Dear Readers,
Thank you for coming here!
Welcome to another episode of the “Good Employee” series.
In this Episode 6, I would like to talk about our value as an employee.
It all essentially comes down to our ROI — what the employers are investing on us and what we bring to the employers in return.
I grow up watching KongFu movies and I always admire the Swordsmen and the Generals who make all those awesome moves on the back of their horses.
I have always dreamt of riding a fast horse and tour around, better even with a bow and some arrows.
Therefore, when I went to big farms in New Zealand and grassland in Mongolia, I always looked for horses.
To my surprise, horses were rare.
When I asked, the answer was “Horses are not worth it. They eat a lot but produce almost nothing. They can be used as transport but cars and trucks are better.”
The real world is built upon practical terms.
Anything or anyone that does not produce enough value becomes luxury.
And luxury, like the horses, is kept due to passion, not necessity.
This is especially true in commercial space.
You could build a business by satisfying the passion of your customers. But keeping someone or something because of passion in the process is quite unlikely.
Even Nonprofit or Charity organizations have requirements for their members.
Therefore, let it be clear: employees will be got rid of sooner or later if they do not produce enough value.
As an employee, nothing is more dangerous than becoming luxury.
Ok! Now that is clear, let’s talk about how to increase our ROI.
There are only two ways:
- Reduce the investment on us from the employers
- Increase our value add to the employers.
There are cases where people refuse promotions and pay rises to avoid more responsibilities and at the same time keep their job.
However, this is not that common. And I personally do not recommend this approach unless you have special conditions or really love the job you do now (with back-up plans).
I just do not feel secure if I keep doing the same thing with no learnings. Someone younger or even AI could replace me the next day.
Therefore, I would count on #2: Increase our value add to the employers.
Value comes in many different forms, e.g. delivering good work, gaining trusts from your superior, providing specially resources or access to your superior, or even satisfying the personal preference or hobbies of your superior.
To add more value, one thing is certainly required: put in your efforts, thoughts, and attention. We cannot expect to be very relaxed and delivering enough value at the same time.
After adding enough value, chances are promotion or pay raises wont come naturally.
You most likely need to show you want it and ask for it.
And there are two approaches: Passively or Actively.
Passively, we could focus on adding value, open everything up and hope for or ask nicely for what we deserve, which gives the decision power to others.
Actively, we could focus on adding value, and at the same time think of the next steps: maybe we hide a bit of the details to increase our irreplaceability, and ask actively for what we deserve, which gives us leverage.
Based on my experience, I have failed miserably on the first approach and I have seen many successes with the second approach.
Going forward, I will try the latter, even though the latter does require more thoughts and attention. We need to worry about many more things.
But remember, no matter which approach you take, the pre-requisite is enough value add.
What if you keep seeing people with less value getting more than you do?
That feels like shit. I know and I have been there.
Again, look at the ROI, but from our perspective.
Is what we get at least matching what we put in? Do we have better options?
The thing we should not do is dwelling on the thoughts “This is not fair”.
Nothing and no one is fair in this world. Dwelling on that thought will kill all our passion, motivation and energy.
And it is pointless.
If you are not getting promoted, there must be causes. Even if the causes are not fair or can only be hidden under the table, they exist and you need to deal with them.
And it is not even true.
As mentioned, value comes in many forms. They might be delivering values that we do not see or cannot even imagine.
So focus on whether it is worthwhile for us, rather than whether it is fair to us.
Summary
If we, as employees, do not add enough value compared to our title or pay, we become luxuries in commercial space. And nothing is more dangerous than that.
Focus on adding more value by putting in more efforts, thoughts and attention, instead of seeking for less pay or lower title. It is probably not up to us.
Once we add enough value, we can leverage it actively or passively to get what we deserve.
In the cases where we keep seeing people with seemingly less value getting more, focus on whether it is worthwhile for us, rather than whether it is fair to us.
Till next time!
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