Ten Point Plan to Keep Your Job

January 7, 2009 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under work

There is no doubt that those who rang in 2009 with our jobs breathed a collective sigh of relief. Especially with the most recent jobs report showing that U.S. private sector job losses in December were much higher than expected. However, everyone from the media to the new president-elect is warning us that the worst has yet to come. No matter how much we hope, there won’t be much change in the economy. So as much as we escaped the guillotine in 2008, many of us fear the Damocles’ sword hanging over our head. Whether warranted or not, the fear of losing a job can be disruptive, counterproductive, and self-fulfilling.

Fortune Magazine offers a survival guide for the “still employed, but uncertain” crowd who are feeling a little vulnerable in 2009: …[F]eeling stressed out now is totally normal. The trouble is that letting an out-of-control environment get under your skin will eventually make you less great at your job, hence more likely to lose it.

“The key to weathering a crisis like this is, first, to understand what you can control and what you can’t,” says Deb Bright, a longtime executive coach whose firm, Bright Enterprises, is currently counseling lots of Wall Streeters who are tearing their hair out.

“Even when things are really tough, you have more control than you think,” Bright says. “For example, you still have customers. You still have chances every day to make an impact. It’s important for your own survival to do what you can – as opposed to backing into a corner and waiting for the ax to fall.” She suggests trying these 10 steps:

Create successes for yourself. They needn’t be earthshaking. “Just getting to the gym and working out when you didn’t feel like it will do,” even if you have to squeeze it in at 5 a.m. says Bright. “When there’s a lot of negativity around, you need to find ways to feel successful.”
Set 30-day and 60-day goals. Share them with your boss and then, as you get closer to your targets, update him or her on that, too. “Not only will measurable progress keep you upbeat and creative,” Bright notes, but in practical terms, “your boss needs to know what his department is accomplishing, so he has ammunition if someone wants to chop it in half.” Gulp.
Watch your attitude. “A pessimistic, bleak attitude makes it hard for people to work with you,” Bright says. “And why be miserable eight hours a day, anyway?”