I hope you enjoyed your Christmas and New Year.  I'm back to it and making plans for the coming year.

As I've commented on in previous posts, for many the next few months are going to be difficult ones, particularly those whose work involves the public sector.  I spoke to someone recently who said to me, I just live for today and try not to think about what is going to happen next month or next year.  I can understand how this can be more comforting in the short term, but this ostrich-like behaviour doesn't help you in the future. 

Yes, it may be that you cannot change the decisions made by management at the organisation that you work at, but you can change YOUR plans and decisions based on the intelligence that you have.  I have put links to my previous posts on this subject a the bottom of this post.  Have a re-read and see if any of my suggestions help at all.  Having some sort of plan will, at the very least, help you think beyond your current problems.  It may also help you to realise that, whatever happens, you will survive, and you will.  

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Whether or not you manage staff you may find your own job in the scope of reviews and savings programmes.  So how do you cope with the stress of the situation, and how do you plan for the future?  While decisions are made higher up, those of us lower down the decision making process are often in the dark when it comes to future plans for the organisation.  Some of the points I made yesterday about managing staff can be brought into play when thinking about yourself.  It's tempting to sit around doing nothing but actually this is probably one of the worst things you can do.  You end up drifting aimlessly through the working day, with your mind vacant enough to think the worst and to worry about things that might not happen.

If you are finding yourself with extra time on your hands than seek out work.  Ask your manager, or offer to help a colleague. This could help to foster a cooperative atmosphere in the office which will help affirm your working relationships.  It may also show you in good light when managers get round to deciding where the axe will fall, and demonstrates team building skills.  My experience is that changes often happen at the last minute, so you might think that it is too late to affect matters when it isn't.  And don't limit your help to your own department, look at the broader picture and work with people across the organisation, if you can.

What if you have the opposite problem where you are snowed under with work but fearful for your job?  Firstly, analyse why you are snowed under.  Does the level of work required of you hint at the possibility that your post is needed?  Maybe you have nothing to worry about.  Is the restructure going to mean that someone else will do the work?  How you respond to this depends a bit on how much control you have over work throughput.  If you don't have control, then it's a case of carrying on as before since your daily responsibilities probably haven't changed.  If you do have some control, make sure that your working day or week is structured to provide task completion events which help to give a sense of achievement at regular intervals. Planning your day and achieving your goals will help you to keep motivated.

You may find it helpful to meet up with colleagues over coffee or lunch to share your experiences and any information.  Be careful though.  If you colleagues are in 'doom and gloom' mode and full of negative energy this may be a time to go it alone and work on your own energy levels. Now is not the time to drop your good exercise habits, to start living off donuts, or develop a drinking problem.  Keeping yourself fit and healthy and getting a good amount of sleep will help you get through this.  You will be in much better shape to cope with the news when it does come.  Accept that you will have good and bad times, feeling anxious one minute and calm the next.  That is quite normal in circumstances you feel you have no control over.

If you company are expecting you to carry on as normal, find some training relevant to your job and apply for it.  This may stand you in good stead whether you keep your job or not.  You may also find it motivating to attend a course and it may be a networking opportunity.  If you have colleagues in other companies, now might be a time to connect with them again to see how things are going there.  Might be some job opportunities coming up soon!

Finally, brush up your CV, and do a review of your financial situation.  Should the worst happen at least you know what to expect.  Talk to friends and family to see where any help may lie.  Find out what benefits you are entitled to.  Do a skills review and work out a plan for where you want your career to be heading.  Many people suffer job losses and go on to have successful careers so think of this as a blip on the landscape.  At the very least you are learning a lot about yourself and how you deal with difficult situations.  I like the quote from Seneca who said:

So, how's the economy working for you then?  Lord Young, a Tory adviser,  recently claimed that we had 'never had it so good' which I think is probably stretching it a bit.  Needless to say he was sacked for his lack of sensitivity but I don't think he changed his view at all.  It is true that if you keep your job and you have a mortgage you are probably better off to some degree.  Mortgage interest rates are low, so some families will be better off.  Of course many people are worried about their jobs right now, so it was an injudicious comment. 

