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#YourCareer : 10 Performance Review Preparation Tips. Great REad for All!

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A performance review is an opportunity to showcase your contributions to your employer. In most cases, these meetings are held annually, but some companies hold more frequent, informal check-ins, often quarterly.

Preparation is vital to arm yourself with evidence of your performance and how it has benefited your employer, which will help you to enter the meeting with confidence.

1. Understand the purpose of your performance review.

It is natural to be nervous about your review. “For many people, especially earlier in their career, it can be really intimidating. I wish they felt more empowered,” says Allison Bertsch, head of talent acquisition and development at Aegon UK. You should understand the purpose is to help you do your best work and understand better how your contributions have helped or hurt your employer.

The review is meant to be a two-way conversation, in which you can identify areas for improvement, not simply a session where you are being passively and directly evaluated. “People shouldn’t feel like, going in, that someone is going to, akin to school, read me a report card and tell me all the ways I failed at all these different things,” says Ms. Bertsch. “We’re so used to our education system and our performance reviews shouldn’t feel like that.”

“Keep in mind that it’s your 45 minutes or hour with your manager to talk about where you think you’re doing things well, where you think you have some things you’d still like to learn and where you can improve,” she says.

2. Focus on specific contributions.

Try to think of things you have done that have had an impact on the employer that may not have been accomplished without your efforts. “The idea is to show how your contributions are unique to you and valuable for the company,” says Carol Cohen, senior vice president and global head of talent and transformation at professional-services company Cognizant. “Focus on your achievements that grew revenue, cut costs or transformed a process.” It can help if you keep a log of your achievements throughout the year that you can draw from to demonstrate your notable contributions. If you have been sharing status reports with your boss regularly, you may go back to them to pull significant items from.

3. Leverage co-worker feedback.

Regardless of whether your employer uses a peer—or 360-degree—performance evaluation system, the people you work with daily can be a great resource to help you understand your contributions. They can give you a sense of what impact you have had and where you might be able to improve. “Collect feedback from key stakeholders who can validate your successes,” says Mrs. Cohen. “Your case is always stronger when it’s delivered or reinforced by those with whom you’ve worked.”

 

“The idea is to show how your contributions are unique to you and valuable for the company.”

                                                                                                                                                                                            — Carol Cohen, Cognizant

4. What was expected of you?

If you set specific goals to achieve in your last performance review, now is a good time to review them. If you are a new employee, you might not have goals, but you should have a clear understanding of your responsibilities and what you are expected to do to achieve them. During your review, you should hit upon those items, including how you went about achieving them and, if possible, specific data points as evidence.

 

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5. Show how you have tried to improve yourself.

Some companies offer access to training programs and other ways to learn new skills. You should mention any training you have undertaken and explain how it helped you improve your performance. Your new skills may qualify you for new opportunities. You could use the review to discuss taking on new responsibilities. You could also initiate a conversation about your career goals and how you and your manager can work together to achieve them. This might be an initial conversation about an internal role change or promotion, or it could be a check-in about your progress toward achieving those goals, depending on what career stage you are in.

6. Show how you have adjusted to a challenging situation.

“If you began working remotely in 2020, use this opportunity to highlight your virtual accomplishments to show you didn’t skip a beat despite a change in your work environment,” says Mrs. Cohen. You can bring up some of the ways you adjusted to remote work and managed to remain productive. “Demonstrate how you collaborated effectively across global borders—and video screens—to get the job done,” says Mrs. Cohen.

7. Gather up your notes to produce a self-evaluation.

Once you have gone through the steps above, you may be expected to write a self-assessment before meeting with your manager. Even if your evaluation will only be an in-person meeting, it helps to have your notes organized and edited down to the most important points you want to get across. Be honest with yourself about what you think you could improve upon. Don’t be afraid to ask your manager for help.

