17 Ways To Be Indispensable At Work

How To Be Indispensable At Work

Want to be indispensable to your employer? I talked to Rita Friedman, a Philadelphia-based career coach and resume writer, Andy Teach, author of From Graduation to Corporation, Stever Robbins, an executive and personal coach and top 10 business podcaster, Amy Hoover, president of Talent Zoo, and Marsha Egan, a certified workplace productivity and business leader coach, to find out how. Here's what they said.

 

 

1. Do work that matters, not work that's easy.

Most employees can find tasks at work to stay busy, pass the time, and fly under the radar of the boss, Hoover says. “To become indispensable, dig deeper and really think about the work that matters to the company and its success. Tackle those projects first.”

2. Monopolize a particular skill.

Find some task that needs to get done by the organization and make sure that you are the only person who knows how to do it, Robbins says. “You will have the chance when somebody who already has a unique skill leaves the company, and you step in to replace them. Or it will happen when a new initiative is created that requires skill the company has never before had.”

3. Be willing to go the extra mile.

This doesn’t mean you have to ‘suck up’ to your boss–but if you’ve got the time and means to give a little more than what’s expected, it can go a long way, Hoover explains. “Managers need help and support to do their jobs well and having a reliable team member makes a big impact.” 

Teach adds: “Most employees just execute, but if you’re one of the few who are constantly coming up with new ideas and are taking on new responsibilities that aren’t required of you, this will go a long way in making you indispensable.” Volunteering for projects that other employees don’t want to work on will also solidify your position as an indispensable employee, he says.

4. Remember that your job is to make your supervisor's job easier.

By becoming your supervisor’s right-hand man or woman, you are building a trust between the two of you, Teach says. If you are always thinking of ways to help your boss and you do make their job easier, they are certainly going to count on you more and more.

5. Master a language that's not required of your position.

Whether its fluency in Mandarin, HTML and web coding, or a special way of calming down irate customers, being able to communicate on another level is highly valuable. “You never know when the company will need to reach a client on the other side of the world or to quickly have its website updated, but it can be very reassuring for senior management to know there’s someone on staff who could respond to these types of emergencies,” Friedman says.

6. Be productive, but don't make it a race.

“Most employees equate being successful and productive with doing the most work, and doing it the quickest,” Hoover says. “That’s not always the case.” Take your time to do the work correctly and thoughtfully. Often when you do this you can uncover better and more efficient ways to get the job done and once you bring those to the table, voila!: You’re a little more indispensable to your boss and company.

7. Monopolize an important relationship.

If you are the only person who is a trusted advisor to your company’s biggest customer, you will be essential to the company, says Robbins. “Find relationships that are crucial to the company’s survival or ability to get things done, and become the point person who maintains the relationship. Build it up over time.”

8. Be a thought leader.

When everyone agrees, it is difficult to stand out, Egan says. “By applying yourself in a way that provides new and valuable thinking that benefits your company, you become a thought leader.”

9. Be a team player.

To be indispensable, you not only need to prove yourself to your supervisor, but to your co-workers as well, says Teach. “If they’re always looking to you to lead them, to be the point person on projects, even though you aren’t their supervisor, this speaks volumes about you. Furthermore, offer to help your co-workers when they run into a problem. If you do, they will see you as their colleague and mentor which can only help your work relationship with them.”

10. Add value to every transaction.

Egan says when completing your work, you should always ask yourself: Have I taken the extra step? Has my report/response truly added value to the bottom line of this company?

11. Be committed.

“It sounds obvious, and it may even sound easy, but what often truly sets the indispensable workers apart from the replaceable cogs in the machine is a die hard work ethic and commitment to quality,” Friedman says. “If you are the best at what you do, you are likely to be the last one to go.”

12. Stay current with technology and trends.

Technology and industry trends are constantly changing so if you are continually learning new technologies and keeping up with trends, you will continue to be an invaluable asset to your company, Teach says. “If you’re not already, you will become the go-to person on these matters which makes your knowledge and skills even more valuable compared to those who aren’t staying current.”

13. Have a good attitude.

“Again, it might sound obvious, but it’s easy to find people who don’t appreciate having a job at all, and much harder to find people who make the office a pleasant place to come,” Friedman says. “Everyone likes working with people who seem like they are happy to be there, and if choosing between two employees who are equally good at their jobs, a manager is more apt to axe the grumpy one.”

14. Continually improve your oral and written communication skills.

Many people don’t like to speak publicly–but for those who do, it can lead to great opportunities, Teach says. It’s also hard to find employees with excellent written skills, especially in the world of texting and Twitter–so if you are a great writer, you will definitely have an advantage over others, he says.

15. Always try to offer solutions.

You know that one thing that everyone at work always complains about? It might be the poorly designed e-commerce platform, the way the warehouse is organized, or the computer system that has some really whacky glitches. Whatever it is–instead of commiserating, find a way to fix it (or, at least, a way to consistently work around it), Friedman says. “You don’t necessarily have to have expertise in a hard skill such as creating pivot tables in Excel, but if you’re the only one who can get the printer to stop eating paper, you might find yourself with a leg up.”

16. Be consistently reliable and trustworthy.

These are traits that employers value today, because of too many incidences of unreliability and mistrust, Egan says.

17. Keep in mind that no one is truly indispensable.

If you leave, as long as the organization is at least slightly functional, it will find a way to survive without you, Robbins says. “The strategies above, however, will give you a chance at being perceived as indispensable, which is what you really care about.”

Read original article here http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/09/05/17-ways-to-be-indispensable-at-work/