When you hear you’re going to be replaced

Dear Bob …

Well, I just found out that my boss is interviewing people to replace me. I have no idea why. We don’t have performance reviews and my boss has never had a bad word to say to me. So far as I knew everything was fine. Obviously not.

Is there any hope of salvaging my job here? Or should I just dust off the resume and start looking? I would really prefer to keep my job – I have sacrificed my career in order to stay here. I have not had the opportunity to learn new skills and technology because I have spent the last 13 years maintaining and enhancing what we have going here as that’s what I thought my boss wanted, and up til now, I think I was correct.

I want to confront my boss and tell him off but good, but that would only serve to confirm his thoughts about replacing me. How can I approach him with a positive outlook and find out what the problem is (or problems are) and (hopefully) convince him that I can do the job (that’s supposing I can get him to tell me what the job he wants done is)? I need this job (doesn’t everybody?) and can’t afford to walk away. There is no severance package and management here has been known to sent people packing with a “Here’s your last check. Good-bye.”

– On the edge

Dear Edgy …

Before answering your question, I have to ask a question. Really, I want you to ask yourself a question. You said you sacrificed your career in order to stay with your current employer – a company that provides no severance packages and has been known to send people packing with nothing more than a last check and a good-bye.

Why would you sacrifice your career for a company that offers so little loyalty in return? We’re living in a capitalist system, and that means everyone is supposed to look out for their own interests first. Before you take any action of any kind, reorient yourself: This is business. You’re in business for yourself. Your “employer” is a customer. It gives you a paycheck in exchange for services you provide.

That’s the nature of the relationship. Any emotional satisfaction you receive beyond this – praise for good work, social connection, a sense of achievement – is a bonus. I recommend companies provide them. That doesn’t mean employees should expect them as part of their compensation package.

I’m recommending this as a first step because telling off your boss would provide emotional satisfaction and no other benefit. It’s pointless and self-destructive. I know – I made this mistake very early in my career. It cost me two years of bad references.

Now I want to ask yourself a second question: How sure are you of what you “just found out.” Did you hear a rumor, have reason to trust your source, or did a friend of yours let you know he or she is applying for the job? Is it possible your boss is hiring another employee rather than a replacement?

If you’re certain, what you should do is, quietly and discreetly, start an intensive search for a new position at a different company. Don’t confront your boss. Don’t say a thing. Don’t allow yourself to feel resentful – it will poison your ability to interview.

You’re losing a client. Time to find another one.

If you aren’t so sure, talk to your boss. Don’t confront him angrily. Just ask, as casually as possible: “Hey, I heard a strange rumor – supposedly, you’re trying to hire my replacement. Anything I should know about?”

Between the answer and the body language, you should get a pretty good idea. If your boss is evasive, don’t push. There’s no point to it. Remember, the only measure is your personal benefit, and you don’t benefit from a confrontation.

Let’s imagine it turns out to be something entirely innocent and your job isn’t at risk. What now? The answer is, your job is at risk. You’ve said so yourself – you’re in a dead-end situation.

Wait enough time that your boss won’t connect the two situations and sit down for a career planning discussion. Make it clear, in a friendly, non-confrontational way, that you want a career, not just a job, and you’re getting stale just doing what you’ve been doing. You’d prefer to keep working for the same company, and the same boss. You want to talk about ways you can provide more value to the company, earn yourself a promotion, or at least a lateral move to something newer and fresher.

You want something that’s more of a stretch, so you don’t end up coasting. If your boss is any good, he’ll help you get there. If not, perhaps you’d be better off working for a better boss.

– Bob

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