Great employees are an asset to every company and organization, and as such, you should always look at how you can be a better employee.
Do you consider yourself a good employee?
Maybe you’ve received praise and commendation several times from your employer(s) in recognition of your great works.
Or could it be that your fellow employees always acknowledge your contributions and obvious talent and abilities?
If yes, then you are showing great signs of a good employee.
However, good is not always enough when it is possible to get better.
Regardless of your achievements or quality, you cannot rest on your laurels.
It should be your goal and ambition to get better and do better than you currently are.
If a good employee needs to get better, then a poor or bad employee even needs it more.
Your quality of work and productivity determines how long you stay valuable in your place of employment.
This, in effect, would be a factor that dictates whether you will be a long-term employee or one likely to get fired.
Every business owner has an abiding interest in seeing the growth and development of his organization.
That is the main reason why unproductivity from employees cannot be tolerated.
Therefore, as an employee who wants to continue to be in the good books of your employer and make progress rapidly, be sure to stay glued to this post.
In a moment, we will reveal the secret behind self-development and growth as an employee.
You will understand what makes many employees outstanding and excel in their workplace.
What makes you a Better Employee?
First, the question should be: “What makes you an employee?”
You are an employee when you are contracted to a firm, company, or organization as a paid worker.
Usually, you are employed or hired by the business owners or board of directors to fill a position in the establishment.
Your role might be a temporary one or a permanent one.
This depends largely on the job description and agreement you have with the employer.
In fact, as a business owner, you can also consider yourself an employee of your company, as long as it pays you.
Even more so, as a business owner, with these tips, you can teach your employees how to be better at what they do.
Thereby increasing their productivity and profitability in your business.
Therefore, do not quickly discard the points in this blog post as unimportant to you, but see how you can use them to improve yourself as someone working for your business and the employees in your organization.
Now that you’ve seen what makes you qualified as an employee, what makes you a better employee?
An employee who desires to get better wants to earn the admiration and recognition of his employers and fellow employees.
This means that such an employee is not satisfied with mediocrity, and neither does he/she settle for less.
Additionally, you are a better employee when you do not stagnate your growth, remaining in the same place as when you first got the job.
Instead, you continually earn the trust and respect of the management and are entrusted with more tasks and responsibilities as time goes on.
These are just a few of the characteristics evident in you as you become a better employee.
But as you would soon see, there are many more traits that come with growing from good to better in your role as an employee.
First, let’s discover why you should strive to be a better employee.
Why be a Better Employee?
You might wonder;
‘Is it really worth the time and stress of expending efforts in being a better employee?’
‘Isn’t my input in my place of work just enough?’
Well, we cannot overemphasize the importance of being a good employee and even taking the extra step of moving from good to better.
This is because there are many benefits and advantages that come from being a better employee in your workplace.
These benefits come to both the organization you work for and to yourself as the employee.
Let’s quickly review a few of them:
Increased Trust
One good thing with employers is that they can easily tell the difference between stagnation and growth.
When you make conscious efforts to get better in your role as an employee, your employer notices this.
Hence, they are more likely to entrust you with more responsibilities as time goes on.
This is because you possess the professional attitude that they have so come to cherish in the workplace.
Getting the Recognition you Deserve
Are you getting proper recognition for the work you do in your place of employment?
If not, have you ever considered what the problem might be?
Could it be that you have not done anything to move from the level you were at at inception to a higher level?
If you are not making efforts to get better, both in your attitude, skills, and productivity as an employee, you might not be getting due recognition.
This might bother you, especially when you feel you are working hard and deserve such recognition.
Increased Work Quality and Productivity
In all honesty, you cannot give that which you do not have.
If you are a mediocre employee, your product will definitely have elements of mediocrity around it.
On the other hand, if you are a good employee, the quality of work you do and the results you get.
To top the icing on the cake, your productivity and output will only get better if you work on being a better employee.
This would benefit you by increasing your status among your peers and also the company’s revenue generation.
Growth and Development
When it comes to growing in the workplace, the possibility for this increases as you add more value to yourself.
Unfortunately, many employees remain in the same position in an organization for many years.
Those who gained employment after them might even overtake them and take up bigger roles, even with fewer years of experience.
The difference is that these have shown that they deserve it by getting better in their roles as employees.
In a similar vein, if you prove yourself a good and better employee than others, you will most likely get that promotion you’ve always wanted.
Job Security
As uncertain and insecure as people paint employments to be, valuable employees rarely get the boot.
When you excel in your role and stand tall among your peers, you have a better chance of keeping your job.
You do not have to fear that your employer will throw you out at any given time, especially not on the grounds of unproductivity.
In a world where job opportunities might not be easy to come by, this is a good advantage to have, you would agree.
