The definitions of the financial classes are changing.  More companies are changing the definitions of their jobs as well.  With outsourcing and freelancing becoming a more viable resource, the job market and the jobs available are shifting accordingly.  This means even more upheaval for people who are unprepared for a quick change in their financial environment.

The days of long tenures with powerful companies are all but gone. The time of getting a single job and working it until you retired or died is nearly at an end.  The market for jobs, an ever evolving and changing entity, has eliminated some jobs and created new ones.  This is wonderful news to the people who can evolve with the change and are ever increasing their knowledge base and their skills.  For those who are not so flexible, this could be a painful and depressing transition.

When the automobile became a household item, companies that manufactured traditional horse drawn carriages became obsolete.  All the people who had made whips, carriages, harnesses and fittings for that industry had to find other work eventually.  This is just an example of what happens continually in our marketplace.

One of the biggest changes in the last twenty years has been the increasing flow of outsourcing work. There is room for outsourcing in nearly every industry and for people who “get replaced” by cheaper contractors, it can mean devastating financial consequences.  No matter the job you hold, you need to be prepared for the next advancement in the markets.  Computers, networking, the internet and other technologies have caused the erasure of dozens of markets – but they have also created jobs in their wake.  Just like the carriage builder who left the carriage house and went to work for Ford, people today have to move with the existing tide.

One way of preparing for this shift is to hone your skills. Freelance markets are all over the Internet for people who have been laid off or their jobs have been eliminated.  If you have a marketable skill, considering a freelance career may be a good backup plan for you.  Learning a new skill or trade while you are still working your current job is never a bad idea either.  With a few exceptions such as the medical field, there is virtually no job that is one hundred percent guaranteed to never be outsourced.  Even a great many jobs in the medical field are being outsourced to talented and cheaper sources overseas.

Protect your investments and your future by investing in your education and your skills. Learning a new trade or revising your current one may be a bit of a task, but in this market, you are virtually forced to continually upgrade yourself.  If you have already felt the ax fall in your market, do not be discouraged.  A great deal of companies that are taking advantage of the freelance market will search out American freelancers to do their work.  Consulting is another field that will almost always be a viable option for those who wish to change venues.

Be ready for change, and you can soar into the next market shift!

Having a constant flow of interesting work was important to Malcolm.  He was always on the lookout for a new project that looked sexy and would reflect well on him.  Malcolm’s problem was the enormous workload that he ended up with.  He often missed deadlines because he was trying to do too much and found it really difficult to say “No”.

Although Malcolm’s problem was mainly self-made, a great many people in commerce and industry are over-stretched because others impose additional tasks on them, assuming that, if they are not saying “No”, they must be saying “Yes”. However, for so many people, saying “No” has negative implications and is not something they want to do for fear of being seen as uncooperative.

Yes, assertiveness is a skill that is still pretty rare, mainly because it is often mistaken for aggression.  To be clear aggression is the use of verbal, emotional or physical force in an unfriendly way to manipulate another person to comply with your requests.  The effect being that the other person feels that their rights have been violated.  Assertiveness, on the other hand, is the understanding and defense of your own rights.  Assertiveness is designed to protect your rights as an adult individual.

Examples of individual rights include:

1. I have the right to make mistakes and to take responsibility for them.

2. I have the right to change my mind.

3. I have the right to judge whether I am responsible for solving problems of others.

4. I have the right to say “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand” or “I don’t care”

These examples are all illustrations of a healthy adult-adult relationship with yourself not to mention an adult-adult relationship with others. Many non-assertive situations are caused by one person taking on a child-like role, acting as the victim.  This has the effect of pushing the other person in the relationship into a parent-like role where it is easy to be controlling, judgmental and critical. An aggression-compliance relationship is difficult to avoid leaving both parties feeling unhappy about the outcome.  Yes, it’s true; not only does the compliant person feel their rights have been violated but the aggressive person will feel they have, in some way, been manipulated.  “You were asking for it!”, “I had no alternative!” or “You made me do it!” are all common excuses used by aggressive people.

Malcolm had not given himself the right to say “I’ve changed my mind”, “I made a mistake” and “I need some help”.  He often felt trapped in a device of his own making and his child-like vanity was driving him to be involved in more attractive projects in order that he would look good.  Unfortunately the worker in Malcolm was not as productive as the salesman in Malcolm made him look.  In effect he was violating his own rights, manipulating himself in a way that is encouraged in today’s cut-throat business world.  Malcolm needs to look after his own rights because no-one else will.

Persuasion is a pretty basic human skill.  Small children learn how to use persuasive techniques to achieve all sorts of benefits.  They understand that parents need them to be pleasant, polite and friendly and for the small price of money, sweets or a toy they can benefit from a quiet life.  Admittedly a lot of childhood persuasion verges on blackmail “Give me a sweet or I’ll have a tantrum” but the basic building blocks are there.

Persuasive techniques in business may be a little more sophisticated but they center on the same structure:

• what needs does the target have
• what features does our offering contain
• what is the overall benefit to the target

Whether you are considering the design of a web page, a mailing campaign or press advertising, the same rules apply; convince your target audience that you have listened to them and understood fully their needs.  Design your offering to ensure that it has features that satisfy their needs and have a list of these features available but most of all be clear about the overall benefit that your target audience will feel when they use your service or product.

In his advertising, Mac Davenport, an Illinois lithographic printer focuses the headline and the large print on “We deliver full color quality…fast”.  His full design to delivery service that takes the strain from the customer is detailed in the small print to demonstrate that his business provides features that meet the client’s every need from a printing facility.

Negotiation in the business world has become a science and an art form. Everything from how you prepare to what you wear has an influence on whether you will be more or less persuasive than your opposite number.  You should expect that he or she will be well prepared and ruthless in his/her intention to get the best deal for her/his company.

Your preparation for a negotiation should include:

• Identify your goal – the real reason for the negotiation
  • Knowing the facts and having proof available
  • Agreeing (with your colleagues) your position and how much flexibility you are willing to demonstrate
  • Know which elements can be traded – e.g. faster delivery for higher cost, more features for a longer timescale, lower cost for fewer features.
  • Preparing outline contracts or agreement documents for signature

If possible, never negotiate when you are tired, always have a full stomach and an empty bladder and be comfortable.  Start and finish the meeting with a handshake and an honest, friendly smile.  Negotiations are seldom personal, they are a set-piece battle of the brains and you’ll always perform better if you keep that in mind.  If you like or dislike your opponent, you should put those feelings aside for the duration of the negotiation as they can adversely affect your performance in the “bullring”.

Auto salesman, Jake Robertson always puts on his negotiating hat to “get into” the correct frame of mind; it helps him to be resolute.