Q: Bob, what do you see?

Calandra: You've got to start coming to work on time and staying there as long as you can. A lot of people are going to try to fly below the radar. But that's a mistake. You make yourself visible by being active and making sure the manager sees you.

Q: The employee works hard, but then faces being tossed out. How does one handle the sense of injustice?

Kitson: Well, I think that's a very realistic emotion. But I think one needs to think beyond that, which is to say that this actually is, believe it or not, possibly an opportunity.

I need to invest in myself here a little bit on the bet that this may turn out well for me. To do nothing and just feel like I'm being done to doesn't enable me to have some control. To have some control over my own life, I also need to invest a little bit in this company [even though] it seems to be working against me at the moment.

Q: You have to invest in yourself and your company?

Kitson: As it turns out, if you do things in the right ways, they will be in your interests and in the company's interests. If both of those come together, there's a pretty decent chance you'll have an opportunity of being viewed as more valuable.

Q: How do you communicate that?

Calandra: Blow your own horn, but never too loudly. It all comes down to expressing your value to your manager.

Once you have established that, now you have to go to your manager and say, 'Look, I know things are bad here. I know that there's going to be a shakedown. What can I do to help you survive?'

Kitson: To me, it's looking out beyond my own job to a number of things around me: to my team, to my colleagues. To professionals that may be in parallel jobs elsewhere. The more I can be viewed by those individuals as someone who helps them, someone who has expertise, and someone who is not being a victim but actually trying to advance others as well, this is a very important tactical strategy.

What are things I can do that actually make a positive contribution to myself and at the same time have value to the organization?

Bob Calandra

Age: 57.

Family: Wife, Linda Miller Calandra, pediatric nurse practitioner; a daughter.

Hockey position: Goaltender.

Why hockey: The bright ice and the brotherhood among teammates, the physical and mental challenge of stopping the puck, and the exhilaration of making a great save.