、更年轻、更聪明的竞争对手加入。只要能为不同利益相关者创造价值，并且让自己变得无可替代，你才能在组织内外为自己开创各种可能性。而且，你这样做也会为公司增添价值。

Your value should not be defined solely by your ability to perform a formal organizational role. If it is, you are likely in trouble — sooner or later, a cheaper, younger, and smarter competitor will join the company. By creating value for diverse stakeholders and making yourself irreplaceable, you open possibilities for yourself within the organization and beyond. And, by doing so, you add value to your company.

关键词：自管理

马克沁·赛奇（Maxim Sytch）| 文

马克沁·赛奇是密歇根大学罗斯商学院的管理学和组织学副教授。他的研究重点有：社交关系网络、组织内部与组织之间的影响力动态。

欧明谓 | 译    周强 | 编校