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Keeping Your Job
By: Jim Weinstein, MBA, MFT
Certainly one of the single biggest sources of anxiety for Americans today is anxiety created by the fear of losing one’s job.
The overarching principle behind the tips on how NOT to, listed below, is that YOU NEED TO INCREASE YOUR VALUE TO YOUR EMPLOYER. Here are five ways to do it. All of them require some degree of extra work and time, but in today’s shaky job market it is well worth making that investment. Most likely none of them will be entirely new to you, but consistently working on them, or at least keeping them in mind, will most certainly raise your value at work, and consequently increase your job security.
1.) TAKE STOCK OF YOURSELF
This should be done in writing. An ideal way to do this is to take your last performance evaluation, and evaluate yourself as of today (if you haven’t received a recent written evaluation, write a summary of any informal feedback you’ve received from bosses or co-workers and evaluate yourself from that). Be more critical of yourself than you would normally be. The weaknesses, shortcomings, or areas for improvement that you identify via this process are an excellent roadmap to improving your job performance, and hence your value. In addition, be sure to go through this same process of self-criticism no less frequently than monthly. You goal should be to take at least one concrete step towards improving your self-evaluation every month.
2.) INCREASE YOUR RELIABILITY
As you take stock in yourself, pay particular attention to reliability. As talented as an employee may be, she is greatly reducing her value to her employer if she is less than 100% reliable. I do not mean that you necessarily need to come into work early and stay late (although, unless you’re simply surfing the Net in those early and late hours, putting in “overtime” as a salaried employee can certainly increase your value). You need to look at the consistency of your work’s quality. If you perform at an A level, but occasionally turn in a C (for whatever reason), your supervisor can only count on a C performance, which is of significantly less value than an A. There are a number of factors that can contribute to on-the-job unreliability. Foremost among these is the abuse of substances, whether alcohol or drugs. Even something as apparently “normal” as a hangover can reduce your efficiency and therefore your value. Depression, anxiety, and an overly lengthy list of obligations are other potential impediments to maximizing your value. If any of these factors is present in your life today and you’ve been unsuccessful at minimizing or eliminating them, it would probably be wise to seek professional counseling.
3.) LEARN
The more knowledgeable an employee is, all other things being equal, the greater her value. But learning need not occur in a formal academic setting. Unless you’re a computer whiz, you can probably learn a lot about increasing your computer efficiency by being “tutored” by your teenage niece, nephew, or neighbor. Are you reading professional journals or industry periodicals on a regular basis? These can be excellent sources of information and, every once in a while, inspiration. Are there any professional associations that you might benefit from joining? What about attending expositions or trade shows?
4.) CULTIVATE YOUR ON-THE-JOB RELATIONSHIPS
Be the kind of help to your boss that you would like to have from someone working for you. To be clear, I am NOT talking about brown-nosing here. I AM talking about making genuine contributions rather than appearing to make them, or taking credit for contributions that are not yours, which will probably infuriate those around you and create ill-will that you certainly don’t need at this precarious time. Most of us hate office politics, but playing the game WELL is certainly a way to strengthen your job security. Be a contributor to the superior functioning of your team or department. Always look for win-win solutions, rather than win-lose, which foster resentment and backbiting. A team member who smoothly interacts with others is a lot less trouble, and therefore more valuable, than someone who has prickly relationships with his co-workers.
5.) IMPROVE YOUR ATTITUDE
Your attitude toward your work will have a direct impact on your output, and therefore your value. Most employees are being asked by their firms to do more, often for less compensation. This quite naturally can foster bitterness and anger. And, in the uncertain environment of today’s employment picture, it’s hard to avoid anxiety about the future. Nonetheless, it is crucial to make consistent efforts to rid yourself of these emotions. They drain a lot of energy that could be going towards more productive ends. Easier said than done? Yes, absolutely, but don’t for a minute think you can’t influence your state of mind towards your employer. Take an inventory of your resentments and what you perceive to be unfair at work. Then notice how much time you spend focusing on this inventory as opposed to another you need to take: what are all of the good things about your job. By remaining vigilant throughout the day for the tendency to focus on the half empty glass, rather than the half full one, you can start to shift the balance in a direction that will not only foster less anger, but will also bring you greater job satisfaction.
About Jim Weinstein...
Jim Weinstein, MBA, MFT, is a life consultant and therapist based in Washington, D.C., with a secondary practice in Beverly Hills, CA, specializing in career counseling, mid-life issues, spiritual counseling, gay and lesbian issues, and more.
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