How To Protect Your Job
Surveys recently have suggested that we could be in for another twelve months of redundancies before the economy really starts to turn around. Unemployment could reach 3.2 million, maybe more. Redundancy is a possibility for most of us, and the question has to be, how do you protect your job in a climate like this?
Many companies have transparent redundancy policies, last in first out, or the deleting of an entire team. But for most companies the decision as to who to let go is a personal one; the reasons may not be publicly cited in order to avoid being taken to an employment tribunal but in practice the company decides who they want to keep and who they want to release. They base this decision on the performance of individual staff members and their value to the company.
So the first principle to adhere to in keeping your job is to make sure you maximise your value to the company. This is of course a basic principle of any career strategy; if you want a successful and enjoyable career you need to choose one that you are good at and where you add value. But this becomes even more important when you are trying to protect your job. Firms will not rush to make someone redundant who is outperforming.
Doing your job well is not just about doing your allocated tasks efficiently and successfully. It requires you to be proactive, looking to see what else needs to be done, anticipating future tasks, understanding the reasons why the company needs you to do your work, and taking an active interest in the company and its future. None of these things come easy.
Start by reading as much as you can about the company you work for. Look at the company’s published materials; its press releases, annual reports, staff magazines and so on. And read external news stories about the company. Career Energy clients can access these through our Alert Research service. Get yourself into a position where you can have meaningful, informed discussions about the company, its strategies and its future. Understand where you fit in to the big picture. So that when you perform a particular task you can see why you are doing it, who will benefit from it and what its impact will be.
Of course this is much easier to do if your company, and the job you perform in it, interests you. So the second principle is to make sure that you are managing your career in the right way. We will look at that, and the other key considerations for protecting your job over the next few days.
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Tags: Career Advice, Career Consultant, Career Energy, career management, Career Planning, careers, Employee Engagement, job, new job, Personal Branding, recession, Redundancy, unemployment
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