Let’s face it, employees are both human and human capital. While we love social acceptance, we are paid and promoted for the value that we bring to our employer. Companies seek to retain valuable talent and are willing to pay for this value.
In employment, relevance refers to the extent to which an employee’s knowledge, skills, experience, and other characteristics combine to produce results that match the requirements of their job description or the needs of an organization. When those results meet and exceed expectations, the employee is considered relevant and is adding value. Employees can add value to a company in one or more of the following ways:
- Make the company more money.
- Improve processes or efficiencies that show tangible savings in costs or time.
- Reduce the stress of your colleagues by making their jobs easier.
- Take work off your boss’s plate, freeing their time up to focus on higher-level items.
- Be a problem solver or someone who connects others to find solutions to problems.
We are hired because we have relevant knowledge, skills, and experience for the position. Once onboard, however, the onus for staying relevant is on the employee. To support value-added activities above, employees can stay relevant by:
- Being curious and embracing continuous learning. Willingly adapt to technological changes and industry shifts by constantly acquiring new knowledge and skills.
- Being adaptable and flexible. Show a readiness to learn and adjust to new challenges, which makes you a more valuable asset to your organization.
Document the activities that demonstrate your relevance, as this will be useful when preparing your case for promotion or when submitting a self-evaluation for your next performance review. Whenever possible, quantify the value in terms of direct cost savings, work hours saved, etc.
If you are fortunate to work in an organization that actively encourages employees to stay relevant, embrace it! Years ago, I worked for an executive named Harry who was so adamant about adding value that he required each of his direct reports to schedule a single one-hour “creative thinking” session each week during working hours. Our challenge was to think outside-the-box to add value through innovation, efficiency, or problem solving. Each month, Harry would call a management brainstorming session where we would share our ideas and allow collaboration and synergy to produce terrific new ideas. Without even knowing it, we were imagining different perspectives, angles, approaches, and tactics using various tools and technology.
Harry’s investment in human capital was important to him. We were not allowed to sit idle, be mediocre, or accept the status quo. With the creative thinking sessions, our innovation and curiosity kept us relevant to the company. Not surprisingly, some colleagues chose not to rise to the challenge, overly confident in their resume and career accomplishments. They found little interest in personal growth and ended up riding off into the sunset in search of greener pastures. Some went willingly, most were shown the door!
Please don’t allow complacency or mediocrity to upend your professional growth and future. Like employees, businesses have lifecycles and change over time. Landing a great job with a great company is a wonderful achievement, but it’s only a start. Once you’re onboard, continuously adding value to your organization is the only sure-fire way to help secure a prosperous and rewarding career!
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