EMPLOYEE - MAKING ME COUNT

 




WHY AM I EMPLOYED?

§  You are because there was an opportunity

§  You are because there was a need

§  You are because the solution for the need was found in you

§  You are because you needed this opportunity

Yes, a simple and obvious question it is, but if you take a second look at it, you will sooner or later realize that not many employees have thought of it and it certainly does not resonate in the way and manner they carry themselves in the firms they work in and in their respective roles. The mere realization of why you are in the position is a great awakening to growing yourself into fully delivering beyond the expectation of the required standards for the office. To be employed today is largely a privilege every employee must value and respect.

When one is hired into a firm, no matter how small or large it is, the individual has been allowed to bring his skills and knowledge to solve a problem through his or her contribution to the products and services of the firm. The more an individual does this progressively, the more they gain a sense of fulfillment in that, they too are adding some kind of value to society, therefore work for such people is no longer a routine of labor but a place to express their value. Until the average employee comes to this realization, they may never realize their place in the world of work.

 

WHAT SKILL SET DO I POSSESS?

A skill is a personally acquired capability and competence through education or training for solving specific problems. It could be physical, intellectual, or behavioral abilities that drive results.

Some are hired because of the certificate they have acquired, the knowledge they demonstrated at the panel, and others were recommended for having done a good job elsewhere. But really, if each of the aforementioned qualities or traits is not converted into the daily and consistent practical steps to deliver results, more skilled individuals will soon replace you. Skills can grow or be enhanced to solve more complex problems so do not remain where you are.

What are your skills? Do you know them? Have you started engaging them?

Intentionally deploy all your known skills to give value to your place of work, they can only be enhanced by the reason of use, it may not be an activity you will be paid for. In some cases, they will become the core skills for your next career level and will drive your greatest impact in your corporate life.

 

WHAT IS MY IMPACT IN THE FIRM?

What are you known for where you work? What brings your MD to your inbox or office even after work hours? What decisions cannot be made until you are present?

Every employee impacts the revenue of the firm by the deductions made to them periodically. Any growth-minded business leader will be looking for and measuring each employee's contribution to the rise of the firm’s revenue. Some staff members are key players in the life and sustenance of their firm and they are recognized as such. Are you one?

If you don’t affect the company positively, you may be existing on their books and causing losses just because you have to be remunerated for finding your name on the payroll. In what way can you support your firm with your knowledge and intellect? Find it, and excel at it, it only makes you a better person.

 

AM I EASILY REPLACEABLE?

Managers of businesses know the staff members they will go to any length to retain and those that will be receiving their release letter next month just because they have become bad or stale investments to the firm – they now receive payments from the firm and give nothing to it.

In a world where jobs are becoming increasingly scarce, each employee has about 10 unemployed individuals equally or more qualified to take their roles in addition to about 15 more students who are hungrily developing complex skills to have a place in the job market right after they are released from the walls of their academic institutions. Until you give significant and consistent results in your role, you have no job security.

At every point in time, the employer is considering who to release for efficiency and sometimes a slimmer staff can mean more efficiency and effectiveness. Could that marked sheep be you? Every day of work classifies for management and our bosses those within and those without. You decide where to be by your daily decisions and what you are consistent with.  

 

WHAT CAN I DO?

It all depends on you. Everything rises and falls on leadership. You are the leader here. You decide! Where are you now? What do you know? What is demanded of you? Who can help you that you can go to? How will you pull this out? How many ‘you’ did you count in the lines above? That means all the responsibility lies with you.

1.       Be Present. When you get to work, let the atmosphere feel the activeness in your presence and get involved in your duties, initiate problem-solving steps to challenges you observe around you that have the potential to affect the fortunes of the business. Let your positive energies be felt by those you engage at the workplace and the clients of the firm.

2.       Show-up. Always appear with your best in its best shape. Self-confidence starts from how you feel about what you have put on in the morning of a workday. You don’t need the most expensive wardrobe, just have your clothes in the best condition and come alive in them. Your positive vibration in what you wear affects how others relate to you.

3.       Shadow The Best in the Space. Find the best staff in your place of work and voluntarily avail yourself to study under him or her. Humble yourself around this person and pick up their exceptional qualities. If this is not feasible in your work environment, you can look outside of your firm for someone who will guide you from a distance.

4.       Ask for Help when you need it. Many times we feel inferior to ask for help, especially if we need assistance from a colleague or a subordinate, we get a sense of weakness and vulnerability when we need to call on someone who has the solution. However, the gains of the firm and your self-improvement are more important than the apparent feeling of inferiority.   

5.       Seek Feedback. In the world of work, apart from yourself, everyone else in your space sees what you do and such people may have noticed a few things about your delivery at work and may have a few things to share with you but many do not if it isn’t very directly related to your work. Some keep away because of the way you carry yourself, they choose to stay away rather than to have you disrespect or trash their intelligence in the bin.

6.       Take Initiative. Do you see something that demands attention? Get at it provided it lies within your purview, if it doesn’t, draw the attention of your superiors to it for the necessary action to be taken.

7.       Have a (SMART) Personal Development Plan. From the first day of work, there should be a goal you are working at achieving, long or short-term. If you go to work and all your expectation is the gains at the end of the month, you will go as far as the events of the days will take you and when the system is tired of you being around, it lets go of you. At the end of every year, each employee is to measure the level of growth and skill they have developed in the working year. It works easily by setting out specific things you want to achieve within a given time, as the popular acronym ‘SMART’ has it.

8.       Get a Mentor or a Coach. There are experienced folks in any and every space of work, some of whom are willing to hand-hold younger people to guide them upward. Deflate your ego and walk up to one or two of such persons and hand yourself over to their authority for mentoring. You may be turned down by a few but keep seeking until you find. Your coach or mentor may not be in your field of work but they will certainly share growth and wisdom lessons with you and share opportunities with you from their circle of great men.

9.       Volunteer for Projects. For a long-term and indelible impact, money shouldn’t be all a young employee should aim at. Sacrificing time and even resources to help get relevant work done every now and then exposes you to new practical lessons some of which may never be learned in your regular line of work. Some greater doors may be opened to you; It may be now or later.

10.   Build Networks. Get the right-minded people who are resolute in building and adding value to themselves up the ladder in building their careers. A community of the right group of people share ideas and opportunities that build each other up through many means including knowledge sharing. Such groups exist in labor unions and old student associations among many others.

 

The journey of being counted as an employee in an institution or in a specific area of work must be intentional and strategic. Only a few people matter in any institution, the higher the movement, the fewer the people who remain. And these are people who intend to stay and pay the price to deserve a place. Thank you for reading.

 

19TH APRIL, 2024

THE COLLEGE BUSINESS CONSULT

thecollegebc@gmail.com

Comments

  1. This is a great work of art. Thanks TCBC!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. Great piece of art. I have learnt a lot and would work it out.

    ReplyDelete

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