Many people in the public sector are awaiting confirmation of job cuts that will effect them.  Even if they are lucky enough to keep their jobs those that remain will be expected to pick up ex-colleagues' work as a result.  And where we see cuts to front line services, of course this means fewer services for the public, and less business for those private sector companies that support the public services.  Not a climate for growth it has to be said.

So how do we keep our morale up in these difficult times?  This week I'll be writing a couple of posts, one for managers, the other for staff, discussing how we can deal with the stress of insecurity and anxiety about the future. 

Many office staff and secretaries work in public sector organisations, and tension is high in some of these environments with service reviews and job losses in the pipeline.  I heard of one department in a local authority making 40% cuts to staff, so the situation in some sectors is very serious indeed.

Sadly a phrase I have heard frequently, particularly from the mouths of consultants, is 'stripping out the admin' as a way of cutting costs.  This is a rather short term saving strategy because all it means is that managers end up typing up their own letters and dealing with invoices and paperwork instead of doing the job they are paid to do.  And as we know, often the secretaries are the store of knowledge when it comes to procedures related to finance, HR and recruitment, and where the bisuits are kept.

How do you cope in such stressful environments when you don't know whether you will have a job this Christmas?

First thing I would say is don't panic.  Sometimes, as fairly low paid staff, admin and secretarial staff are retained while cuts are made to 'professional' staff who cost more.  Professional tasks are then devolved to cheaper admin staff.  While this may make your workload a bit more challenging it can lead to opportunities in the longer term. Firstly you may find the work you do becomes more interesting, and in time you may be able to get training and qualifications to move in to a professional role if that interests you.  Just because these jobs are being cut now, doesn't mean there won't be a demand for them in a couple of years time.

Hard though it is, try to think of possible opportunities that may arise from these tough times.  Put yourself in the position where you are seen as competent and capable of taking on the extra responsibilities.  Chances are you won't have much of a say in whether you do the work or not if you want to keep your job, so make the best of it and you may find it's not as bad as you think.  At least if you don't like it you can look for a new job in your own time when things have settled down a bit.  I for one have faith that growth will come, although it may be worth considering the private sector in the next year or two!

So, the next scenario is that you think your job is in the firing line and redundancy looms. It is really hard to motivate yourself when you are waiting for bad news.  I sometimes think that it is easier to be told on the day and asked to leave (with a good pay off) than to be dragged through weeks and months of uncertainty, as usually happens in the public sector.  Obviously you would expect me to say, look for any redeployment opportunities that may come up.  Keeping a good attitude may make the difference between being considered and not.

Motivation is hard under these conditons, so it may help to focus on what you need to do to develop your career opportunities.  Is there any training available?  Many training budgets will be frozen or cut, so you may have to look for free opportunities. Many managers will be happy to endorse attendance at free training events to help maintain motivation, because it means people will be easier to manage.

If you can't find courses off site, look for free online courses.  Some training providers will offer free intro's and tasters, and this may be enough to give you some additonal skills and add some interest to your day.  If your workload has dropped due to cuts you may be able to self train using books from the library.  Again, depending on circumstances, you may find your manager is aggreeable to you using your time in this way.  Obviously this depends on individual circumstances.  If your boss is looking for people to cut who don't have enough work, then this may not be a good option for you!

I have found that making future plans can help take some of the stress off.  Focussing on holidays, family events or future plans beyond the date of the redundancy period helps ease the stress.  And speaking of stress, take care of yourself by getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising and sharing your troubles with others can all help to lessen stress to some degree.  Altough a tempting short term fix, drinking, drugs (legal or otherwise) and junk food will actually increase your stress overall, not decrease it.

Christmas is not an easy time to be facing unemployment.  If you have children it might be a time to discuss family finances and get agreement with the extended family to pare down Christmas treats this year.  It teaches them about spending within your means when faced with circumstances beyond your control.  That's not to say you can't have some treats, but this year can perhaps be a bit more traditional (in the Dickens sense) and less commercial than usual.  That's a good thing in a way!

I may not have helped that much in what is a very stressful time, but just making one or two small adjustments may make life a little easier in the coming year.  Good luck and best wishes to those of you who are in the thick of it right now.  I do know what you are going through.