8. Whatever your performance rating, don’t play defense.

When you meet with your manager, don’t approach the meeting feeling like you need to defend yourself or make excuses. You should be listening and taking in feedback that might seem negative at times. Explain that you understand these are things you can improve upon. If possible, come up with specific examples of how you would set out to achieve these improvements. If, for example, one criticism was that you often seem overwhelmed or disorganized, come up with a strategy to better manage your time and suggest some tools you plan to use to better track your work. If your manager says he or she doesn’t understand clearly enough what your progress is on projects, suggest providing more frequent status updates.

9. Think about areas of improvement for your next review.

Part of your review may include setting goals for the months and year ahead. You should have some ideas in mind for what you want to accomplish, which you can discuss with your supervisor. “Proactively draft goals for next year to position yourself as forward-thinking with a growth mindset,” says Mrs. Cohen. “Show you’re already planning to capitalize on this year’s efforts by contributing on an even larger scale next year.” She says that you can then fine-tune these goals in your performance evaluation by discussing how these may align with your boss’s plans.

10. Track your progress regularly to prepare for your next performance evaluation.

If you would like more feedback or support from your manager, you could also ask for more frequent check-ins. These sessions may help you to gain a better understanding of what is expected of you and give you more confidence doing your job. Your employer should aim to support you so you can make solid contributions in your role. Use this feedback and put it into action so you can achieve great results that can be shared in your next review.

What to read next

 

 

WSJ.com | January 8, 2021 | Anthony DeRosa

Your #Career : Want To Nail Your 2016 Performance Review? Show You’re Versatile…Doubling Down on your Specialized Knowledge Might Not Pay Off Like it Used To.

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With only two months left in 2016, performance review season is officially upon us. As many of us know all too well, it can be an awkward experience. But one key to nailing your review this year may be a departure from conventional wisdom. Typically we’re told to make a strong case for how well we’ve performed in our particular roles—show you’ve mastered the job skills required of you and delivered great results, and now you’re ready to move on to bigger challenges.

Interview2

And it’s not that that’s bad advice. But as the workforce evolves, the value of a broad-based skill set may be rising. Your employer might not even be totally aware of the shift, but they’re more likely to need jacks-of-all-trades than they did even a year ago. Here’s a look at why, and how to play into that trend during your next review.

THE RISING VALUE OF VERSATILITY

“I guess you can look at me and say that I didn’t specialize in anything,” UX designer Amanda Yarmolich reflected recently. “But a lot of times, it ends up being more valuable to have somebody who can kind of pick up whatever you need.”

 

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Yarmolich isn’t alone in that sentiment. According to the 2017 salary guide published earlier this month in the design magazine HOW, employers will gladly pay top dollar, “but they expect value, which comes in the form of worker versatility.” And that may not just be a quirk of design-focused industries. Yarmolich works for the insurance marketplace eHealth. In her recent experience, “You just have to be ready to do whatever needs doing at the drop of a hat.”

How come? For one thing, the changing macroeconomic landscape is pushing more employers toward low-labor business models—in other words, to find ways of getting more value out of fewer people. That necessity may have first gripped recruiters amid the last financial crisis, but since the recovery since then has been so incremental, it’s seeped into many employers’ hiring mentalities.

As one staffing expert told Fast Company earlier this year, “We’re seeing more cross-pollination among industries than ever before,” which is not only expanding what counts as “transferrable skills,” it’s also requiring workers to be more comfortable tackling a greater range of tasks—including unfamiliar ones. That type of agility is becoming less of an added bonus and more of a basic prerequisite for many job openings in a widening variety of fields.

On the other hand, employers have always prized versatile workers. In his 1957 book The Problems of Design, famed industrial designer George Nelson observed that employers have long sought “general flexibility in relation to almost any situation. Translated into action, this means an ability to bring a high level of detached perception to any problem, and this has a very special kind of value to management.”

The difference now is the change from management preference to economic imperative. Corporate boards seem to understand this value, judging from the kinds of people they put in the corner office. The New York Times recently reported that the quickest path to CEO these days is a circuitous one—often via several functional areas—according to new research suggesting that a mix of skills may now count more than simply long experience in one specialty.

