Now more than ever you might be tempted to show your boss how invaluable you are. Why? It seems everyone that around me is getting laid off. At least I'm starting to get this impression. It makes me nervous and I too am trying to think of ways to make myself absolutely indispensable. (I would tell you what I've come up with but then you could steal my job, right?)

There's a very good article about how to prove your value in the workplace. Some of the advice is to demonstrate optimism and problem-solving skills that add value to your role and to avoid getting involved in office gossip.

Sure, everyone is starting to get nervous about the current economic situation but it's important to remain calm. to make certain that your performance is always praiseworthy but that you do not appear desperate -- desperation makes employers suspicious and worried.

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Jowita

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Yes, I'm guilty. I've infected many of my colleagues in my time. I have gone to work filled with flu germs that I spread around like a flower girl because I had too much work waiting for me and simply couldn't afford a day in bed. Other times I only had a few precious days in my yearly sick bank that I was carefully storing away for regular doctor's and dentist's appointments or for taking care of my loved ones when they fell ill.

In the frenzied climate that prevails in workplaces nowadays, with cutbacks and increased workloads, taking a day of rest to nurse a burgeoning cold may seem like a luxury. Dr. Irene Armstrong, an associate medical officer with Toronto Public Health, says in the Flu Virus Freedom article that you're not doing anybody a favour by going to work sick. She advises people who feel a cold or a flu coming on to stay home. "It's as simple as that," she says. But is it?

An employee who is absent from work is often seen by management as a costly affair. Attendance management programs, often introduced into the workplace as a way to monitor and reduce absenteeism, can result in a reluctance for employees to call in sick at the hint of a cold. In fact, The Coughing Irks Colleagues article points out that "62 per cent of us admit that we also go to work with a cold and cough," according to a survey of 1,000 Canadians done by Cadbury, the maker of Halls cough drops. So, if you have no choice but go to work when a cold is coming on, be kind to your co-workers. Adopt proper coughing and sneezing techniques and "do the sleeve sneeze".

Josée

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A friend of mine worked for a company that would generously pay for a holiday dinner and give out $50 cheques to its employees near the end of the year. There were no other holiday bonuses as the company was just a starter, but the $50 ensured that people felt appreciated. I've heard stories of other places where people would get bonuses high enough to pay for tropical trips or buy stereo equipment. I once worked for a bank where we received money for our yearly performance based on seniority -- I had only just started then but still got something that made me feel good about being an employee of that bank.

In a fairytale-like story from Chicago, Peer Bearing Co., a US company that had been sold to a Swedish investor, gave its employees a big year-end bonus. How big? Well, they gave away $6.6 million that was divided between the company's 230 employees based on seniority. And, despite the change in ownership, most of the workers got to keep their jobs too.

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Jowita

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First of all, don't expect a list of magical solutions -- I wish I had them for you, but for now second best will have to suffice. In other words, here's what to do in order not to go crazy while being laid off. Take a look at the excellent article Korn/Ferry Institute Issues Top 10 Strategies for Job Seekers in Down Market that gives some really solid tips.

I especially like this strategy: "Start the search immediately: Don't take extended time off. The search process can take six to 12 months for senior executives."

The last time I was laid off, I waited almost two months before I did anything productive in terms of job search. I thought I was using the two months to recuperate, I guess, but what I really did was grow more and more anxious about not working. So by the time I started looking I was full of doom and gloom. I had decided from the get-go that I probably wouldn't find anything anyway. This lead to anxiety attacks, which rendered me unable to work at all, let alone try to come up with job ideas.

This is why it's good to be as proactive as you can be. The day after you get that pink slip start making calls -- and read the other nine points from the article to find out how to make your search as fruitful as possible.

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Jowita

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In the article Four Ways to Build Better Relationships at Work the author, Alan Kearns, talks about how much more lonely our society has become despite all the means of communication we have -- the Internet, cell phones, all the Facebook friendships and MSN convos. Yes, compared to 1985, when respondents to an American Sociological Review survey said they had three people they could confide in, four years ago most respondents said they had "zero" people they could confide in.

