This month, as I celebrate my first anniversary with Prim and King Limited, I want to look back on a journey of personal growth and value-addition to the company.
During career guidance, one of my mentors once told me: “It is one thing to do work, but it is another to do your job.”
Doing your work mainly involves a routine of being punctual, meeting your deadlines and following the stipulated terms of reference.
On the other hand, doing one’s job is what many employees fail to get a grip with. It means adding something extra and arises from that question almost always asked during job interviews: ‘What can you bring to the company?’
When we leave university, we have high expectations about the jobs we want to do. We are full of energy and very enthusiastic about applying our acquired skills.
After getting that dream job, during the first couple of months, most employees will go flat out to prove themselves. They will display a strong commitment to their teams and always eager to be the most creative problem solvers.
Out of personal experience and observation, I have learnt that after a while, individuals tend to get complacent. The daily routine then becomes boring and once the working culture of the company is captured and understood, everything becomes mundane.
The previous energetic approach turns into performing at minimum achievement rather than what was expected under the terms of reference. Days go by, weeks, months and then years of a daily routine.
Employees slowly become less productive; their desire to show initiative reduces to be replaced by a focus on how to reduce or dodge their workloads. At this point, alarm bells should be ringing like crazy.
Employers are interested in employees who constantly look for ways of developing their careers and keep up to date with the relevant skills that match their positions. This is where self-motivation and self-initiative are key.
An employee, who develops ways of improving their productivity and increases efficiency, adds real value to the company by saving resources. This can be as easy as finding a solution for the business or thinking out-of-the-box to support a client.
A year ago, some of the things stated above did not make sense to me. But with experience as my teacher and guide, I have gone through busy, stressful and boring moments at work. In the interlude, I have also realized how mindful I must be about my job. Taking an initiative, and picking interest in every part of the job is one way of achieving value-addition.
The value you add to the job strengthens your position in the company and helps improves its future prospects. Always do regular self-assessments on your productivity. Have you gone above or below what is expected of you?
That pay rise and promotion is not a right, but a matter of you doing your job.
