Needing to cut staff is a painful process as those colleagues one has decided to terminate often take the news personally or feel unjustly victimized or insufficiently appreciated.

Here are some guidelines for that unpleasant meeting in which you announce the unfortunate news that the company will no longer require your subordinate’s services.

1)  Prepare yourself in writing
You should have a short document prepared in which the reasons for the employee’s termination are clearly enumerated and the conditions of termination are clearly spelled out. You should have a work certificate already prepared and all financial arrangements already formulated.

2)  Prepare your message
Write out the ‘script’ that you intend to follow during the termination interview and also what you intend to say to the rest of your remaining team.  Stay brief and stay on subject.

3)  Prepare the follow-up steps
Meetings should be set up with your HR department as well as your jurists.  Make sure your terminated employee has handed over all relevant dossiers and company property.

4)  Shield yourself emotionally
Don’t take anything personally.
Remember that your role objective is the survival and prosperity of the company. The decision you have taken is rational, not emotional. Accept that you will be somewhat anxious and discuss the decision if necessary with your hierarchy or with HR.

5)  Anticipate your Employee’s reactions
People rarely react calmly to being told they are being terminated.  On the contrary, they can become angry, frustrated,
irrational, tearful. Understand that and prepare yourself to take the shock of their reaction and manage it as best you can.

To Do
Invite your employee to have a seat
Get right to the point
Explain your reasons
Wait for his reaction and listen attentively
Re-explain your decision if necessary
Be clear on the date of the end of the contract and on the time at which he must leave the company premises.
Give an overview of the departure/separation conditions
Do not overextend the meeting — the meeting should take no more than 15 minutes.

Not to do
Don’t make friendly greetings like ‘Hi, how’s it going? or ‘Pleasure to see you’”
Don’t make small talk
No humor either
Don’t defend yourself, don’t justify yourself, don’t raise your voice
Don’t threaten
Do not discuss the future of other colleagues
Don’t sympathize
Don’t try to minimize the situation
Don’t take take his reaction personally
Refrain from platitudes (no remarks like, ‘I understand what you must be feeling…’, ‘you’ll see, it will all be OK…’ , etc)

Here is what might happen on site:

1. Prepare thoroughly for the interview. Gather extensive information about the company. Don’t give the impression of having just got off a flying saucer or that don’t care about being invited! To be well-prepared requires that you also plan your travel to arrive on time, dress appropriately, etc. Think carefully about how to present your assets and prepare your own questions.

2. Your state of mind: you have an opportunity for an interesting conversation with a person who needs to feel of interest too. Be happy and positive. It is a worthwhile experience. You will meet someone, learn about a company and get to know more about the job; in addition you will  refine your sales skills through marketing yourself.

3. Talk in a decided tone, greet with a smile and
shake hands neither too soft nor too strong. A few words
kind, some light conversation. Being natural always
gives the best impression. Being natural does not mean being rude!
It is worth training to introduce yourself to others.

4. Concentrate on the first few minutes. There is evidence that it is during
the first four minutes that’s one creates an impression, either of sympathy or antipathy.

5. Be careful of what you are saying. Watch your flow words and complete sentences to give the impression of having everything under control. Look your interviewer in the eyes, even if thick glasses make them difficult to find.

6. Do not interrupt.

7. Even if the job description bores you to tears, show your interest by asking questions if you nevertheless need a job.

8. Do not monopolize the conversation. Observe your interviewer, and if you note some impatience, shorten your questions.

9. Do not show humble or arrogance, don’t be  too stiff or too confident, you should behave as if you were talking to a trading partner.
You did not come to beg and you have something to offer.

10. Do not forget the essential goal of the interview: do not just
answer questions, take the opportunity to “sell” your skills and achievements.
Add concrete examples.

Be honest and remember that lying requires an excellent memory and is tricky as people can check what you are saying…
Of course, it helps when you can convince yourself before convincing others…

To turn those 10 rules into a golden job, do not forget that:
- It is quite possible that the personal assistant is watching you. Many leaders attach great importance
 to the intuition of their secretary… Needless to say that you should arrive on time for the interview (about 10 minutes in advance to concentrate)
- Reserve and discretion: never criticize a former employer. Bad mouthing your former employers or superiors will create the negative impression that you will be equally disloyal to your next company.
- Don’t offer your interviewer a breath mint, unless you need some for yourself…

The Language
The EU now encompasses a dozen different languages. If you move to an English speaking country like England or Ireland, your adjustment will the easiest. A native English speaker must nonetheless adjust to things like different tax systems and social norms. Non-EU nationals may obtain the right to work in an EU country. The ease of doing so depends on nationality and status and is determined by different agreements and other EU rules.

Background – Are you in IT or Some Sort of Academic Research?
The IT field is in demand and one can find work fairly easily, even without the native language. Many tech positions in Germany and Switzerland require only English.
If one speaks English and has the required competencies, one will have a good chance of finding work in Europe.

If you’re from an academic research background, this also helps. English is usually the international work language for research in academic situations and you can adjust fairly well.

Background – Business an Advantage
More and more companies have English as their company language. If you have a background in business or a related degree, you will have a greater chance of finding employment. However, most often, in Germany, in Switzerland, in France, in Italy, even in Austria or Scandinavia, you will be expected to eventually learn the language. Even if English is the official company language, people do speak the local language and you will need to fit in as well as succeed in the long term in your job. This is likely to be a major challenge, if not the major challenge: learning a language takes time, commitment and discipline.

High Competition
If you are not from an IT, Scientific / Academic, or Business background, and do not have a specialized education, you will encounter very high competition for jobs, even with a mastery of the language.
Europe has many immigrants, and they are competing for the same jobs.

The ‘English Teacher’ Fallback
Many native English speakers think they can rely on being an English teacher as a fallback. This is not really an option, unless you are prepared to live like a student.
Finding decently remunerated work as an English teacher will usually require your having important credentials in this area.

All citizens of the EU, plus Switzerland, have the right to move all around and work anywhere in the European Community that they want. (It’s not too clear what Switzerland had to gain in this arrangement since it has the highest standard of living, so the only Swiss considering leaving Switzerland to seek jobs in the EU are the ones on unemployment.)

However, when an American, Canadian or a New Zealander come to Europe to find work, he has to find an employer that will sponsor his work permit. The first few months while he’s going through that job hunting process, he may have to work “black,” meaning he may have difficulty getting paid because his work and residency in the country have not yet been approved.

Getting a work permit is a constant topic of conversion among the expatriate crowds in Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Zurich, Geneva, Paris, and Barcelona. The exchange of visa horror stories and grand schemes of getting away with overstaying – everyone has a nightmare story of being escorted to the border by the immigration authorities. Some contemplate proposing marriage to the random attractive native they met at a bar the week before, others gave up and return to their home country, and still others persevere and deal with the process and the paperwork.

Acquiring a work permit in Europe is a challenge but a good skill set, perseverance and some personality will help you do the trick.

Selon Peters, notre génération a le devoir de ré-imaginer nos entreprises et institutions, publiques et privées. Il explique que tout, de l’éducation des jeunes à la façon dont nous luttons contre les guerres — ou contre des ennemis insaisissables, exige la réinvention de chaque type d’organisation.

Null doute que la poursuite du développement des technologies de l’information va changer radicalement tout ce que nous savons. De la même manière, Howard Rheingold, dans son ouvrage Smart Mobs, anticipe la façon dont la technologie sans fil va permettre une nouvelle révolution sociale. Ce phénomène s’applique également à l’éducation, l’armée, la politique et aux entreprises.

Parlons de la façon dont ces changements qualitatifs affectent le secteur de la consultation. Pour les grandes entreprises, la satisfaction du client est en panne et le client “loyal” est au bord de l’infidélité constante, tellement il est bombardé par d’autres alternatives.

Peters envisage que la technologie provoquera l’extinction d’externalisation, ou même, d’une grande partie de la force de travail des cols blancs traditionnels. La situation est paradoxale: les consultants seraient à la fois condamnés par cette révolution technologique tout étant encore plus sollicités grâce à leurs services à valeur ajoutée. Nous voilà confus mais aussi rassurés!

