With the economy gasping, an employee is getting to be an endangered species. The first thing any company does if profits fall is to fire or lay off its employees. They have to do something because this pleases their stockholders. In the corporate food chain, you are pond scum and stockholders are Gods. Occasionally, sacrificial offerings of company workers are made to appease the Stockholder Gods.
Don’t let yourself become the next sacrifice on the altar by following these tips:
Never Forget that You are an Easy Target
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your company would never sink so low as to fire you, no matter how many awards you’ve received or how much money you have brought into the company over the years. This means nothing.
Laying off workers like yourself is an easy solution for your employers, especially if you make well over the starting salary. They would rather take the chance on a newcomer they didn’t have to pay as much as for you, even though they know they will have to retrain the newcomer. Businesses, now more than ever, are looking for any reasonable excuse to fire you.
Never Act Unprofessionally
You have to convince your superiors and co-workers that you are the best thing since money, so they will hesitate to fire you. You must be a vital brick in the wall, without which the business will tumble down around its ears.
What you should never do is act unprofessionally. What is considered unprofessional behavior? This:
· Showing up late a majority of the time
· Complaining about every single thing under the sun
· Being rude, ruder and rudest
· Not getting assignments done on time
· Wearing really strong perfume, aftershave or cologne. This can lead to literal as well as metaphorical headaches for your co-workers and for any clients.
Never Date a Co-worker
Don’t date anyone at work. Ever. This inevitably leads to terrible tensions and frictions. This also leads to sides being taken at work – who are on your side verses those on your ex’s side. That means you have a 50/50 chance of getting fired because your boss will take the side of your ex. You want to be seen as a team player. Dividing the office down the middle is not viewed as being a team player.
You also do not want to date a co-worker’s relative, because this is practically dating your co-worker. Whatever you say or do on a date is going to get back to your co-worker eventually.
Final Tips
Always look busy, even if you aren’t, so you aren’t accused of wasting time. Dusting or cleaning out the junk around your desk are excellent ways you can look busy and actually get something accomplished without having to use a lot of brainpower.
Try to speak as little as possible. By letting your boss or client do most of the talking, while you do most of the nodding, you will come across as wise. Anyone viewed as being wise is considered a possessor of some secret knowledge and therefore far more valuable than they guy who snorts copy toner and makes necklaces out of paper clips.
