Past results aren’t enough
Strong performers still get cut. Usually because the case looked backward when the decision was about the future.
One of the more sobering findings: a strong track record, on its own, doesn’t protect anyone. Good performers get cut when the case for them is a highlight reel and the decision in the room is about what happens next.
Decision-makers weigh trajectory and fit
SHRM’s guidance on who stays in a reduction is blunt about it: “The top sales employee with a declining book of business or in a declining sector may be less attractive than the fifth highest sales representative who is growing business or works in a strategically important sector.” Criteria, it says, “should reflect factors that will be most important to the ongoing business.”
In other words: present output is table stakes. The persuasive case adds where the trajectory is heading and why this person matters to where the business is going.
Make the forward case explicit
- Show the trend, not just the total — output and scope growing month over month.
- Tie them to a priority that isn’t going away — the system, customer, or capability the org is betting on.
- Back it with documented, visible specifics. Career guidance from Dice is consistent here: documented achievements and current, relevant skills shape how leadership perceives someone’s value.
None of this means inventing a future. It means making the future contribution as concrete as the past one.
Sources
Make the evidence-backed case for someone worth keeping.
Build the case →