How to be the Employee of Choice

Organizations create succession planning maps for business continuity. When employees leave, others should be available and ready to step into their shoes so that time and money losses are reduced or eliminated, and the quality of delivery is maintained.

Regardless of your positive or negative feelings about your organization, being on that map shows that you're relevant. This makes you not just an employee but a Talent with skills desirable to many employers.

People who make it on the map are those who:

·?????? Have the competencies that strengthen the capability of the organization.

·?????? Have in-demand skills for their role or industry.

·?????? Occupy mission-critical roles in the organization.

·?????? Show clear returns on any investments made on them through coaching, training, perks, and rewards.

·?????? Display the right attitude and character traits.

But how does this look on a day-to-day? Jaqueline Smith outlines these in her article for forbes.com.

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. Dig deeper and really think about the work that matters to the company and its success and tackle those projects first.

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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 or one of the only few people who know how to do it. 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 had before.

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3.??? Be willing to go the extra mile. This doesn't mean eye service 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. Managers need help and support to do their jobs well and having a reliable team member makes a big impact.

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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 that makes you a good candidate to be groomed for his role.

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

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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. 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.

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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. 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.

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8.??? Be a thought leader. Apply yourself in a way that provides new and valuable thinking that benefits your company.

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9.??? Be a team player. If your teammates always look to you to lead them, to be the point person on projects, even though you aren't their supervisor, or to solve their problems, this speaks volumes about you.

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10.? Add value to every transaction. 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?

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11.? Stay current with technology and trends. If you are continually learning new technologies and keeping up with trends, you will continue to be an invaluable asset to your company.

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12.? Always try to offer solutions. Instead of joining others to complain, find a way to fix a recurrent issue. 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 make the situation work, you are at an advantage.

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13.? 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. 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 have an advantage over others.

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14.? Be consistently reliable and trustworthy. These are traits that employers value today, because of too many incidences of unreliability and mistrust.

These are the people whom the organization asks, "What can we do to make you stay?" when they want to resign.

You can be one of them!

For career lessons, check out my blog, https://toyintalkstalent.wordpress.com/

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