7 ways you can increase your job security this layoff season

Whether you are working at the Bank of America or Cisco, layoffs are something that you can’t seem to avoid this year. Everywhere you look, Americans are losing jobs due to the uncertain economy. This is enough to give layoff anxiety to even the most hardened workers.

Job security is something that will affect your financial stability as well as the trajectory of your career. When you feel that your job is more secure, you are more likely to produce high-quality work and e efficient.

If you are an employer, providing job security to your employees is one of the most important things you can do for the future of your business. When you offer job security, it becomes easier for you to attract and retain talent, maintain productivity across teams, encourage employee loyalty, and keep up positive employee morale.

Here are 7 things you can try to increase your job security:

1. Maintaining high work standards

When a company wants to control costs by laying off workers, the low-performing employees are the first to go. If you don’t want your name to be on the first list of people getting the cut this fall, you should develop high work standards. Paying attention to detail and constantly putting in your best work will establish you as a great employee in your employer’s mind.

2. Going beyond the expectations of the employer

When you understand what your manager expects of you, you can perform even better. You don’t need to work an extra full hour after the sign-out time to go beyond expectations. A simple helpful note added to the stat report, a well-researched presentation for the new project proposal, or intelligent input at the weekly team meeting can set you apart from the crowd easily.

3. Increasing your productivity

Being productive is a sign of being a good employee. If you find yourself falling behind on your weekly goals, set yourself a goal to exceed your goals by 5%. Use an app or some kind of metric to track your progress daily. This is an important tip for those of you who work in sales or marketing. If you have a set amount of clients to handle per day, try increasing the number by 5 every week.

4. Learning a new skill

What are the practical skills that will make you a top performer at your job? Would coding knowledge help you? Or perhaps a crash course in caregiving? What about an esthetician license? Whatever the new skills that would help you stand out in your current role, chase them. Become an expert in a particular subject matter so that you are indispensable at work.

5. Being reliable

Showing up to work just a little bit early every day, meeting your deadlines, achieving sales targets, and mentoring a junior worker will all make you a reliable employee at the office. Employers love workers who can hold responsibility. Let your consistency shine through your actions.

6. Staying focused on your work

No employer will ever sack the top performer and save the employee that spends two hours on Facebook at work. When you are at work, ensure that there are no distractions. You can keep your cell phone away for work hours. If there are difficult coworkers at work who don’t let you get things done, find ways to discourage them from approaching you for chit-chat.

7. Mentoring someone at work

Assisting a team member or someone new to the company is a great way to ensure your job security. Training and development are important aspects of any growing business. Employers value workers who can help train new employees.