Would you hire you?

Ever asked yourself that question? Putting yourself in the shoes of your employer might just be the perspective you need to raise your game. Here are some thoughts on attributes that gets you noticed and feeds your potential. A valued employee is;

RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE: When you are responsible you do not limit your thinking or role to what your job description is. You think about the company as a whole and what you can contribute to make it succeed. You demonstrate a sense of purpose and mission and aim to do your best. Your sense of accountability makes you see an assignments through to the end.

MORE THAN COMPETENT: Technical skills might get you the job but keeping it and becoming valuable takes more- the right attitude, ability to lead, a strong sense of collaboration, a desire to do more than is required, taking initiative Think about ways to become versatile and functional in more than one role. For example, if you are accountant but have facilitation skills, you can offer these during team building.

DO NO HARM : ‘Harm’ that an employee can inflict in the workplace includes demonstrating obnoxious behaviours such as back stabbing, stealing credit from others, spreading negative rumours, bullying people into getting what you want and undermining others including your boss or throwing tantrums. These attitudes poison the environment and make you highly dispensable.

HAS OBJECTIVE PERSPECTIVE : Being objective is being open-minded, learning to think past yourself, hearing other people out and not becoming saturated in your own opinion. You can learn to develop objectivity by getting away from your usual environment from time to time, collaborating with people who think differently from you and putting yourself in situations where your opinions are positively challenged.

SHOWS PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE: This means don’t theorise or try to show yourself as the ‘smartest in the room’ This is about asking questions, exploring ideas, learning from experiences and using them to improve work through practical application and common sense. Plug yourself into different situations and learn to function well. Come up with workable solutions you don’t easily become irrelevant.

IS AN AGENT OF CHANGE: A valued employee is not content to do the same thing day in day out with the same level of result. He or she is not happy to remain in their comfort zone but steps out to do more and better. They think about new idea, translate them into practical ideas, assemble who they need to execute and remain persistent in order to get results.

DOESN'T OPERATE ON TITLE ALONE: The committed employee is not status conscious or interested in getting a title before doing more They live by values and don’t reserve their best performance for when they become ‘boss’ They are proactive, lead by example and step up when things need doing or the tough decisions made. They act just lead and guess what, the title soon catches up with them




Now take action: Name 3 ways in which you give more value at work from now on.