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What makes an employee invaluable?
26

What makes an employee invaluable?

What makes an employee invaluable?

(OP)
This is a question for those that either run their own business or manage employees.  What are your opinions of what makes an employee invaluable?  I'm looking for a little more than the typical cliches.

Thank you for your input!

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

The long answer is, well I could go on for ages.

The short answer is they solve far more problems than they create.

Or is that a cliché?
 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

The cliche answer is "They make the boss look good".

Sadly, after working in a supervisory capacity for the last 20 years of my employment, I found many employees with superior intellect, great qualifications/education that "found the door" more often than the "guy that just got along" with the management.  Work ethic and timeliness play a big part.......Still, it's all too often a "personality" driven business.

Perhaps I've been retired too long (14 years this April) and have become somewhat cynical in my declining years?

Rod

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

2
There is really no such thing as being 'invaluable' but someone who contributes far more than what they cost, now that's much more likely to be the case and when it is, those are the sorts of people you want to fill your organization with.  Now granted, in many cases what they bring to an organization may not be tangible in that you don't have an absolute, real-time way of measuring your 'return-on-investment', but over time the good manager/supervisor will learn to recognize it when it exists, often based on what others, either in your organization or your customer base, have to say about a particular employee or how things seem to just always work out for the best when they are involved or were responsible for something, either in producing some added-value or in avoiding some unnecessary costs.  Remember, it's the NET that counts, not just the positives delivered but also the negatives avoided.  After all, not everyone has the 'luxury' of work in 'profit center'.  Some of us work in jobs that the bean-counters consider as 'overhead' and so the measure of a person's contribution has to be based on a different point-of-view with different milestones and criteria.

Sorry if these also sound like a cliché but sometimes it is what it is.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
UG/NX Museum:   http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Nothing.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Perception.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

That is an item you cannot really put your finger on.
 But getting the job done right the first time, and working with minimal supervision goes a long way towards it.
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them.  Old professor

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

agree with Ron, no employee is invaluable.

but if an employee hits home the key elements for a firm, than they would be considered a good emplpoyee.

these key elements can be:
cost
technical ability
timing
client liaison
quality control
ass kissing
 
 

http://www.nceng.com.au/
"A safe structure will be the one whose weakest link is never overloaded by the greatest force to which the structure is subjected" Petroski 1992

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

If you think someone is invaluable walk past a cemetery.  

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

2
I would say that employees can be invaluable, that is, no value can properly be established.  No employee, however, is irreplaceable.

I like people who:
-are looking for their next assignment before their current one is totally finished - able to juggle projects.
-go the extra mile.  While I enjoy problem solving, look for the answers and talk to the right people before bringing me the problem.
-know their own capabilities and are sincere about it.  I'd rather have to explain to superiors that a job will take longer than expected and be on time, rather than have to explain why we were late.
-are flexible.  If I really need a material take off or a purchase order or something a little different, I sometimes need a right hand man (or lady) who can make my life easier.
-act like they want to be here.  I actually have a co-worker that has outright told me that he doesn't like working on projects for the client that I primarily work for.  He is a good technical engineer, but I always know that he'd rather be doing something else.

I hope this helps.

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

If someone is invaluable, that is good. If they are irreplaceable, you need to fix that fast or else one day when they must be replaced you are deep in it.

I look for self motivation, self critical, a strong work ethic and pride in doing a good job. Ability to work as a team team member and show respect for the work and position of others also helps a lot. If people strive to make themselves irreplaceable, I replace them ASAP

If you find this in an employee, make sure you show sufficient appreciation to make them feel special. Cash is the only truly sincere form of flattery in business. OK, giving someone authority is also a pretty sincere form of flattery. It does not take much extra to make someone feel special.

Regards
Pat
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

2
Commitment:
 - to their own integrity
 - to their family
 - to their profession
 - to their Company
 - to their project
 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Nobody is invaluable in this day and age but some people would really be a pain in the butt to replace. I've seen people who were perceived as very important to an organization go away on a whim and some lower level employee takes over their major responsibilities and make it look easy.

As for the right characteristics it really depends on the organization. At one place you may be the cats meow in the technical arena but at another you may be a hinderence. Half the battle is finding where YOU fit in.

