Being laid off or having your job eliminated rarely comes out of the blue. I say that as someone who's done the eliminating as much as being eliminated herself. The following are red flags, any one of which or a combination of several can lead to your being let go.
The business is not doing well. It's tempting to hunker down in your cocoon of a cubicle while the recession rages outside, but savvy workers will be taking a temperature check outside.
How are your competitors doing? Have they laid off workers recently or downsized? Are they merging, eliminating or outsourcing departments such as yours?
How's your industry as a whole doing? Is it growing, stagnant or receding? Absorb the business news and see how your company figures in the bigger picture.
How's your company doing? Are sales down, senior managers looking more worried than usual, once important strategic projects being sidelined for tactical, get-the-money-in-quickly moves?
I always hear people huffing and saying they're not involved in the sales process or are not looped in about sales, therefore they were caught flatfooted. Make it your business to know, no matter how removed you are, because without sales, nobody gets paid. Including you.
Cozy up to someone in the sales department to get a sense of what's going on. Network with those who are privy to the situation. It may spell the difference between getting out when you can and getting out too late.
Have there been recent calls to cut overheads and other operational costs? Are they becoming more frequent and -- to your mind -- getting more ridiculous or insulting?
For example, if you had an overflowing stationery cabinet that's now empty and an email circulated to staff telling everyone to buy their own staplers, something's amiss. If the toilet paper disappears from the stalls and you're told to bring your own bog roll, I'd start updating my resume sharp-ish.
You're in a support function. The sad truth is that profit centres, revenue generators or, to put it simply, those who bring in the money will be the last to be let go. That's why marketing and IT are often the first positions to be eliminated. When push comes to shove, these are the first areas to be trimmed.
HR is a different case altogether -- they often have to manage the eliminations and make sure the company complies with legal and other requirements. As one wag told me, "HR will always be around to turn the lights off."
Before you start raging against the unfairness of the corporate world and how filthy lucre is always the barometer of value, remember that you're in a business and businesses are there to make a profit. If you're in a support function and have no opportunity to make money, then make sure -- way before, not now when it seems your position is in jeopardy -- that you save the company money. It goes a long way when jobs are being considered for elimination.
Your job is woolly, duplicates someone else's elsewhere in the company or can be outsourced. You've also got obvious patches of idleness. By woolly I mean people ask what it is you actually do. That's a honking big red flag, because when elimination time comes around, the first targets are the positions nobody knows about. If they're not critical to what anyone does, then it's safe to remove them, right?
At one company I worked for, there was one guy whose only job apparently was to create email addresses for staff. I'm sure he did other things as we all do, but this was what he was known for, ergo he was a marked man. When it was time to lean out the organisation, he was among the first to go.
Lesson? Always ask people what they think you do, and correct misconceptions. Publicise your achievements and contribution to the company. Don't wait for other people to do it for you.
If your company has been in recent mergers and acquisitions activity -- you bought a company, were bought or merged -- look out for new colleagues and counterparts whose jobs mimic yours. A good CEO will be looking at cost efficiencies and one salary to pay is better than two.
Finally, are you spending inordinate amounts of time mooching about, playing on the Internet and complaining about how bored you are? Managerial logic would then conclude that if there's not enough for you to do, then your responsibilities can be farmed out to other individuals.
Large chunks of your tasks or chores are being transferred to someone else. Clarify with your manager whether this is meant to free you up for more duties. If it is, great -- have a discussion about what needs to be done. If there's no forthcoming answer or your question is ignored altogether, something's afoot.
It defies all logic not to add responsibilities, especially in this economy. Managers want to maximise their resources as much as possible. So despite your moaning, being overworked and underpaid is not a bad thing.
You're left out of important meetings or correspondence when you used to be included. People look away when they talk to you, if they do. This is a classic that's mentioned in all articles about being let go.
One thing they don't mention is that by the time you're given the cold shoulder, one or more of the preceding red flags have occurred and moves are in place to eliminate your position.
I've been asked before: Does the exclusion happen gradually? In my experience on both sides -- being canned and doing the canning -- no. Once a job is in the process of being snuffed out, you can find yourself 'outside the mosquito net', as they say in my country, in a matter of hours.
One reason is morale: Most decisions about job eliminations are done swiftly and executed just as quickly. That way the unpleasantness entailed in a departure does not linger and negatively affect those who are left behind.
Another reason is security: Livid employees can destroy company files, transfer sensitive information to a competitor or sabotage projects.
The third reason is human nature. If you know a colleague's about to lose his or her job, it's hard to act normally, especially if you're the one who has to break the news. Avoidance is the most common reaction.
I've found though that on the day a person is let go, behaviour eerily returns to normal. Once the news is broken, people start being kind and solicitous again.
Trust your gut. If you were in the loop yesterday and your inbox and calendar are starkly empty today, something is definitely up. If everyone is suddenly making a wide berth around you, your deodorant is not to blame.
Have a chat with your manager. Don't be accusatory or hysterical. Ask if there is any reason why you're being excluded and if there is anything you should know. If you are indeed meant to exit, it can be a precursor to a productive conversation on how to depart gracefully with no burned bridges. I'd say your manager may be relieved that you even brought it up. You may as well have a grown-up, civil conversation about leaving.
Although you can't control what's being done to your job, you can control what you get out of this situation, no matter how difficult it is. Discussions about severance payments, references and even introductions to potential opportunities in other companies can only be done productively if you keep a cool head.
Being let go is as much a beginning as an ending. Use your departure to make sure your next chapter is as good, if not better, than the one you're about to leave behind.
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