ET Bureau Apr 24, 2017, 10.10 AM IST
They
say nobody is indispensable. Yet, companies go to great lengths to retain
workers who are seen as critical for their operations. They give huge
increments, offer promotions and even stock options as inducements to keep
these employees from leaving. Are you also in this hallowed company? This
week’s cover story looks at nine attributes that can make you indispensable at
work.
Of
course, nobody can be truly indispensable. Otherwise companies would start
closing down when the star employee retires. After a minor blip, a company will
find a way to survive without the star.
1. Develop deep expertise in a task critical for the organisation
The first step to becoming indispensable is also
the most obvious. Develop deep expertise in a function or a role. Whether it is
fluency in a foreign language that allows you to interact with an overseas
client, or knowledge of a computer software used by your company, having a USP
can make you indispensable. Of course, this does not mean you monopolise that
skill and put up hurdles for others who want to learn that task. But you become
so good at it that no one else is entrusted with that function. “Monopolising
skills may help in the short term but it is not a long-term solution,” cautions
Shiv Agrawal, Managing Director of HR firm ABC Consultants.
The good news is that upskilling has become easier now with
the launch of massive open online courses (MOOCs). These online courses are
cheap (some are even free) and one can study after work. Taking up a fulltime
course may not be feasible for many but these online courses can help you
acquire new skills without taking a break from work. The pace of these courses
can be customised to suit an individual’s timings.
It’s always good to learn skills related to the
core functions of your company. For instance, developing expertise in social
media campaigns may not be a very relevant skill for a manufacturing company.
On the other hand, specialisation in data analytics might be seen as a critical
skill by a financial services company or an e-commerce start-up.
2. Mentor your colleagues and provide support
It might sound paradoxical but one of the surest
way to make yourself indispensable is by trying to make yourself redundant. A
good mentor imparts knowledge and expertise to the newbie employee and
encourages him to improve his skills. But mentoring is not everybody’s cup of
tea. Only someone who takes pleasure in watching others succeed can be a good
mentor. An insecure person may not want to teach everything to someone who might
eventually replace him in the company.
Organisations value employees who mentor and
train junior colleagues. Mentoring engenders trust among teams and inspires
employees to perform to their highest ability. At a broader level, it helps
develop and retain talent. So, if you are helping your teammates and training
juniors, you will be seen as someone the company must retain at all costs. The
idea is to become valuable by supporting and adding value to other employees. The
support can even be in the form of help in everyday functions or stepping in to
firefight when a teammate is in a spot.
3. Step out of comfort zone and volunteer to do more
It’s common for people to slip into a clockwork
mode over time. They continue to mechanically do the tasks assigned to them,
rarely volunteering to do something new or challenging. To become indispensable
at work, you need to step out of that comfort zone and start doing stuff you
have never done before. As a start, do at least one thing every week that
is not part of the duties assigned to you.
It is not difficult to learn how to do one new
thing every week. But over time, these baby steps can enhance your skills
significantly and add up to a lot. If you learn to do four new things every
month, imagine how much more skilled you will be in a year. Your willingness to
take up new tasks and challenges will also send a signal to the management that
you are willing to go that extra mile to add value to the organisation. “The
focus should be on optimizing the value addition to the organisation,” says
Moorthy K. Uppaluri, Managing Director & CEO, Randstad India.
4. Offer solutions that are useful for the organisation
Organisations value employees who offer
effective solutions to problems. They are seen as people who have the company’s
interests in mind. If the company or your division is facing a problem and you
have a solution in mind, don’t go to your boss without working out a rational
decision making model and a detailed action plan. Here’s a simple roadmap:
first identify the cause of the problem. Then think of all the potential
solutions. There could be several options, each having its pros and cons.
Analyse the feasibility of each solution and then select the best option.
Write down why it makes the most sense and then
chart out an implementation plan. Make sure you also mention the other
solutions that are not viable. Don’t go into too much detail at this stage.
Senior managers are always strapped for time so keep your presentation concise
and to the point. It will help you get to the point It will help you get
to the point very quickly.
If your idea is workable, it will cement your
indispensability in the organisation.
