I read with great interest an article by Jay Forte a consultant, author and founder of Humanetrics, LLC. He works with managers who want to be more successful in activating and inspiring exceptional employee performance, to significantly drive customer loyalty and improve company profitability. Jay, a financial executive turned educator, turned consultant, is renowned for producing significant results.
I fully endorse his thoughts and would like to share them with you. So if you have five or ten minutes free please read this article by Forte. By doing so it could mean you retain your job in a very tight market place where your company may be cutting back on its staff levels or you could move up the company ladder.
In our turbulent world of financial challenges and workplace changes, many employees are visibly worried about being laid off. Though cutbacks can be an important strategic approach to regain control over inefficient or unprofitable business units or organizations, there are several things great employees can do to keep their names off the layoff list. Though every organization is different, the primary motivation for retaining or laying off employees is the amount of value an employee creates for the organization. Employees who create great value are more critical to the success of an organization and more likely to be retained in a recessionary period. To be noticed, appreciated and retained, employees must take full personal responsibility for creating significant, unique and results-oriented value for the organization.
To build your value and to stand out in the workplace, develop each of these four areas:
1. Know your organization. Be familiar with your organization's purpose, mission and value statements. Do a monthly mini-strategic review on your organization, team or department, noting its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (known as a SWOT analysis). This shows your effort to understand the business and to use this information to regularly make decisions that positively affect the organization's performance. In tough economic times, employees who have committed the time and effort to know their organization, and what drives its success, are more valuable to the organization. Share your summary of the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with your management; this shows initiative and exponential effort.
2. Know your strengths. Each of us is good at some things and not at others. To stand out in the workplace, you must be able to know what you are intrinsically good at - what your talents and strengths are - and then work in roles that allow you to fully develop and exploit these talents. If you work in roles that are not in your talent areas, your performance will generally be good at best. In times of layoffs and cutbacks, employees must be great, not just good, to be retained. Use Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath or other talent assessment tool (locate on the Internet) to learn your primary talents. Knowing your talents and strengths helps you focus on the areas in the organization in which you have the greatest abilities to perform and contribute. Play to your strengths.
3. Take initiative. Once you know your organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and you know your personal strengths and talents, take the initiative to invent ways to solve the organization's problems and maximize its opportunities. Volunteer for new responsibilities that add value to the organization and match your talents and strengths. Involve others; share your ideas for improvements and opportunities. Be visible; be vocal; be optimistic and be on the hunt for opportunities.
4. Focus on the bottom line. Ensure that you know the impact on the bottom line of all suggested tasks, initiatives and opportunities. Know the planned impact as you start projects; know the final impact of completed projects. Develop a method to track and report your weekly progress on initiatives that drive results; be able to translate your performance into empirical results. Think numbers; think metrics and financial performance. Not only will it change your approach to your work, but your decisions will positively impact results and insure that you stand out.
Today, employees must take greater ownership for their personal performance and for company results. At a time where most organizations are assessing the contributions of their employees, to determine who should stay and who should go, those who know their company, know their strengths, take initiative and focus on the bottom line will be applauded for their contributions and will earn the privilege of remaining. Employees must now think and act like owners. The days of average or marginal performance are over; organizations became lazy and complacent and allowed average performance to prevail. The free ride is over. Today, every employee must create value, drive results and perform in a great way. If not, the organization under performs. If not, employees are laid off and companies fail.
We are in a new period of employee accountability; you own your ability to get noticed in the workplace. Stand out in the workplace; play to your strengths, find the opportunities and drive the bottom line. Do these, and you have earned your rightful place in your high performing organization.
visit: http://www.humanetricsllc.com, his new site http://www.fireupyouremployees.com or call: 401-338-3505.
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