Are You Still Relevant and Needed?

A Wall Street Journal article caught my attention last week, with the title “Wayfair Layoffs Focused on Remote Workers”.
Wayfair isn’t a stranger to layoffs, having already executed three other events since 2020. However, the specific focus on remote workers was peculiar.

It becomes imperative for professionals, especially those in highly cross-functional roles like Pricing, to regularly assess their alignment with the broader organizational strategy.

To navigate the evolving landscape of remote work and ensure sustained relevance, here are three key questions to ponder:

1. Are you aligned with the company strategy?
   Revisit your annual and tactical plans: how well do the line up with where the company is going? Are your team’s efforts advancing the company towards its strategic goals? Or are you stuck on just the present (or even worse, the past)?
2. Right now…are you relevant?
   Especially when working remotely, it’s easy to remain solely focused on the long-term objectives and lose sight of what’s going on in the present. Are you plugged in with the current business priorities? Are there specific “fire drills” that the company is tackling right now and is your team engaged in solving them? If not, should they be?
3. Are you accretive to company results?
   In the words of legendary basketball coach John Wooden, “Never mistake activity with achievement.” Can you explicitly connect your team’s actions to the overall organizational performance? If not, consider whether there are valid reasons for this misalignment, such as managing financial compliance or statutory processes. Better still, is there more you could do to increase efficiency levels?

For those deeply entrenched in functions like Pricing, where collaboration spans various departments, periodic validation becomes crucial to prevent disconnection from the core of the business. By asking these three fundamental questions and addressing any identified gaps, professionals can actively contribute to the organization’s success and stay attuned to the ever-changing business landscape.