Pour survivre en tant que membre d’un ministère ou organisme, vous devez vous transformer en une version micro de cette organisation. Vous devez devenir quelqu’un qui donne assurément de la valeur ajoutée du travail en plus de facturer ses prestations. Quel est l’impact sur les services professionnels, comme les consultants? Il leur faut encore plus re-imaginer ou réinventer mais de manière encore plus significative car tout le monde doit se mettre à re-imaginer son quotidien pour survivre professionnellement.

Peters encourage la créativité qui “exige le désordre, le non-respect des règles et la tolérance des échecs”. Il va sans dire que l’état de tension chronique au travail, une charge de travail excessive ou un sentiment d’insécurité ne dopent pas la créativité sur le long-terme mais plutôt comme une stratégie ponctuelle de survie.

Peters pense que nous allons devenir une nation de consultants. Peut-être le sommes-nous déjà! Si IBM est maintenant IBM Global Services et UPS est UPS Logistics au lieu d’un groupe de types avec des camions, c’est que tout succès découle de la valeur ajoutée de ce “capital de consultation intellectuelle”.

Alors que les gens pensent que perdre des emplois industriels au profit la Chine est un problème, Peters relève que les emplois que nous perdons dans le secteur des services est un enjeu beaucoup plus important…

Null doute que nous avons désespérément besoin d’idées, ne serait-ce que pour nous ré-inventer!

Mais votre travail vous ennuie — vous êtes bloqué, tout est devenu routinier, il n’y a plus de challenge, et vous cherchez ailleurs.

Comment partir, “sans casse” pour vous comme pour l’entreprise, comment faire en sorte de rester en bons termes tout en assurant le passage de relais ?

Tout d’abord, prévenez votre entreprise le plus vite possible. Une fois que vous avez l’autre proposition en main, prévenez votre DRH.

Le premier faux pas qui ferait des dégâts serait qu’ils apprennent votre départ par un tiers. Vous seriez alors en mauvaise position pour négocier votre départ. Faites-le oralement puis confirmez-le par une lettre de démission que vous adresserez en courrier recommandé avec accusé de réception.

Votre lettre devra contenir un certain nombre d’informations afin d’éviter par la suite toute contestation : votre état civil, une phrase indiquant clairement votre souhait de démissionner et la date de votre départ, compte tenu de la période de préavis, enfin une phrase indiquant quel poste vous occupiez, et éventuellement depuis quelle date. Vous n’avez pas besoin de motiver votre démission dans votre courrier.

Il n’y a pas de règles pour rédiger une telle communication, mais il est élégant d’expliquer clairement les raisons de votre départ, sans parler en mal ou en étant trop critique envers l’entreprise que vous quittez.

Une démission peut parfois être perçue comme une trahison. Une bonne lettre, efficace et courtoise, sera sans doute mieux vécue de part et d’autre et démontrera à quel point cette opportunité est importante pour la suite de votre carrière et pour l’accomplissement de vos projets professionnels.

Une technique rhétorique souvent employée et de suggérer à votre responsable ou à vos collègues de se mettre à votre place en leur posant la question « qu’auriez-vous fait à ma place ? ».

Dans le cas ou votre employeur vous a mis au placard ces dernières années, vous pouvez lui écrire que vous démissionneriez en échange d’une formation ou d’une indemnité.

Autrement dit, dans bien des cas, un départ se négocie.

Encore une fois : soyez calme et poli. Ne déversez vos récriminations sur les collègues de manière désobligeante et gardez pour vous vos commentaires sur l’incompétence du haut management car cela ne sert à rien et en dit plus sur vous que sur l’entreprise.

Une vie professionnelle est longue et il est forte probable que vous allez recroisez vos anciens collègues ailleurs dans l’avenir. Peut-être vont-ils retravailler avec vous en tant que fournisseurs, clients, ou partenaires.

Il n’est pas exclu que dans quelques années vous reviendrez chez votre employeur pour une nouvelle opportunité…

Le profesionnel supérieur sait garder toutes ses portes ouvertes. Il est muni non seulement des compétences techniques mais d’un savoir-faire relationnel.

Rendez-vous disponible pour la passation de pouvoir. Formez votre remplaçant, quitte à travailler en binôme pendant un moment. La direction de l’entreprise que vous quittez et le collègue ou les collègues qui vous remplacent vont apprecier votre sérieux et votre fiabilité, traits qui sont prisés dans le monde des affaires.

Bien que la durée de votre préavis soit fixée par convention, elle reste toutefois négociable. En plus de l’entachement à votre réputation, le refus d’effectuer votre préavis pourrait se solder par le versement de votre part d’une indemnité à votre employeur. En conservant de bonnes relations avec votre responsable et votre ancien entreprise, vous êtes en position avantageuse pour partir dans les meilleures conditions.

Si vous souhaitez quitter votre entreprise mais n’êtes pas certain de retrouver un poste immédiatement, négociez une rupture conventionnelle avec votre employeur. Ce cas de figures n’est pas le même que celle du licenciement ou de la démission.

En plus, il donne droit au versement d’une indemnité de rupture et à l’indemnisation par les Assedic.

Cette strategie convient plutôt aux cas difficiles. Son principe est celui ci : vous convenez avec votre employeur des conditions de la rupture du contrat de travail, qui donne lieu à la signature d’une convention. La convention doit mentionner le montant de l’indemnité spécifique de rupture conventionnelle, et celle ci ne peut être inférieure à celle de l’indemnité légale de licenciement. Ces deux indemnités doivent être supérieures à 1/5 de salaire par année d’ancienneté, montant auquel s’ajoutent 2/15e de mois par année après 10 ans d’ancienneté.

Dans le cas ou vous êtes enceinte, vous êtes dispensée d’effectuer le préavis, de même au terme de votre congé maternité, à condition d’informer votre employeur de votre démission par lettre recommandée avec accusé réception au moins 15 jours avant la date prévue pour votre retour dans l’entreprise.

Il est impossible par contre de démissionner d’un contrat à durée déterminée (CDD). Seuls l’accord à l’amiable, la faute grave, la force majeure ou encore l’embauche sous contrat à durée indéterminée de l’intéressé, sont admis pour rompre un tel contrat.

Switzerland is becoming a popular destination for masters student seeking jobs or research opportunities or universities at which to do their PhD thesis.

The doctoral degree — Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated to PhD, Ph.D. or D.Phil — is an advanced academic degree awarded by most of top-tier universities. In general, across Europe and North America the PhD or equivalent has become a frequent career requirement in science, technology, or even finance. Of course it had always been a requirement for acceding to a professorship at a university. In Switzerland, doctoral programs vary at the 12 top Swiss universities.

Recognized PhD titles are only awarded by these 12 official universities. Universities of applied sciences do not award doctorates. Usually the prospective doctoral student must have his research work accepted by a professor at one of the 12 universities.

PhD work is started immediately after the master theses (students are usually 25 – 28 years of age). On average, PhD candidates finish at 31. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, Swiss PhD candidates are supposed to start on their research project right away; classes are usually dispensed with. In this manner, Swiss PhD programs resemble more an autonomous work environment than they do an educational institution.

As is largely the case with the rest of the EU, you cannot enroll in a PhD program without a recognized Masters degree. Further, each university has its own admission requirements. The duration of doctoral studes/projects is nonstandard and can vary from between 2 – 6 years depending on the chosen field of research. While PhDs in sciences can often be accomplished in 4 years, PhDs in the arts and humanities can often take 4 to 6 years or longer.

Candidates for a PhD typically sign on as research assistants/PhD-candidate at a university; occasionally some students manage to obtain a research position with an international company and attach their project to a University. Salaries vary significantly with some slots paying as little as CHF 2000 and other paying more than CHF 6000.

It depends on the source of the funding. Further, working conditions will vary from institution to institution. Doctoral candidates are usually employed part-time and sometimes the remaining time can be used for research; other times the PhD candidate is required to give lectures or to supervise students. The contract will specify this.

If you are employed less than 100%, you are legally free to do use the remaining ime as you please, for example by taking on a second job, a common occurrence with candidates from the arts and humanities.

