Bong Miquiabas talks to the professionals to find out how you can make yourself indispensible – or at least not expendable.

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Hong Kong often feels Darwinian – as anyone who’s bargained hard at a local street market can attest – but that’s especially true in the workplace these days. But you needn't leave it up to evolution (or intelligent design if you're that way inclined) to map out your career survival prospects: with a little help from those in the know, you can ensure that your chances of economic extinction are greatly reduced. We spoke with a handful of locally-based HR professionals and a feng shui master to get their tips on how to keep – and thrive in – your job.

Keep communication lines open…
The signs of layoffs are always obvious in retrospect: the blandly worded head office e-mail announcing ‘a fresh look at our operational needs’, the greater frequency of closed-door HR meetings down the hall… An HR professional we’ll call Alice (all names have been changed), who works at a leading international investment bank in Hong Kong, says how people respond to tough times can indicate who’s worth retaining.

“Everyone knows the usual rules don’t apply when it comes to job security these days,” she says. “But I’m surprised some live in denial.” Alice recalls a colleague who wouldn’t take any phone calls from HR for fear of getting shown the door. “The guy was acting so paranoid that by the time cuts were actually discussed he was a candidate simply because he shut down at work. It wasn’t just his reclusiveness. The impact on his work had become very tangible.” A desperate attitude, while at times understandable, doesn’t exactly give off a winning vibe.

Stu, another HR professional at a financial services company, says a need for communication goes both directions at work. “People who are managers need to communicate as honestly as possible what they know,” he says. “People appreciate that. People see what goes on in the market. A level of openness is helpful for people to do their jobs well.”

Lawrence, an HR professional at a different financial services company, notes that touching base with friendly colleagues in, say, accounting or sales, can equip you with information to anticipate the company’s performance. “I have trusted friends on the revenue-generating side of the house and routinely talk shop just to know what’s going on,” he says. “Of course you should be discreet in these conversations so you’re not perceived as plotting more than working.”

… but exercise good judgment.
While managers can be faulted for not sharing enough information, many of us working stiffs run the risk of sharing too much. In these Facebook-crazed times, a hasty post of your wild night in Macau might turn up on the search engine of a nosy work colleague who holds some management sway. “Remember that everything you post can and will be held against you,” says Diana, an HR veteran who’s worked for investment banks in New York, London, and transferred last summer to Hong Kong. “We have an employee who had the annoying habit of arguing really loudly over the phone with his ex nearly every afternoon. His voice basically echoed down the corridor.”

Diana says the employee let it be known among work colleagues that he was trashing his ex on his Facebook page. Naturally, she recalls, some colleagues took a look at his page and one even forwarded Diana a choice rant. Diana says that, although this employee’s work quality was stellar, when it came to assessing who should take on more of the duties left vacant by the last round of redundancies, this employee was considered too emotionally unstable to warrant more work. “He’s still with us, but I can’t say he’s won himself heaps of fans when he’s oversharing at work.”

Blogging in general is a dicey game. Alice says employees should ask themselves what the purpose is for sharing personal information online. “If you need to vent, why not save it for your confidants, people who won’t do anything to you professionally?” She recalls a former colleague whose blog made it clear she didn’t need the job thanks to her husband’s recent promotion. “I can tell you she made it easy for senior management to answer the question, ‘who’s in the best position to handle being let go?’ which is definitely important when you get down to hard staffing decisions.”

Actively network…
We Hongkongers love nothing better than to stay connected with the latest anything, be it property, fashion, or technology. “I’ve never lived in a place so keen on what everyone else is doing,” Diana observes with a chuckle. “One way to make the most of this is to speak with people who may share your career interests or can help further your career interests.”

Regularly-scheduled networking events around town like Web Wednesdays or Fruits-in-Suits (see Get a Job) are ideal venues to stay plugged in to industry developments in low-pressure settings where head-hunters are known to congregate. “Network, network, network,” says Robert, a head-hunter who deals in technology among other sectors. “There’s no substitute for personal relationships” when it comes to job networking. Robert says the ‘job-anxious’ should employ both traditional and new tactics when it comes to networking. “Professional associations, alumni associations, and informational interviews are tried and true ways” to stay abreast, and he encourages using sites like LinkedIn, Classmates.com or Facebook.

…but keep your exit strategy under wraps.
However, publicly proclaiming ‘I’m available for work because my company is a sinking ship!’ won’t be music to any employer’s ears. Best to think and act with caution, says Lawrence. “I think every employer knows people have exit strategies. You just need to think in terms like, ‘who absolutely needs to know that I’m leaving?’ and keep it to yourself.” Lawrence recalls a thorny situation in which a manager informed his staff over drinks one Friday after work that, even if New York cut his position, he’d be in fine shape professionally since he boasted about having many friends at other companies.

“Maybe he was worn down after a particularly long week, or he just wasn’t thinking about what he was saying,” Lawrence says. “Regardless, he was stupid to broadcast his openness about leaving.” Word spread at the office of the manager’s mind being elsewhere such that the manager felt compelled to send a rambling e-mail clarifying his future at work. Lawrence says the employee was eventually offered severance during a round of layoffs affecting the manager’s entire division, but his conduct made his status a no-brainer to decision-makers.

Do more and better on the job...
Which brings us back to the ultimate defence – doing good work. Stu, whose company has seen one round of redundancies, says nobody can eliminate job insecurity but everyone can enhance their odds of staying. “It’s very difficult to make someone indispensable,” Stu says. “But people can certainly try and maximise their effectiveness so that when it comes to making decisions about what needs to happen, people might find themselves in a slightly better position for a desirable outcome. People need to roll up their sleeves up a bit more and get involved in things that they didn’t consider their responsibilities.”

Alice echoes those sentiments. “At the end of the day, workplace attitude can separate who is expendable and who is essential.” Alice remembers being told by a colleague about a very new colleague who impressed her team by expressing a willingness to help others with their workload. “Apparently this young woman had privately told each of her colleagues that they could count on her if they needed help with their projects.” The offer was especially striking, Alice says, because the employee already arrived early for work and was known to commute over an hour each way between the New Territories and Central. “It can sometimes be really clear who your best staff are,” Alice says. “Those are people you want to survive anything.”

…and consult a feng shui master!
John Wong has been a feng shui master in Hong Kong for over 15 years and has extensive advice for enhancing your workplace productivity, starting with the entryway. “The office entrance must be kept clear with a distinct indication of your business. If you have spot lighting hanging on top of the office entrance, avoid the number five as much as possible, because five is a sinister and ominous number in feng shui.”

Wong has a simple tip for boosting interpersonal relationships. “Put some peach blossom in both the office and your home this year in the south direction. Peach will make people more willing to communicate with you. If you own the business, your clients will be fonder of you; if you’re an employee, you will be more popular among your colleagues and boss.”

And he has timeless advice for those preoccupied with the economic crisis. “I think the best way is to face it with an optimistic and positive mindset. Smile to yourself in the mirror every morning until you are cheered up.” Wong adopts a big-picture view of the current situation. “The financial problems won’t last too long and may improve this year, so never give up.”

Read our other features:
Get a Job
Keep Your Job
Reinvent yourself