How to be indispensable at work
In reality it may be
impossible, but here's what you can do to ensure security in your job
It's a fact that no one is
indispensable. Enterprises and individuals will always find a way to survive
and thrive if your services are no longer available. However, if you provide
immense value to an organisation, along with the security of being available,
there is little motivation to replace you and you are perceived to be
indispensable. The secret to being successful and secure in a job is to be the
person whose approach and contribution to the team and employer exceed their
expectations. Here's how to do so.
MAKE FRIENDS
Make friends to maximise
your contribution to your employer. Learn to build meaningful connections with
team mates, clients and supervisers. Build a reputation as a team player or one
who places team interests and goals above his own. Know that the first to get
fired is not the least competent, but the one who can't work with others in a
team. Your ability to contribute to a colleague's work or a client's interests
increases your value to the organisation above and beyond your personal work
output.
MAKE AN IMPACT
Volunteer for projects or
choose roles that make a substantial difference to the business. This means you
need to move away from mundane, dead-end tasks that can be done by anyone else
and seek unsolved challenges that can substantially alter your company's
economics. The impact of your work should be measurable in terms of the
difference it makes to either the revenue or the costs of the company. This is
possible only where creativity is required to solve problems that do not have
easy or well-defined answers.
MONOPOLISE A SKILL
Develop deep knowledge
about a subject that matters to your firm.As you become an expert in a critical
skill that no one else in the firm has, your immediate value to the firm
increases manifold. When times are tough, the sole accountant in the firm is
less likely to be fired than one of the many salesmen. Get trained to expand
your capabilities so that when that task comes up, you are the only person who
can be consistently relied upon to do well (see Top 10 skills).At the same
time, stay humble so that your firm does not fear losing you and de-risk itself
by hiring a back-up or a cheaper replacement.
OWN A RELATIONSHIP
Are you the person who has
brought in and grown a key paying client for your employer? If so, then you are
far more valuable to your firm than your designation suggests. To become such a
person, invest in your relationship with the client, contribute to his success
and interests beyond your brief. Suggest solutions to his problems, be his
confidant for the business challenges he is dealing with and invest in seeing
him succeed.Do not be in a hurry to monetise the time you invest in building and
owning the relationship. Similarly, create and invest in relationships with key
decision-makers, including your boss. When you invest in your manager's success
and in making him look good, you increase your indispensability to him and the
firm.
BE A SOLUTION PERSON
You can choose to be a
problem creator, a problem finder or a problem solver for a team. If you fall
in the latter category, then you are someone who approaches every challenge
with a can-do attitude.To make yourself indispensable, try finding new ways to
solve problems faced by your team, manager or business. While others whine
about what is not working, you are focused on creating solutions, fixing stuff
and increasing your value to the firm.
BE AN INSPIRATION
As you gain expertise at
work, be a mentor to your team and take pleasure in observing them succeed.
Along with a reputation for sharing knowledge, you become the go-to person for
advice, coaching and solutions. Work on your written and verbal communication
skills to become more appreciative and acknowledging of your coworkers. Set
high standards for the work you turn in, deliver more than you had committed,
and by the timelines you had promised.Build a reputation for reliability and
honesty. Volunteer for the most challenging tasks and be a magnet for people to
join a project simply because you are on board.The more you are an inspiration
for the people in your team and organisation, the greater is your
indispensability.
Devashish Chakravarty.
ETM26DEC16
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