The top Swiss universities are:
1 ) EPFL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne www.epfl.ch
2 ) ETHZ, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich www.epfz.ch
3 ) University of Basel www.unibas.ch
4 ) University of Bern www.unibe.ch
5 ) University of Fribourg www.unifr.ch
6 ) University of Geneva www.unige.ch
7 ) University of Lausanne www.unil.ch
8 ) University of Lucerne www.unilu.ch
9 ) University of Neuchâtel www.unine.ch

Here is another Workplace Survival Guide written by an expert employment lawyer, T J McHugh.
How to Beat Your Boss helps you understand where you really stand as an employee, and answer questions such as “I hate my boss. Should I resign?” or “Can my boss really treat me like that?” . Psychopaths in the workplace are a very real, very common and grossly underestimated phenomenon. They can be bosses or co-workers. Most victims don’t understand what is happening to them until things have gotten way out of control.

Let’s finish with a funny though cynic novel about  daily work. It is set in an advertising agency in Chicago.
Joshua Ferris’s Then We Came To The End takes a sustained interest in the idea of the working environment and its potential to alter the behaviour of the people caught up in it.

Here is an excerpt: “We were fractious and overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. [...] Ordinarily jobs came in and we completed them in a timely and professional manner. Sometimes fuckups did occur. Printing errors, transposed numbers.Our business was advertising and details were important. If the third number after the second hyphen in a client’s toll-free number was a six instead of an eight, and if it went to print like that, and showed up in Time magazine, no one reading the ad could call now and order today. No matter they could go to the website, we still had to eat the price of the ad. Is this boring you yet? It bored us every day.Our boredom was ongoing, a collective boredom, and it would never die because we would never die.”
As Joshua writes, “it is really irritating to work with irritating people” !

For those you prefer to watch an online workspace odysee, have a look at an original webseries The Cube Life!
You will realize that some places or colleagues can be worse than yours.

Researchers in the Netherlands have conducted a study among 1500 women across various professions to determine the frequency with which sex enters into the workplace.

In Holland, the studies found that more than one-third of women had had a sexual relationship with a colleague at work (other than their habitual partner if their partner works at the same company).

90% of those surveyed said that at least one of their work colleagues attracted them physically. Roughly 15% of those surveyed responded that they would be capable of using sex to obtain a promotion, with the reservation expressed that their boss attracted them.

In response to the question, “how would you react to a colleague putting his hands on your backside,” 3 in 10 responded that it depended on which colleague took this particular liberty.

Similar studies in the UK reveal that more than 1 in 3 female professionals have had a sexual relationship with a colleague at work, with 16 % of surveyed women indicating that they could be inclined to sleep with the boss for a promotion.

In France, roughly 25% of women have indicated having had a sexual relationship with a colleague at work and 14% of women surveyed indicated that they could conceivably sleep with the boss to secure a promotion.

Interestingly, the authors of these studies consistently focus on women. No studies have yet been published indicating what percentage of men would we willing to sleep with the boss in order to secure a promotion.

Dans bien des corps de métiers, on relève un manque de motivation, un sentiment de frustration, de la fatigue, du stress contre-productif, une pression destructrice, etc. Force est de constater que la perte d’initiative et la perte de créativité sont générales, ce qui a des conséquences humaines mais aussi économiques, que cela soit pour l’entreprise ou la société.

Il est grand temps que les cadres dirigeants prennent en compte cette réalité et s’attaquent aux systèmes qui conduisent à de tels gâchis. Il faut remettre de l’envie dans les organisations, donner aux hommes et aux femmes des raisons de « se bouger », de s’impliquer. Le salarié a besoin d’être écouté pour se sentir entendu. Si ce n’est pas par pur philantropie, le jeu en vaut la chandelle d’un point de vue économique car les performances sont bien meilleures quand les employés ont le sentiment d’avoir prise sur leur travail au lieu d’une exécution passive…

Face au développement général du stress et des tensions au travail, les approches traditionnelles de la communication interne sont totalement dépassées. Il ne suffit plus d’avoir de bons outils (intranet, conventions, etc.), il faut d’abord et surtout avoir une vraie stratégie, ce qui , presque partout, fait encore cruellement défaut… Peut-être faut-il commencer par donner une vision, une direction claire à l’enteprise et “l’intendance suivra”, pour reprendre l’expression du brillant général !

Nous vous conseillons une envolée d’air frais cynico-comique:
Le film Up in the Air réalisé par Jason Reitman avec “What Else”, désormais disponible en DVD.

L’histoire raconte la vie en l’air de Ryan Bingham, un spécialiste du licenciement à qui les entreprises font appel pour “remercier” leur personnel sans salir leurs cols blancs…

Notre ange exterminateur est un collectionneur obsessionnel de miles aériens cumulés lors de ses innombrables déplacements professionnels; son but est d’atteindre les 10 millions de miles.

Superficiel et suffisant, Ryan va tout de même tomber amoureux d’une businesswoman rencontrée lors d’un de ses nombreux voyages et avec qui il entretient une relation au gré de ses escales.

Parallèlement, il apprend que ses méthodes de travail vont devoir évoluer et qu’il n’aura plus besoin de voyager car désormais les licenciements seront centralisés et se feront en ligne, par vidéo conférence.

Le film allie une bonne dose d’humour décalé et de cynisme sur les relations de passage et sur la cessation des rapports de travail…

Enchaînons avec 2 autres films récents en lien avec le monde du travail.

A l’origine réalisé par Xavier Giannoli.
Philippe Miller est un escroc solitaire qui vit sur les routes. Un jour, il découvre par hasard un chantier d’autoroute abandonné, arrêté depuis des année  suite à cause du combat d’écologistes pour sauver des scarabées.
L’arrêt des travaux a été une catastrophe économique pour les habitants de cette région.
Philippe y voit la chance de réaliser sa plus belle escroquerie. Mais son mensonge va vite lui échapper.
Le film montre comment un manager apparaissant comme crédible peut faire suivre l’intendance en lui donnant envie de contribuer au succès de l’entreprise…

Le couperet réalisé par Costa-Gavras.
Bruno Davert est un cadre très supérieur dans une usine de papier.
Après avoir été licencié, il est prêt à tout pour retrouver un poste à son niveau.
Il passe une petite annonce dans un journal spécialisé, se faisant passer pour un chef d’entreprise, disant qu’il recherche quelqu’un ayant les mêmes qualifications que lui, et récolte leurs CV.  Grâce aux coordonnées des postulants, il va pouvoir éliminer ses concurrents un par un mais tout n’est pas aussi simple pour décrocher un bon travail…

Chers lecteurs de Qual-Features, vous êtes suffisamment qualifiés pour trouver un nouveau travail par une voie moins radicale…
Nous vous invitons à mettre à jour votre profil sur Qual, histoire de faire la différence face à d’autres candidats spécialistes du même domaine.
Ne vous salissez pas les mains, car ce n’est pas nécessaire quand on est bon et sûr de soi !!!

Management is art and it is science:

It is the art of making people more effective than they would have been without you.
The science is in how you manage to do that.

There are basic pillars:

• Goal to achieve: define the target and figure out the best way to get there.
• Analyse : What are your resources ? What can you get? Compare strengths and weaknesses of individuals. Look at all the probable scenarios and evaluate your different plans and develop what seems to be the best option. Don’t forget to ask the people doing the work for their input and also think of the worse case scenario.
• Plan: Good management starts with good prior planning and the track record of accomplishments are part of your success.
• Organize: Do the legwork to make sure everything needed to execute the plan is ready to go, or will be when required. Check back to make sure that everyone understands their role and the importance of their contribution to the overall success. Conveying motivation is the key of your future success.
• Direct: Tell people what they need to do and coordinate the actions.
• Monitor: You have to keep an eye on your staff, checking that everything is going according to the plan; you might have to step in to adjust the plan whenever necessary.
• Don’t relax your attention: Problems will come up: someone will get sick or be dismissed; an element won’t be delivered on time; our accounting department won’t have paid an invoice on time, etc. That is why you need to have a contingency plan developed in the first place. You, as the manager, have to be always aware of what’s going on so you can make the adjustments required.