COMBINATORIAL CREATIVITY

These utility players are what coauthors Kenneth Mikkelsen and Richard Martin describe as “neo-generalists” in their new book The Neo-Generalist: Where You Go Is Who You Are. They use the term to describe knowledge workers who excel in “combinatorial creativity.” As Mikkelsen described it to me, “Neo-generalists are people who expand their craft by bringing in knowledge from disparate areas and creating new ideas and methods from those new combinations.”

Martin added that knowledge workers everywhere often feel their organization or industry is too siloed, but he believes it’s the type of worker that makes this true or untrue: “We are arguing that people who have a more neo-generalist mind-set make a difference because they deliberately step outside of those silos.”

Hiring managers may be wising up to this idea. Not only are versatile workers often more cost effective, they also bring silo-busting behaviors to companies that help organizations stay innovative over time. What may have started as a dollar-stretching measure often turns out to be a competitive advantage.

HOW TO BE THE NEO-GENERALIST YOUR BOSS IS LOOKING FOR

According to Martin, “Everybody has the potential to be a neo-generalist—absolutely everybody. But it’s a question of being willing to accept that learning is never done, that you’re never a finished article, always beta.”

 

FastCompany.com |  LISA BAIRD  | 10.31.16 5:00 AM

Your #Career : 5 Things You Should Never Say in a Job Performance Review…How you Respond to Criticism & Praise will Make a Difference in your Career Path. Let’s Take a Look at 5 Things you Should Never Say in a Performance Review.

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A performance review is like a report card for adults. It tells workers how they’re performing on the job, or at least how their bosses think they are performing. Except, job performance reviews are prone to more subjectivity. You don’t simply receive a letter grade or a “satisfactory” based on right or wrong homework answers, you receive feedback on how you’re viewed around the office. Furthermore, what you say in your performance review can make or break your career.

Male hands holding pen in working environment

Are annual performance reviews a waste of time? They certainly can be. According to a recent survey fromDeloitte, only 8% of companies report their performance management process drives high levels of value, while 58% of companies say it’s not an effective use of time. In fact, about half of HR executives believe their performance process is weak at driving business value. Deloitte found it was spending around 2 million hours a year on performance reviews, including filling out forms and holding meetings.

Several companies see annual performance reviews as an outdated measuring stick — a tool for when titans of industry like General Electric needed to know how many railroad ties workers installed. Today, employers need to measure everything from productivity and customer service to teamwork and attitude. As a result, more employers are replacing the annual performance review in favor of ongoing feedback and coaching methods.

Whether you work for an employer stuck in the past or one adapting to the 21st century, you need to be able to communicate effectively in your performance reviews. How you respond to criticism and praise will make a difference in your career path. Let’s take a look at five things you should never say in a performance review.

1. “That’s not in my job description”

Nothing says you need improvement on your office etiquette like blurting out a task that you’re expected to do isn’t in your job description. Remember, job descriptions are not 100% inclusive of your workplace duties, and job descriptions often evolve as business conditions fluctuate. It’s no secret that employers love flexible employees who know how to handle multiple tasks with a good attitude. At the same time though, you shouldn’t be afraid to push back a little if you find yourself overwhelmed with requests.

The key to saying, “that’s not in my job description” without uttering those exact words is to explain yourself, carefully. You could say something to this effect: “My priorities with set deadlines this past year (or substitute the timeframe of the performance review) prevented me from taking on this additional task.” You could also try to deflect a task by explaining that you’re not typically the person who handles that, and point your manager to someone better suited for the task if possible.

 

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2. “You expect too much from me”

Yes, your boss expects a lot from you. You likely even feel underpaid for what you have to do and put up with on a daily basis. Sometimes it may actually be too much for you to handle, but being over-defensive is probably not the best way to approach the situation. You need to remember to keep your emotions in check.

“It’s important to be honest, but you don’t want to be really defensive,” explains Lisa Chui, vice president of finance and human resources at Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, in an interview with The Cheat Sheet. “Depending on the level of criticism an employee reviews in a performance review, they can be very defensive. It’s always a good idea to be calm and collected, even if on the inside you are just screaming and want to run out of the room crying. It’s never a good idea to let your emotions get the best of you at that moment. If you’re receiving feedback that is driving an emotional response, process the feedback and continue the conversation.”

