Redundancy & Dismissal - Signs at Work

Losing your job can come out of the blue but more often than not there are signs and signals that things are coming undone. We often ignore these signs as we don’t want to believe that things are going wrong – the old bury the head in the sand syndrome. However, if you want to keep control of your job and life then you need to keep an eye on things at work: 

• Relationships – do you get on well with your boss? Do you often disagree or feel your boss is irritated with you? Are you unsure of how to communicate with colleagues or feel you are left out of the loop? 
• Targets – if you have them are you hitting them? Are you clear about what is expected of you? Are colleagues far surpassing your work levels? Have you suddenly had your targets dramatically increased or decreased? Has anyone been allocated to support you in achieving your targets? Have you discussed your career path within the company?
• Pay cuts – Are managers talking about pay cuts? Are there job vacancies that aren’t being filled? These should set off warning bells that the company could be in financial trouble. Make sure you take notice if suppliers aren’t being paid – it could indicate cash flow problems in the business and often the easiest way to solve these is to make people redundant.
• Absence – Have you started skipping days at work? Do you find the duvet calling you to stay longer in the mornings? These are common signs that things at work aren’t going well and you need to sit up and take notice. If downsizing is on the cards you don’t want to be first in the firing line by having multiple absences.
• Staff morale/gossip – not all workplace gossip is true but impending redundancies set the rumour mill into overdrive – keep your ear to the ground to find out what is going on.

People who find themselves unintentionally unemployed often say if they had listened to their own inner voices and acted upon instincts earlier then some heartache may have been avoided. People who manage to avoid redundancy and dismissal are constantly and honestly assessing their position and value to their employer and remain in control by acting on that information.