Management is an iterative process:

When something is out of sync, you need to fix it, organize the resources to make it work, direct the people who will make it happen, and continue to monitor the effect of the change.

Managing is necessary:

Managing people is not easy but can be a very rewarding experience.
Like any other skill, management is something that you can improve with study and practice.

Are managers linchpins?

“Management 101″ says any organization other than a small, family-run business should have as corporate policy to ensure there are no linchpins in the organization… Well, I would say that good managers are linchpins while bad managers are flat tires which can lead to accidents!

• Worst Interviewee Ever
• Titles and responsibilities
• 8 Things Your Employees Want From You

Les RH vont demander aux “têtes de” (“head of“) de définir quelles sont les “KPHP” (key player with high potential) parmi leurs équipes. Êtes-vous un “linchpin” (pivot, goupille) jouant un rôle essentiel au sein de votre entreprise? Si oui, vous avez davantage de chances d’obtenir une augmentation ou un bonus à moins que votre esprit non conformiste ne menace la paix de l’entreprise…

Je vous invite à lire l’ouvrage de Seth Godin, Linchpin, Are You Indispensable? sur cette catégorie de professionnels capables de mener la barque contre vents et marées. Faites-vous partie de ces précieux marins qui rament avec énergie et combattent l’inertie ambiante afin d’atteindre l’objectif suprême: gagner ou satisfaire de nouveaux clients, donc engranger de l’argent et faire flotter le navire encore un bon moment!

La société  et les entreprises ont besoin de personnes indépendantes et non conformistes. “Society does not reward blind rule-following, but instead requires linchpins who do not have maps telling them what to do next. This is difficult, as we are conditioned by society to follow the status quo and to fit in. Linchpins understand this, and must continually fight off the tendency to give-up, conform and to take the easy path by simply following the rules“. Faites-vous partie de la résistance? Êtes-vous visionnaires?

Godin associe les personnes essentielles à des artistes qui challengent le statu quo, génèrent ainsi une plus-value et deviennent alors indispensables. Pour  Seth, “art is the ability to change people with your work, to see thing as they are and then create stories, images, and interactions that change the marketplace.”

Ce bouquin est un véritable manifeste sur comment devenir indispensable. Malgré ce qu’a pu vous dire vous votre chef, vos collègues ou amis, vous pouvez choisir d’être une personne clé, un génie qui réussit dans la tourmente de la nouvelle économie. En étant reconnu comme un linchpin, on n’osera plus vous dénigrer ou vous sous-payer. Hélas, devenir indispensable n’est pas facile et si ça l’était, ce n’aurait plus de valeur…

Le danger de tout collaborateur est de ne pas être un personne indispensable car elle devient alors remplaçable.

Laissez-vous guider par ce gourou aux exemples assurément amusants comme le chapitre “Anxiety and Shenpa” qui parle de cerveau reptilien de sagesse tibétaine: “Embrace your lizard brain. It’s the source of understanding why you’re in a job that sucks.”

Aujourd’hui, nous allons parler du principe satirique relatif à l’organisation hiérarchique: le célèbre Principe de Peter et son corollaire: « Avec le temps, tout poste sera occupé par un incompétent incapable d’en assumer la responsabilité.»

Dans une entreprise, les employés compétents sont promus et les incompétents restent à leur place. Vous me rétorquerez peut-être que dans votre société, les employés compétents stagnent à leur place, tout comme les incompétents ou que ces derniers s’élèvent dans la hiérarchie. Eh bien, c’est sans doute parce que les incompétents ont été promus dans un premier temps avant d’arriver à leur vitesse de croisière (quand il n’y a pas de vent)…

Aussi, un employé compétent grimpe-t-il dans les hautes sphères de son entreprise jusqu’à atteindre un poste pour lequel il ne sera pas compétent — si ce n’est pas déjà le cas au départ. À ce stade, il devient donc un incompétent qui va occuper son poste indéfiniment. Il va également faire en sorte de ne pas être démasqué en empêchant l’ascension de certains pairs qui pourraient mettre en danger sa planque professionnelle.

Résumons :
- un incompétent conserve son poste (grâce à sa stratégie de survie);
- un employé compétent promu est remplacé par un autre employé, potentiellement incompétent ;
- si le nouvel employé est compétent, il sera promu et remplacé à son tour par un nouvel employé jusqu’à ce que le poste échoie à un incompétent

Une extension ou extension aggravée du principe de Peter est appelée la Loi de Dilbert (du nom d’un personnage de BD créé par Scott Adams). Elle suppose que les employés les moins compétents seront toujours affectés aux postes où on est sûr qu’ils produiront le moins de dégâts, c’est-à-dire l’encadrement. Je sais, vous pensez tout de suite à votre chef direct, n’est-ce pas ? Si vous n’en n’avez pas, vous serez intéressé de savoir comment et par qui vous risquez d’être débusqué…

Laurence J. Peter relève que plus le nombre d’échelons hiérarchiques est élevé, plus chacun risque de subir « la stagnation de Peter ». Il remarque que les hiérarques, quand ils sont au sommet de leur niveau d’incompétence, se complaisent à fréquenter des réunions. Le corps des hiérarques peut alors entrer en « lévitation » sous le nom de « sommet volant ». Comment alors renverser un hiérarque incompétent ? Sachez que seul un hiérarque peut le faire. Mais la problématique est que par cet acte, il admet son incompétence à discerner le personnel compétent puisqu’on l’a laissé grimpé jusqu’au sommet. La solution réside dans le déplacement de la sous hiérarchie du personnel sous ses ordres. Le hiérarque à décapiter se retrouve alors seul à la tête d’une pyramide sans base, sur son « sommet volant ». Il est donc prêt à être destitué par un de ses homologues et à être remplacé par un clone !

Les solutions varient selon les cas :
- Pour un dirigeant constatant qu’il a des cadres supérieurs incompétents, il est conseillé de recourir à ce que l’on nomme la « sublimation percutante ». Cette manœuvre consiste à accorder à une personne incompétente une promotion vers un poste plus prestigieux en apparence, mais en fait à responsabilité très inférieure. Les titres proposés sont inversément proportionnels à leur contenu et à leur niveau de responsabilité. Si c’est en anglais, cela sera sans doute encore plus convaincant : XXX Coordinator, YYY Project Manager, etc.
- Pour les personnes constatant leur propre incompétence, Peter recommande diverses tactiques dont « spécialisation dans le détail » ou « l’aberration totale » qui consiste à arrêter d’essayer d’accomplir son travail. Ces méthodes ne sont pas nuisibles à l’entreprise ou l’organisation, du moment que toute organisation le travail est accompli par les personnes compétentes. Paradoxalement, ces stratégies sont bénéfiques à l’entreprise car les incompétents obnubilés ou amorphes gênent alors moins les travailleurs dans leurs tâches.

Poursuivons avec la loi de Parkinson qui affirme que « le travail s’étale de façon à occuper le temps disponible pour son achèvement ». Cette théorie était basée sur une longue expérience dans l’administration britannique où l’on avait constaté l’accroissement du nombre d’employés au Bureau des affaires coloniales malgré le déclin de l’Empire britannique. L’augmentation du nombre d’employés seraient dû à deux forces :
- « Un fonctionnaire entend multiplier ses subordonnés, pas ses rivaux » : il a une tendance naturelle à recruter quelqu’un de plus compétent que lui au moins dans un domaine, mais aussi à diviser le travail pour éviter d’être remis en cause par l’un de ses collaborateurs. Il crée ainsi des besoins de coordination interne, qui entrainent une charge de travail supplémentaire, puis l’embauche de collaborateurs supplémentaires. On construit ainsi un système « autarcique » qui va consommer, de manière endogène, une part croissante de l’énergie et des ressources disponibles.
- « Les fonctionnaires se créent mutuellement du travail ». Plus il y a de fonctionnaires, plus les demandes d’approbation qu’ils se communiquent mutuellement, ou tâches comparables, les occupent, de sorte que le travail accompli d’un point de vue extérieur par l’administration dans son ensemble n’augmente pas.