If declining a task isn’t an option during your performance review, ask your manager how they would like you to prioritize the task. This shows that you’re willing to be flexible, but provides you with some room to juggle otherjob responsibilities.

 

3. “I can’t”

I’m reminded of a famous Henry Ford quote: “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”

Saying “can’t” is limiting. You limit what you think you can do, and you also limit what other people (like your boss) think you’re capable of doing. Saying “can’t” in your performance review is equivalent to telling your boss that you don’t have the skills to complete a task. And, if you are short with your reply, you may also convey that you are unwilling to make an attempt to learn, which will further hurt your reputation.

“Instead of saying can’t, you may want to try saying ‘How about we try this’ and you can rephrase the work your boss if asking you to do into something more manageable for yourself,” explains Chui. “Or, there’s always the deferral. You could say ‘Hey that’s a great suggestion, let me get back to you on ways this can be accomplished’ versus just saying yes or no. In a performance review, sometimes if you’re just saying yes, then your boss is going to think you’re going to do exactly what he just told you to do. While you’re thinking you can’t commit to this. If you at least defer it, it puts the ball back in your court to then come up with a plan that suits you.”

 

4. “Thank you for finally noticing”

Winning and losing is a part of life. You need to learn how to do both gracefully. Receiving a compliment or praise during your performance review is a nice little victory on your career path, but you can completely spoil that win if you don’t handle it well. Saying something to the effect of “thank you for finally noticing” fills the air with bitterness and will leave your boss wondering if they is more trouble brewing below the surface. It may also make your boss less likely to provide future compliments in order to avoid your snark.

On the positive side, there is a simple solution. When receiving a compliment, keep your reply short and sweet. A simple “thank you” is typically enough. If you feel it’s necessary to let your boss know how long you’ve been accomplishing something, you could provide a little more detail by saying something like: “Thank you. I initiated this change last year to improve our productivity after evaluating our current methods. I did X, Y, and Z to generate these results.”

 

5. “It’s not that I’m lazy. It’s that I just don’t care.”

Movies provide a great deal of comic relief. Certain movies like Office Space do an incredible job highlighting the mundane aspects of our own jobs. However, that doesn’t mean you should necessarily try to lighten the mood with your favorite quotes. If your boss doesn’t recognize the quote, the situation could become uncomfortable, especially if the blank stare on his face leaves you squirming to figure out how to explain the quote without making yourself look like a disgruntled employee.

“The trend these days is to give constant feedback to employees,” says Chui. “I think we’re moving away from the traditional once-a-year review when you have to think back about everything you’ve accomplished over the year — that’s almost impossible to do. Having ongoing feedback sets the stage to not have that stuffy conversation and make anything awkward. But, if the performance review is starting to get uncomfortable, you can steer the conversation in a different direction. If you’re starting to get a lot of negative feedback or your starting to talk about things you’re unsure about, it’s OK to ask questions and steer the conversation back in a more positive direction.”

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 CheatSheet.com | June 10, 2016 | 

 

#BestofFSCBlog : #YourCareer -So, What Have You Done for Me Lately? (Applying the SAR). Typically, you are going to be called in for an annual or semiannual review. The company may be on the verge of a massive downsizing: Who can we cut? Where is the fat in our organization?

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I’ve received many a puzzled look. Jar of moonshine? Jar of marmalade? What is this “jar” you speak of? It’s quite simple: you never stop recording your achievements. You have to maintain a journal of actions and results. This is the ongoing history of your SARs (Situation / Action / Result) within the organization, and trust me, no one other than you will document this valuable information.

business woman with her staff, people group in background at modern bright office indoors

                                                                        Do you have your Jar?

Typically, you are going to be called in for an annual or semiannual review. The company may be on the verge of a massive downsizing: Who can we cut? Where is the fat in our organization?

“I was blindsided. I never saw it coming!  Just last month they were praising my performance!” “I can’t believe this, after all I have done for them!”

