How to avoid being redundant

By Peter Kamuri

Everybody wants to feel appreciated and wanted at the workplace, but this does not always happen, particularly when employers begin to view their workers as liabilities.

So how can you tell you are becoming unwanted or redundant?

The first tell-tale sign is if your colleagues hardly ever seek your professional opinion, preferring to consult your juniors. Your skills may have become irrelevant.

Another sign is when your equals at the workplace get a pay rise and you are ignored. It may mean your responsibilities have been passed on to other members of your team to ensure that your work still gets done after you are gone.

If you’re working on less important or high-profile jobs than you used to, then there is a chance that you are being slowly edged out of your position.

Has your job description changed and you are now assigned to a less powerful boss or supervisor? This may indicate your hierarchy in the organisation has been lowered, effectively demoting you.

Have you seen your colleagues walking out of a meeting you were not informed of? Knowledge is power, and if you are being kept in the dark about what is going on in your organisation, chances are it is preparing itself for life without you.

So how do you change things to keep your job? Start by learning something new that will add value to your work. Ensure that your co-workers and boss take notice.

Secondly, be well groomed. Dress smartly and neatly as the way you dress can say a lot about your career aspirations.

Lastly, keep in mind that you are most attractive to a prospective employer when you are employed. If you do not foresee the situation at your workplace changing, begin to look for something new.

However, do not do anything rash. Talk to a career counsellor to weigh your options.                        

— kamuripck@gmail.com