Cette tumeur bureaucratique ne se développe que s’il y a déficience en management. Pour y remédier, la seule solution réside dans l’ablation. Il faut donc qu’un manager décide de cette amputation, en supprimant les tâches qui se sont créées. L’externalisation est une des manières de procéder à cette ablation sans couper dans les effectifs. Notons au passage que bien des financiers valorisent l’externalisation en ne reconnaissant pas le temps et le travail nécessaire au suivi des externes par le personnel en interne.

Cyril Northcote Parkinson énonce que variable la plus significative du coefficient d’inefficacité d’un conseil d’administration est le nombre de ses membres… Je ne dirai pas pour autant que le fait de n’avoir que deux personnes à la tête d’un conseil d’administration garantisse une certaine efficacité, car rappelons-nous l’adage « qui se ressemble s’assemble »…

Terminons par la super-compétence qui est plus redoutable que l’incompétence, car tout super-compétent outrepasse ses fonctions et bouleverse alors la hiérarchie qui ne demande qu’à se maintenir. Si tel est votre cas, sachez que pour être renvoyé, il faut que les deux conditions suivantes soient réunies :
- la hiérarchie vous harcèle au point de vous empêcher de produire ;
- vous n’obéissez pas aux principes de « respect de la hiérarchie »

Il est préférable de se maintenir à un poste auquel on est compétent, non seulement dans l’intérêt de l’organisation où l’on travaille, mais aussi parce qu’être compétent à son poste est un facteur de bonheur personnel. Malheureusement, le refus d’une promotion est mal perçu par l’entourage. Espérons que notre « incompétence créatrice » nous permettra de rester à notre place sans risquer d’être sollicité dans de plus hautes sphères où l’on risque de se brûler les ailes, à moins que l’on excelle au point de profiter d’un parachute doré ignifuge.

Les bonnes résolutions sont une coutume de la civilisation occidentale qui consiste, à l’occasion du passage à la nouvelle année le 1er janvier, à prendre un ou plusieurs engagements envers soi-même pour améliorer son comportement, une habitude ou son mode de vie durant l’année à venir.

Le site officiel du gouvernement américain propose même une liste des bonnes résolutions les plus populaires dans le cas où vous n’auriez pas d’inspiration…

Arrêter de fumer, perdre du poids, prendre du temps pour soi, apprendre une nouvelle langue, changer de travail… Vous venez sans doute de prendre vous aussi vos bonnes résolutions…

Mais comment parvenir à les concrétiser ?

Restez humble et réaliste
Ne multipliez pas les objectifs car c’est la meilleure manière de ne rien changer du tout au final.
Fixez-vous un but précis, imaginez comment le mettre en pratique et préparez-vous mentalement à tous les efforts que cela implique.

Admettez les difficultés
Il y a des objectifs plus ou moins difficiles à atteindre ou à maintenir. Parmi ceux-là: trouver un nouveau travail qui vous plaise et où vous êtes reconnu.

Soyez entreprenant
Etablissez un plan d’action concret, en y allant étape par étape: plutôt que de dire cette année, je trouverai un nouvel emploi, dites je vais écrire au minimum trois lettres de candidature par mois et réanimer mon réseau social.

Faites le point régulièrement
Il est bon de faire régulièrement un état des lieux par rapport aux difficultés rencontrées: quelles sont ses forces et ses faiblesses. Au besoin, n’hésitez pas à redéfinir vos objectifs.

Et si vous n’y arrivez pas
En cas d’échec, n’en faites pas une défaite personnelle. Tentez plutôt de trouver pourquoi vous n’avez pas réussi. Ce n’est sans doute que partie remise. De toute manière, rappelez-vous que seule résolution sur dix est encore d’actualité douze mois plus tard, selon une étude du professeur Richard Wiseman.

Testez votre probabilité de réussite en remplissant son questionnaire.

La clé du succès semble résider dans des objectifs réalistes qui nous tiennent à cœur, une évolution progressive et la communication de nos souhaits auprès de ceux qui nous entourent.

Since January 2009, the unemployment rate in Switzerland has continued to rise. Though it has remained considerably lower than other European countries, the rising jobless rate in Switzerland is nonetheless symptomatic of economic transition. The process of finding a job in Switzerland has evolved considerably, with internet taking a central role in the job search.

To find a suitable job on one of the numerous internet job portals, one has to begin by identifying the sort of environment one wants to work in and the type of job one is seeking. Starting off the job hunting process by considering how one’s profile fits into the above can help the candidate identify a maximum of relevant offers and avoid wasting time on a multitude of job boards.

After choosing a few job boards, its best to configure one or more profiles as completely as possible, and stick with those portals, setting up web alerts to be informed of relevant jobs as they are published.

For managers and top experts and specialists, sites such as topjobs, qual, and experteer tend to be the preferred portals, though sites such as the latter actually charge job seekers and carry the additional annoyance of obliging job seekers to jump through the hoop of their registration process to respond to or even just to look at their job vacanciess. Both Topjobs and Qual allow the candidate to browse jobs anonymously, which also provides maximum value to the publishers of job vacancies.

There is an increasing tendency among job portals toward smaller focus, either on a particular occupational sector, professional level, or geographical area. There are more job sites now focusing on single cities, on specifically student internships, on only managerial roles, or on solely the medical profession.

A further recent development in the recruitment process is the increasing use of social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, et. al. to disseminate job opportunities and recruit ‘informally.’

Using social networks to hook up with an interesting job opportunity can be a delicate maneuver for the candidate if he does not plan well in advance. It is best to keep entirely separate those networks on which one socializes and those which one uses to ‘advertise’ one’s professional skill set.

Every year the WEF, based in Switzerland overlooking lake Geneva, publishes a global ranking of the most competitive economies.

This year the WEF noted that Switzerland was characterized by both an excellent environment of innovation as well as a sophisticated business culture.

The WEF also noted that Switzerland had been much more resistant than the US and Europe to the world economic crisis. Further, the problems in the financial sector were much less pronounced in Switzerland than elsewhere in Europe or in the US. In effect, problems in the Swiss bank sector were essentially circumscribed to UBS.

Switzerland also earned its first place for its top research institutes and excellent collaboration between its research institutes and the private sector. Switzerland’s public institutions are among the best in the world and its infrastructure was rated as excellent.

However, the WEF noted that access to university education in Switzerland remains weak – on this criterion Switzerland was rated 46th globally. Even if immigration is allowing Switzerland to compensate for the penury of educated qualified professionals on the Swiss job market, the WEF recommended that Switzerland raise the level of average education to better respond to the needs of an advanced economy.

The WEF’s ranking was a welcome shot in the arm for the Swiss economy, which has nonetheless suffered slowdowns and layoffs in the luxury watch making, textile and hospitality industries.

Among the sectors, flourishing despite the overall economic in Switzerland, the insurance industry remains strong, with an industry unemployment rate below 2%.

The energy sector is also doing very well — every business and sector touching production of electricity, gas, air conditioning, etc – with an industry unemployment of about 1.5%. Another sector oblivious to moroseness is teaching: teachers are practically untouched by unemployment with the sector showing slightly more than 2% of teachers without a job.

Among the professions which appear to be crisis-resistant are managers – there seems to be no end to jobs for managers who can streamline, rationalize, increase productivity, etc. – top IT specialists, and finance professionals. The majority of cuts that some banks have had to make due to strong declines in revenues have not been in trading and finance, and job offers for top financial talent remain strong.

Tangentially, the World Economic Forum is among companies, organizations, and institutions having resisted the crisis, and with its chic campus in Geneva’s ritziest suburb and solid revenue stream of expensive membership fees, is an attractive employer in the Geneva area.

The prognostics for Switzerland in 2010 are not especially optimistic.

According to the Swiss unions, purchasing power will strongly decline in 2010 as prices rise, inflation begins, and salaries stagnate.

We might point, at this juncture, that the unions and syndicates of Switzerland were all willing advocates of the open markets in Switzerland and the integration with the European community, which is the principal causative factor of the decline in purchasing power and standard of living.

