Have you ever been late before? Not just being late to an event but being late in reading signs and symptoms of an impending danger or a drastic change in events. You will quite agree with me that being late for an event can be really bad but not when compared to lateness in missing great opportunities we should have ordinarily taken advantage of if we had moved a bit earlier or being caught in the web of events we could have avoided if we had moved a bit earlier.
One of such events is losing a job or being fired. In case you don’t know, being fired is a very painful experience. I know this because I have had first-hand experience. It can be really humiliating and discouraging.
More than the embarrassment of being fired, it is more painful when you are not prepared for it or rather when you didn’t see it coming; only to discover later on that there were signs on the wall but you could not read it; or there was no prophet to interpret the “writing on the wall.’’
Here are 9 signs that you may soon be fired.
INDUSTRY CHANGE:
When there are new government policies especially as regarding your industry, they are signs that it may not be business as usual. My friend Stephanie obi wrote a great article about the real cost of lateness. In the article she told a story of a walkie-talkie merchant who could not see how the government’s decision to deregulate the telecommunications sector would affect his business. Not reading those signs on the wall left him with warehouses of walkie-talkies when GSM phones were introduced and till date, his business has not recovered ever since.
Recently, the Government of Nigeria introduced the Treasury Single Account for all government parastatals, which means many public sector accounts will be closed. Government funds which were previously at the disposal of commercial banks are no longer available. Many ‘’back office’’ or operations staff will be turned to marketing staff while existing marketers will be saddled with ‘’ridiculous targets’’ which they would not be able to meet up with; and sadly, many bankers will be shown the door. There is always the likelihood of being fired when there are industry and policy changes.
NEW MANAGEMENT:
The entrance of new management in an organisation almost often signifies that there will be some sort of change in personnel; especially if the change comes from your company being acquired. When companies merge or are acquired, duplicity of functions will be eliminated. If your expertise falls into that kind of role, that may not be a good place to be; especially if your company is the one that is being acquired.
CHANGE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BOSS:
If at a time you had a cordial working relationship with your boss and all of a sudden, your boss starts avoiding you, refuses to look you in the eye, starts evading meeting with you, doesn’t respond to your emails and calls, openly criticises you and shuts down your ideas at meetings, then that may be a sign that something’s wrong.
SHRINKING RESPONSIBILITIES:
If your colleagues are having more and more responsibilities, are put on key projects and you have less and less responsibilities and work to do, that may be a red flag especially; if that was not the usual trend. If someday you walk into the office and there are key meetings which you would have been in or a project which you normally would have undertaken or been a part of is assigned to someone else; not necessarily because you are busy or on leave, then something is cooking. The best way to handle this is to discuss it with your boss on things you could do differently. According to Forbes columnist Erika Andersen, “You can note that you’re asking because you’ve realized that you’re not being invited into meetings or projects that are within your job purview – but don’t do it in a complainy, make-those-kids-stop-being-mean-to-me way; just bring it up as the reason you’re thinking you may need to change your behavior.” If you get concrete feedback on something that may be wrong, that is good, if not, something’s wrong.
EXPECTATIONS ARE NOT CLEAR:
When as a worker you are not clear about what is required of you in the organisation, you are on your way out. In my book, ‘’Good: The New Mediocre’’, I explain that it is difficult to meet a target you are unaware of. In fact that was the major reason I was fired. I should have seen it coming, I didn’t. Don’t make the same mistake.
PAPER TRAIL PERFORMANCE:
If issues that may have been discussed verbally between you and your boss starts coming up in mails, then your boss may be building a case for your exit.
NOT MEETING YOUR PERFORMANCE GOALS:
This should be obvious. If time and time again, you are not meeting your targets and expectations from your company, you should already know that all is not well.
ROBOTS:
In this era of artificial intelligence, robots, software and technology are gradually replacing job functions that can be automated. If your job can be automated, it probably will and I guess it will be cheaper than paying and dealing with the headaches and the inconsistency of staff.
OPENLY COMPLAINING ABOUT HATING YOUR JOB OR BOSS EVEN TO CLOSE OFFICE BUDDIES:
It’s okay to feel like you hate your boss and your job (it’s just a feeling), but when you start verbalising it in the office or at events with your colleagues present, then you are on your way out. Those loyal to you could also be loyal to others and may bring it up at a time that may put your career in jeopardy.
 In conclusion, being fired is never a pleasant experience so use these signs to know when to put your plan B and C in motion.
If there are other signs which I have not added which you know can be great signs, kindly feel free to share and leave a comment. if you've also experience something close to the signs above, I 'd be glad to hear your stories.

Credit: Don Azubike Onyegbu