Have you noticed that restructuring has come back into fashion? Several of our coaching clients are asking themselves, “Could it be me next?” as they see colleagues losing their jobs or being moved into different roles.

How is it that some people seem to see this coming and even work the changes to their advantage, while for others, the news seems to come out of the blue?

Here are some of the strategies that we help our coaching clients to use:

1. Brand Me

Whether you like it or not, you have a brand within your organisation. Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room. You can either let colleagues and your boss come to their own conclusion and assumptions or you can choose to manage your brand. This might involve discussing your ambitions with your manager, and consciously choosing to leave an impression of someone who is helpful / energetic / expert / customer focussed.

2. Being part of the solution, not part of the problem

When leaders talk to us about their teams, they can always identify people who are “the problem”. Usually they are referring to poor attitude or people who are not prepared to adapt to new ways of working. It can be remarkably easy to fall into this category without realising it. By keeping your head down and working hard, you could be missing the messages about how the boss wants things to change. A simple strategy is to turn up at team meetings, be around when the boss wants to chat and to listen out for what they are finding frustrating. By taking a positive attitude to change, you can quickly move yourself onto the list of people the organisation wants to keep.

3. New Tricks

We have all heard about “lifelong learning” and the need to keep up to date with what is going on in our own industry. Those people who actively attend industry events, and participate in online groups are not only picking up gems of ideas and techniques, they are also building their brand and value to their employer. A nice side benefit is that they are building a network of industry contacts – very handy if you find that you want to start looking for a new challenge.

Three tips for spotting the writing on the wall – if you have more, please leave a comment.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to check out our earlier posts: Managing Your Boss Part 1 and Part 2.

If you are interested in how coaching could help you or your team, please contact clare@businessjigsaw.com