Currently the unions are predicting a decline in the gross national product of about 3%, with a further decline in 2010 of perhaps 1%. The unions’ predictions are more pessimistic than the government economist’s because they take into account precisely the decline in purchasing power which will have a strong effect on the Swiss economy for some time to come.

The decline in purchasing power of Swiss households is estimated to diminish by several billion francs in 2010 as a result of the massive rise in health insurance premiums, a rise in the CO2 tax, and austerity measures by the different cantons to brake the acceleration of public debt. Overall the forced savings represents about 1% of the GNP – about 5 billion francs. Converted into employment, this equals about 40,000 jobs !

The current recession is expected to follow a W pattern and the positive signs of improvement are expected to reveal themselves later on as just a simple renewal of stocks. The small perceived rise in production is not a sign of rise in demand as claimed by certain over-optimistic observers. And the rise in unemployment is expected to further damage demand down the road.

A variety of economists and commentators are expecting to see over 250,000 unemployed by 2010. This constitutes a historic record for Switzerland and of course the record unemployment will cause ancillary damage in psychological problems and other health and social problems.

Further, 2009 has seen the destruction of banking secrecy in Switzerland, leading to an important exodus of foreign funds under management in Switzerland. Subsequent to the agreement made with the United Sates, the Swiss federal government is now besieged with demands for similar cooperation from France, Germany, Turkey, and elsewhere.
No one has yet provided a credible estimate of the part of GNP made up by the Swiss financial services sector but private estimates such as by Banque Pictet in Geneva have estimated that the removal of Swiss banking secrecy will cost roughly 100,000 jobs in Switzerland.

Drawing inspiration from American universities like Harvard and MIT which have put hundreds of their courses online, the University of Lausanne has launched an online curriculum in Criminology, complete with modules in police forensics and criminal jurisprudence. Internet surfers squandering their afternoons on Facebook can instead study how traces of saliva, sperm or blood leave a detectable DNA fingerprint.

The School of Criminal Sciences in Lausanne, which celebrated its 100th birthday last month, is dispensing an online course, in English, entitled ‘Statistics and Evaluation of Forensic Evidence.’

Christophe Champod, professor at the Institute for Police Science says that the certificate studies lead to a diploma and the program largely destined for practitioners in the domain who are seeking to update their skill sets.

The E-learning platform lends itself to a paced approach and permits a radical lowering of teaching costs, as well as creating a network of specialists, geographically dispersed, who interact together on difficult questions.

The CAS is an 18 month program and will be 4 hours of coursework per week. Participants can attend the online courses at the moment most convenient for them (“even Sunday if they want,” adds Mr. Champod), however they are expected to follow the curriculum in the prescribed order. Once per month there is an online meeting with the course instructor to verify that they have reached the objectives. There are various exercises and participatory online discussions, as well as group critiques.

The CAS program is mainly oriented toward practitioners working in forensic laboratories, though lawyers and judges are potential candidates as well. The course designers note that often jurists uncritically accept declarations made at trial by scientists which can be misinformed. The certification, say its creators, should permit the students to reach an advanced understanding of forensic techniques.

The coursework is built around practical case studies on three levels. The first looks at potential sources of forensic traces. For example, in the case of jewel heist, an analysis of traces of broken glass on the ground (perhaps not from the store window?) The final stage treats the questioning of the relevance of traces recovered on the scene. Did, for example, DNA traces found on the scene come from the perpetrator.

Course participants have one year to complete the three levels. Then, in then the remaining 6 months, the group divides in two, with one group focusing on DNA and the other on other types of trace indices such as fingerprints, footprints, tire prints, broken glass, or body odors. Those who successfully complete the certificate program will receive a diploma, as well as well as complimentary, autographed, DVD edition of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

The first course will kick off in February 2010, and will henceforth recur on an annual basis. At the end of the program, the University of Lausanne will award the certificate of advanced studies (CAS) worth 15 credits ECTS. The final deadline for enrollment in the course is January 2010. The course costs CHF 12,000. A reduction of 35% may be awarded to participants with no prior convictions.
(Reference : www.unil.ch/formcont/page66616.html)

In a period of recession and great economic uncertainty where many are worried about the stability of their jobs, keeping a healthy, positive attitude at work can become a challenge. And it can render the normal process of evaluating and criticizing colleagues work a minefield.

Some rules of thumb to keep in mind in an era of generalized anxiety:
Prepare your criticisms.
Clarify your ideas and isolate the nature of the behavior you seek to change in your colleague. Have you discussed this problem with your colleague before? What is the impact/seriousness of this behavior? When is the best moment to discuss it ?

Stick to the Facts.
It’s easy to get emotional and bring in personal elements that will make a smooth resolution of the problem far less likely. Be precise and detailed in your examples, try to avoid an accusatory demeanor and keep an open attitude inviting dialogue.

Enumerate Consequences.
The colleague should be explained the consequences of the behavior in question. For example, if Joe is consistently late with his work and this tardiness delays several of his colleagues who depend on his output, this should be made clear. Ascertain that this realization is shared.

Define the Change(s) you Expect.
Explain clearly what you want changed, in concrete terms.

While interpersonal skills are clearly required to effectively criticize and obtain behavioral modifications, other no less important interpersonal skills are necessary to effectively receive criticism. Many people become immediately defensive and cease to listen. One should listen carefully when one is being criticized, and –once the criticism has been formulated – question one’s interlocutor calmly to induce him to express exactly what is on his mind. Make sure you fully understand the criticism being addressed to you by reformulating it in your own words. Once clarified, you can take a clear stance vis-à-vis the criticism. Avoid taking criticisms personally as reproaches. Work is work – don’t get emotional over it.

The polemic over the ultra-high salaries, remunerations and compensation packages of top managers continues to rage. Over the past 30 years, the multiplier between the least well-paid and most highly paid workers has continued to grow, from roughly 20 – 25 in 1980 to over 500 in 2008. The shining incompetence of many of these top paid executives — particularly in the finance sector– which has brought several venerable financial institutions to the brink of ruin, has put in relief the absurdity of the market’s valuation of these jobs and these executives professional skills.

When last month it was published that the new CEO of ABB had obtained a CHF 19.2 million annual salary, commentators in the press and specialists on governance were scandalized, particularly in view of the climate of economic meltdown, in which the business world was supposed to have learned that such high salaries were based on fictitious metrics of added value. These commentators remark that market principles should dictate that executive compensation falls drastically in a period when profits plummet and there are mass layoffs. Not so, it appears. Rather, there is an enormous discrepancy between the logic and the widely held public opinion, and themarket principles that appear to operate.

While all over the planet companies being helped by governments are being forced to cap salaries, those that have not as of yet need public rescue are also re-thinking their compensation packages. Consultancies specializing in executive compensation have reported a large movement among industry to follow the trend to restructure corporate salary scales after the forced shake-out in executive compensation in the financial / banking sector.

An important factor apparently limiting reform is the global market for CEOs, and consequently their salaries are set as a result of international norms based presumably on supply and demand. The new thinking in the progressive fringe of executive pay reform is to define a base salary relative to the market in which the executive is operating and linking the variable / performance part of the executive’s compensation to such indices as employee satisfaction and the long term development of the business, looking beyond simple short term profits. Clearly, one of the lessons bitterly learned has been that enormous bonus compensation was disbursed based on short term profits which were subsequently revealed to be figments of accounting, vaporizing into staggering losses.

Management schools, academic institutes, government officials and itinerant consultants are now sagely speaking of pay relative to “long term results.” Professors at the University of Lausanne and at IMD have recently made statements about the necessity for judging performance on the long term – that is, over 5 or 10 years.

This book is a therapeutic guide to making yourself and others happy and sane at work. Because loving what you do is crucial, more productive and therefore even profitable for your maybe sick company…

Then, you may ask, why do people actively resist positive change? You shall read Change by Paul Watzlawick studying the paradoxical nature of personal change.

On the contrary, you might be a lucky and cheerful worker, which is unusual nowadays.

Your organization is based on the following advantages:
- Employees set their own working hours
- Staff decides on their own salaries
- All meetings are voluntary and open to everyone
- Employees hire their own bosses and rate them twice a year
- HR has been almost abolished

In the present dire economic conditions allow companies and organization to test the mettle of their managers. It’s easy to manage in prosperous times: things practically manage themselves and mistakes are buried in an enterprise’s overall profitability.

