Diversify your (talent) portfolio
Nobody is indispensable. Even CEO-founders get ousted. There are, however, employees who are less dispensable than others. It is how it is, some roles within a company are more highly valued than others, think revenue-generating roles and product-supporting roles. For those who aren’t in these roles, length of tenure may not be determined by sheer performance metrics, there may be something that’s even more highly valued than a 110% rating.
Sales and Engineering tend to make up a great percentage of a company’s workforce and they partner well to create and sell products and services. The rest of the company works hard to brand, operationalize, and strategically align the company’s product to its Sales targets. They support revenue growth but don’t directly grow revenue themselves. And so it is, many of these roles in Business Technology, Finance, Growth, and Human Resources are the first to go when budget gets squeezed.
If you’re still wondering what could be more valuable than making six-figure deals or enhancing product features for upsell opportunities, it’s diversification. We’re familiar with the cliché, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. At different stages of life this could refer to college or job applications, relationships, or investments. Whatever kind of portfolio we create, whether financial or social, we’re taught early to make sure it’s diverse. Why should our talent portfolio look any different?
There is an intentional way to diversify a talent portfolio without becoming a master of none. My unsolicited advice is, it’s important to do this while working along a singular career path. This is to say, specialization and mastery are both important as you diversify. Promotions are given to proven masters of a craft as they rise and excel. However, if a divergent opportunity opens up organically because of choices to diversify and the opportunity is of true interest, by all means make the pivot. A pivot is strategic and intentional, compared to role hopping.
When my role was being considered for elimination, I had a chain of management to validate the value my work brings to the company and reasons why my role is essential. Within the months leading up to a role elimination process, several opportunities arose for me to raise a hand and support, should I have the interest in taking on additional responsibility. One of these opportunities was an initiative to align, document, and track not only my team’s quarterly objectives and targets, but my entire departments’. Another opportunity presented itself when a colleague went on leave and the company needed someone to fulfill their duties. For these opportunities, I spoke with my manager about re-prioritizing my workload and said, “yes” to both.
The most critical part of the decision to expand my role was, if I decided these opportunities were not a good fit for me and said no, there was nobody else to fill the positions. I made myself one of one, essential.
It’s because of this expanded role that I am still employed today. I no longer only brought value to a sub-department, I was valuable to my entire department’s operational efficiency. There’s a bit of luck and good timing that comes into play, and not everyone will get an opportunity to grow beyond their role so quickly. But should opportunities knock, I encourage you to welcome them in.
For those open to welcoming these opportunities in their own lives, here are ways to identify diversification opportunities for your talent portfolio:
Say yes to as many new projects and initiatives as willing to (without causing unhealthy work habits). Be intentional about projects you agree to, if there is absolutely no alignment between your authentic career aspirations or interest in developing a new skill, it’s ok to respectfully decline the opportunity.
Create partnerships with new stakeholders in the company, diversifying your realm of work in the process. The more parts of an organization you touch, the more you learn about projects and initiatives otherwise unknown. You also increase your visibility.
Raise your hand to support team members any chance you get. This is a combination of points one and two, but often may require less responsibility if you’re in a supporting role.