Its that time of the year that every employee looks with trepidation, Appraisal time. Excellent work Sanjana, you're our star performer and we want to show our appreciation by giving you a 50% hike !!

Wow that's what you would like to hear but in all likelihood you'll hear something like Sure Sanjay....you have been around and have contributed but there's no revenue generated from you..., However we'd like to channelize your energies, we'll put you on a performance based incentive scheme...., stay focused and I'm sure you'll earn it......

What do these two scenarios tell us? Sanjana is the valuable employee the company wants to retain and Sanjay will probably end up being "eased out over a period of time".

What is the most critical requirement of any company - a sticky "Valuable" employee? 

In today's workplace, hard work and effort are no longer enough to ensure success or even guarantee continued employment. Success at work is not just about working harder - it's about working differently. So what are the traits that set an employee apart from the crowd and make the company fight to retain him or her.

Valuable employee traits

Take responsibility and show initiative: Know your (and teams duties) inside and out and pay attention to detail, avoid tunnel vision. Be able to accept your mistakes, learn from them and move on, you will automatically set yourself apart from the crowd.

Be a team player: Practice giving credit to your team, this will make you acceptable. .

Be responsive and cheerful: Practice social courtesy, do you know your team mates birthdays, wedding anniversaries? Attitude is everything; treat your colleagues as you would your customers!!

Be dependable: Be known as a performer and exceed expectations. No business owner wants to know why something did not work, go to him with the problem and 2 or more possible solutions, then you will be perceived as a solution provider not a problem finder.

Stay healthy: It's your lifestyle that mostly makes you healthy, so eat well, exercise and sleep well too in other words practice self-discipline. An employee who constantly takes leave is not appreciated no matter how genuine the reason.

Upgrade your skills: Find ways to do your job quicker, continuously upgrade your skills, this not only improves your performance, it also improves your market value. Do not wait for the company to identify and train you for your supervisor's position!!

Speed in action: Respond quickly and efficiently to assignments, do not procrastinate, if not completed in time the assignment just may loose its importance, be a quick decision maker and have the endurance to execute.

Build your own Network: Become a go-to person, help out when needed, teach valuable skills and share useful information. Knowledge sharing always makes you learn more. Network to with people who can give you valued skills and new concepts.

Learn to give credit to others: Be able to work with diverse teams and manage them, give credit to a performer, immaterial of who it is. Compliments and thanks cost little and can be great team building technique.

Have a Mentor: Someone who can give you very critical inputs, help you develop to your potential, act as a buffer in tricky situations and guide you when required is very essential. Better still, if your mentor is a senior person in the organisation.

Communicate clearly and directly: Being a clear, direct and thoughtful communicator can help you stand out as a valued employee, but in attempting to do that don't waste others time!

Be a good Listener: Listen to understand your boss; this will assure him that you are serious about your duties. All said and done, to succeed you need the support of your boss at all times!!

Align yourself to company goals: But most importantly ffamiliarize yourself with the goals and philosophy of your company. No matter how good you are if it is not aligned to the company goals you'll go nowhere. Demonstrate how you can solve problems, cut costs, increase revenue or increase the bottom line; use your understanding to look for small incremental ways to make your team perform better.

The company also is on your side, loosing talented people means not only finding and training replacements it also means loosing all the knowledge, valuable information and understanding of the corporate culture that you acquired during your tenure with the company.

However be careful

In your eagerness to be valuable, don't step on your supervisors toe!! He may not want you to be more valuable than himself, as it can be a threat to his position. Don't morph yourself into something you are not, retain your individuality

However even after all your good intentions..., when you realise that you do not fit the company's expectations, or when you feel you have outgrown the role and there is no options available, you should gracefully exit, otherwise you become just another "Managed Attrition" statistic!!

Make a very critical SWOT analysis of your self, which will tell you where you stand. A discussion with your mentor can give you the much needed guidance, direction and insight. Then proceed to look for a suitable career move.

All the effort you put into becoming a good employee will stand you in good steed. It would have honed your skills and added value to your resume. And then there's something Mr. Narayana Murthy the chief mentor of Infosys said some time back about loving your job and not you company as you never know when your company will stop loving you !

Issue BG76 July07

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