What Does Stepping Down Mean to You?

Taking a step down. Now there's a term loaded with angst for most job seekers. Very few people want to be less successful in the future than they've been in the past, whatever their definition of success. Yet, if you ask a number of unemployed individuals what "stepping down" means to them, you will likely get a myriad of responses.

What does stepping down imply to you?

• Is it making less money or having a decreased benefit and perk package, sending your kids to a state university instead of Harvard, or selling your house and moving to a less affluent community because you can't afford your current mortgage? In a society where people often measure their self-worth by the number of zeros on their paychecks, a lower compensation package means a substantially reduced lifestyle and a devastating blow to the ego.

• Does the thought of less authority or responsibility mean you've lost your edge or are no longer a player? Would you feel less important if fewer people reported to you or your title changed from Vice President to Director? Our culture tends to judge us by our accomplishments rather than our character. The loss of face in accepting a lesser position can be just as humiliating in the US as it is in Japan.

• Is working fewer hours your definition of stepping down? Many professionals become underemployed because they take part-time positions that pay significantly less than a full-time salary.
  For non-exempt employees, a regular 40-hour shift instead of 50 with overtime means fewer hours with lower pay. These lost hours decrease both income and self-esteem, if the worker can no longer support herself or her family on her reduced income.

• Are you concerned about moving to a smaller, less prestigious company whose market share, products or customer service seem inferior to your former employer's? A reputation for mediocrity can make your job much harder because underdogs get little respect. People who align their identities with their company's can experience a tremendous loss of self-worth, if they don't perceive their organization to be the best.

• Is a forced move from employee to independent contractor or temp status particularly difficult to swallow? For many years, being an employee meant security and a company to call home. With the proliferation of downsizing and "getting back to core business," organizations are using independent contractors and temps to replace full-time employees. This shift in the employer/employee equation has meant vanishing benefits, insecurity and a lack of belonging for baby boomers, who used to take a lifetime working relationship for granted.

• Do you feel forced to start your own business because no one is going to hire you? I hear this lament from a number of professionals in their late forties and fifties who think corporations are only interested in younger, less expensive workers. Unfortunately, particularly with Fortune 500 companies, this perception is often true.

Can a Step Down Also Be a Step Up?

For every job seeker who sees the above situations as steps down the career ladder, there is another who perceives them as opportunities to take a step up. Why is that? People are driven by different values, some of which change over time.

Many professionals actually see a tantalizing upside potential in stepping down. As they survey their career options, they may decide:

• Making less money is a necessary, but temporary, precursor to hitting a financial home run. A confident, optimistic job seeker may choose a small, fast-growing organization that offers excellent potential for increasing compensation through large bonuses, steeply escalating salary or an equity position, possibly worth millions after an IPO.
  
  For individuals who are expert deal-makers, straight commission may provide the opportunity for a substantial raise. Often seasoned sales pros prefer being paid strictly on their production, rather than by a salary or a base plus commission package that limits their income.
  
  Entrepreneurs often say they would rather work for themselves and reap the benefits personally than line someone else's pockets. While new business owners may start with a negative bottom line, they are confident their long-term income will be much greater on their own versus someone else's payroll. A lot of people must believe this because small businesses are currently the fastest growing segment of the US economy.

• The desire for a better quality of life has forced many companies to rethink their policies for hiring and promoting employees. Kathy Dawson, a former HRVP with a large corporation, has grown a very successful consulting firm (The Dawson Group) through living its mission, "To provide world-class human resource consulting services and have a life." Her employees and independent contractors all joined her organization because they wanted a better balance between work and personal time. They work smarter, not harder, on a schedule that allows them to attend kid's soccer games or take off early for a weekend at the lake.

• Other professionals are choosing a shorter workweek to spend more time as community volunteers, ease into retirement, take care of their elderly parents, start part-time businesses or pursue their hobbies. In fact, Jeremy Rifkin says in his thought-provoking book The End of Work that this trend is changing the face of our economy.
  
  Generation Xers, as a whole, tend to make career choices that promote balanced lives. They've watched their parents give their all to their companies only to be discarded in their forties or fifties when they got to be too expensive. Knowing the implicit contract for life has been broken forever, Xers have decided to opt out of the great American rat race.

• These days, many professionals are heading for smaller, less prestigious companies where they can make a significant contribution. They like the camaraderie, shared mission, quick decisions, fast growth, access to the top and cutting-edge products entrepreneurial organizations can provide.

• Recently I worked with a salesman who left a $300,000 position at a Fortune 500 company for a lesser income, plus equity at a Silicon Valley start up. While there are no guarantees, he thinks the firm's great products, coupled with his sales and marketing skills, will yield both more income and personal satisfaction than his former job.
  
  There's also the attraction of battling on behalf of the underdog. This American tradition motivates people who hunger for the thrill of besting the big guy. It's Amazon.com versus Barnes & Noble!
  
  Then there's the hardy group that loves to turn around failing organizations. They live for cleaning up messes, motivating demoralized employees, revamping product lines, bringing information systems up to date, and having a dramatic positive effect on the bottom line. Well-run companies bore them.

• A change in the way many professionals perceive their relationship with organizations is the subject of an edition of Fast Company, which focuses on the new corporate entity, Me, Inc. Me, Incers no longer think of themselves as people who work for IBM or Exxon. They are experts with a tool box of skills, which a variety of organizations will find useful.
  
  James Huggins, a brilliant computer programmer and public speaker (yes, this is a real person) alluded to the "Me, Inc." article in a speech at an Exec-U-Net meeting in Dallas. The next morning, his employer laid him off. Within two weeks he found a long-term project with a company so happy to have him, they agreed to give him time off, as needed, to pursue his budding speaking career.
  
  While being an independent contractor or temp may not offer the security and regular paycheck attached to full-time employment, these career options have a number of compensating benefits for those willing to risk occasional periods of unemployment. A flexible work schedule, choice of projects and relative freedom from politics can be worth losing a job title. With the tight sellers' market, contractors and temps usually make as much or more than their traditionally employed counterparts.

• Fledgling entrepreneurs tend to think of starting their own businesses as the ultimate step up. Suddenly they are the CEO. They can develop their own culture, create new products and services, hire people they like, make a lot of money and enjoy the variety, flexibility and quick decision making rarely available to an employee. And, they can do this until they are 80+, if they want. While entrepreneurship has its downside as well, its proponents would never trade their slings and arrows for those in the typical corporate quiver.

The Consequences of Settling

If you are contemplating taking a position that has no upside potential, keep the following caveats in mind. Pursuing and/or accepting a job below your level can:

• Be a tremendous blow to your self-confidence

• Decrease your compensation both now and in the future

• Give potential employers the impression you are no longer capable of doing high-level work

• Cause you to wonder whether you can still make a worthwhile contribution

• Mire you in a position that zaps your energy and enthusiasm and keeps you from looking for something better

• Attract repeated rejections because you are over-qualified

• Make you think you aren't marketable at a higher level because you can't even land a low-level position.

Consider Some Temporary Alternatives First

Before you take that full-time permanent step down, consider finding temporary or part-time work or consulting on a short or intermediate project. These alternatives can bring in enough income to keep the financial wolf from your door, while giving you time to continue exploring other, more appropriate options. They may also lead to long-term employment with the company where you are temping or convince you that you actually prefer their more flexible lifestyle.