6 Ways To Make Yourself Irreplaceable At Work | Calibr
The fear of being ousted from your company looms large, making yourself irreplaceable at work is the only solution to secure your job.
At work, the feeling of insecurity can easily creep in as there is so much going on from crazy KRAs to layoff to office politics. So how does one survive all this? Here is how you can turn the table around and make yourself irreplaceable at work so that it’s your company that fears to lose you out :
Carve your own niche
Specialising in certain areas will help you compete more effectively with your colleagues, giving you that added advantage. Identify your skills, strengths, and talents and practice until they become your expertise. Develop your knowledge that is specific and unique to you. When you create your own niche, you are bound to make an impact on your subordinates, colleagues, and superiors.
Working to create your niche may require that extra effort that wouldn’t be a part of your job description, but when you do, it will be an additional asset that will make you stand out from the herd. Doing so makes your profile irreplaceable.
Deliver what you promise
Procrastination is a slow yet deadly weapon that can be used against you at your workplace. You need to work hard for the timely delivery of targets. Any compromise with the quality and quantity of work promised cannot go unnoticed.
Become self-aware and avoid any temptations that you may have to delay and extend your timeline. When you deliver on time, you are increasing your trustability and dependability factor.
Your company will know that you are someone they can always count on and offloading you will certainly not be their option.
Don’t sweat at the small stuff
A key attribute that will differentiate you from your colleagues is the overall positive, solution-oriented outlook you have to ignore the small stuff. Any industry or any job profile, accept that problems are bound to exist. The more absorbed you get in the minutest details that go wrong, the more likely it is to have a negative impact on your performance.
Moreover, in the long run, such an attitude is certain to be noticed by the people around and if a need arises to cut someone from the department, a negative person is often the first choice. So do not complain, just take an action!
Invest in self-learning
Only when you see yourself as an asset and invest in your abilities that will fetch you return later, will your company also treat you as their asset. A constant dedication to learning later, the environment, the colleagues, self-help groups, books, videos etc will keep you motivated and help you deliver as per your company’s expectations from you. Consistent learning will also enable you to evaluate yourself better and ease off your ego that often derails growth.
Above all, remember when you invest your resources — time, energy and money on yourself, that’s one thing no one can ever take away from you.
Be a team player
Connecting and networking with others becomes absolutely essential at the workplace. How much ever individualistic and independent you would like to be, remember the thin line between independence and isolation. You cannot thrive in isolation. It is important that you are able to work respectfully and efficiently with others when needed to, which will result in increasing your reliability at work.
A team player is definitely more valuable to a firm than a non-cooperative individual. This becomes especially necessary if you wish to climb up the ladder into a leadership position.
Be great at your work
Make a list of the set of expectations and take them positively. Go through the list every once in a while and evaluate yourself. Introspecting yourself and checking your actions before someone else checks and corrects you is important.
Also in circumstances, when others correct you, do not take it negatively. Take every feedback with utmost reverence. Accepting constructive criticism gracefully will certainly help you get better at your job.
While these may appear utopian or daunting and challenging, it is not impossible to incorporate these habits. Becoming irreplaceable in the workplace simply means you are able to make vital contributions to your company, that may be difficult to fill in easily.
Cultivating these habits and making these changes are only strengthening your chances to enhance your contribution to your current work profile and are also opening better prospects in the long term. When your workplace gets positively benefitted by your presence and hard work, you will be irreplaceable at your work!
Originally published at Calibr
