It’s important to feel good about yourself in your position at your company. It makes a big difference in your promotability, productivity, professional and personal happiness, attitude and self-esteem. And it’s especially important in times when you are facing economic slowdowns like businesses are today.
Perhaps your team has had trouble meeting their quarterly numbers, or you’ve noticed a sudden influx of outside consultants invading your department. Both factors could point to impending layoffs and/or company reorganization.
The way to stay strong during uncertain times is to make yourself invaluable.
Five Key Attributes Of Essential Employees
Your supervisor generally desires five traits in their employees, in addition to competence. They are:
1. A willingness to master new skills and adapt as the job evolves
2. A great attitude that includes feeling good about yourself, being pleasant and/or inspirational to be around and exuding a sense of contentment
3. An ability to communicate well and adjust your communication to the audience at hand
4. A strong work ethic
5. Accountability
Stepping It Up
I once worked with an executive coaching client who was dealing with the impacts of the recession of 2008 and a third-party consultant swooping into his division. As the last person hired in the organization, Thomas (not his real name) was extremely concerned about layoffs for both him and his team. He loved the company and his role, so we worked together to find ways to make him invaluable to his leader.
Instead of fixating on the dire economic climate or annoying presence of intruders (neither situation which Thomas could change), we focused on staying positive and continuing to do an excellent job, even though he was under-resourced. He switched his perspective from one of doomsday to proactivity and found ways to make things better for himself and his team, while everyone around Thomas was fearful of losing their job and was actively looking for ways to get out before they were let go.
He alone in the organization remained upbeat. He volunteered for extra responsibilities and took duties off his boss’s plate. He even started a company newsletter during this tumultuous time that proved to be informative and effective. When that fateful day arrived, everyone in his department was let go except for Thomas. The company chose to outsource the work of everyone else in his department, and he was literally the last man standing!
Increasing Your Worth
Here’s a basic framework to focus on increasing your value:
• Build trust and credibility. In the book The Speed of Trust, author Steven Covey describes trust as the act of building credibility based on two factors: character and competency. I will add a third component that I feel expedites the building of trust: transparent communication. You can do this by thoughtfully cascading appropriate conversations with key stakeholders in a timely way. When you are unable to be transparent, which happens often in leadership, offer that context up front. Let your team know what you can share versus circumventing the conversation or being obviously opaque.
• Continue to build your competency by constantly learning and improving your skill set to be a subject matter expert. Pay attention to what’s important and do the job that needs to be done—right now. If you hold a position where there could be multiple areas to excel, find the area where you really stand out. It will be necessary to adapt and change as the needs of the organization change.
• Challenge yourself to be noticed. Take initiative. Do things that aren’t expected of you. How do you know what those tasks are? Keep an eye out for ambient problems—things that people complain about but no one does anything to resolve. Using your leadership and focus, come up with a fix, and others will appreciate your contribution.
• Set personal and professional goals. Don’t passively wait for your supervisor to set them for you. Make sure they are realistic, challenging and achievable. Periodically evaluate the progress you are making toward those goals, and if you aren’t moving in the direction you originally wanted to move in, adjust. When you meet a goal, set another and work toward it in the same way.
• Associate and align yourself with people who will support your goals and who believe in your abilities.
• Build strong relationships with people both inside and outside of your department and company.
• Demonstrate accountability, honesty, ethics and humility to gain the trust of your supervisor, peers and direct reports.
• Be a good team member. Be cooperative. Be willing to compromise. Be approachable.
• Help others succeed. Mentor. Your value does not just come from the work you do yourself. Make yourself integral to others so that your presence affects and multiplies talent across the entire organization. This will not only help you in your own work-life balance but you will also be viewed as an asset to the entire company.
• Be willing to adapt to new situations. It might be important for you to gain experience in new areas to be able to move up in the organization. It’s always a win to broaden your skill set and learn new context.
• Fill a leadership gap. Some of the biggest areas that lack leadership are meetings and employee recognition. Harvard Business Review surveyed senior managers who said 71% of meetings are unproductive and inefficient. Provide clarity at meetings with agendas and outcomes, and set the tone of the meeting. Employee recognition is another area that most companies falter with, and most employees say they would work harder if they felt better appreciated. Be an employee advocate!
These steps should be approached on a habitual basis, not just situational. Do not wait until the economy is shaky or when your fear and anxiety about layoffs rise. You want to embody all these traits as the invaluable employee you are—or will come to be.