How To Make Yourself Valuable To Your Company Or Organization

I took my daughters to a local restaurant recently for breakfast. My youngest daughter ordered a breakfast sandwich.

When she got her order, she lifted the top, looked inside and said, “Daddy, I don’t think this is a real egg.”

I looked over at her breakfast sandwich, and thought to myself, “oh wow, you’re right!”

But instead, what I said to her was, “don’t look at it, just eat it.”

While this “ignorance is bliss” mentality may come in handy with unappealing fast-food breakfast sandwiches, it is unfortunately also a problem that occurs in many teams and organizations.

And, it can destroy them.

All too often, employees, team members, and even management, have an attitude of “it’s not my job to understand why…” or, “well, it’s not my money,” or “I just work here.”

These type of passive attitudes are, at their core, pure selfishness. And, not only that, they make you extremely expendable.

Seek Understanding

Let’s talk about learning and how it can make you valuable to your team or organization.

And I don’t mean just getting another certification or degree… I mean, really trying to understand the inner workings of your organization.

Why would you want to learn or understand why something is done a certain way or how something works?

Because if you do, perhaps you can add something of value to your team or organization other than just a “warm body.”

By understanding a situation or process, you might be able to identify how to make that process better or more efficient, and thus add value to your company or team.

And, by identifying with someone who performs a different task, you might also be able to better understand the struggles that go along with it and be able to be of assistance (imagine that, people being helpful to each other!)

This builds unity and fosters teamwork. And, many times, the ones who take ownership of jobs and tasks in this way find themselves in leadership positions.

Be Cost Conscious

Money.

It’s a pretty integral part of what goes on in the world.

But, why would you want to be concerned about how your company spends it?

Well, think of it this way…

If you turned all your money over to a single advisor who then squandered it in poor investments, you would certainly want answers on why they spent or invested your money that way.

And, you’d probably be firing that advisor!

But, think how pleased you would be if that same advisor gave careful thought to how they invested your money, so that it provided you with the greatest return on your investment possible?

Now, that advisor has become very valuable to you, because you have profited from their efforts (and, you are likely to give them more of your money as well!)

It’s really no different in the employer/employee relationship.

Sure, there are some “bad” employers out there, but you’d be hard pressed to find one who doesn’t want a good ROI. So, if an employee is thinking about a company’s bottom line, and is constantly thinking of ways to improve it, they are now valuable to that company or organization.

And, don’t you want your company to think of you as money well spent?

So, Make Yourself Valuable Already!

We are all selfish.

Sometimes it’s hard to think of others.

Sometimes it’s hard to be concerned about someone else’s welfare other than your own. But, the irony of becoming valuable to your team or organization is that by thinking of someone else, you often actually benefit… yourself!

So, next time you get a fast-food breakfast, don’t look at it, just eat it.

But, when it comes to making yourself valuable to your company, do all you can to learn, and be conscious of how and improve your team, and how your company can get a better ROI by having you around… your organization AND you will reap the benefits!