Coping with the Stress of Job Insecurity

We all now work in an insecure working environment. The old ‘cradle to grave’ mentality of a secure job for life has been replaced by the reality of the 4 R’s.

•Redundancy
•Redeployment
•Retraining
•Retrenchment
Here are some things you can do to reduce the stress of job insecurity:

1. Meet regularly with your boss: make sure your boss has regular progress reports of what you’re doing well; ask
for feedback regularly … and accept it non-defensively;

2. Network throughout your industry; join professional groups where you can contribute your expertise;

3. Increase your visibility across business units: write for your newsletter; make a presentation; chair a staff meeting; involve yourself in groups outside your own ’silo’ (eg social club; Equal Opportunity; discussion groups);

4. Communicate with others at work; do your colleagues know what you’re doing? ….and what you do well??;

5. Notice when someone looks snowed under and offer support. Team involvement is a highly-prized behaviour in most organisations;

6. Do an audit of your skills, interests, values and motivations so that you have a clear idea of the best fit job for you;

7. Have a career goal and a plan to get there. Remember: if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve got there??