Employees who are willing to take on additional assignments, help coworkers meet their deadlines, and volunteer for increasingly challenging assignments, are appreciated. The amount of work they contribute to the organization raises their value in the eyes of the company. But, their willingness to grow their skills and ability to contribute sends a powerful message that they will continue to grow as employees in the future.
In an employee layoff situation, one of the key considerations is whether the employee can continue to develop to fill the kinds of jobs the employer anticipates in the future. An employee who has consistently demonstrated his or her willingness to embrace growth and challenge is valued.
An employee who does the same job, in the same way, in particular repetitive type tasks, is not demonstrating the potential to grow. This employee will be seen as less able to fill the fewer, newly designed post-layoff jobs.
