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Keep Your Job in These Trying Times
These days, with our
economy under assault and national unemployment figures well into the
double-digit range, knowing how to keep your job is now more critically
important than ever. While much discussion and information focuses today on
how to find a job, this article will attempt to share some lesser-known
strategies and approaches for simply retaining the job you currently have.
First off, let's acknowledge an important economic truth - the basic reason
why we work. We work to create value, either for an employer or, if
self-employed, for ourselves. That value, generally, needs to exceed - or at
the very least equal - the amount of compensation you're paid to create that
value. If you can create one dollar's worth more of value than it costs your
employer to keep you on the payroll, then you have a relatively solid
foundation to build upon.
Of course, the more value you create over and above your own "fully loaded"
cost (i.e., your salary, any paid company benefits, and all employer taxes
and other financial overhead), the stronger your employer's motivation
becomes for allowing you to keep your job. However, this is an apparent
psychological imbalance that you must ultimately become comfortable with -
that you're worth more to your employer than they're actually compensating
you for. That's OK. Accept it.
Continuing to add value to your company certainly sounds like a logical way
to keep your job, but it usually entails some meaningful effort on your
part. First, you have to understand how your boss (or bosses) tangibly
defines that value. Exactly what do they expect from you? If it's already
documented in, say, a job description, or a statement of work, then you
really have an advantage by already having it spelled out for you. If those
expectations are not documented, then you'll have to find out what they are.
Next, you'll need to determine (usually in a conversation with your boss)
which of those job requirements constitute the minimum performance
expectations for the position you hold, and what other examples would
reflect "above and beyond" performance on your part. Consistently being on
time for work probably wouldn't rate as exceptional performance, but
consistently offering assistance to others, or taking a self-study course to
acquire a new skill (all while still performing your assigned duties well)
would probably rate highly enough with your boss to warrant keeping your
job.
Once you've gained a better understanding of those expectations - both the
daily and the exceptional - then off you go to achieve them. Some people
struggle with striking the appropriate balance between "letting the results
speak for themselves" and "keeping count" for the boss, but don't be fooled
- any boss worth his or her salt will make it a point to know how you're
performing (or not). Remember, it's their responsibility to determine
whether or not you get to keep your job.
If you have an annual appraisal process in which you sit down with your boss
to review your performance for the prior year, you may want to jog his/her
memory by briefly recounting several accomplishments that you feel the most
strongly about, but try not to oversell them. Again, your boss will assign
their own relative value to those accomplishments, based on your previous
discussions. The closer your actual performance mirrors your boss's
expectations, the better your chances are of being able to keep your job.
In summary, the intent behind using this proactive strategy is to make it as
difficult as possible for your boss to decide that the value you bring to
the company isn't worth keeping. Avoiding any "expectation mismatches" is
extremely crucial, so knowing what's most important to him/her is the
ultimate key to knowing how to keep your job in these trying economic times.
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