You Contribute to a Better Workplace Culture
Today, so many office environments and workplaces are characterized by frictions and disagreements.
This might be between employees and the management or even between fellow employees.
Improving yourself to be a better employee will mean that you do not exhibit these traits that foster disunity.
On the contrary, you are a fine example in displaying great qualities, which might rub off others.
Before you know it, you will be a key part of a good culture in the work environment.
It Helps your Personal Career Trajectory
Many people don’t understand that your work ethics and habits do not just affect your employer or organization, but it shapes you too personally.
You might have personal goals and aspirations outside of the job you do.
In fact, one of these goals might be to own a business of your own along the way.
The habits you develop as an employee would also inevitably decide how far you can go in your personal career journey.
If, as an employee, you are lazy, undedicated, procrastinate and settle for mediocrity, your life would reflect that.
On the contrary, if you are bent on always getting the best in your paid position, this will also transfer to your personal life.
Your Customer Relationship Gets Better
Customers usually are drawn to employees who are the best at what they do and have a certain level of distinction and excellence.
Just as your employer can easily notice when you are not performing at the optimum, customers also do.
Over time, you might find that you are a very important asset for your organization when building customer relations.
Disadvantages of not Getting Better as an Employee
Deliberately or unwittingly stagnating your personal growth as an employee can only spell trouble for you.
Whether in your attitude, work ethics, or relationship with others, you are nothing but endearing to an employer if you are poor in these areas as an employee.
Here are some negative effects this can have on you and the company you represent:
Poor Output and Productivity
One of the demerits of being stagnant in your growth as an employee is that your output and productivity remain the same or drops.
The fact is that many aspects of business continue to change and evolve every day, especially with new technologies.
If you cannot keep up, you will be stuck in the archaic ways of doing this, which will sap your productivity and eventual results.
Little or no Recognition
Trust us on this; if you do not work on being a better employee, you might be non-existent in your place of work.
You will realize that you are working hard, or at least it seems so, but you are not being recognized.
When important tasks and responsibilities come up, you get overlooked repeatedly.
It’s a rather painful effect of being a poor employee.
Unpleasant Work Environment
The poor attitude of an employee in the workplace directly affects the morale of other employees.
If you are not a good employee and are not making efforts to get better, you can influence your colleagues.
Before you know it, you have created a very unpleasant environment for others to work in.
Such an environment is anything but a favorable one to an employer.
A Need for Constant Supervision
An employee who has not worked on becoming a better version of himself cannot be entrusted with responsibilities without supervision.
In the place of work, when such an employee is given a task to complete, he/she will always need superior breathing down his/her neck.
This is because he is not seen as reliable and independent enough to carry out the given assignment under little or no supervision.
Gradually, this erodes the trust and confidence that your employer and colleagues have in you.
Being Prone to Making Constant Mistakes
If you are inefficient as an employee, you’ll be prone to making mistakes and errors than others are.
This is because you are not focused and do not have the relevant skills and abilities to get results.
With time, these errors or mistakes would only frustrate your employer and cause a breakdown in your relationship with him.
You are More Likely to Lose your Job
Let’s face it. No employer interested in his/her organization’s progress would keep a stagnant employee a part of his team.
If you want to make progress and self-development, it is only a matter of time before you are shown the door.
Put, if you do not try to be a better employee, you run the risk of not even having a job at all.
Loss of Business
Because employees are usually the ones at the forefront of interaction and relationships with customers, they are essential.
Their action or inaction can either help increase patronage for the firm or drive away customers.
If you do not strive to get better as an individual and in your role, you put the business at risk of losing customers.
A bad attitude, lack of quality, and stagnant growth are like a pungent smell.
You cannot hide it from your co-workers, and neither can you hide it from the customers, no matter how hard you try.
And of course, this can cause the organization you represent a loss of business and revenue if you do not work on it.
How to be a Better Employee
At this point, we believe you should be fully convinced of the importance of not just being a good employee but working on getting better every day.
With that in mind, what actions can you take to ensure you grow to become a better and valuable employee in your place of work?
Here are some of them:
Always Ask for Feedback
You can know if you are the best employee or get better by getting active feedback.
This feedback might be from your employer or your fellow employees.
It is good for you to remember that the feedback is not always positive but can be negative sometimes.
But should it really matter? Again, the goal is for you to know areas to make improvements and get better.
Hence, be open to receiving feedback because every form of feedback is beneficial and can only help you improve yourself.
Work on Improving your Focus
One thing that might impede your growth and development by affecting your productivity at work is distractions.
With these distractions around, you might be experiencing troubles and difficulties with maintaining focus while learning or working.
This might affect your quest to be a better employee.
Hence, try to identify the things that distract you and cause you to lose focus.
