Seven Ways to Deal with a Demotion at Work

Demotions happen when you experience a reduction in job title, rank, or status. Being demoted at work can be difficult to deal with. You may feel embarrassed, like you have failed, or that you are not good enough.

However, a demotion does not mean that you are a bad employee. Besides performance issues, demotions can occur for many reasons including organizational changes and budget cuts. The good news is you can regain lost power by fostering emotional intelligence. Your emotional intelligence allows you to perceive, interpret, demonstrate, control, evaluate, and use emotions to communicate with and relate to others effectively and constructively.

Use your emotional intelligence to:

1. Focus on what you can control

Let go of what you cannot control. This includes your employer, your boss, and anybody else’s thoughts, beliefs, feelings, behaviors, and choices. Empower yourself to focus on what you can control, such as learning from any constructive feedback or establishing a plan to regain your prior position or seek employment elsewhere. Research shows life experiences contribute to the development of emotional intelligence, which then moderates your work-life balance.

2. Zoom out to gain perspective

Experiencing a demotion can become overwhelming and make us forget about the past and the future as we feel stuck. Instead, look at the demotion as a blip in time in the context of your life and whole career. Recognize that the situation is temporary and has the potential to change. As human beings, we have the tendency to personalize events like a demotion. Zoom out and see beyond yourself to be able to see other variables that may have prompted the change. Perhaps it is a time of economic uncertainty or your employer is struggling financially and needs to reduce payroll.

Demotions are not new to the workplace. A survey by staffing firm OfficeTeam found that nearly half of all human resource managers reported employee demotions at their company. A separate study found that one in 10 workers has been demoted at some point in their career.

3. Look for the hidden blessings

Instead of focusing on the negatives (a decrease in pay or status), look for the surprise gifts by practicing gratitude. Redirect your brain to focus on the good parts, like still having a job, or perhaps working fewer hours, having less stress or greater work-life balance. Today, I personally am immensely grateful for a boss who wouldn’t promote me. The refusal encouraged me to start my own business, which was far more lucrative and fulfilling in the end.

4. Detach from your ego and connect with your essence

Ego is our mind’s understanding of ourselves and our essence is our deeper awareness—some might say our soul, spirit, or authentic self. Because we all have egos as part of the human condition, it is understandable that a demotion would cause a bruised ego. Recognize that your title or role at work is how you are, not who you are. Learn to detach from your ego and connect with your inner light . Recognize that you are innately worthy of all that is good.

A demotion can certainly cause job insecurity. Various researchers have been trying to identify how employees behave when there is no security or diminished security in their job and what their job outcomes are. One recent study confirmed that job insecurity has a negative and significant relationship with job performance—and emotional intelligence can help.

5. Silence your inner critic

Recognize that a demotion can cause your inner critic (an aspect of ego) to put you down every chance it gets. In an effort to become more mindful of your inner critic or inner saboteur, give it a name; it will help you develop mindful awareness of when this part of you is causing self-flagellation. Learn to silence your inner critic and replace that negative self-talk with self-compassion, self-affirmation, self-forgiveness, and self-advocacy. Sports psychologists know the value of positive self-talk. In a study involving athletes who experienced a failure in their sport, when they found self-compassion, it had implications for enhanced performance, recovery, and their health.

6. Access support

Source: fizkes

It is normal to experience some embarrassment or shame when receiving a demotion. Don’t let that cause you to suffer in silence. Access the emotional support you need and deserve. Talk to your partner, friends, family. Understand that it’s normal for a demotion to trigger some mental health symptoms and relationship issues, such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem or relationship conflict. Consider talking with a therapist, career counselor, or coach.

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7. Develop a plan for the future

Make a vision board. Write out a one-, three-, or five -year plan. Meet with a recruiter, career counselor, or financial planner. Consider a program to improve both your mental and financial health; it can transform your life.

Summing Up

If you're dealing with the reality of being demoted at work, you're likely feeling a range of emotions, from shock and sadness to anger and betrayal. But it's important to remember that a demotion doesn't have to be the end of your career. In fact, if you grow your emotional intelligence, you’ll feel more empowered than ever to take control of your career.