well, my practical side would agree with you, if you are pulling your weight and making the company much money, then they shouldnt cut you.
but its also a fact that IT is under appreciated and under estimated. managers can and do believe that to a large extent what IT does is simple button pressing and anyone can do it. also, if they dont know what you are doing, how are they gonna know that you are the one saving them money/bringing in money? if you are not marketing or sales, how do you let them know of your worth?
second, personality and perception are very real. and i have seen where a supervisor or manager who doesnt like someone simply pressures them out of the organisation. you would like to think it isnt so, but people can and do kill golden geese every day and the larger the organisation, the more bold and prevalent the practice. the thinking is "there is no indispensable man". that and the chain of command. senior managers would generally rather lose a junior man who is more productive, than alienate the supervisor who maybe knows where the bodies are buried and can make senior managers life harder.
read dilbert some time.. he knows what he's talking about.
as for me, how do i try to show good performance at work?
try to be on time.
try to do the work before me in a timely fashion.
try to help people in the office and let them know i am approachable and here to help them.
try really hard to keep my hands off the office shaggables.
keep in touch with my manager and try to push his initiatives to my coworkers (no, i dont kiss ***. my manager has sense.. and he is the one reviewing my performance besides which, i am there to make him look good in the final analysis)
let my manager know what i am doing and accept his guidance.
GOOGLE EVERYTHING!!!
continue to get more qualified.
try being as nice as i can to the customers.... even the @$$h0l3z. even if i am tired.
give my name to ppl. it forces you into the position of having your rep on the line, which increases your drive to complete. also means that when you are being commended by the customer (internal or external) they have a name rather than just praising the staff.
i think thats about it.
Do nothing which is of no use.
The Way is in Training.