平级跳槽是个技术活

    柯克•霍伊尔是美国洛杉矶市的一名猎头，五年前，他必须抛出升职、增加下属人数，并且至少比目前工资高出15%的薪酬等条件来吸引求职者。但现在的情况却发生了翻天覆地的变化：他表示，为了换取更短的通勤时间，或者更稳定的未来，许多高管都愿意接受和自己目前头衔和薪酬类似的工作。曾经颇受嘲弄的“平级跳槽”开始引起越来越多人的兴趣。霍伊尔称：“目前情况下，每个人潜意识里都露出了脆弱的一面。因为未来充满了不确定感。”

    经济近于停滞已经长达三年，人们已经做好了接受新挑战和不同职位的准备，或者至少要为自己打下更坚实的基础。据睿仕管理公司（Right Management）的一份调查显示，2011年，约84%的员工计划跳槽，而去年这一比例仅有60%。但由于就业市场并不景气，新的商业创意束之高阁，而且婴儿潮一代也纷纷选择推迟退休，因此，现在要想谋求升职，跟主动辞职没什么两样。

    不过，好消息是：如果处理得当，平级跳槽并不会让你陷入死胡同。传统观念认为，选择平级跳槽，无异于在职业生涯的发展过程中摁下了暂停键。即使在整个商业形势不景气时，这种观点依然根深蒂固，颇有市场。但目前全球商业环境扑朔迷离，公司纷纷提高运营效率，在这种经济形势下，职业选择的灵活性变得与发展轨道同等重要。正如乔安妮•克里沃在其即将出版的关于平级跳槽高招的新书中所说：“结束意味着新的开始。”

    一些公司也开始明确鼓励员工平级跳槽。德勤会计师事务所（Deloitte）便在公司内部和客户中推广一种不同于“职业阶梯”的理念：即“职业网格”，这个比喻指的便是目前兴起的平级岗位调动或斜向岗位调动。（克里沃在书中也对类似话题进行了讨论。）保险业巨头丘博公司（Chubb）的员工团体近期举办了一场职场研讨会，讨论如何正确进行平级跳槽。

    而电缆供应商考克斯通信公司（Cox Communications）也开始与员工共同讨论横向职业发展路线的价值，并将其纳入正式讨论之中。考克斯公司人力资源与发展副总裁艾琳•韩德表示，公司正在有意识地进行这种转变：“公司将平级跳槽作为一个发展机会，而非一个停滞点，来加以宣传。”

    但求职者需要依靠自己来判断公司对这种策略的支持力度。虽然目前来看，平级跳槽不再是什么不光彩的事，但依然要谨慎行事。也就是说，如果是对外跳槽，则一定要了解目标公司的财务前景，工作的真正职责，以及未来的发展机会等。纽约职业咨询师唐娜•施瓦兹建议，年龄越大，越要小心谨慎。她表示，一旦做出错误选择，“恐怕就没有多少可供选择的机会了！”

    不论是跨公司还是跨行业跳槽，最重要的一点是，确保自己已经做好准备，可以承受新工作所带来的文化差异。今年早些时候，圣地亚哥一个度假胜地的集团销售经理维拉瑞•怀尔德决定跳槽到另外一家发展更稳健的公司，然后她从商务社交网站LinkedIn上发现，那个度假村的大部分职员都是在公司工作了多年的老员工。这是一个好的迹象，同时也让她做好了接受不同公司文化的准备：“我知道，这种变化肯定需要花一些时间来适应。”虽然找任何工作之前都会调查一番，但鉴于平级跳槽所带来的风险更大，这种调查也就显得愈加重要。

    译者：阿龙/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.