5 Signs you might be about to be laid off

I was laid off today, and I did not see it coming. I was the top salesperson on my team for 2 years in a row, exceeding the targets laid out in the “Corporate Sales Plan” for both pipeline and bookings. I started the year out at over 200% to quota and was breezing right along, blissfully unaware that I was about to be shown the door.

“Restructuring” is the reason that I and a dozen of my co-workers were told we were laid off. Simply stated, this is just a euphemism for job cuts. Companies have job cuts for a number of reasons, and often times these layoffs aren’t a reflection of a worker’s performance. Sure feels like I was invited out to lunch and the only thing on the menu was a turd sandwich.

Enjoy!!

To add to the tackiness, my termination was done over a video “teams” meeting with my director quickly reading a canned statement about restructuring and cost-cutting and then jumping off quickly. After her spiel, she just left me with a random HR person to finish the dirty task. Ouch! This is the same woman who only weeks earlier was my Secret Santa. She actually gave me a “Work Sucks” coloring book, which now that I think about it could have been some type of a hidden message?

I realize now that there was little I could have done to prevent the inevitable. The initial shock has now worn off, and I have been reflecting on the past few months with new eyes. I can see some distinctive clues that were there.

I want to share my top 5 signs that my job was in jeopardy and that I was going to be laid off. These clues might help make you more aware that a pink slip could be in your future — and what you can do to keep your career moving forward.

1 Manager stops communicating with you

This is the number one sign I can absolutely admit being clueless about.

It was so obvious.

Understandably, directors are very busy and do not have as much regular communication with their teams. But in the 30 days leading up to the end, my director canceled every weekly “All Hands” team meeting. Several people on her team were about to be cut in this restructuring, so why would she hold these meetings to share information? Better to just wait until the layoffs were complete.

My manager canceled my last three weekly one on one sessions and eliminated virtually all scheduled calls we had together. I did not think anything more of it and just wrote it off to her being busy with planning for our annual team kickoff event.

I was so wrong. The signs were there. Two weeks prior, I had to reach out to another manager for help on a project that had a deadline since my manager had become so distant and “busy”. I did not link this distance to what was really happening. My manager was no longer interested in investing in me because she knew I was about to no longer to be on her team.

2 You normally have a friendly relationship and great communication that unexpectedly changes

You have not received praise or positive feedback in weeks — should that be a concern? For me it was.

My manager has a tendency to overpraise and gush over achievements. She can't help it, she shows everything in all caps and neon. When she first got the job and became our manager, I was her team captain. I was nick-named the team cheerleader for all of my enthusiasm, drive, and positivity. She relied on me like a Spin Instructor relies on the “stoker” to improve the class experience.

Then everything changed.

Uncomfortable Silence. Difficulty communicating. Little or no praise or recognition. She was openly agitated when I asked to be recognized for hitting my annual quota 35 days early ( one of only two people on our team to accomplish this feat!) No doubt there was tension.

If you normally have a friendly relationship and great communication with your boss that seems to slowly or unexpectedly change, you may want to consider the possibility that you are about to be laid off.

3 Exciting projects are going to the “other guy.”

I had volunteered to take on a new project a few months ago and as the weeks passed I found that instead of the project going to me, it was assigned to someone else on my team (with less experience). I could not understand this since I had brought the idea to management, had laid out the importance of the project and my manager agreed and seemed excited about it. She then handed it to another member of my team.

“If you volunteer to take on new and critical projects and find that instead of going to you, they get assigned to someone else, be on guard,” says Susan Peppercorn, career transition coach and principal of Positive Workplace Partners. “If this happens more than once, it’s time to dig deeper into why you’re being passed over.”

I did not let this stop me from offering and submitting ideas for future projects to my manager. One week before I was laid off, I had won a company-wide contest for social media engagement and was awarded a nice prize. I followed this win with an email to her with an offer to educate the team on my tips for effective social selling. No response from my manager — she was avoiding me. How could she praise or acknowledge my project involvement knowing she would not have me around in a week. BIG tip-off. Be aware if they are vague or passing you over that you might be on your way out the door.

4 Managers are holding more closed door meetings

With the world changing and remote work the new normal, how would an employee notice more closed-door meetings for managers? The clue here for me was that my manager and director were rolling into more frequent “management” meetings — 3 or more a week and scheduling fewer team meetings. Actually no team meetings — I had entire weeks with no time blocked out with managers.

Discussions about changes to territories, account assignments, responsibilities and roles were all put off into “the future”. Having been at my company for several years, there are just certain things that would consistently have to happen. Like the first month of every quarter, we were expected to deliver our quarterly business reviews — without fail. Yet, the weeks prior to our lay off, no one was asked to deliver their quarterly business review. The significance here is that management had no need to see presentations from teams whose entire existence was about to change. Watching out for changes like this can hold significance that cuts are coming.

5 Performance measurements disappear

I have worked in several companies that have a strong corporate structure with performance measurements that drive just about every decision and change. KPI’s are discussed frequently and often, and they are batted around in discussions with the goal to have models that can be repeated and followed.

In the weeks before the layoff, our teams KPI’s all but disappeared. When I logged in and checked team stats, no one was apparently making any outbound calls or sending emails. New cadences were not being created and the meetings we once had to talk about outbound effectiveness in our sales cadences were all canceled.

Dashboards that were typically used to measure pipeline health and effectiveness with sales progression were visible but not being used in any discussions. I had developed habits of using dashboards and I liked seeing my consistent gains. I was using the information on my own and setting and attaining targets.

Meanwhile, management was silent. What ended rather abruptly was all engagement with management, and subsequently, our team ended up the year in the last place for quota attainment. Even with my individual contribution at over 125%, there was no way that we were pulling together on that rope. Like a deep secret cloaked in lack of effectiveness, our fates were sealed. By the time we all knew what was really happening, it was too late.

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Through all of these clues runs a common thread — distance from effective communication.

I think this gap can ring true in any situation where interpersonal relationships are involved. If there is less and less being talked about, discussed, shared, and applauded then that is a recipe for disaster.

I could not see that change was occurring and that an end was near. I do not write this so that the reader will feel sorry for me. More, it is a teachable moment and I have a need to pay this forward. I have learned so much in this process and how to be more aware and diligent. In my everyday life, I remain grateful and I have found ways that I can best strive to move my career forward. I have reached out to my fellow peers who were laid off with encouragement and offers of service. I am turning that natural enthusiasm, drive and positivism on for guess who? Me!!