In your review, you may not be discussing a raise or a promotion. Whether you know it or not, a good review may determine whether you will keep your job. You should be prepared both offensively and defensively. If you’ve been in the corporate world for any length of time, you’ve likely witnessed a top performer walking into a review with all the confidence in the world, only to exit the meeting with an empty box and a security escort. Our outplacement company has seen this happen repeatedly.  The client comes to us in a state of shock:

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This is a common tale, and the employer’s decision to let you go cannot be reversed once the meeting is over. If your employer is aware of your accomplishments and the fact that they are better off keeping you, it may not save your job, but as my Grandma Rose used to say, “It couldn’t hurt.”

In other words, be prepared to highlight your valuable contributions.  Now, you need not live your life worrying that the ax is going to drop every six months, but you need to understand that this can happen at any time. No employee is irreplaceable or indispensable. If being let go is the worst-case scenario, how do you walk into a review for the best-case scenario?  The same way, prepared.

 

Excerpt from the book “RESUME DNA – Succeeding In Spite Of Yourself” by John Singer (amazon.com / barnesandnoble.com)

Resume DNA Cover

Notes of Author:  John Singer is President/CEO of PDS, Tuscon, AZ   pdscareers.com[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Your #Career : The 5 Questions Everyone Should Ask Before Accepting a Promotion…The Fatter Paycheck. The Bigger Office. The Increased Authority to Make Decisions . Note: 2015 Gallup poll, Only 35% of U.S. Managers actually Feel Engaged in their Jobs.

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To most people, moving into a management role seems like a natural rite of passage when climbing the career ladder. But for all its impressive-sounding perks, joining those ranks may not necessarily upgrade your job satisfaction: According to a 2015 Gallup poll, only 35% of U.S. managers actually feel engaged in their jobs.

Group of happy young business people in a meeting at office

As the numbers attest, not everyone is cut out for management, or will actually enjoy having the increased responsibilities that come with a more impressive title. So how can you tell whether you’ll love being a manager — or want to go scrambling back down the ranks as fast as possible?

For starters, you need to decipher what your job will really entail; opportunities that sound impressive on paper may end up not being all they’re cracked up to be.

So we rounded up five big questions you should be asking your HR rep or hiring managerbefore you say yes to the new job — because a move up the corporate ladder won’t always be the step forward you want it to be.

1. Will I actually be managing people?

Many people may assume that a management title means you’ll be, well, managing others. But sometimes a role will be more about managing processes than managing actual direct reports.

“It could be thought leadership or team leadership or people management or project management,” says Leigh Steere, co-founder of human-resources research company Managing People Better. “Ask questions to understand the scope of the proposed role so that you have an accurate, comprehensive picture and realistic expectations.”

If you discover that you’ll have more responsibility but few (or no) direct reports, Steere says, you’ll need to probe further to discover how your time will be spent.

“Ask about the types of decisions you’ll be involved in as a manager, which meetings you’ll attend, if you’ll be involved in the budget,” she says. Steere even suggests asking if you’ll stay in your current work space, lest you assume being a manager means moving into a cushy office — or even one with a door.

Trivial as some of these details may seem, they can help you determine whether the management role is superior to a non-management title based on what you value professionally. If you’ve loved your job as a hands-on graphic designer for years, for example, but would now have to spend most of your time on conference calls or doing client pitches, your job satisfaction may suffer.

If the role does manage employees, Steere says to ask more specifically about how much autonomy you’ll have leading the team, and what kind of training and development you’ll be given to hone your management skills.

And if your proposed role is in a start-up with a fluid organizational chart or your company adheres to matrix management (meaning there are dual reporting structures within cross-functional teams), be clear on how the responsibility over your reports will be divided.

“I recently worked with a company where two or three different people were managing each employee. The employees didn’t know how to prioritize, and each manager assumed the other(s) took care of the management tasks. There needs to be clarity on who is responsible for pay decisions, performance coaching and setting performance expectations,” Steere says.

RELATED: Performance-Review Reboot: 3 Ways Companies Are Taking Appraisals to the Next Level

 

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2. What will my typical day look like?

