How To Sustain Your Employability

Sustain Your Employability

Today people are more interested than they have been in sustaining their employability. More people are actively doing what they can to remain employable

It is worth remembering that manyof those in the workplace have lost their jobs recently. There are probably more redundancies to be made. Almost certainly, those made redundant will be looking to get another job soon.

What will you do when there are job seekers around every corner and you have to take action to stay employed?

Employability
Don’t leave. Remain employable.

. . . Now is not the time to be looking for promotion or taking a job in a start-up that you know nothing about. You probably hope you will be able to stay in your current role for the moment. If you find you have to seek a new role, and if you find that, despite your best efforts, you cannot sustain your employability, then accept the situation and do something different.

Here are five things you can do to help you become more and more employable now.

Be Helpful To Others

This first point is very important. Show you are keen to work with colleagues, and you want to be supportive to them. If you work on solutions to others’ problems, you will probably be recognised as a very useful resource or even as an in-house expert, and you are more likely to be in demand in your current workplace than some other   employees.

Every one needs help.

Remember, people in demand are more likely to hold onto their jobs than those who just work on their own tasks and leave others to manage their roles themselves.

It is probably a good idea to make a list of how helpful you can be to those with whom you work,

Stay On Top Of Your Job

Right now you have a job. Certain things are required of you. Can you do them all, and can you do them well?

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Here is the door.

Are you someone who tries to get out of things that you don’t like doing? Has the job you are currently doing changed whilst you have been in post? Do any of those changes mean that you can no longer do what is required of you?

If you need to consider developments to you role, start by thinking about technology. Can you use all the software applications that you are expected to use in your job? Have you made sure you can do the things demanded of you in the technology field? Do you read about recent developments in software applications? Do you “attend” webinars on relevant software issues? Do you have virtual conversations with experts who can help you improve your performance? Are you making your new learning available to others, via the help you offer?

What’s more, are you prepared to do these things in your own time?

Now think about communications and the task of getting your points across or influencing others by virtue of what you say. Are you good at expressing yourself? Can you express yourself well on paper, online and in the real world? Can you always find the right words to use whichever mode of communication you are using?

If asked, could you change any of your communication into a report that recipients will value? In such circumstances, can you state the case you are making cogently and without making communications errors? Can you spell? Can you choose the right words? Are you ever confused by colleagues’ statements?

Struggling with any aspect of your role could mean that someone else might be more successful in what you are trying to do. It also means you should make good any shortcomings that you recognise you have. Remaining employable and sustaining your employability mean you have to succeed on a regular basis.

You need to take action. Get on top of the job.

Embrace Learning And Development

An awful lot of what you have to do to sustain your employability is linked to the issues of learning and on-going development.

Do you need these skills? Do you have them?

This type of learning will take you beyond what your current role requires of you. You will need to look ahead and plan your development and your possible future. The job you will take up some years from now may not exist today. You still need to develop yourself to be able to do other jobs from those you do today.

To remain employable you may find that you will need different skills and different expertise from those skills and abilities you have today. You may decide that you need more qualifications. That is not an issue because you don’t need all that new expertise to be accessible today, or even tomorrow.

Just become committed to relevant learning now and in the future. Take your learning seriously. Be prepared to explain to others just how important continuing to learn is.

Lifelong learning is something you will embrace, and soon

Be Good To Yourself And Others

It can be very difficult to do this but it is worth the effort.

  • Allow yourself breaks.
  • Allow yourself to go home on time, at least two or three times a week.
  • Encourage those you work with, or those who work for you, to do the same.
  • Do not take work home with you every night or every weekend.
  • Either find yourself new interests or resurrect interests you have abandoned or neglected.

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Remember this about your job.
Remind yourself that you are more than your job and you have a life totally separate from work. Remind yourself, too, that these same rules apply to other people, and not just to yourself. Take this to heart. It could be a positive factor in sustaining your employability.

Being good to yourself and others covers being pleasant to others and understanding their needs and interests. Avoid being too critical of others or being too judgmental. Do not get angry with other employees or take a delight in telling them they are not very good at what they do. Find other ways of ensuring colleagues know what is expected of them.

Do not bear grudges. Bearing grudges will not help you. It may also result in others thinking less well of you. That includes those who can influence your career for good or ill.

Network

 

Networking Or Not!

Before doing anything under this heading make sure you know what networking is and how it can help you to sustain your employability. Networking is not about drinking endless cups of coffee at gatherings and meetings with people you don’t know and probably don’t want to know. It is not about working your way around a room asking attendees if they have any vacancies at present.

Instead, when you meet people at networking events, talk to them about themselves. Be inquisitive and demonstrate that you are interested in what they have to say. Ask questions to clarify points. Demonstrate that you want to hear what they want to tell you.

Networking is not just about face-to-face meetings. It can be about being part of an online group and taking part in virtual meetings where every one is interested in the subject under discussion. .

Networking helps you to extend professional relationships and learn about the interests of others. Use networking to help you learn and get to know about people in other organisations. Those people learn more about you, too, which can be both interesting and useful.

Networking effectively will, in the end, also help you to remain employable. That means it’s worth doing

The Things To Do

Above are five things that you need to do. Notice you can’t do everything yourself. Some things require you to involve others. In simple terms you cannot sustain your employability on your own,

The things you should do are:

Be Helpful To Others.

Stay On Top Of Your Job.

Embrace Learning And Development.

Be Good To Yourself And To Others.

Network

Don’t Make Enemies

Having spent quite some time dealing with what you should do, there is one thing you should avoid doing and that is “making enemies”.

This is a simple instruction but people in employment sometimes DO make enemies. They are barely courteous to people they dislike. This can lead to feuds and campaigns for or against others and the questions below being asked:

“Which side are you on?”

“Just who do you support?”

Never get involved in giving the answer to these questions. Your aim is to develop good working relationships with every one. That does not mean you need to socialise with every one. It does mean you can speak to all in your organisation when it comes to dealing with work issues

And Finally . . .

The future is bright if you can find a way to stay employed.

You want to sustain your employability. Follow the guidance here and create a strong and positive impression of yourself. No one can guarantee you will not lose your job, but this article should help you to get nearer success and help you sustain your employability.