ATTRIBUTES OF A SUCCESSFUL PROFESSIONAL

The first step to becoming indispensable is also the most obvious. Develop deep expertise in a function or a role.

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? 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 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.