Scared Of Getting Fired? Become Indispensable With These 5 Powerful Tips

I remember one of my colleagues telling me she was concerned about losing her job back a few months ago when the COVID -19 situation was on the rise in the country. She explained how some of her friends had lost their jobs and she was afraid of getting fired.

Across the world, there has been mass job losses due to the COVID -19 threat.  You probably know a colleague or friend who got fired or was declared redundant. While you may not ensure a hundred percent that you are indispensable, there are a couple of steps you can take to enforce your indispensability.

Employers are not likely to fire the most resourceful staff unless it is necessary. With that in mind, let’s look at tips that will help you.

One of the ways you become indispensable is by specializing in a particular skill. Master a skill required for your job or another task within the company. Develop your art in this skill so much that you are the only one or at least one of the best go to people where that task or job is concerned.

For instance, you could be in the customer service department but have a keen eye for graphic design. This is an essential skill for your company’s marketing initiatives that you can explore and become a monopoly for the skill.

Secondly, equip yourself with essential soft skills. Learn soft skills that will make you a better person e.g. emotional intelligence, effective communication and influencing skills, conflict resolution and so forth.

Then after you learn, don’t stop at that, put your knowledge into practice and you’ll find that over time, your interpersonal skills have scaled up and you can easily work with different personalities. Others will also start noticing the ease with which you interact with different people. See our effective communication and influencing skills short course here 

Also, learn new skills that will help you execute your duties better. My background did not involve digital marketing or writing but due to the nature of my work, I have had to learn digital marketing skills and copywriting skills to enhance my productivity. As a result, I am able to work more efficiently and be more productive.

If you are a supervisor for instance, learning effective supervisory skills will empower you to effectively execute your duties. Your goal is to excel at your work and you win your employer’s favor by acquiring skills that help you perform your duties better.

Are you willing to go an extra mile? If you want to become indispensable, then you need to embrace the attitude of willingness to do a little bit more. With the nature of my work, sometimes I have a handful to attend to. I have learnt to be willing to extend my work time when necessary so as to complete some important tasks or to be able to do more.

Embracing such an attitude portrays that you are committed and that you have passion for your work. The willingness to do whatever it takes will make you stand out. Employers also tend to trust employees who seem to be passionate about their work.

Last but not least, be productive. I am sure you know there’s a difference between working hard and working smart. Just recently, I was asked to handle a new project that is quite involving. I had other tasks I was managing and had to find a balance to ensure none of them suffers negligence.

I must say at the beginning I struggled with completing tasks in good time. However, I have learnt to prioritize my tasks to ensure my productivity is not affected. That said, it is crucial that you strategize on how to be productive. Be creative and assertive and the results will be evident.