But as orders fall, unemployment rises, and the pressure for performance, competence and reactivity rise at private companies, managers must steer through severely troubled waters and their performance will be subjected to much more brutal and unimpeachable scrutiny.

What do you do when demand for your product or service is drying up? How do you cut costs without cutting off your legs ? How do you grow when markets are shrinking ?

For top managers and senior directors and executives, getting through turbulent times is never simple. The common behavior in such situations is to retreat and wait until things improve, but this is often not the best decision in the long run. Often, downturns present excellent opportunities for a companies to re-invent themselves, steal talent from adversaries, and otherwise position themselves for long term prosperity.

In this current downtown, which many are now calling a depression, managers are mainly trying to stop the flow of cash from leaving the building, especially by cutting staff and eliminating unessential jobs, but this strategy carries the risk of damaging the essence of the company and impairing the possibility of future recovery.

Getting rid of the brains who are responsible for actually making your products or producing your services competitive in the first place is bad strategy. PR can be as big an enemy to senior management as the collapse of the economy; management will probably have to invest substantial resources in communicating with their troops. Staff need to see resolution and certainty, which also helps to quell rumors. Business psychologists say that it is much better for employees to know they will be losing their jobs than for them to remain in cloud of uncertainty about it for an extended period of time.

Further, the natural reflex of hunkering down in a crisis and retreating in an attempt to conserve cash can be disastrous for a business – throwing away important partnerships or opportunities or ventures. Things like research and development must continued and producers of all kinds need to consider that cut capacity can be difficult to rapidly re-instate. When the upturn occurs, you will have lost key talent, and hiring it back will be very expensive.

A lot of managers had an easy time from 1997-2007. We are now in a period which will bring talented managers to the fore.

In 2009, 75% of companies in Switzerland have reduced their HR budgets, and lowered expenses related to salaries and personnel.

Responding to the economic slowdown in Switzerland and the uncertainties of markets, companies have lowered their forecasts for salary growth to roughly 2% for 2009. There are overall substantially fewer job vacancies on the employment market and fewer professionals are electing to change jobs in the current economic climate.

Currently, according to recent surveys, approximately 35% of companies believe their business will shrink in 2009, while another 35% think that their business will remain at the same level; about 20% expect an increase in their sales revenues for 2009.

To reduce budgets allotted to personnel, companies are counting on a variety of measures. First, 50% of employers are planning to reduce hiring or in some cases to fire staff. In order not to lose the talents and knowledge base of colleagues in place they prefer to act primarily on new recruitment rather than to let go existing staff; two-thirds of companies have instituted hiring freezes over the next 6 – 12 months.

Other steps being taken by companies include reducing the variable portions salaries, such as bonuses. Approximately one-third of companies forecast reductions for all employees, slightly less than a third forecast reductions for managers.

About a third of companies will reduce the number of promotions and 20% will push a few months into the future decisions on salaries, which will leave time to examine how the economic situation evolves.

Already many multinationals have announced cost cutting steps to their employees. At the same time, independent HR consultancies note that top companies are reserving considerable funds in the form of special budgets to compensate and retain their top talent and particularly performant staff.

In the current troubled economic climate, HR departments feel themselves under attack: more than 90% of big companies report forecasting reductions for their HR departments in 2009 and about a third are planning to cut HR staff. The reductions are symptomatic of a general shrinkage in recruitment resulting in fewer job opportunities, fewer companies at recruitment fairs and fewer opportunities for graduating students and professionals at the start of their careers, and greater uncertainty in the employment market.

Many companies whose business is recruitment are shifting some of the business activity to coaching, staff development, or outplacement services for their corporate clients.

The conventional local wisdom is, “Switzerland is not an island.” In spite of dim memories of the Golden Age in the not-too-distant past when foreign nationals were accorded work permits for Switzerland on a case-by-case basis, and unemployment was less than 0.2% (Switzerland, like the United States, carefully selected its foreign population by educational and professional criteria) the current Zeitgeist– proclaimed throughout official channels and their surrogate establishment media– is that Switzerland must be another supermarket in a world full of supermarkets.

There are few voices in Switzerland at this time that imagine Switzerland as a boutique, rather than a supermarket. While a boutique sells high value-added goods and services and leverages its intellectual property and ‘brand,’ the supermarket competes essentially on price. As such, it is entirely subject to the mercurial winds of global price competition, and the inexorable reality that a Chinese laborer earning $1 / day will force you to lower your standard of living before his living standard rises to meet yours.

The global recession, like all economic trends, fads, and social tendencies, has taken its time to arrive in Switzerland. It’s rare that something starts in Switzerland –we are a risk-averse nation, that prefer mimicry to originality—but everything eventually ends up here. (The Author will wager that even Guantanamo’s inmates will end up here!)

So it is that the recession – soon to become depression—has arrived. We shouldn’t be surprised. After the theft of $65 billion of public funds to (temporarily) rescue a private institution that should simply have been nationalized, the amount of resources available to confront the tsunami about to wash over us is limited.

According to a report from the International Labor Organization (ILO), the unfolding economic crisis may cause the number of unemployed across the globe to rise to over 50 million if the situation continues to deteriorate. Luckily, employees of the ILO need not fear for their public sector sinecures, and may even hire additional staff to grapple with the increased workload of reports as the situation worsens.

In Switzerland, the effects of the global economic crisis on the Swiss employment market have begun to be strongly felt. Already last December, to avoid layoffs, numerous companies announced measures of unpaid leave – partial unemployment through reduced working hours rather than firing staff.

But in January, the first wave of layoffs began. Swissmetal laid off 35 workers, Allianz Suisse 250, Ebel and Zenith 50, Girard-Perregaux 22, GF Charmilles 180, and the list has promised to grow long, and well into 2010, according to the SECO (the federal secretariat for the Economy), which predicts a rise in unemployment of at least 0.7% this year and another 1% in 2010.

Despite this less than rosy assessment (analysts outside the government claim the SECO statistics are unrealistically low) of a degenerating domestic economy, the Swiss federal government remains ferociously in favor of the bilateral agreements with the EU, permitting anyone in the European Community to come work in Switzerland. In exchange, we Swiss residents obtain the dubious privilege of being able to go work in the much less-well-paid, less environmentally sound, less safe, and more bureaucratic European Community.

Professor Yves Flückiger of the University Employment Observatory argues that Switzerland will be strongly affected by the global recession because of it’s reliance on exports (about 50%). As an example, the violent fall of orders in the automobile sector has had a powerful impact on some Swiss exporters in the equipment manufacturing sectors and spare parts industries. The German cantons will necessarily be more heavily affected because they are more oriented toward manufacturing exports to the United States. Swissmem is already predicting a loss of 25,000 jobs in 2009 in the machine industries, electrical equipment and metals.

The monoculture of the economic philosophy of global free trade and the parallel misguided application of a ‘supermarket’ business model will render significant portions of the Swiss economy vulnerable to major perturbations and mass layoffs. These segments of the economy are further affected by the rise in the Swiss Franc against the dollar and the euro. The segments of the economy which conform more to a ‘boutique’ model – such as high tech and luxury—should prove to be more resistant. Biotech, pharmaceuticals, and high technology sectors are still thriving.

Analysts are expecting waves of layoffs in the banking and financial sectors, and in the insurance industries. The layoffs, however, will not be general to the sectors. Among the banks, while UBS and Credit Suisse are suffering, the Swiss cantonal banks are thriving, smothered under huge influxes of new cash from customers fleeing larger and potentially insolvent institutions. Many of the cantonal banks are vigorously hiring.

The luxury watch industries are also complaining about diminishing exports, but the suffering is mainly among the moderately priced products.

Other sectors expected to be hit strongly by the slowdown : the media sector, the telecommunications sector, tourism, and the construction industry.

