Think You’re Indispensable at Work? Think Again
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
Here's your money briefing for Thursday, April 4th. I'm J.R.
Why do some employees believe being indispensable equals job security?
Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Are you indispensable at work? The feeling that all the knowledge and skills you've accumulated equals job security might give you a sense of comfort, but it could also backfire.
Think about your promotion potential. If nobody else can step in to do your old job, how can I promote you? How If you want to think about it from the employee's shoes, what these managers have said is if you're gunning for that promotion, actually try to train up the people underneath you so that you are replaceable. We'll talk to Wall Street Journal columnist Callum Borshers after the break.
This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab.
What tactics do workers use to try to become indispensable?
Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
Some workers who feel being indispensable is the key to job security have found that often isn't the case. WSJ On The Clock columnist Callum Borsher spoke to employees and managers about it, and he joins me. Callum, what have the workers you've spoken with done to try to be indispensable?
All kinds of things. On the positive side, some say that they really try hard to be a team player, take things off of other people's plates, make their entire company better, see the big picture go above and beyond, kind of the classic things that you would expect. And in some cases, they say it doesn't matter. You can be really good. You can put in max effort and still be let go. And on the more negative side, I've also heard stories about people who try to hoard knowledge for themselves to try to be the only one in the office who knows how to do a certain thing or has a certain skill set, thinking that'll make me indispensable because I'm the only person who's able to do such and such. But that can backfire on them as well.
Why can hoarding knowledge backfire with managers?
So what is it that causes that backfire? Some managers tell me that they deliberately try to prevent their employees from becoming indispensable. And they say, look, this isn't about sabotaging somebody's career. It's just realistic, savvy management because, look, turnover is inevitable. And if you put all your eggs in that one employee's basket, it's a little bit too risky. If you really do have one person who's the only person who knows how to do a certain thing.
How do managers deliberately prevent employees from becoming indispensable?
An example might be at a sales agency where you have a point person on a client account. If that person leaves the agency, do you lose the client? Because that would be a real disappointment for the business. So the hope is that you have backups. Other people can step in as needed so that it's really putting the business first. This sounds like the old adage, nobody likes a know-it-all. That's part of it, too. It's kind of an intangible quality. I spoke with a woman named Debbie Boone, who used to manage veterinary clinics in the Carolinas, and she told me she sometimes would dismiss high-performing employees if she didn't like their attitudes, if she didn't think that they were willing to share their knowledge, if she thought that they were trying to be that know-it-all.
She felt like it was advancing maybe their internal status, but that it was short-sighted, that in the bigger picture, it was actually going to hold the organization back.
Well, the idea that you could be let go by being valuable and perhaps indispensable, what is that doing to a worker morale?
It's sort of counterintuitive. And so as you would expect, it's really discouraging for some workers who felt like their jobs were going to be really secure. I think a lot of tech workers are feeling this way right now, right? Because, of course, we've been in a tech boom for a long time and a lot of people haven't
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:22
2
Why do some employees believe being indispensable equals job security?
0:22–1:12
3
What tactics do workers use to try to become indispensable?
1:12–2:25
4
Why can hoarding knowledge backfire with managers?
2:25–2:50
5
How do managers deliberately prevent employees from becoming indispensable?
2:50–4:45
6
How is the rise of AI and tech layoffs affecting workers’ sense of indispensability?
4:45–7:29
7
Why might making yourself replaceable improve promotion chances?
7:29–8:49
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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