I've noticed that my relationships have changed since the advent of Facebook and text messaging. It's true. When I was a kid in Europe, we used to just go over to people's house to chat (calling was kind of expensive). Today, I find myself more often texting back and forth with a close friend, forever finalizing our plans to meet ...

In terms of work environment, the article suggests using the following EASE method to shake off loneliness:

E -- Extend Yourself (join a social committee, volunteer)
A -- Action Plan (create a career search plan, for instance)
S -- Selection (develop quality relationships with your electronic friends)
E -- Expect the Best (stay positive)

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Jowita

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I remember my first (computer) mouse. It was larger than the one I use now and had a rolling ball in its base which corresponded to the cursor moving around on the screen. I remember that it (the cursor) would get stuck sometimes and then you had to open the mouse's compartment where the rolling ball was sitting and clean it out. One morning my mouse was attacked by a can of cream soda and since then it refused to work -- it would jerkily steer the cursor all over the screen and click on things that I never intended to click on. That mouse was dead.

Since that time, I've had many different computer ... mice, the nicest one probably being Apple's slick Wireless Mighty Mouse. I'm a total nerd because I still get excited at how fantastic these things are and how they work.

This month, the computer mouse celebrated its 40th birthday. According to The Computer Mouse Turns 40, "Douglas Engelbart presented what some have called 'the mother of all demos,' in 1968, outlining concepts that would presage the next 40 years of computing, including the use of a three-button palm-sized contraption called a 'mouse'."

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Jowita

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Do you have a routine that you follow every day? I do. I tried changing mine many times but I always ended up having the same sort of morning before work.

In the past, when I held a regular job plus freelance, I tried getting up at 6 a.m. to write my freelance articles but I just ended up falling asleep at my desk at home. When I only did freelance for living, I had to create a routine that would not only be beneficial to my income but also would ensure that I would not go nuts from the lack of structure. It's so easy to just take a day off when there's no one there to make sure you're doing your work. And then you have to scramble around on the day of your deadline. Not fun. Although self-employment may seem like a dream come true, it takes a lot of discipline to be truly successful at it. I couldn't do freelancing for too long, and I would do it differently (more rigorously) if I had to do it again.

The blog Daily Routines (How writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days) describes the routines of lots of famous people. They are cleverly combined into categories such as Philosophers, Night Owls, Exercisers, Writers, Procrastinators, Drinkers ... I immediately read Alice Munro's routine (I love her writing, plus she's Canadian) and discovered that: "As a young author taking care of three small children, Munro learned to write in the slivers of time she had, churning out stories during children's nap times, in between feedings, as dinners baked in the oven."

She published her first collection of short stories when she was 37.

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Jowita

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I got laid off after three months of working for a company that lost a major client. Two weeks after that, 20 to 30 more people were let go. It was a chaotic and difficult time in all of our lives, I'm sure, but I felt twice as jilted. The company had headhunted me from another place and lots of promises had been made. After I started working there, I realized that my manager was incompetent and stressed out and irritated all the time. She was going through a lot of personal stuff that seemed to influence her job performance as well as her managing skills.

But the worst blow was realizing I did not receive any severance pay. The company said I had access to my medical benefits till the end of the month but would not get another pay cheque. I wrote the human resources department asking for a review of my situation but I didn't really have any options -- I had only worked there for three months after all. I spent almost two months doing nothing about my situation because I was so baffled by what happened -- it felt as if I was in shock. Later, I applied for Employment Insurance (but barely made the deadline).

Ever since that time, I've become quite interested in knowing about things like severance pay and reading the small print on a job contract. It's good to be informed -- much better than sitting there in shock wondering about the meaning of life and so on ...

Here's a good article on Jobboom that talks about severance pay, Severance Pay: How Much Are You Entitled To?.

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Jowita

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I used to think that asking a prospective employer about things like benefits, vacations or even salary was in bad taste. I actually worried that asking would disqualify me because it would look as if I were greedy or something. So I had no right to be really surprised if it turned out that I had to work overtime for free or that I wasn’t getting benefits (this happened with one job).

