Signs That You Might Be Getting Fired from Your South African Job

Getting a job can be the happiest day of your life but keeping it may also prove to be one of the stressful tasks. Many employees may not see it coming until they are actually fired but there are usually signs leading to this. It’s important to recognize the signs that your job is at risk in the early stages and try by all means to improve to save your job or just be prepared for what is coming. 

The following key signs are an indication that you might be getting fired from your job in South Africa:

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Sudden Decrease in Responsibilities

The most common sign that your South African Job might be at risk is the sudden reduction in work responsibilities. When your usual tasks at work have been significantly low or the ones you usually do are given to someone else in the office to do it then this should ring alarm bells. An employer reducing your work responsibilities and giving you less tasks may mean that they no longer trust you to do it right or are preparing to dissolve your role.

Things to look out for

• Your tasks being given to other team members without discussing it with you first
• When no one tells you about new projects or not including you when holding important meetings
• Having a lot of time on your hands at work with little to no responsibilities

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Recurring Negative Feedback

Constructive criticism or rectification is important to help the employee grow in their role but if your employer is always complaining about your results then this might be a sign that they are not happy with your performance. Complaints that come with no explanation of what to fix while highly showing disapproval of your work could also come as a sign that you might be shown the boot anytime. 

Things to look out for:

• Receiving indefinite or too much negativity on your work
• Given negative feedback with less notes to improve on
• Your performance reviews are worse and noticeable than before

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Being Excluded from Key Decisions

While some employees may claim that they did not see it coming, some things are way noticeable like being excluded in things that you used to be part of. Things like having meetings without you and not involving you when making decisions. This on its own shows that management no longer values your input and might be thinking of replacing you.

Things to look out for:

• Being left out when having meetings or strategy sessions
• Nobody around the office consults you when making decisions
• Your ideas and suggestions no longer hold value

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Your Boss Avoids You

One of the signs that will alert you that you might be fired from your South African Job is being avoided by your supervisor or manager. This may indicate that they are avoiding the intolerable way of delivering the forthcoming decision of your employment termination. When a  boss/ supervisor who used to be easy to talk to and help you out on your job becomes distant and gives you less interactions then they might be preparing to let you go.

Things to look out for:

• Your boss is no longer approachable and communicates less
• Your boss avoids physical interactions and would rather send you and email
• Meetings with your manager now gets canceled or always postponed

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Being Micromanaged

Nobody wants being in the spotlight every time and being micromanaged, this is one of the discomforts that comes with employers losing confidence in you.  You may realize you might be getting fired from your South African job when your boss scrutinizes your every move and monitors your tasks more closely with more negative feedback than before.

Things to look out for:

• Your manager being overly involved in your daily tasks than before
• Your boss is now persistent on you providing over the clock updates on projects
• New layers of inspection and management is added to your work

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Hiring new employees with similar skills

An alarming sign that your job is at risk is your company hiring new employees with the same skills and roles as you. You have to be concerned when you know your company is not short staffed yet they are having additional employees with the same roles as you, a clear indication that you might be losing your job.

Things to look out for:

• New employees with the same skills as your or more
• The new employees are given tasks that used to be yours
• They ask you to train someone do the roles you have been doing, someone who take over your role

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Performance Targets are now raised to unrealistic levels

You may realize your employer is setting you up for failure when they have raised their performance targets unreasonably high so that they have an excuse to fire you. The employer suddenly raised higher standards while knowing your capabilities just to prove you are not good at your job.

Things to look out for:

• Your KPI’s are outstandingly  increased without any explanation
• You are required to meet impossible deadlines
• No matter how hard you work, no one recognises your input

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Your work environment Becomes Hostile

You might be at risk of losing your South African job when you start noticing the change in behavior when your colleagues relate to you. You managers, supervisors may start treating you poorly, being passive aggressive and dismissing your every thought and input. 

Things to look out for:

• Colleagues giving you an attitude and excluding you from social activities
• You start feeling unwelcome and ignored
• Conversations suddenly stops when you walk into a room

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You are asked to document everything you do

Your manager might start showing signs of plans to dismiss you when they start asking you to document and indicate each and every little thing you do at work. All of your actions that you have written down can be used against you when the employer plans to terminate your contract because of your poor performance.

Things to look out for:

• When they start asking you to provide detailed daily or weekly reports
• You are supposed to provide track of every small thing including conversations and interactions
• Documentation required seems unnecessary

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You are put on Performance Improvement Plan(PIP)

If you have been doing your best to meet targets and perform better, yet the employer keeps on giving you a poor performance review then it indicates they are not happy with you and your job might be in danger. PIP’s are often the first sign that you may get fired from your South African job even though PIP’s were originally meant to encourage employees to improve their performance.

Things to look out for:

• Your performance review is always negative even with your best efforts
• Being given a PIP with unrealistic goals
• There guidelines on the PIP are vague and unclear

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When your company is undergoing restructuring and downsizing

It’s normal to panic when your company is undergoing downsizing, you can only hope your job is secure enough by doing the best you can hoping you are an asset to the company. You know you are at risk of losing your job when your company starts cutting costs, laying off employees and merging departments.

Things to look out for:

• Once the company announces layoffs, restructuring or budget cuts
• When job roles are being combined while also merging departments
• You may be required to take on additional responsibilities without a reason

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Conclusion

Most of these signs may not necessarily mean that you are getting fired, but it’s important to pull up your socks, take more action when these signs start showing. Make sure you engage your managers and supervisors to help you bring the best out of you while helping you improve your performance. If the environment is still hostile, maybe it’s better to dust your CV and start looking for other opportunities before you receive the bad news. 

Noticing signs like this prepares you for the worst and you won’t take it as a surprise when they finally fire you. Make sure to prepare and be ready to move on and explore the South African job market positively.