7 Ways to Make Yourself Irreplaceable in the Office

Vipul Mali — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 10:09:51 +0000

In order to protect yourself from the next round of layoffs, you need to convince your employers that you’re valuable and that your existence alone benefits the company.
“Today’s business environment doesn’t allow for satisfaction with the status quo. It requires constant growth and change,” writes Mark Samuel in his book Making Yourself Indispensable: The Power of Personal Accountability.
“Being indispensable means that you are adaptable, learning and growing with your organization as it changes and evolves…at the end of the day, you are either working to make yourself indispensable or working to make yourself obsolete.”
Here are the seven tips to help you become the most valuable person to your employers:
1. Never take the shortcut. Have you known many highly-successful people to be lazy? In order to be truly irreplaceable, you have to work hard. You can’t take shortcuts and still expect tremendous respect.
2. Be adaptable, not rigid. It’s been said that being rigid is the fastest way to losing your job. In an age where technology, workplace environment and strategy techniques are constantly changing, the most pernicious thing you can do for your career is to cling on to something from the past and refuse to change.
“The good news about rigidity is that it gives you a sense of control — it is predictable. You understand it, know it, can explain it, and can even teach it to others,” he says. “The bad news is that the sense of control is often a false one or temporary at best.”
“You can always tell when someone isn’t adaptable to change. They demonstrate their paralysis through resistance, advocating for the old way, talking about the “good old days,” or undermining current change efforts through their lack of cooperation and cynicism.”
3. Being a perfectionist will be your downfall. Most people think that being a perfectionist is what they need for success, but, in actuality, it prevents it.
“Perfectionism fosters inaction — waiting until we can guarantee success before we take action. And this negates accountability and prevents success. We wait for the perfect plan, the perfect decision, and the perfect action that won’t fail.”
4. Be of service to others without expecting anything in return. Most of us only do things for other people if we get something in return, but a truly irreplaceable employee is someone who makes decisions and solves problems for the good of their team and other departments in the organization.
The more you become “we-centered” rather than “me-centered” the more indispensable you become.
“Trust grows when our motives are straightforward and based on mutual benefits — in other words, when we genuinely care not only for ourselves, but also for the people we interact with, lead, or serve.”
5. Be purpose-driven, not goal-driven. At work, you will have goals to achieve, but these goals are often “established without a clear sense of purpose.” And since most people are often too busy to go above and beyond their daily tasks, they’re not making an effort to produce actual changes.
“Substantial evidence demonstrates that in addition to motivating constructive effort, goal setting can induce some unethical behavior.”
So don’t stresses out about finishing every single step you’ve written down on your checklist or it’ll become a never-ending cycle.
6. Be assertive. Life is a game, so play big or go home. Take charge, stand apart and don’t be afraid to speak up during meetings for fear of sounding unintelligent or being wrong.
7. Forgive others quickly. “The measure of accountability is based more on how you handle mistakes, mishaps, and breakdowns than on getting everything right all the time,” Samuel says. “It’s about how fast you can pick yourself up when you fall; how quickly you correct a mistake that you made; that little or no harm comes to your customer, family member, or friend.”

The post 7 Ways to Make Yourself Irreplaceable in the Office appeared first on POST A RESUME HR Consultancy.

7 Things Your Employees Will Never Tell You.

Vipul Mali — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:41:07 +0000

What your employees won’t say could be what you most need to hear.
Your employees have a lot of thoughts. Most of those thoughts they don’t share– especially with you.
At times their silence is a good thing, especially where your ego or their employment status might be concerned, but their silence also may keep you from understanding what your employers really think and what they really need from you.
Consider whether your employees might be thinking one or more of the following:
1. “Please don’t talk to me about your personal life.” Talking about subjects that aren’t work related helps build a personal relationship, but many people fall back on talking about themselves when they don’t know the other person well. Employees, especially new employees, have no interest in hearing about your go-to topics like your last vacation or your antique collection or your beach house.
New employees want to feel like they belong, but more importantly they want to know how they’re doing. Long-term employees want to know you care about them; talking about yourself only shows you care about yourself.
2. “Can’t you see I’m really busy?” Here’s what happens. You stop by to talk, the employee stops what they’re doing to chat with you… and when you walk away they’re behind and have to catch up. Employees want to talk to you, but they have work to do, too. Sometimes there’s an easy answer, especially if the employee’s job involves physical tasks: Help out while you talk. Not only will your employee appreciate a little help, your conversation will be less forced. In other settings, pick your spots carefully.
Never interrupt an employee who is busy simply because today you’ve decided to “check in with the troops.”
3. “I can tell you really don’t care about my personal life.” Walking up and asking an employee a generic question like, “Hey, how are your, um, kids?” or, “Are you doing anything fun after work?” or, “Hey, who do you think will win the cricket worldcup this year?” comes across as forced and insincere, at least to your employees. Either take the time to get to know your employees well enough so you can have a decent conversation or just stick to work-related subjects. (Employees definitely prefer “all business” to “pseudo-personal.”)
One way to show employees you care about them as people is to follow the 20% rule: When you’re talking to employees, never talk more than 20% of the time. The single best way to show you care is to listen.
4. “You claim you respect me… so give me something important to do.” Assigning an employee a critical task is a definite sign of respect. Do it as often as you can.
5. “You claim you trust me… so give me something important to do and let me decide how to do it.” It’s only natural to tell your employees how to do their jobs; after all, it’s your business. Still, when you assign a project without providing a lot of direction your employees instantly know you respect their abilities and trust their judgment.
Employees appreciate respect; they love trust.
6. “Actually, I would like to work here a long time.” The average person switches jobs a number of times before they’re 30-years-old. Some leave for money, but many leave because they can’t stand their boss. No matter what your industry, high employee turnover doesn’t have to be a fact of employment life. Find out why employees leave and address the causes. It’s stressful to change jobs, so most employees won’t start job searching until you give them a reason to.
Watch, listen, take smart actions… do your job right and most of your employees will stay.
7. “That gift card is nice, but a simple ‘thanks’ is really all I need.” Sure, every time you hand out paychecks you’re implicitly saying thanks, but not really. Find reasons to thank your employees as often as you can. Look for an accomplishment, however small or fleeting, and express your appreciation. “Thanks for taking care of that difficult customer.” “Thanks for jumping in and helping Ms. Sweta.” “Thanks for letting me know we have a problem in the warehouse; I hadn’t realized orders were consistently shipping late.”
Say thanks benefits both of you: The employee feels appreciated, and you get a great way to start a meaningful conversation.

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7 Ways to Make Yourself Irreplaceable in the Office

7 Things Your Employees Will Never Tell You.