Toronto Employment and Labour Blog: Sure Signs You Are About To Be Fired - Sign #1

SIGN #1: THE SILENT TREATMENT

Your boss avoided eye contact with you for weeks. Friendly exchanges between the two of you no longer take place. Whenever you are around, his door remains closed.
This is the silent treatment and it probably means your days at the office are numbered. You request meetings and find that he is seldom available to meet with you, although you notice others are able to gain access. It is probably not your deodorant that needs changing, but you may wish to examine your attitude, and your past exchanges with your boss in order to attempt to discover when and why the relationship fell off the tracks.
 
An unexamined relationship is often the source of dysfunction. Small events live large when office politics are involved. Something said or left unsaid may have communicated criticism or lack of support for your superior or for your corporate employer's actions. An examination of past events and your own comments may reveal a misunderstanding that is the root of the "political" problem you are now facing. An Early appreciation of the issue leads to early resolution. If the problem remains unexamined, there is little hope that a solution will be found.
 
A direct approach, in this case, is the best approach. Request a private meeting. Become proactive by addressing the obvious deterioration in the relationship by taking responsibility for the problem. It may merely amount to a perceived lack of respect based on your words, action or inaction. Reassure your boss that you continue to respect her and her leadership. If true, be explicit, that you are committed to her vision and to the process, she has outlined to achieve it.
 
It is not recommended that you act falsely, but rather that you take responsibility for your own actions without pointing the finger at others. Your forthright behaviour in addressing the issue, without excuses, should result in an improved relationship. If not, then the situation is more serious than you contemplated and it may be beyond repair. You will satisfy yourself, however, that you did take appropriate steps to deal with the problem.

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