Job security
Tie your work to what the company needs most
A simple exercise to connect your work to what the business cares about, and make that link easy to see
Map each of your main projects to revenue, cost, risk or customers, then make that link visible in your updates.
- 30 minutes
- Just you
- Quarterly
- Worksheet
Why this can work
When things feel uncertain, the work that's easiest to protect is the work people can see matters. Most jobs connect to revenue, cost, risk or customers somehow, but the link often lives only in your head. Writing it down, and putting it in your updates, lets your manager see it and say it for you when you're not in the room.
Read moreHow to connect your work to business goals
You’ll come away with your projects mapped to what the business needs, and one update that shows it.
- List your three biggest projects.
The ones that take most of your time. One line each is plenty.
Stays in this browser only. Nobody else sees it.
- Link each one to revenue, cost, risk or customers.
Revenue is money coming in. Cost is money or time saved. Risk is trouble avoided: outages, errors, fines, lost customers. Customers are the people your work serves. If you know your manager's goals for the quarter, link through those.
Tip: If a project fits two, pick the stronger link. A single clear line beats a stretched list.
- Find the evidence.
A number, a before and after, a customer comment, a problem that stopped happening. Estimates are fine if you'd defend them out loud.
- Rewrite one line of your next update.
Add the link to what you already report, in one clause. For example, instead of Shipped the new billing emails, try Shipped the new billing emails, aimed at the invoice questions that fill the support queue after every billing run.
- Ask your manager if you've got the link right.
Their view of what matters may be sharper, or different. Either way, they now see how you think about the business.
You“I've been trying to connect my projects to what matters most to the company right now. Here's how I see it. Have I got that right, or would you frame it differently?”
Good times to repeat it: once a quarterwhen priorities shiftbefore a review
Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
One clause in an update is enough. The aim is to make the link easy to see and easy to repeat, not to campaign for yourself.
What might make this harder
Look at what leaders talk about most in all-hands and announcements, then ask your manager which of those your team is meant to move.
Questions people ask
How do I show my impact at work?
Connect each piece of work to revenue, cost, risk or customers, find a number or a before and after, and put that link in the updates you already send.
How do I connect my work to business goals?
Start with your manager's goals, since they sit between company goals and your projects. Then map each project to what it does for the business and check the map with your manager.
How can I protect my job during layoffs?
Nothing guarantees it, but work that clearly connects to the company's priorities is easier for a manager to defend. Make that link visible, and keep your own options ready too.
What should I include in an update to my manager?
What you did, what changed because of it, and what's next, with the link to a team or company goal in a clause. Short and specific beats long and complete.
Why this works, and where it comes from
In a good year, nobody asks how your work connects to the business. In a tight one, everyone does, often in rooms you're not in. When decisions get made without you, your updates speak for you. The link between your work and what the company needs usually exists; it just tends to live in your head rather than on the page.
Naming which of the four your work serves is a small act of translation. It turns what you do into the terms your company's leaders already use, so nobody has to reconstruct why it matters.
It's worth grounding this in the people around you, not just the company. Your manager has goals and is judged on them; so is their boss. Work that visibly helps the people around you succeed tends to be work they'll fight for. That's why the bridge is your manager's goals rather than the company's slogans: they're specific, and they're the ones your manager can actually act on.
If your whole team's purpose has just been dropped from the company's priorities, better framing won't change the decision. At that point the energy is better spent understanding where the company is growing, and whether there's a way to move toward it, inside or out.
Other simple things to consider
What to do next
More in Job security
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An exercise written by Truest, based on our experience. Last updated September 25, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.