How to Hold Onto Your Job in a Sinking Economy
Millions of people lost their jobs in 2008 and many were the victims of a bad economy. Employess with excellnt work records who had been with their company for years found themselves in the unemployment line.
If you have job, you need to do all you can to make sure you are not next in the unemployment line. Employers are going to hold on to their best employees and if you are a slacker or make a lot of mistakes, you may be a target if layoffs are made. The employment numbers are the worst since the 70’s. So what happens now. If you are not trying to do your best for your employer, you may wake up with a pink slip. How can you avoid the ‘grim reaper of unemployment’?
1. Make sure you have enough work to keep yourself busy and if not ask to help someone else. No boss likes to see his employee playing solatiare or searching the Internet during work hours. If you don’t have work and no one needs help, take initiative. Clean out the file room or storage closet. Organize the conference room. Never look like you are not busy!
2. Go to your boss and ask what you could do to alleviate problems within the organization. There is always something you can improve in any company. Offer to be the problem solver. Your boss will thank you.
3. Don’t discuss rumors with co-workers. If you are the office gossip, relinquish that crown to someone else. Troublemakers are not welcome in any office
4. Keep your resume up to date. You need to be prepared if you lose your job.
5. Make sure you are in networking groups that can help you find a job if the worst happens. Many times its now what you know but who you know that helps land your next job.
6. Paste a smile on your face everyday even if it kills you. People like to keep happy people. If you are always bringing the office down with negativity—stop!
7. Keep your personal problems at home. Kids get sick and emergencies happen, but you don’t need to tell your entire office how much you dislike your spouse, in-laws, etc. Focus on what is going on at work.
In the competitve marketplace, you have to be best of the best at work and even then you are not guarnteed that your company will not close or have a mass lay-off. But if you maintain good work habits and a great attitude, you stand a good chance of keeping your job or finding another one quickly if you are fired.
About the Author:
Michael D. Hayes is a native of Arizona, and is a graduate of Northern Arizona University and Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management. He purchased Momentum Specialized Staffing in 2003 when the company’s primary business line was recruiting commercial truck drivers. Michael has transformed the company into a successful full-service staffing provider. Michael is a member of the Executives’ Association of Greater Phoenix (EAGP), 100 Club of Arizona, Men’s Art Council, and The Arizona Trucking Association. Read his blogs at www.momentumstaffing.wordpress.com or www.phoenix.jobing.com