At FlashPoint, we work with some clients to provide career transition coaching to outplaced employees. We always encourage these individuals to use their networks to help them identify job opportunities. After all, most people find jobs not through ads but rather because of a personal connection. Some sources say that up to 75 percent of jobs are filled as a result of networking.

One tip I’ve begun to share focuses on improving the networking experience. The idea comes from an acquaintance who was herself looking for a job a couple of years ago.

As she was beginning her search, this acquaintance e-mailed me and others. She asked if we’d serve on her job search network. The purpose, she said, was to e-mail us regularly with updates on where she had applied and was interviewing, as well as to ask us for help in connecting with people at companies she was interested in.

She did what she promised. Every week or two she’d send the group a brief message outlining her activities. It was a great way to ensure we kept her in mind. (How often do we promise others to our eyes peeled for job opportunities, only to forget about it amid our work demands?)

Eventually the acquaintance got an interview at a company where I knew the HR director, and I e-mailed the director with a recommendation. I’m not sure that my input had any sway, but the acquaintance did get the job–just three months after her search began.

The key in all this is to think of creative ways to leverage your connections. Using e-mail, social media, and other technology to communicate effectively, make an impression, and stand apart from the crowd is important, and as this example shows, it often pays off.

George Hanlin is a consultant at FlashPoint.

Image: Avolore

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In part one, I shared that I often meet frustrated employees who wonder when normalcy will return to the post-recession workplace. My reply is simple: Cuts your company made to stay in business won’t be restored. This is the new reality. I tell them that it’s ultimately up to them to get things moving.

If we viewed our careers as the baton in a relay race, passing through many hands, we would work hard to cultivate relationships—to ensure that the baton doesn’t drop and that we have strong hands to carry us forward. Here’s an idea on how to put the relay back in your career.

List your top 50 relationships. Rank the depth of each relationship on a scale of one to five and do three tasks: 

1. Identify five people with whom you want to deepen your relationship—how will you do this?
2. Identify who is not on the list but should be as you consider your next career steps.
3. Determine if there are negative relationships on your list and decrease the time you spend with these individuals.

The next time you complain about your company, stop. Instead, spend that time cultivating your key relationships. By spending your energy on building your relay team, you’ll advance farther and faster than if you focus your attention on the company you work for and what it can or cannot do for you.

I don’t absolve employers of their responsibility to foster a great culture. To achieve excellence, companies must build systems and programs that connect their people, customers, and community. At FlashPoint I emphasize that organizations can build systems that foster communication, heighten performance, and much more. Balance can be achieved when employees work hard to build strong relationships and when companies do the same.

Krista Skidmore is cofounder and principal of FlashPoint.

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Recent economic challenges have caused many employers to make tough decisions regarding wage cuts, hiring freezes, cost-sharing in employee benefits, and more. As I help organizations make post-recession tweaks to compensation and performance systems, I meet frustrated employees who wonder when normalcy will return. My reply is simple: Cuts your company made to stay in business won’t be restored. This is the new reality.

These experiences have led me to ponder the employer-employee relationship—and, in particular, what professionals should expect of their employers. I’ve decided that people put too much emphasis on their employers and not enough time on their co-workers.

How many times have we heard our friends and family (and maybe even ourselves) lament about how much they dislike their company? A company is nothing more than an inanimate legal shell, so why do we spend so much energy on it, instead of focusing on the relationships we can build? The reason is because it’s easier to focus on the corporation or the boss than it is to focus on what we can control.

When I look at my career, I see that all my successes and opportunities have grown from the relationships I’ve developed. What if we viewed our careers as the baton in a relay race? Our careers pass through many hands. In order to ensure the baton doesn’t drop, we need to cultivate our relationships—to be sure we have strong hands to carry us forward. It’s about the people with whom we surround ourselves.

In part two, I’ll share three thought-provoking tasks to help cultivate relationships. I’ll also share what role the employer must play in creating a culture where talented people want to work.

Meanwhile, what do you think about placing emphasis on your relationships versus on your company?

Krista Skidmore is cofounder and principal of FlashPoint.

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