5. Learn to adapt to the changed situation
Albert Einstein once said that when your stop
learning, you start dying. This especially applies to the present day workplace
where new technologies and artificial intelligence are fast making humans
irrelevant. “The only skill which keeps your relevant at work is the skill to
constantly evolve, learn and improve. Everything else can be replicated,” says
Rituparna Chakraborty, Co-founder and Senior VP, TeamLease.
Individuals who embrace change and are able to
quickly adapt are seen as more valuable than those who cling to outdated
principles and concepts that are past their expiry date. Don’t be afraid of
change but welcome it. Experiment with new ideas that are meant to improve
productivity and performance. In the past decade, we saw how the Internet led
to seismic shifts in the way companies functioned. Workers who were not able to
adapt to this change were rendered irrelevant. The coming revolution of bots
will take away more jobs.
6. Delight your boss by making his work easier
No, this does not mean you suck up to your boss.
It only means that you perform tasks that take some load off his back and allow
him to focus on other more important duties. This requires a pro-active
approach, especially because this work is not part of your assigned duties.
Don’t wait for your boss to call for help. Find out the tasks that irk him (and
other senior managers), then look for ways to do these tasks. If you do this
regularly, your boss will start relying on you more and more. Remember, the
more irksome the task, the happier he will be that someone else is doing it.
Once he gets used to it, he will ensure that you are retained by the company at
all costs.
The willingness to take on more has a downside.
You will be expected to do more work. But that is the price one has to pay to
become indispensable.
7. Demonstrate integrity at work
Personal integrity is a fundamental attribute
that companies seek in employees. A person who demonstrates high moral values
is considered more valuable than someone who is not so particular about ethics.
An honest person’s actions make him trustworthy and dependable. You won’t find
him indulging in petty office politics or bad-mouthing his colleagues.
How can you display integrity at the workplace?
The golden rule is to treat others the way you want to be treated. This ensures
that one gives due respect to colleagues and customers. Honesty also encourages
healthy relationships within an organisation. Teams work better if their boss
is honest about the objective and outcome of the project.
Of course, honesty does not extend to
compromising the confidentiality of certain information. A person of integrity
will maintain confidentiality if required. Such a person is more likely to be
given a position of responsibility.
8. Be consistently reliable in everything you do
Everybody likes surprises, but not if they are
unpleasant. Missing a project deadline, arriving late for a meeting or going on
leave without prior notice are some of the unpleasant surprises that managers
love to hate. For them, reliability equals efficiency. If an employee shows up
on time, finishes his work before the deadline and maintains basic office
discipline, he is seen as more valuable than someone who is forever making
excuses for laxity and delays. Reliability is more than just time management—
it reflects the mindset of the individual and even shapes his career path. If a
manager knows that he can depend on an employee to submit the project report
before the deadline or reach office at time, he will assign more
responsibilities to such a worker.
Be consistently reliable in everything you do.
Also, make sure you don’t make false promises. Before you make a commitment, be
sure that you will be able to keep it. Instead of promising too much and
delivering too little, it is better to scale down the promise and then delight
the boss by doing more than you committed. This way you send out the message
that you don’t want to make false promises but are willing to go that extra
mile to deliver.
9. Build ties within the organisation and outside
It is important to build good relationships, not
only within your team and with the people you report to, but also with others
in the organisation. It helps to be well connected with senior people in the
organisation. “No person or role is an island. Interpersonal skills and the
ability to network are as important as the basic knowledge required for the
job,” says Moorthy of Ranstad India.
A positive attitude goes a long way in improving
the interpersonal relationship of an individual. Try and smile as much as you
can and control the urge to say things you might regret later. This is
especially important during a stressful time. “The most important skill to
develop is the ability to get along with all kinds of people irrespective of
whether you like them or not,” says Chakraborty of TeamLease. Chakraborty
points out that workplace dynamics are changing. “It becomes imperative for
professionals to get work done through people who do not directly report to
you,” she adds.
Relationship with clients are also be critical.
In some situations, an individual’s relations with a client can make him
indispensable.
A company may not want to let go of someone if
it knows that his exit might take away a lot of business. Invest in your
relationships with clients to improve your standing within the company.
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