www.career-related.information
Looking for career information? It's right here!
Avoid Getting Fired - Keep Your Job!
Avoiding getting fired from
your current job may be one of the most critical things you should be
actively paying attention to these days. As unemployment continues to soar
across our country, losing your job could become a devastating situation for
you. Here is something you need to understand - and actively put in practice
- if you really want to keep your job today.
Your job is simply a value proposition - that, in exchange for some amount
of money, you'll provide your employer with something. Whatever your job
entails, the trick is to make sure that the value of the services you
provide at least meets (and preferably exceeds) the cost of keeping you on
the payroll. The most "valuable" employees, then, are the ones most likely
to be retained.
"Fully loaded" compensation costs for an employer include your monthly
salary (or hourly rate), any benefits such as health, pension, and savings /
investment plans, and all the other taxes that you don't see in your pay
statement. To avoid getting fired, then, it's in your best interest to try
to contribute more "value" to your organization than the considerable costs
just mentioned. Simply meeting expectations isn't enough; these days, you
have to offer more than that.
What do they want you to do? That's the crux of the value proposition -
clearly understanding what your employer's expectations are for you. Most
organizations attempt to quantify those expectations in a document called a
"job description" or, less commonly used, a "statement of work". Familiarize
yourself with that information, as it provides a useful baseline of
understanding that you can build upon. It also provides you with a roadmap
for not only avoiding getting fired but also can pinpoint ways that you can
actually prosper in that job.
The next step to take, then, is to have a very candid conversation with your
boss, preferably when are where you two can speak in private. The objective
is gain a clear understanding of what your boss expects from you; this
knowledge will help you avoid getting fired. Ask for specific examples of
how you will simply "meet" those expectations, and then ask for examples of
what would be "superior" or "exceptional" performance. Doing more than just
the bare minimum is your strategy here, so you'll need to be able to clearly
differentiate between the two.
After coming to a mutual understanding with your boss on his/her
expectations, now it's time to go off and do your best to meet and exceed
them. That's how you avoid getting fired. If you have a number of
responsibilities, you may want to keep an informal journal of both your
daily and exceptional accomplishments, even though you're not inclined to
"toot your own horn". Competent managers should still make it a point,
though, to remain aware of their staff's individual performance.
Even if you work in a small company that has no formal performance appraisal
process, you will still want to occasionally (no more than once every 6
months or annually) discuss your job performance with your manager. It may
take some courage, but having that discussion is always preferable to the
alternative - unexpectedly getting fired or laid off one day. Jog your
boss's memory by reminding them of your accomplishments, both large and
small; they, too, are busy and may have missed some of those.
Follow these guidelines and you'll significantly increase your chances of
not getting fired. Just as in a marriage or a friendship, we all have
expectations for each other. Knowing what is important to your boss -and
then being able to measure up to it, if not actually exceeding it - will
most likely help keep your professional life on a more even keel.
© 2010 something-for-everyone.info All rights reserved.