When you increase your value to your organization, you increase your job security.

Anything you can do to enhance your value to your employer is worth doing.

Just look around you, and chances are you’ll see employees being let go, new people being hired, and coworkers being promoted. While there’s no way to avoid change at work, you can lay a foundation for a more secure and rewarding role in your organization’s future by becoming a more valued employee.

“If you aren’t adding value, then you’re just one of the drone bees,” says Deborah Singer Dobson, coauthor of Managing Up: 59 Ways to Build a Career-Advancing Relationship With Your Boss. “When it’s time for people to ask if this employee or that employee is of value, your fate is much more uncertain.”

According to Dobson, you’re more likely to be perceived as being of value to your organization if:

• You’re competent.

  “Whether you’re high or low on the organizational chart, you have to be competent at what you do or else you’re simply not going to be considered important,” says Dobson.

  Set high personal standards for your performance, then try to continually exceed those standards.

• You’re likeable. Strive to work well and flexibly with others. Dobson recommends making friends, particularly with people in your organization’s lowest levels, since that’s often where much of the work gets done.
• You anticipate needs. Notice the needs of your work group or department before others do, and then take action to address them.

  For example, if your boss seems frustrated, ask if you can take over some of his or her tasks.

  To add to your professionalism, always try to recommend a solution anytime you point out a problem. Make it your goal to support the overall strategic direction of your boss and your work group.

• You give energy to the people around you.

  “To be really valued by other people and have your opinions sought out, you have to bring a lot of energy to the table and, more importantly, you have to energize others,” says Dobson. “Make it a goal to get other people excited about the work they’re doing.”

• You share the recognition.

  Don’t hesitate to promote your team members’ contributions.

  “Whenever I’m part of a work group and I report on our successes, even if I contributed 90 percent of the ideas, 90 percent of the solution, or even 90 percent of the actual work, I always represent it as an equal contribution by the entire team,” says Dobson. “When I’m generous to people in this way, the energy starts to flow.”

  When someone makes his or her first contribution to the group, be sure to acknowledge it. You can make the contribution more visible by encouraging the person to explain the idea to the rest of the team.

  “People often don’t get recognition for what they’ve done,” explains Dobson. “When people feel valued, it makes them want to get up in the morning and go to work.”

• You’re willing to venture into uncharted territory. You can add clear value by bringing an idea or a perspective to the table that no one else has brought; challenging perspectives that other people aren’t willing to challenge; or doing work that other people aren’t willing to do.
• You show integrity.

  “You can’t get away from office politics—nearly anytime you put two people in a room, they’ll engage in political discussion,” Dobson insists.

  So whenever you have to participate in such a conversation, always do so with integrity and in the company’s best interest.

  “If you do so,” Dobson adds, “nine times out of 10 your star will rise.”

Polly Turner spoke with Deborah Singer Dobson, coauthor of Managing Up: 59 Ways to Build a Career-Advancing Relationship With Your Boss, Amacom, 2000, $17.95.

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