These are dead give a ways......
How to fight back: Acquiring a diverse set of skills and performing a variety of different roles at your company can keep the target off your back when it's time to make cutbacks. IF you are wearig multiple hats and can sweep the floor after 5 you will be last to turn off the lights.
If it's between two equally qualified employees, it comes down to who's more likable and getting along with others or doing some of those extra chores, duties or technological components that others don't want to do. So Look for ways to strategically snatch up a couple of niches that you enjoy and are good at.
A merger or acquisition occurs. Oh..oh Mergers and acquisitions involving your company your job security just flew out the open window. There (are) just so many duplicate positions (so look at things like this, its me or someone else). There (are) only so many (human resources) people a company needs (for example). That's because they typically create redundancies on the payroll, with two or more people fulfilling essentially the same role at both companies having to compete for that role within the new organization created by the merger or acquisition, you have to realize that your manager current on New one will be looking to cut his department numbers.
Typically, that's a battle won by whoever works for the company that came out on top in the merger or was the acquirer rather than the acquisition.
Middle management is especially susceptible to cutbacks resulting from mergers and acquisitions because managers often perform similar duties and can be easily consolidated.
How to fight back: If your company is being absorbed or reorganized, one of the most important things to learn about new managers is how they measure employee performance. So try and get ahead of the game.
The employer defines performance in your particular role is the key. You have to count performance the way your employer wants to count it, not the way you think it ought to be counted.
Doing that successfully can help you stand out to new bosses and keep your place in the company.
Remember: Bosses are people, too, and many of them aren't gifted with a strong poker face.
Watching your boss' behavior, especially when he or she is interacting with you, can tell you a lot about how secure your job is.
If they used to socialize and now they don't, if they're not as friendly as they used to be, if they won't look you in the eye and they used to look you in the eye, then you can pretty well guess that something is going on.
How to fight back: Of course, it's better if you and your boss maintain a good relationship, but if you sense some social weirdness from your boss, the best thing to do is to step up your game at work. Get off of Facebook, no more personal calls, take less time for lunch, do not run out the door at 5pm on the dot. Regardless of how they feel about you as a person, the No. 1 metric bosses use to decide who to keep and who to let go is job performance. i.e. who is working the hardest.
There are a lot of managers who don't necessarily have a good personal relationship with a person one or two levels down, but if they're producing, they're not going to cut off their nose to spite their faces.
Be on the lookout. If a manager is looking to let you go, they'll want to perform some legal due diligence, including reviewing key documents related to your work, such as important documents you've produced, application materials or your employment agreement.
Employers who aren't great at holding onto paperwork may end up having to ask you for one or more of these documents. If they do, that's a red flags. Start taking some stuff home......
How to fight back: By the time an employer is legally vetting your dismissal, your job is probably as good as lost.If you're fairly sure your days at a particular job are numbered, working on your resume and reaching out to contacts at other companies to see who's hiring before you're let go can help you get your next job, faster.
Prepare for your job search early. The average job seeker takes at least four months once you've got your resume, your cover letter and references document done. It's going to take at least three and sometimes seven interviews.
Network with everyone in the department. If you find yourself left out of critical conference calls, emails, meetings and project assignments, it can be an indication your manager is preparing to let you go.
If you are not copied on memos, this is when the boss calls three or four folks together to give them the update on something, and you used to be in that group, and all of a sudden you don't find yourself being in that group, or if they never would have had that meeting without you and all of a sudden you're not there and they say, 'We couldn't wait,' that is a dead give away.
How to fight back: Sometimes good job performance isn't enough if the New people you work with aren't aware of it. Making sure clients, bosses and co-workers know what you bring to the table this can help you avoid being cut out the loop and ultimately save your job.
Smile with everybody. Do your customers, your clients, your co-workers, and obviously your boss, respect what you do and how you do it? Make sure they do, because if they don't, you're in trouble. No matter how many widgets you produce, if they don't have the respect for you, then you're vulnerable.
Changes in the regular rhythms of how your workplace operates that put you out of step with your co-workers are a dead giveaway management is considering letting you go. A classic example is a disruption in the timing of performance reviews that seems to apply only to you. Often, companies will try to avoid doing a performance review if they're considering terminating an individual because a positive review could give employees ammunition in a wrongful termination suit. Getting a performance review earlier than your co-workers also can be a bad sign, as the company may be trying to build a case against you as a worker.
Employees on the bubble also may see raises or bonuses delayed by employers to save money and to avoid giving any overt sign your performance is satisfactory.
How to fight back: Don't wait for a performance review. Instead, ask your supervisor regularly for honest feedback on your job performance. But be careful how you ask... because you might hear what you are not hoping to hear. But you want to know and make it tougher for them to justify letting you go, it may also address whatever problem an employer might have with you in the first place. These are things that will not assure you keeping your job, but you will know that you did everything possible to make it workout.... the key here is preparation.
