Value is defined as the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable. In other words, value is determined by the amount of quality or benefit something provides.
It’s important to understand the significance and influence of adding value to your job and career each day. Are you one of those who dreads going to work, and does all possible to make work enjoyable without actually having to do the work itself?
Or do you come to work eager to display and present your valuable skills and attributes that are worthy of recognition and increased pay?
Answering these questions in full honesty, will be the most important step you can take right now. To be honest, if you’re reading this message, odds are that you’re among the majority of people who dread going to work each day, and try their best to just get through each day.
These two questions really distinguish the separation between the under paid employees and highly paid employees. Let me tell you why.
Working just enough to get by each day isn’t a practice that generates more money and wealth. You need to be adding to the greater good of the whole company. Like the quote says above, “You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” You should continually be asking yourself, “I’m adding value right now?” It’s easy to see if you really are by the actions you take through out the work day.
For example, do you tend to surf the web all day, take long lunches and breaks, only do what’s necessary to get by with your boss and superiors? If you are answering yes to any of these questions, or if you can relate to what I’m talking about, then there’s lots of room for you to add additional value in your workplace.
But why is it important to add value to everything you do?
The world of business revolves around profit and growth. An executive team of any business is there to make money. They want to hire and promote people who have the same vision as them. They enjoy surrounding themselves with people who share their aspirations and enthusiasm towards the business.
If your only there to fulfill the need to have a job so that you can pay the bills, then your excitement and enthusiasm for work is very dull, and not very productive in the eyes of your management team.
But if you come to work each day eager to succeed and add value to your daily responsibilities, then you naturally produce results that are noticeable by your superiors. They then reward you for producing great work, as they want to see even more of it from you. The more you contribute, the more money the company makes, and as such the more money you make each month through pay raises, bonuses, extra paid time off, and so forth.
So what can you do to add value?
To answer that let’s first list some work activities that don’t add value:
Surfing the web all day.
Instant messaging all day.
Playing computer games
Taking long lunch breaks.
Taking lots of snack or smoke breaks.
Arriving late.
Leaving early.
Only doing enough to satisfy you boss.
Here’s some activities that add value. This will be a long list:
1) Meeting with your boss to discuss department goals, and asking for suggestion as to how you can improve and add more value to the company.
2) Arriving early.
3) Staying late.
4) Helping your co-workers with their projects.
5) Showing consideration and interest in your co-workers. Give them a birthday card, take them to lunch, do activities with them outside of work.
6) Keeping your workspace clean.
7) Wearing professional clothing each day (as available).
8) Giving weekly updates to your boss on the activities and projects you completed during that time.
9) Being proactive instead of reactive to the duties at work. Do you wait for something to do, or are do you search for new ways to do things.
10) Offer suggestions, make your opinion known.
I’m sure you have lots of other things that you could do at work each day that would present additional value to your superiors.
There are two main segments to adding value. The first is the actual actions/work that you do that adds value to the company. The second is your ability to effectively communicate to your superiors the value that you add each day.
We’ve covered different activities that you can do to add value each day. Let’s know discuss how to communicate your value-add to your managers.
The easiest way to start is to set-up weekly or bi-weekly meetings with your manager where you can sit down for 10-15 minutes to discuss work. The meeting is meant to be a casual sit-down, where both of you can chat about the prior week, and the upcoming week’s work. In this meeting, you responsibility is to be a support individual for your manager. Be interested in him or her, and ask questions about how they are doing? Ask to see what you could do to assist them with their responsibilities. These two questions will open the door for many opportunities as you will show interest in them, which most employees never do.
From there many discussions will develop, and the weekly meetings will become a routine part of your work. You’ll begin experience a more connected business relationship with your manager, and that will soon spread to other managers and co-workers. The reason being, is that you’re showing genuine interest in others, and asking to assist them with their responsibilities.
Within time, you’ll start to notice that more responsibilities are being given you. Your role at work will begin to change, and will that will come opportunities for more pay.
Additionally, during the Performance Review meetings, it will be very easy for you and your manager to discuss all of the great work you’ve done, and the huge value you give the company. With that will have to come more pay, as your value dictates it.
