Having a position as a business leader can feel like you are at a stable part of your career. But what if your standing changes for the worse? Perhaps your boss is no longer supportive of you, or maybe the company is experiencing some changes. If your position has started changing for the worse, it’s important to act while you can.
Stay Compliant
Even if your position is being jeopardized, it is still important to make sure you are performing job responsibilities, such as ensuring your department is staying compliant. That way, even if your leaders do not want to keep you on board, they won’t be able to say that you neglected your responsibilities. If you manage a fleet, you will want to make sure your team is staying on top of driver vehicle inspection reports, which will help you catch any issues immediately. The FMCSA requires these to be compliant but filling them out will also help avoid revenue loss from vehicle downtime. If your position is in danger, you can use this documentation to show you have been doing your best. You can learn more about driver vehicle inspection reports and what you should know.
Dig a Little Deeper
If you can connect with your boss, have a conversation about the issues you are experiencing, and try to ask why these changes are occurring. Try to work with your boss to mitigate employee stress and burnout and create a plan to improve things. This is a direct approach and the best way of dealing with the root of the issue. However, sometimes situations are hostile, which means you may not get answers about what is going on or even a meeting. If this happens, take some time to dig into the situation yourself. Ask yourself when you noticed things starting to go downhill and compare it to the things you were working on yourself to see if there are any connections.
Perhaps you were performing poorly at the time and have since improved, or maybe you made a mistake and were not corrected. On the other hand, it could be completely unrelated to your own performance or situation. Perhaps there have been changes in your company, or maybe upper management is experiencing other pressure that causes them to put some things on the back burner, which can affect you. Understanding the situation is the only way that you can effectively address it.
See if You Can Find Other Allies
You may or may not know why your current position is no longer secure, but you can still prop up your career without your boss’s support. Enlist support from business leaders at your boss’s level or higher to balance the negative impression your boss may have. You should have already established a professional network, but if you do not, you should start as soon as you can. This may take the form of introducing yourself to other departments in the company. You can ask members of the department to introduce you to leaders for that area. If there are any employee resource groups, get involved.
Volunteer for as many cross-functional activities as you can. Don’t neglect your own team at the expense of getting to know others. Even if your position being jeopardized has impacted the way you and your team work together, you can still have a good relationship with each direct report, which can reduce the impact of any negative reputation you may have.
Search for Other Jobs Just in Case
Whether or not the job market is in a good place, it’s a good idea to have a backup plan if something at your current company goes wrong. Some companies are always hiring, no matter where the overall job market is. There are plenty of positions in need of filling, and not everyone stops hiring just because the market is not doing well. It could be a really good time to start searching for other positions if you have a lot of down time because of reduced responsibility at work.
Start connecting with your network, research companies, and update your resume. If you feel like your company would find out about you searching for a position, looking for another job right now could further jeopardize your position. In this case, the best area to focus on would be professional development, which will help you be more marketable.
