There are various steps you can take to improve the chances of being retained in your present job position during job layoffs. The following strategies helped others successfully stave off the threat of an impending job layoff. These may work for you, but then again, they may not. It, however, pays to try. Perhaps your boss will realize you can be an asset after all.
Strategy 1: Make sure the bosses are aware of your ability to solve problems and tackling high-profile projects.
Make yourself highly visible and doing a great job at the same time.
You may be doing an exceptionally good job but without visibility and exposure, you will always be the unknown occupant of cubicle # 4. Unless your boss, and other bosses above him, is aware of the exceptional work you are doing.
“The invisible guy is first to go,” warns executive recruiter Stephen Viscusi, author of “Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out on Top at Work.”
Little things count like regular face exposure at the office. Arrive a few minutes ahead of everyone and leave a few minutes after everyone did. Make relevant suggestions in meetings.
Big things count more. Take the assignments nobody wants. Come up with a solution to a key challenge. Show the bosses that you are indispensable.
Strategy 2: Introduce clients or ideas that can generate revenue for the company
Be an asset, not a liability. The primary targets in a downsizing are those that cost the company money instead of those that make it.
Come up with ways to generate new income streams. Spot and share potential clients to the sales team. Zero in on a profitable opportunity and do a follow-up. Memo your ideas to higher-ups. If they’re turned down, you’ll still gain a reputation as somebody who is concerned with solutions.
Strategy 3: Don’t be a complainer.
Nobody likes complainers and layoffs provide managers with a great excuse to fire out people who are giving them a hard time.
It’s not yet late to change how people see you, says Alexandra Levit, author of “How’d You Score That Gig? A Guide to the Coolest Careers and How to Get Them.”
“I had been complaining to my boss about our bureaucratic department and pushing for a promotion,” says Levit.
Once she saw other employees being laid off by the company, Levit instantly stopped her complaining and did a complete turnaround, making every effort to appear cooperative, sending bosses email updates of how she was progressing with critical projects. Her boss informed Levit her changed work attitude was noted and evaluated. The layoffs came; she remained.
Strategy 4: Hang out with the crowd the boss esteems most.
The company you keep reflects who you really are. Hang out with a bunch of complainers and losers and you may be branded as such, even if you are an excellent worker. This doesn’t mean you have to totally forsake your friends, but when talk takes a negative turn, change the subject or leave.
Do your best to associate with the crowd the boss regards with high esteem and who often gets the best projects. Be an asset to them. Treat them to lunch and seek their wise counsel. Their respectability may just rub off on you.
Strategy 5: Accept a pay cut during an company-wide downtrend
If you have a good paycheck and believe that your position is at risk because your company is required to bring down costs, you might be able to retain your job by waiving a bonus or taking a base salary cut, says Jodi Glickman Brown, founder of Great on the Job, which trains employees in workplace skills.