Hey Employees, Now It's Your Turn

It's time to be a great employee! Seriously, we need to all step up and help the bottom lines of our companies. We are living in a day and age where automakers are struggling to make ends meet, but have unions that will refuse to make any real concessions. If you are an employee who has experienced commissions, company bonuses, or any other type of company benefit, it's now your turn to reciprocate. Let me ask you a question: What does it say about you -- or any employee for that matter -- who simply looks for a job when the waters got a little bumpy? Today, we have a society of workers who want to go where the work is easiest and less stressful in terms of company performance.

During our work with many of our clients, it has always amazed us how employees will be in tune with what they feel they have coming; whereas, when it's time to give back to management and ownership, often employees' memories are very short. During this tough economy, most employees start to ask questions from management in terms of "Is my job safe?" A few employees will ask themselves if they are contributing to the organization and helping during this difficult time. The distinction between these examples is critical.

Our company works with many facets of an organization. We work with employees, middle management, and upper executive leadership. I can share with you that decisions involving employees in terms of their tenure as employees are very difficult and stressful. What most employees do not understand is that these decisions are not personal. Employees must recognize that if revenues do not outweigh expenses, the company simply cannot continue to perform under those premises. So what does that leave us with? Employees at every level of an organization have the power to contribute to the bottom line of the organization.

Perception is such a powerful thing in today's business world; nevertheless, most employees are not even aware of the perception they give off. Valuable employees are viewed as those individuals who make contributions above and beyond what is expected. Employees who leave an organization during difficult times are often asked at an interview "Why are you leaving your present employer?" Employees sometimes respond "Things got really bad and I did not want to go down with the ship." So let me ask you a question: What does this say about the character of this type of employee? I am not suggesting that employees should just hang on for as long as management or ownership deems appropriate, but it seems employees are often taking the path of least resistance.

Here are 10 simple suggestions to becoming a great employee during these difficult economic times:

1.Your attitude is critical. The way you walk, talk, and your overall demeanor is critical to not only creating a positive attitude, but demonstrating one as well.

2. Your ability to help your fellow employees is crucial. When you see a fellow employee who appears down or negative, its incumbent upon each of us to help those employees to become positive. This truly demonstrates great leadership and character.

3. The opportunity to differentiate yourself internally and externally is vast. You have the ability to absolutely amaze your ownership and management team because so many people will take the path of least resistance.

4. What you do today will affect your employment opportunities tomorrow. As stated before, whether you stay with your present organization or not, you will be faced with tough questions along the way. If you stay and your organization continues to struggle, it will show great loyalty. If you leave early, interfaced in an interview as to why you are leaving, you may be demonstrating a lack of character and loyalty without even knowing it.

5.Sadly, most employees will continue to keep regular hours while producing work with the same mentality. Your ability to help management and the organization move forward will not be unrecognized. If you were to come in early, stay late, and produce extraordinary efforts beyond what is expected, management will eventually take notice.

6. Put your loyalty and character in writing. For example, send a thank you note to a customer. Send a thank you note to a fellow employee. Send a thank you e-mail to a fellow employee and carbon copy his or her boss (this spreads goodwill).

7. Walk over to another department and personally thank an employee in front of his or her boss. This demonstrates not only good leadership, but provides a spotlight of a positive nature on the employee in front of his or her boss.

8. If you interact with customers, there are many things you can do to present yourself positively as well as your organization. Send a letter to a contact's boss at one of your customer sites. Tell your contact's boss how much you have enjoyed working with that particular individual. This spreads goodwill and puts your company -- as well as yourself -- in a positive perspective in the eyes of the customer.

9.Send a thank you card to an unsuspecting customer. One of our clients literally had people from the shipping and receiving department send out thank you cards and packages with their business cards stating "If you have any issues with this package, please feel free to call me directly."

10. Last, lead other people. You do not need to have the title of manager or leader to be a leader. Always remember, the bottom line of the organization becomes the guideline of decisions that need to be made for all employees.

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