Strategies for keeping your job
After six years with the company, Bob Congers lost his job. Bob hadn’t done anything wrong. On the contrary, he was a good worker, but his company was cutting its workforce. Workforce cutbacks were a common occurrence in the early 1990s. In response, career experts developed strategies for holding on to a job: Make sure everyone knows you. Being a good worker is sometimes less important than making sure that people know you’re a good worker. Volunteer for new responsibilities, push your ideas, and generally make yourself visible. Learn everything that could help you do your job better. If the company buys new computers, learn how to use them. If learning more about marketing could help you, take a short course in marketing. Make sure you know everything about the company. And use this knowledge. If you find out that sales is becoming the most important department, try making a move to sales. Be positive. People who find things to complain about are a lot less popular than people who find things to praise. Improve your speaking and writing skills. Having good ideas isn’t enough. You need to be able to communicate your ideas. Impress your boss. You can often impress your boss by arriving early and working late and by dressing in a businesslike way even if others dress casually. In the end, it all comes down to one basic strategy: make yourself so valuable that the company won’t want to lose you.
According to the article, which employee fits each description? Check the correct name. What information helped you determine this? 1. The employee whose job is least likely to be cut: a) Alice, who is always bringing problems in her department to her boss’s attention. b) Betty, who is always finding something good to say about her department. c) Carol, who always keeps her opinions about the department to herself.
2. The employee whose job is most likely to be cut: b) Albert, who puts his extra time into doing his job well. c) Bill, who puts his extra time into training in new areas. d) Carl, who puts his extra time into taking on different responsibilities.
Talk about these questions. 1. Are the strategies given in the article useful for places where you’ve worked or places you’ve heard about? Would you follow these strategies? 2. Which of the strategies seem most important? Which seem least important? 3. What other strategies can you think of for keeping a job?
UNIT 5 EMPLOYMENT
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