How to be indispensable in today's job market

There is something vaguely Orwellian about public sector workers being asked to "recommit" to their organisations. The idea is that workers realign their values and goals with those of their employers in order to make themselves more valuable and, the hope is, indispensable. The term itself may sound like newspeak – and 1984's Winston Smith was a civil servant, after all – but it's founded in a less literary dystopia, one of impending and wide-ranging public sector redundancies. Recommitting is ostensibly about helping employees help themselves, according to Jo Ellen Grzyb, director of professional development firm Impact Factory, and it's just one of the practical ways the public sector is preparing itself for a seismic shift in human resources. "Employers will always prefer to retain people who can make things happen, rather than simply doing the bare minimum," she says. "Public sector workers will need to be operating at a higher level than before, and this is one way to help them do that." Job description Gryzb's company works primarily with local authorities and the NHS, running workshops encouraging employees to think about how they can demonstrate their worth – how they might do things differently within their current roles, how they could go beyond the bare requirements of their job description. They are effectively being taught the skills to keep their jobs. "Where departments are being merged, those who are more enthusiastic are more likely to get the job – it's harder to change a negative attitude than it is to develop someone who's already keen to begin with. Positivity means being more likely to come out on top if you're competing against someone with an equal or even slightly higher skill set." For other parts of the public sector it's a case of preparing their workforces for eventualities such as interviews, as pertinent for those expected to reapply for their own jobs as for those leaving the public sector entirely. Gillian Hibberd, strategic director of resources and business transformation for Buckinghamshire county council, says the council has introduced a professional outplacement service to help employees prepare for redundancy. She expects 400 jobs to go over the next two years. "As well as a support package to help people make informed choices, they will receive one-to-one support and career counselling, support with preparing their CVs, help improving interview skills and advice on starting up their own business." But the severe cuts in budget will also affect those who don't get laid off. In consideration of the shape of the organisation in the aftermath of job cuts, who stays will be as important as who goes, which is why employers are not only asking employees to prove themselves, but helping them to do so. Longer-term strategy Switched-on employers are taking a longer-term strategic look at their resourcing requirements, according to Robin Wood of Career Management Consultants. They are identifying the skills gaps that a smaller workforce and a maturing population will produce, and encouraging employees to explore new and additional roles. "Instead of letting people go they are retraining them and developing their skills, anticipating a very different public sector, one with less people doing more work," says Wood. "Employees are also deciding for themselves that they'd like to stay – either in post or within the public sector – and using the tools supplied by their employers to help them realise that goal." He adds that more enlightened public bodies are becoming effective at communicating to employees affected by redundancy what the opportunities are, and encouraging and supporting them in their efforts to improve their retainability. "There needs to be a clear and fair selection process when restructuring, of course, but it is also intelligent to make employees who have the potential to fill those future roles aware of the benefits of staying," he says.