The bounce-back solution: is your job on the line? Here's how you can rebound from a career crisis - includes related article on recognizing potential signs for termination or career stagnation

Black Enterprise, July, 1993 by Carolyn V. Clarke

Carol N. Cooper has just about made it. After more than a dozen years in human resource management most of them spent at Somerville, N.J.-based Ethicon Inc., she is now just one notch from her department's top spot. As director of human resources for the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Cooper oversees the work of managers at seven Ethicon plants, coordinating and ensuring the consistency of programs and services offered to the company's 6,000 employees. It's a plum position, and one she relishes, particularly since getting there was a lot tougher than her resume implies.

Undetectable amid the responsibilities and achievements outlined in Cooper's impressive vitae is the struggle she encountered in the midst of her career at Ethicon. Like many ambitious professionals, Cooper says she reached a point where she felt she wasn't being viewed as a "viable and equal resource." Her frustration mounted as people who were hired after her, who she trained, who worked for her, sprang past her while she butted heads with a manager who, Cooper says, "routinely tried to negate my contributions."

The manager wasn't her only problem. Even in the midst of the go-go '80s, blacks and women were crashing against the perennial glass ceiling at Ethicon more often than not. Says Cooper: "The track record of the company seemed to be that there were certain jobs for blacks, certain jobs for women and certain jobs for black women. [White men] were making decisions about my career without ever talking to me about what I could or could not deal with."

Locked in battle with her manager and pigeonholed by entrenched corporate views about minorities and women, Cooper found herself treading water. She knew that, if she did nothing, inevitably she would go under. Thanks to a willingness to reposition herself, a bit of luck (her manager ultimately retired) and a lot of determination, she forged a win-win situation out of what, for others at Ethicon, led to the exit door.

In this era of manic focus on the bottom line at companies large and small, no one can afford to lag behind or fall out of favor with the powers controlling advancement. Maybe you've been placed on probation, given three months to get your act together. Perhaps you've merely had a tactful review implying your work could improve. Or, you may simply not be getting along with your boss for reasons having nothing at all to do with your performance. Whichever scenario fits, it's time to act if you're in a job you want to keep.

Take Action Now

If you've noted a recent shift in the way you or your work are being perceived, don't wait to swing things back in your favor. The key to keeping your career on track is being proactive, and "the sooner the better," says Ed Flowers, director of human resources at Fisher Controls International Inc. in St. Louis, Mo.

Cooper did all the right things. She assessed her situation and herself. She took stock of her strengths and maintained a can-do attitude. She highlighted those strengths and introduced strategies for improvement at meetings she initiated with everyone she could, her difficult supervisor included.

Rather than bucking lackluster opportunities - lateral moves in lieu of promotions, for instance - she made the most of them. Staying focused on her goals, she apprised others of the contributions she envisioned and felt capable of making. Among them was the implementation of a companywide intervention on managing diversity, which Cooper oversaw in 1988. With a consultant, Ethicon worked to examine and destroy internal barriers that were inhibiting the progress of blacks and women at the company.

Many were skeptical of the program, recalls Cooper, but it worked. Having racked up three promotions in the last five years, Cooper says, "People have recognized that I have a lot to contribute to help the company be a viable entity. If they hadn't allowed me in the game, they would have lost that contribution." But Cooper wasn't just "allowed" in. She swung into motion and forged her way through.

If your job is already on the line, then you'll face a stiff challenge in attempting to turn the tide. Flowers says that in his experience, even 80% of those who develop an action plan fail to save their jobs. Why? Typically, they waited too long. But there's always that 20% chance to shoot for, and it may not be too late for you. Whether your aim is to save your job, or merely improve your company standing, here's a plan of action to help put you back on track to success.

1. Evaluate Your Work Environment

Crucial to your success is being keenly aware of your company's culture and how you fit in. Even if you're a 20-year veteran there, you must recognize that your work environment is an evolving, constantly changing entity, particularly now when so many companies are restructuring their staffs, reshaping their images and revamping their rules and procedures. Don't allow yourself to fall out of the loop.

For African-Americans especially, this is essential, says Melvin T. Williams Jr., co-founder and president of Delphi Consulting Group Inc., a White Plains, N.Y., management consulting and training firm. "Many black folks have learned at our grandfather's knees, if you work hard and you keep clean, you'll do well. In today's corporate environment, that's not enough," says Williams. "You have to understand the mind-set of your organization to succeed. No matter how sophisticated and capable in their jobs people are, if they can't get a handle on what's going on culturally in their companies, they're going to be misreading cues right and left."