平級跳槽是個技術活

????柯克?霍伊爾是美國洛杉磯市的一名獵頭，五年前，他必須拋出升職、增加下屬人數，并且至少比目前工資高出15%的薪酬等條件來吸引求職者。但現在的情況卻發生了翻天覆地的變化：他表示，為了換取更短的通勤時間，或者更穩定的未來，許多高管都愿意接受和自己目前頭銜和薪酬類似的工作。曾經頗受嘲弄的“平級跳槽”開始引起越來越多人的興趣。霍伊爾稱：“目前情況下，每個人潛意識里都露出了脆弱的一面。因為未來充滿了不確定感。”

????經濟近于停滯已經長達三年，人們已經做好了接受新挑戰和不同職位的準備，或者至少要為自己打下更堅實的基礎。據睿仕管理公司（Right Management）的一份調查顯示，2011年，約84%的員工計劃跳槽，而去年這一比例僅有60%。但由于就業市場并不景氣，新的商業創意束之高閣，而且嬰兒潮一代也紛紛選擇推遲退休，因此，現在要想謀求升職，跟主動辭職沒什么兩樣。

????不過，好消息是：如果處理得當，平級跳槽并不會讓你陷入死胡同。傳統觀念認為，選擇平級跳槽，無異于在職業生涯的發展過程中摁下了暫停鍵。即使在整個商業形勢不景氣時，這種觀點依然根深蒂固，頗有市場。但目前全球商業環境撲朔迷離，公司紛紛提高運營效率，在這種經濟形勢下，職業選擇的靈活性變得與發展軌道同等重要。正如喬安妮?克里沃在其即將出版的關于平級跳槽高招的新書中所說：“結束意味著新的開始。”

????一些公司也開始明確鼓勵員工平級跳槽。德勤會計師事務所（Deloitte）便在公司內部和客戶中推廣一種不同于“職業階梯”的理念：即“職業網格”，這個比喻指的便是目前興起的平級崗位調動或斜向崗位調動。（克里沃在書中也對類似話題進行了討論。）保險業巨頭丘博公司（Chubb）的員工團體近期舉辦了一場職場研討會，討論如何正確進行平級跳槽。

????而電纜供應商考克斯通信公司（Cox Communications）也開始與員工共同討論橫向職業發展路線的價值，并將其納入正式討論之中。考克斯公司人力資源與發展副總裁艾琳?韓德表示，公司正在有意識地進行這種轉變：“公司將平級跳槽作為一個發展機會，而非一個停滯點，來加以宣傳。”

????但求職者需要依靠自己來判斷公司對這種策略的支持力度。雖然目前來看，平級跳槽不再是什么不光彩的事，但依然要謹慎行事。也就是說，如果是對外跳槽，則一定要了解目標公司的財務前景，工作的真正職責，以及未來的發展機會等。紐約職業咨詢師唐娜?施瓦茲建議，年齡越大，越要小心謹慎。她表示，一旦做出錯誤選擇，“恐怕就沒有多少可供選擇的機會了！”

????不論是跨公司還是跨行業跳槽，最重要的一點是，確保自己已經做好準備，可以承受新工作所帶來的文化差異。今年早些時候，圣地亞哥一個度假勝地的集團銷售經理維拉瑞?懷爾德決定跳槽到另外一家發展更穩健的公司，然后她從商務社交網站LinkedIn上發現，那個度假村的大部分職員都是在公司工作了多年的老員工。這是一個好的跡象，同時也讓她做好了接受不同公司文化的準備：“我知道，這種變化肯定需要花一些時間來適應。”雖然找任何工作之前都會調查一番，但鑒于平級跳槽所帶來的風險更大，這種調查也就顯得愈加重要。

????譯者：阿龍/汪皓

????Five years ago Los Angeles-based headhunter Kirk Hoyle couldn't get candidates' attention unless he dangled a title change, a boost in the number of direct reports, and at least a 15% bump in pay. Today it's a different story: Many executives, he says, are willing to take jobs with similar titles and pay in exchange for little more than a shorter commute or a more stable future. The lateral move, once derided, is getting a second look. "Everyone has a subconscious weakness right now," Hoyle says. "There's a lot of insecurity about the future."

????After three years of near economic standstill, people are ready for new challenges, different responsibilities, or at least more solid footing. According to a poll by the consultants at Right Management, some 84% of employees planned to look for jobs in 2011, up from 60% the year before. But with job growth stagnant, new business ideas on the shelf, and baby boomers choosing not to retire, making a move straight up the chain currently looks about as likely as making a voluntary decision to step down.

????The good news: A lateral move -- if done right -- no longer puts you at risk of hitting a dead end. Conventional wisdom posits that sideways moves are like pressing the pause button on your career, an idea that has stuck around even as organizations grow increasingly flatter. But with the complexities of a global business environment and the economic realities of trying to do more with less, agility is becoming as important as trajectory. As Joanne Cleaver, an author of a forthcoming book about making smart lateral moves, puts it, "Over is the new up."

????Some companies are encouraging lateral moves explicitly. Deloitte has popularized the notion, both in-house and with clients, of a "career lattice" rather than a "career ladder" -- a metaphor for the often sideways or diagonally up-or-down directions in which careers move today. (Cleaver's book addresses a similar topic.) Employee groups at insurance giant Chubb (CB) recently held career workshops that addressed how to make the right kinds of lateral moves.

????And the cable provider Cox Communications has begun talking about the value of sideways career steps as part of formal development discussions with employees. Cox's vice president of talent and development, Erin Hand, says the shift is a conscious one: "Organizations are marketing the lateral move as a development opportunity rather than as a parking spot."

????Figuring out how much your company stands behind such marketing is up to you. Lateral moves may not always carry a stigma these days, but they must still be chosen carefully. Which means doing your homework -- about the company's financial prospects if it's an external move, the true responsibilities of the job, and what the future opportunities really are. That's especially true the more senior you are, says New York City-based career consultant Donna Schwarz. If you make a mistake, she says, "how many more moves do you have left?"

????Most important, whether you're moving across the company or across industries, make sure you're prepared for the cultural differences the new job will probably bring. When Valarie Wilder, a group sales manager for a San Diego resort, decided to move to a more stable property earlier this year, she used LinkedIn (LNKD) to discover that most of the team had been with the resort for years. That was a good sign, but it also prepared her for the culture change: "I knew it could take the staff some time to warm up." While that's true with any job, the greater risk you take on with a lateral move makes that research all the more critical.