Whether you’re managing budgets, presenting to the C-suite, networking or maneuvering office politics, there’s likely to be one constant across any management position: Your schedule will be a lot more packed.

That being the case, you have to know what your average day will look like. Will you be in meetings nonstop? Will you be asked to make on-the-spot decisions all day long? How many fires or urgent requests will fall into your lap each day?

“There is a premium on my time and where my attention goes in terms of real dollars and opportunity costs … and it’s fantastic for someone like me who likes formulating the big picture and directing the moving pieces,” says Chad Modad, a managing director at a Houston–based software consulting firm. “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][But] sometimes I really miss just sitting down and building something from beginning to end.”

Indeed, Modad says, it’s often hard to block off more than an hour at a time to focus on things like presentations, strategic planning or employee development plans. If that sounds more nerve-racking than exciting, you may want to reconsider that future management role, suggests Steere.

“If interruptions bother you, that’s a signal you may prefer individual contributor work and may find people management stressful and/or distasteful,” adds Steere.

3. How will my performance be measured?

Speaking of individual contributors, one big change that may take some getting used to is the shift from being measured by your solo efforts to being measured by your team’s output or productivity.

Kathleen Steffey, CEO of Tampa, Florida–based Naviga Recruiting & Executive Search, says you should ask detailed questions about exactly what metrics you’ll be measured on, such as your department’s revenue or profitability.

“There isn’t a right answer, but it’s an important one. [For example,] revenue is the top-line number, which means it’s greater than the margin,” Steffey says. “If you’re only being measured on profitability, which would be a lower number, then you need to make sure your compensation program is designed to meet your needs.”

You’ll also want to be clear on departmental profit expectations as well as budget-trimming requirements before you take the job, says Modad. If expectations are too high or performance timelines too tight, you may want to pass on the promotion.

Steere says you should also ask whether employee feedback is used to assess a manager’s performance — if it is, you have to be ready to inspire your team, give them the coaching they need, provide adequate direction and be able to monitor without micromanaging.

If the thought of potentially basing your raise, your bonus or even your whole job on your team’s performance sounds scary, take heed before accepting that manager role. “To succeed as a manager, you need to care about getting great work done through others, as opposed to focusing on your own personal output,” Steere says.

4. How much say will I have in personnel decisions?

Not having control over who is on your team, or the amount of training and development you can offer them, can be a source of frustration to a manager.

So it’s important to “ask whether you have the authority to place an employee who is underperforming on a performance improvement plan, to move an employee into a role for which you think they’d be better suited, or to promote a top performer — and [be sure to understand] how those processes work,” says Steere.

For instance, forced rating systems to determine things like bonuses or compensation may limit how much you can reward someone.

Also, remember that control over hiring likely means control over firing — a difficult decision you may find yourself making as a manager. Modad says the ability to develop a hard-working employee still makes him feel elated after four years in the executive ranks, but he feels it in the pit of his stomach when he has to fire or lay off someone. In fact, he says staying positive in tough times is one of the most difficult aspects of being a manager.

Ultimately, what you want is to be able to agree with the company’s approach to leadership. “Does the organization feel that people inherently want to do a good job — or [does it believe] that they are lazy and need to be managed as such?” says Modad.

Based on what you hear, consider how confident you will feel in going to bat for your staff with other leaders, or in communicating the corporate mission to your employees — even if raises aren’t granted or jobs are eliminated.

RELATED: Got Laid Off? Here Are the First 4 Things You Should Do

5. Why did the previous manager leave?

A company is only as good as its executive leadership, so it behooves you to figure out if you’ll be supported by your higher-ups. One way to do some detective work is to inquire about why your predecessor headed for the exit, and how long it took them to do so.

If, for instance, their departure was swift, it could be a sign that the C-suite had an unrealistic timeline for results.

“Does the employer understand [you’ll need to] ramp up and learn about the business, or do they expect someone to jump right in and impact revenue immediately?” Steffey says. Asking what your 30-, 60- and 90-day goals are can also provide more insight on this.