These might include your cell phone, items on your desk, or even a co-worker.
Once you can note the source of your distractions, you can start cutting them out and improving your concentration.
Maintain Constant Communication with Others
You cannot aim to be a better employee and yet stay aloof while in your place of work.
You must cultivate the skill of maintaining active communication with your colleagues regularly.
This would involve prioritizing a face-to-face conversation over text messages or emails when possible.
Learn New Skills/Add Value to Yourself
As you well know, better is an improvement on the good.
Therefore, even if you are already doing fine as an employee in your workplace and everyone can testify to that, you cannot slack.
Now and then, you need to equip yourself with more skills, using all the resources you have at your disposal.
To do this, you might need to apply for some courses or programs that make you better in certain areas or even expose you to new things.
When you do this, your employer can look at you and say: “You are even much better than you were when you arrived here XYZ months or years ago.”
To Be A Better And Productive Employee, Always Volunteer
So, you’ve been performing your assigned duties and roles with the utmost diligence for a long time, and that is brilliant.
However, how do you react when there is a new project or task in the office, and someone is needed to carry it out?
Do you hide behind your desk, possibly thinking: “Oh well, that is not my responsibility”
Or do you, on the other hand, promptly put up your hand to take up the additional responsibilities?
When you are willing to volunteer yourself, you prove your worth to the management, making you a better employee.
Cultivate Respect in the Work Environment
What are you better known for where you work? Peaceful coexistent and respectful, or conflict and discord?
Your answer reveals if you are a bad employee or a good one working on becoming better.
In all you do, make it your goal always to show respect to others.
This you can do by respecting their opinions and point of view.
You also do not want to impose your views on others or cut them off when trying to contribute.
Respect begets respect, and when you show this to others, you will get it back in return.
Moreso, you will be getting better as an employee.
Take Responsibility and Don’t Shift Blames
Some in the workplace are fond of shifting the blame of mistakes and everything that goes wrong on others.
You will never find them acknowledging their mistakes and taking responsibility for their actions or inactions.
That should not be the case with you.
To be a better employee, you need to blame some things that go wrong under your purview or supervision.
That way, instead of shying away from the problem, you can start looking for ways to work out a solution, and that, in turn, will make you better.
Be Punctual; It Would Help You Be A Better Employee
Punctuality, they say, is the soul of business.
This is often one of the first signs of dedication and commitment in an employee.
While working on the best habits you can cultivate as an employee; you need to place punctuality high up your list.
Endeavor to resume to work on time, and do not make excuses for coming late.
Your fellow employees will notice this, and so will your employer, and it would win you their respect.
This is because you are showing yourself to be a better employee.
Don’t Just Wait to Be Told, Take the Initiative
For you to be productive at work, you will need to get better at taking the initiative.
It is not always that your supervisor or superior assigns you tasks or projects to implement.
At such times, you shouldn’t lazy around or spend the whole day playing games or surfing the internet.
Rather, spend the time doing things that are more productive around the office by using your initiative.
That way, you show the management that you are reliable and proactive and a very good employee.
Be a Hard worker, Always Give your Best
It doesn’t matter what your assignment or role is, whether it is big or it appears small.
Always bring your ‘A-game’ to whatever you do and give it your best.
In fact, instead of not meeting up to expectations, be sure to exceed expectations.
When you do this, your employer will appreciate you and see you as a valuable asset.
You’ll also prove that you are now a better employee.
Contribute Ideas and Suggestions
The best employees do not lose their voices at important meetings where pertinent points are discussed.
Instead, they always pick the right moment and occasion to air their views and opinions, even when unsure.
When they do this, they unconsciously keep themselves relevant to the firm and those in managerial positions.
So also, in your quest to be a better employee, do not suppress your views and opinions.
Always be willing to step up and speak up when the need and opportunity arises.
Socialize with Others
The last thing you want to do as an employee is taking your job very seriously but zoning out of other social activities around the workplace.
Social life is also another opportunity to show your team spirit and earn the love and admiration of others.
If you are always available to share in the leisurely part of things, your colleagues will see you as a valuable and good employee, and so will your employer.
The Bottom Line on How to be a Better Employee
There is a lot that has been said and written about being a good employer or leader.
However, there is little such information on how to be a good or better employee.
That is why the information provided in this article would be very beneficial because employees are as important as the business owner.
If not more important.
Regardless of the challenges and difficulties, it is possible to excel as an employee and get better.
Do this, and you will find that you get more recognition from your employer, and you are more likely to stay relevant and employed for a long time.
Above all, there’s always room for improvement and becoming better at whatever you do.
Therefore, even after using these tips to become a better employee, consistently look for ways to improve and be your best self professionally and personally.
