I have outlined the clash between Global Village and Balanced Life Style and how this may affect your job. There are several ways of coping with this Revolution. I now consider your present job and workplace.
If you are in a job, don’t quit. One in ten employed people are actively trying to move. Never quit until the new job is irrevocably tied up. If a new company wants you earlier than your agreed notice permits they can buy the time from your present employer.
I receive emails daily from people who say they ‘cannot stand it any more etc. etc’. I can help you with ways to improve the climate at work, but you won’t change it fundamentally in a short space of time. You can and must stand it. Your employer may be wanting you to quit without his having to pay any redundancy money. Don’t let him do it. Grin and bear it. If he really wants you out, he will pay.
Quite a number of those who ‘can’t stand it’ go on to win the hearts of their colleagues with their courage and perseverance. They can end up in better jobs within the company in an improved atmosphere.
Your assessment of the future of employment in your industry, to which I referred earlier, may throw up some interesting possibilities.
The numbers working in your field may be greatly reduced. That gives more responsibility to those who remain. It leads to greater profitability of the company – and better wages. You may be able to win one of those jobs if you are loyal, confident and steadfast. A willingness to learn, demonstrated by the number of courses and additional qualifications you have obtained, is always attractive to a potential employer.
There may be overseas supervisory opportunities, on a full-time or part-time basis. They might involve travel and could be very rewarding.
Even if you are ‘let go’ perhaps you can continue working part-time for the company. That is why you should always remain on good terms with your bosses and colleagues.
Sometimes a company needs those it lets go to help the business through a transition – or for an even longer period. Quite often they are found to have been less dispensable than the management thought.
The clue is ‘valuable’. Are you valuable to the business? What do you think? Only when you regard yourself as valuable can you sell that idea to others.
So the most important step you can take is to make yourself more valuable to the business. Help others, smile, be agreeable, don’t gossip, get the work done. Get to know the boss better. Seek his or her advice about how you can make a greater contribution. Be positive about the business, even if you have been negative in the past. Look on the bright side. Become an optimist.
What have you got to lose? Absolutely nothing. What might you gain? Promotion, better wages, continuity of employment, good references (when they are needed), greater knowledge of the job you are doing. It’s a long list. Use it to motivate yourself. It’s the first line of defence in The New Work Revolution.
There are several more stages in coping with The New Work Revolution – how it affects the home, working from home, multiple portfolios, preparing yourself for a change of industry, getting ready to shift jobs. I’ll deal with them in the next articles.
Meanwhile, smile. Disaster and Triumph are both impostors.
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John Bittleston blogs at TerrificMentors.com, a site that provides mentoring for those who wish a change in career or job, wanting to start a business or looking to improve their handling of people (including themselves).
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