In the article What to Ask Before You Take a Job the author, Kelly K. Spors, gives 10 reasons why asking questions during interviews helps you get an idea of what it's going to be like working for a given company. Some of the questions include asking for information about benefits and vacations, about how the company promotes teamwork, and even how the prospective employer is involved with the community. These questions are beneficial for both sides -- you'll avoid nasty surprises if you ask before you accept the job and your employer won't have to look for your replacement after you quit on him/her out of frustration.

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Jowita

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I wish there was an instant formula that bosses could apply to find out how close to be to their teams in order to ensure great relations. In most situations bosses seem either too close to too distant, never striking the right balance.

In one workplace, our boss was distant and unapproachable five times out of six, then she would have some kind of a psychotic flare-up and become sweet and friendly with tendencies to over share. It was exhausting to work for her and eventually the whole team quit. In another place, the boss was very friendly -- often coming out with the team for lunch or after-work beers -- but incapable of making managerial decisions. She confessed one time that she hated being a boss and, although we all liked her immensely, it was difficult to muster serious respect for her. She was eventually replaced by someone from our team who was too happy being a boss and distanced herself as far as possible from us.

In the article The Doctrine of Distance the author, Dan Gaynor, talks about his experience managing people. He used to be a distant sort of boss but made an effort to get to know his people and it benefited him immensely. He writes, "I discovered a powerful leadership truth: People care about leaders who care about them. That made my work with them more purposeful, more successful and immeasurably more rewarding and it didn't compromise my objectivity."

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Jowita

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Okay, seriously now, how would a fascination with some not-so-mainstream things affect anyone's job performance? How is it anybody's business if a person ever had suicidal thoughts (didn't we all, the second time W. was elected?). And why would anyone ask you this during a job interview? Well, it turns out that some places do ask the most bizarre questions. Not only that -- they check if you're telling the truth.

The press release Halifax to Conduct Review of Use of Polygraph Tests for Job Applicants, talks about how the Halifax Regional Municipality requires anyone applying for a public service job (police officers, firefighters, bylaw officers, animal control workers) or for a civilian job on the police force to take a polygraph test. Some of the questions on the test ask about tax fraud, drug use, illicit sex or domestic disputes.

Thankfully, there were complaints about this process, so right now the municipality is conducting a review of the use of lie detectors to test job applicants.

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Jowita

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Last year, my friend received an email from his co-worker at about 2 a.m., shortly after his company's Christmas party. The co-worker revealed that she had a secret crush on my friend and she didn't care that he was in a serious relationship -- she just had to tell him. The email had a few other juicy bits that my friend was too embarrassed to reveal. He said the next day at work he had a second email from the co-worker in his Inbox. It was an email, full of apologies and explanations. The co-worker explained she had way too much too drink and things simply got out of control at the keyboard. My friend gracefully accepted the apologies and told her not to worry. Despite that, it was quite awkward for the two of them to work together for a while.

This sort of trouble can now be avoided, thanks to Mail Goggles, a new Gmail feature designed to curb those drunken emails. So no more "I'll show him!" emails to your boss or gushing crush revelations to your co-workers. Mail Goggles asks users who enable this Gmail feature to perform five math problems in 60 seconds before hitting "Send." Mail Goggles comes on between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. on weekends -- that magical time when some of us get sotally tober.

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Jowita

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A friend of mine used to work at a place where people got promoted based on their level of chumminess with upper management. So, a woman who couldn't spell to save her life became an editor because she was friends with the boss. Another woman who was dating a manager got her own magazine despite the fact that the most creative cover lines she ever came up with always started with, "Juggling career and work ..."

My friend made the mistake of asking too many questions. She never got promoted, then eventually quit (she went on to much brighter and better-paying pastures). I couldn't believe it -- she had a solid background in journalism. I remember thinking it would be just a matter of months before she would be noticed. But I was wrong.

The article 10 Reasons You're Not Getting Promoted lists being a "difficult person" as one reason promotions might be passing you by. Essentially this is what my friend with all her questions was labelled as (even though she is not a difficult person at all). She was only a difficult person because she refused to suck up to the boss and that eliminated her chances from the get-go.

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Jowita

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