Another telltale sign a management role isn’t all it’s cracked up to be? High turnover.

Steffey even suggests checking out the LinkedIn profile of a predecessor to see if they had a good tenure and track record previously. If they did, that raises the question of whether the company will really be supportive of you.

“[That can be] a discerning moment for the candidate to determine if the company knows what it’s doing, or if it’s just too hard on an executive,” she says. “Do they give a person the right tools to be successful?”

Read the original article on LearnVest. Copyright 1969. Follow LearnVest on Twitter.

Businessinsider.com | April 14, 2016 | LearnVestStephanie Taylor Christensen, LearnVest

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Your #Career : Bulletproof Your Position: 10 Tips For Improving Job Security…The Key to Job Survival is to Find Ways to Make yourself a More Valuable Employee, So you Stand Out From the Crowd.

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Sometimes, coming to work each day and doing your job isn’t enough to protect you from being let go due to “downsizing.” The key to job survival is to find ways to make yourself a more valuable employee, so you stand out from the crowd.

Free- Time Mans Watch

Question: I’ve worked in the same job for several years, but there are rumors that our company will be laying off employees later this year to cut expenses. Is there anything I can start doing, right now, to help make sure I won’t be one of the employees laid off?

Answer: Most employment in the U.S. is “at-will,” which means an employee can be dismissed by their employer for any reason and without warning. That means the best way to decrease the odds of your employment being terminated is to create a strong relationship with your manager and to clearly demonstrate your value to the company (so your boss won’t want to lose you). Here’s how:

Understand your manager’s goals. Find out his or her objectives and priorities. What keeps your boss up at night? Think about ways you can help achieve these department goals.

Agree on your goals, objectives and projects. Meet with your manager to ensure you fully understand and mutually agree on your goals and objectives for the quarter/year as well as all projects for which you’ll be responsible. Then track and provide progress updates, asking for help or advice as needed.

 

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Create a “Goals and Objectives” document. Take those goals you agreed on with your manager and put them into a simple document where you’ll be able to track your progress. Use a simple format, like an Excel spreadsheet, and include column headers such as: ID#, Project Name, Description, Timing (due date), Goal/Objective (whatever it might be), Stretch Goal/Objective (a slightly more challenging goal or objective), and Progress (such as color coding to denote your progress). Use this document during your progress review meetings with your manager.

Learn your manager’s communication style and flex your style to his or hers. Find out how your manager prefers to interact with you. Do they want weekly, bi-weekly or monthly progress review meetings? Do they want to meet in person or receive email updates and then follow up with you if they have any questions? Adapt your communication style to best fit your manager’s style.

Never miss a commitment. Complete all your projects/assignments on time (and under budget). If you hit an obstacle, “go ugly early” as the old saying goes, by letting your boss know and asking for help.

Do outstanding work. You can’t do mediocre work – your work needs to be exemplary if you want to stand out. Look for ways you can go above and beyond the daily requirements to demonstrate how you add value to the organization.

Think of yourself as an “internal consultant.” Be more than just an employee. Consultants are hired to assess a current situation and then create action plans for improvement. They are paid for their expertise and their calm, professional demeanor, especially in times of difficulty. By thinking of yourself as an “internal consultant” you can use this same frame of reference to demonstrate how you add value to your department, to your company and even to your boss.

Become an expert in something. People turn to the experts when there are challenges and to solve problems. Look for areas in your business where you can put your skills to use and become an expert. Then, volunteer for projects that will allow you to use these skills and show them off.

Offer to help coworkers. Don’t wait for someone to approach you. Offer your help to others when it appears they might need it. Don’t expect any return favors – help others because you want to, not because you expect something in return. Always play nice with others and learn to flex your style so you can get along with any personality type.

Improve your skills every year. Become a more valuable asset by treating yourself like a product that you work on improving, year after year. Define your career aspirations, create a career development plan and then share this information with your boss and ask for his or her help and support.

Lisa Quast is the author of Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Career Coach: A Foolproof Guide to Getting the Job You Want. Every Time.

 

Forbes.com | February 15, 2016 | Lisa Quast