According to HR consultants and specialists in the recruitment field, the new trend sweeping through management circles, snidely referred to as ‘Manager 2.0,’ is the socially adroit and diplomatic manager, who rather than managing in an authoritarian style is instead a unifier and includer, using terms like “ together, we…” rather than “I want.…”

Briefly, the passage is from strict hierarchical vertical structures to more horizontal networks. The old manager was expected to organize, direct, set objectives, communicate clearly and enforce the hierarchy. Today’s manager needs to be a coach and an inspirational force.

The new manager is expected to have or to cultivate ‘soft skills’ – relational and emotional — and to be a superb communicator and able to elicit the best from the group he manages.

Human Resources professionals say that professional skills and methodologies acquired in management schools or continuing education count for only about 50% in a successful

career. What now counts for at least the other 50% are social skills, assets of character, ethical and spiritual skills, which are difficult to teach and usually acquired in a personal manner (through one’s upbringing or early education).

Some HR experts say that the contemporary context of globalization and mobility has both flattened hierarchies and increased complexities, while the demands on managers have risen greatly. With the increasing size of the managed, the increasing competition in a global market, multicultural partners, etc., managers need to be able to coach, inspire, and give meaning to the work, as well being able to plan, anticipate and organize.
The need for strong communication skills has become paramount since to coach and inspire, one needs to be a convincing communicator.

Social Psychologists in the HR world claim that the ‘level’ expected of managers today is much higher than that of 10 years ago. And too many managers remain ‘specialists’. In the semantics of HR, this means that the managers need to rise above the details to be able to see the larger picture and give a sense of purpose to the team. To this writer, it would appear that the ‘big picture’ was always the responsibility of managerial staff.

The manager-coach of today ‘accompanies’ the team in the resolution of problems and is a facilitator, encouraging the staff and placing weight on training, experience, and staff retention.

Until recently, it was very difficult to find work after one’s mid-forties and nearly impossible to find work if one came onto the job market past the age of 50. Those who lost their jobs in their late forties or early fifties were often relegated to several years unemployment compensation and then public assistance.

Times have changed, the demography of Switzerland is moving up the age ladder and there are more and more job opportunities for seniors.

Jean-Claude Biver, the Director of Hublot is one of the big champions of hiring seniors – 12% of his company’s workforce is over 65. The arguments for hiring older workers are clear: they bring with them decades of experience. Sociologists and economists tend to agree.

The traditional reasons in Switzerland for the reluctance to hire seniors were related to the high costs in social charges that companies must pay and concerns about seniors being not flexible enough.

These concerns have been swept away in the new demographic reality of scarce qualifications, increasing life-spans, and aging populations. According to demographic projections, the EU population of working age professionals will decline 18% between 2000 and 2050, and the number of people over 65 will rise 60% at the same time. The aging of populations is a problem affecting all of the Occident.

Governments across the developed world have to find ways to maintain their economies and counter the penury of qualified labor and the skill in the marketplace.

The most successful and entrepreneurial companies in Switzerland are now trying to integrate all age groups. Managing a workforce composed of all age groups and job descriptions is a major challenge. For example, when an older worker is retiring, one needs to have already hired a young worker 8 or 9 months previously to permit a knowledge transfer. This is more difficult than it may seem as often retiring workers are not particularly inclined toward training colleagues and young colleagues are not always persuaded of usefulness of information and knowledge from an ‘out of date’ elder.

While the trend is in the process of changing, it is still the case – according to the Federal Office of Statistics – that for those over 50, the unemployment rate skyrockets. It is legal in Switzerland to stipulate an age range for job vacancy or job description. The tendency however, is turning strongly in the favor of seniors as labor shortages accentuate. Economists and government statisticians see a peak in the scarcity of qualified professionals on the job market occurring in 2015.

The Geneva University Hospital system (HUG) is opening a school for robotic abdominal surgery in a bid to become a center of excellence for new medical and operating table techniques.

Robots are used in micro-invasive surgery, which does not require large sutures. This type of mini surgery means patients are not cut wide open, with their organ(s) exposed, like in Emergency Room.

The Da Vinci robot, built by the private company American Intuitive Surgical, is used in abdominal and urological surgery. The first training courses at the specialized center took place under the direction of Prof. Philippe Morel of the visceral surgery group at the HUG.

The Geneva University Hospital is seeking to train roughly 80 surgeons per year with the new technique. To this end,

they’ve bought another robot and will be teaching the procedure using two cadavers.

Some critics of the university hospital system are saying the cadavers are actually ex-patients from previously unsuccessful operations.

Robotic surgical procedures allow via a doctor to prepare his operation in fine detail using a simulation program in the robot.

From the patient’s perspective, the technique reduces the possibility of errors or complications and reduces the overall cost of the procedure (as well as reducing the number of days spent in hospital), pleasing both the Insurance companies who get lower bills, and patients who have less anxiety over inebriated surgeons.

Geneva has larger ambitions with the program, hoping to become a sort of hi-tech center for robotic surgical techniques. Serge Serro, the president of Federation des Nouvelles Technologies, points out that Romandy has specific competencies in micro technologies and which he believes can be leveraged, along with fruitful associations with other university hospitals.

The HUG has invested several million francs in the new robotic equipment, which has high-resolution 3-dimensional vision and provides highly detailed medical imaging, most of which was financed by gifts from patients to the HUG.

According to economists at UBS, Swiss salaries declined on average in 2008. The UBS analysts neglected to mention whether salary declines in Switzerland were aided or offset by remuneration packages paid to UBS executives.

The UBS study, which surveyed over 350 companies and more than a dozen sectors of the economy, concluded that salaries in Switzerland would rise in 2009. the projections are based on projected rises in compensation packages minus the effects of increases in the cost of living.

In 2008, salaries declined roughly .5% as a result of steep increases in the cost of living in Switzerland, notably in raw materials (gas and food) as well in rent.

Economists are betting on a trend reversal in 2009, based on the supposition of both salary increases and price deflation (or at least stagnation) based on the projected economic slow-down. The UBS analysts believe that inflation will fall below 1.4% in 2009. The net result, if the analysts are correct, will be a 1% gain in purchasing power on average.

Last week, Migros announced salary increases for its 88,000 strong workforce of roughly 3%, as well as a raise of their minimum salary from CHF 3300 to CHF 3700. The measure is expected to cost Migros approximately CHF 130 million, but the management at Migros believes the measure will buy them an important amount of confidence and good will in this period of turbulence in financial markets and the economy. Other sectors announcing wage increases: construction industry. The salaries of jobs in building and construction will rise 2.4% following vigorous negotiations and conflict between company owners and the unions.

The largest wage increases are expected to be for jobs in the IT and telecoms fields (+3%), as well as the luxury watch brands (2.9%) and the machine industry (+2.8%). Jobs in banking and finance and jobs in insurance are expected to see salary increases of slightly less than 2%.

Executive recruitment has been marked especially by the internet and the growing economy in Switzerland. Companies in Switzerland though in a strong economy, remain wary of a downturn around the corner as a result of the problems in international credit markets and therefore executive recruiters see a strong rise in very competent candidates and reduction in mandates from multinationals for recruitment.

Nonetheless, because the Swiss economy remains strong, sectors such as luxury industries and watchmaking, as well as high-tech industries, continue to exert strong pressure on recruiters for top qualified specialists and executives.

Many executive recruiters in Switzerland, in addition to their core business of finding top candidates for their enterprise clients, also engage in coaching of in-place executives and teams. The market for coaching is growing rapidly in Switzerland.

Of course, the biggest revolution in executive recruitment has been the internet, which has completely changed the recruitment market in the space of fewer than 10 years. Previously, recruting an executive was a thoroughly confidential matter, operating by private networking. Now thousands of potential candidates for a position are a mouseclick away: the central difficulty of recruiters has shifted from hunting to selection. The internet, at the same time it has solved the problem of putting candidates and recruiters in contact, has created the new problem of how to evaluate and select in an efficient manner.

In addition, the ubiquity of internet in the employment process has rendered the candidate who sends in application by post a suspicious anomaly, a candidate who prima facie appears to have no clue as to the manner in which modern work is done.

In the french speaking part of Switzerland the economy has become particulary dynamic, evolving from an array of largely small and medium sized companies to a large park of multinationals, european corporate headquarters, and start-up technology companies.