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With company budgets getting tighter, now is a critical time for employees to determine how they can make themselves more indispensable to their organisations.
Being seen as essential is key not only to keeping a job, but it is also vital for positioning yourself to move forward once the economy returns to an upswing, says Ashly Pinnington, Professor of Human Resource Management and Dean of the Faculty of Business at the British University in Dubai.
He points out that in emerging markets, the rate of both an economic downturn and upturn can be more volatile and more rapid than elsewhere, which makes positioning yourself even more essential.
'The recession is a good time for everyone to reflect and make changes to their careers so that they are in the right position to move forward once the economy returns to an upswing,' Pinnington says.
So how do you go about making yourself more indispensable to your company? Pinnington offers the following pointers:
Develop your human capital
The most obvious initiative is for employees to develop their human capital, which means improving their skills, expertise and qualifications.
Ways to accomplish this include pursuing training opportunities or taking classes to earn certificates or advanced degrees.
Develop your social capital
This refers to boosting your profile in the company by increasing your networks and involvement in projects and exuding a sense of confidence and optimism.
Developing social capital means different things depending on the size of the organisation. 'In a small company it means developing your relationships with the few key players and ensuring that they can feel confident in delegating key tasks to you,' he said.
In larger organisations it means identifying key departments and teams as well as projects that are perhaps more integral and ongoing than the ones your are working on. It also means identifying people who are good rainmakers and allying with them.
Be a generalist
Being indispensable is also about expanding the range of skills that you offer to your employer. 'The core people who are seen as essential to a company very often have organisation-specific skills or generalist skills, which means they can be put to work on a range of things,' Pinnington noted.
You can increase your value to the company by being someone who can be counted on to perform a range of jobs well, which can be particularly valuable if the organisation has been downsized.
Focus on the bottom line
People who have been with the organisation the longest, especially in functional management roles, often lose sight of the strategic and business bottom line issues and feel they are indispensable simply because their loyalty and tenure is unquestioned.
What they don't realise is they have lost focus on the top concerns of senior managers and business owners. 'People need to get clear what are the key success factors for their business as well the key indicators of revenue, profit, and customer retention, which often get pushed under the general business of the day,' he said. Be sure that you identify these issues and contribute to them.
Be more visible
Look for ways to be creative and take initiative, and be seen as doing so. 'A little bit of self promotion can go a long way because it is surprising how often people just simply don't let other people know what they have achieved,' he said.
'Some people, either by personality or lack of self confidence, do not assert themselves and often do not say the obvious about how they have contributed to the bottom line. The people who get ahead often are more prone to do this, whether it be a recession or a boom time.'
Be a leader
Even if you are not a manager, it is still important to be viewed as a leader. 'Even in a lowly role, if you are viewed as someone who keeps everyone positive and motivated, it shows you are exercising a degree of leadership behaviour that might not be assumed at that level.'
Jeff Florian, Senior Reporter
