They witness
- Isabelle Ruffin-Sathicq, coach and outplacement specialist at Dirigeants & Partenaires
- Emilie Bonamy, executive coach and president of ELB Conseil
- Sébastien Hof, occupational psychologist.
Step 1: identify the causes of its shelving
First of all, ask yourself why you are in this situation.
“Is it bad luck? Namely that your position or your activity has been deleted. Is it because of an error on your part on a file? A relational problem with his malicious manager,…? »immediately recommends Isabelle Ruffin-Sathicq, coach and outplacement specialist at Dirigeants & Partenaires.
A lack of technical skills, for example digital skills, and a presupposed inability to train in them, can also sometimes “explain” a shelving.
Analyzing the causes of a shelving makes it possible to identify the real room for action to get out of it
Emilie Bonamy, executive coach and president of ELB Conseil.
Step 2: gather evidence of its shelving
It’s obvious, so you’re in a closet. A gilded cupboard certainly (a dressing room in short), but a cupboard all the same.
Sebastien Hof
“Contact your N+1 to record this shelving. tell him “I see myself in a closet” and show him with facts, how much it is. Also identify the words of your benevolent colleagues by asking them what they think of your being put in the closet »advises Sébastien Hof, occupational psychologist.
Step 3: Carry out your career assessment
After these first two steps, the important thing is to act. “The “action” mode is crucial because there is nothing worse than suffering a situation without doing anything”, adds Sébastien Hof. The first initiative to take is to take stock with yourself.
Carry out a career assessment, alone or with a coach, listing the skills you have implemented during your career and your successes. The goal is to pump you up. To think “wow, I didn’t realize it, but I managed to do all that
Isabelle Ruffin-Sathicq, coach and outplacement specialist at Dirigeants & Partenaires
To reassure themselves about their skills, Emilie Bonamy even recommends writing a “journal about your closet experience, or even publish it”.
Step 4: map internal positions to come out of the closet
From now on, it’s about that your skills can be useful in another department in the company. “To do this, map the box: where could your skills be needed? Once the directions, services, projects have been identified, add the names of the managers. explains Isabelle Ruffin-Sathicq.
Step 5: network thoroughly and make allies
3 methods to get in touch with your future boss internally:
- You can of course approach the identified managers directly in order to talk to them (over a coffee or other) about your added value and the interest they would have in recruiting you internally. Because yes, you have understood the challenges of their business unit.
- Also bet on opportunity brokers. Influential employees who are generally always one step ahead and who will no doubt be able to guide you towards internal opportunities that are still hidden. “Contact these touts once every 2 or 3 months for this to be effective”notes Isabelle Ruffin-Sathicq.
- To be convincing in networking, get out of your victim posture in order to take on an adult role. “Okay, what am I ashamed of? Am I a loser? No, actually, it was the situation that created this shelving. Why not talk about it in a humorous tone. Partially acknowledge his wrongs without saying the word “put in the closet”, insists Emilie Bonamy. “Give your side of the story. For example, you were taking care of such a file but the client retracted, the project team closed and yes, you screwed up. Depending on the tone used, you will pass for a “looser” or, on the contrary, for a person capable of clearly analyzing the situation and bouncing back”, illustrates Isabelle Ruffin-Sathicq.
Step 6: leave without delay if there are no internal solutions
No need to lie to yourself, coming out of the closet by finding an internal solution, it does exist but overall it is quite rare. Often, this situation leads to a departure in the more or less long term.. Above all, do not wait for the humiliations and the total loss of confidence to leave the club.. If the loss of confidence is proven both on the side of the employee and of the company, it is better to cut it short.
“Tearing off the band-aid all at once by going to see HR to negotiate a departure. Argue that the situation is not comfortable for you. And no more for the company. She assumes remuneration for nothing and this shelving risks creating an internal “bad buzz”. The risk is then that the other employees disengage as they risk being treated.concludes Isabelle Ruffin-Sathicq.
* Note from the Institut Montaigne “Employment of seniors: act on all levers”published in October 2022.