"Become Indispensible" Article by Steve Marsten

Each year Small to Medium Enterprise (SME’s) operator’s carryout the annual ritual of reviewing staff performances. Some business’ do this on a six monthly basis others attend to it annually. Our business is part of the former group. Many SME’s do not look forward to this task, its downtime for them. It costs money. It often results in more costs if they increase wages and salaries. Hence they do not always go in to such meetings in the right head space.

Staff reviews are simply a formal communication meeting with your staff. It should be an extension of your ongoing communication with your people. All staff should have atleast one encounter with ”the boss” each day. If that doesn’t happen then management are shirking their responsibilities.

Recently while working with a client, a young staff member asked what they had to do to guarantee their job?  Her “Boss” straight away said that it was not possible. The employee walked off with their head bowed. Straight away I could see this employee just had her self esteem lowered and was probably off to scout the web for her next position.

This “boss” confessed to me that she was a “really” good employee! But then followed up with – “well no one is indispensible”. The fact is the “good” ones are hard to find and very costly to replace. SME’s make their biggest mistakes by not realising that employees need to be shown their future within the company otherwise they won’t see one!

It has been our experience that there are 5 ways that employees CAN make themselves as “indispensible” as possible.

• Many employees as well as their managers and bosses are the first to arrive each morning. Some like to chat until “start time” others like to catch up on their emails or surf the web. Consider dealing with something that is worthwhile to your company.
• Be the specialist in something. It maybe a piece of software; using excel or PowerPoint of something completely new that can be used by management and they just don’t know about it yet. Make sure they find out.
• Understand your Key Performance Indicators. Knowing your KPI’s and understanding the “how” to achieve them will allow you to develop a focus.
• Work harder than your colleagues. This is usually the easiest way to stand out.
• Finally, take the opportunity to actually have a conversation with your boss or manager. Make sure they know you.

 

Let us know if you have got dedicated employees who are great at their job. What do you do to encourage their dedication?

Are you an employee who is the specialist in the field you work in? If so how have you created your skill set?

Do you stand out from your peers and does your Boss or Manager acknowledge you?

At Sothertons, we are committed to supporting you in [Business] + [Life]; if you need any assistance in developing strategies so you understand how to maintain the key assets of your business – your team, please call us on (07) 4972 1300.