BuzzWhack Special Report

Top 10 things nervous employees don't want
to hear right now

By John Walston
BuzzWhacker-in-Chief
BuzzWhack's readers came up with
their own Top 10. Check it out.

1. "Can I see you in the conference room?" Just as bad: "Can we talk?" and "Gotta minute?" In all cases, initiating contact with a tap on the shoulder makes things even worse.
    

2. "Isn't your performance review coming up soon?" Particularly if it isn't due for another two months.
    

3. "We don't look at this as a problem - but as an opportunity." Generally delivered with an insincere Pollyannaish lilt.
    

4. "I've always thought of us as family around here, but ... " Given the choice of laying off you or his mother, guess which he will choose?
    

5. "You're a great contributor, but ... " A compliment followed by a "but" is never a good thing.
    

6. "Maintaining the status quo is no longer an option." Generally, the next sentence contains really bad news for someone.
    

7. "We're going to refocus and concentrate on our core business." That generally means refocusing on the business the company was in before it hired you.
    

8. "We're not planning to have layoffs, but there will be some restructuring." Hmmmmm.
    

9. "Due to the ongoing turmoil in the capital markets ..." Any sentence that has "turmoil" and "capital" in it can't be good.
    

10. "They've asked everyone to come to the Employee Appreciation Room for a 4 p.m. meeting."

BuzzWhack's readers came up
with their own Top 10. Check it out.