One thing I constantly remind myself is that you can go from hero to zero at work in the blink of an eye and my main responsibility at work is to take for myself as much as I give my organization. Deep down that is what MOST people are doing and it is the main reason why they stay around for so long.  

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

(OP)
Thanks everyone for your replies.  I was basically trying to get at what an employee can do to make themselves as valuable as possible, not irreplaceable.  

Here's another question - how many of you put up with problem employees just because it's too big of a headache to replace them.  Furthermore, what does an employee have to do to get shown the door?  Also, if an employee does prove to be a problem, what actions are taken for correction?     

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Yes - I have put up with plenty of problem employees. They get fewer and fewer the more experience that I get. I think this is an indication of MY development more so than theirs but there are plenty of people who are just jack aces no matter what. To get shown the door I have to have someone who had done something really bad to the point where I would lose my job if I didn't handle them OR they are not contributing and making other good employees miserable.

Typically to correct a problem employee the first thing I do is try to increase communication with that person. If I didn't get much out of them I would casually seek information from a coworker of that person who may know what their issue is.

To correct their behavior I take what their grievance is and if practical try to accommodate them. It's better for the whole group if you can make that person happy without screwing others over. The person may need a different assignment, better support, or have a coworker that they don't get a long with. I try to bring the two together to discuss differences and work things out first before separating them. I don't want people playing games with job assignments because they think I'm weak and will reward negative behavior by giving them what they want.

In a nut shell it's all situation specific but those are my experiences.   

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Valuable employee:

Make money for the owners.
Make your boss and coworkers look good to TPTB (the powers that be).
Make life easier, not harder, for your boss and coworkers.
Have specialized, scarce knowledge valuable in your role.

"I want to get fired" employee:

Be dishonest, untrustworthy, irresponsible.
Stir up gossip or other trouble among coworkers.
Provide substandard performance in your duties.


I will put up with poor performers to a point, but when an employee actively sabotages our ability to work together through dishonesty or troublemaking, their days are numbered.  I could forgive scrapping $1000 worth of parts; stealing $10 would mean termination.  For me the most important thing is trust.  I have not found a way to work with someone effectively over time if there is no trust present.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

2
The discussion, and your last questions, pops into my head the thought "there are no bad employees, only bad managers."  Not 100% true, but there's something to it.  

To summarize the comments above, no one is indispensible unless perceived so by the person who has termination authority.  I believe it.

But I firmly believe that it is a very rare bird who makes a really fine manager.  Most of us have to suffer through terrible excuses for managers.  I think THAT is the root cause of most bad employee behavior.

I had good one, once, when much younger.  I was part of a team of recent grads, frightfully intelligent but not so experienced, who "knew it all" and were part of something really exciting.  Our team boss had the personality & savvy to herd this bunch of tempermental cats into some great award-winning achievements.  It was the best experience of my career.  He quit to go on to much greater things with that guy who ran the "Fruit Computer" company.  The company replaced GoodBoss with "YearsOfExperienceManager" and it all went to hell.  The entire team quit in a manner of a couple months.

I had the experience of salvaging a "trouble employee".  This person was hated by the entire company and the regime wanted her gone, but she was wonderfully competent.  I used the soft approach, was patient, and was able to get her to understand she needed to modify her behavior.  She did, and the company was better for it.  

We're all made in the image of the Almighty and should be treated as such.  It rarely happens, unfortunately.  For the so-called "trouble employees", if given the opportunity, I would try everything I know to salvage that employee.  If unsalvagable, then I would attempt to guide that person into another position and/or company where they could be happier and a better fit.  But the "quick reaction, decisive management" culture we live in today, a result of the dysfunctional HR weasels and legal industry, rarely allows that opportunity to treat each other with anything resembling human dignity.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering
www.bluetechnik.com

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

3
To me...

It's not "the smartest" guy (gal); I am not that.
It's not the "most talented" guy / gal; I am not that.
It's not the "most profitable" guy (gal); I am not that.
It's not "the best looking" guy (gal); well, OK, I *am* that...
It's certainly *NOT* an MBA...not that I am in any way bitter...

Actually, whatever most people think it is, I am none of it...and, yet, this year, at the Christmas Party, I was still recognized as one of the outstanding employees of the year.

So...what is it?

In hockey terms...it's the ability to either put the puck in the net, or know who to pass it to so that *they* can put the puck in the net.  An example:

I asked an intern student to get me a price for (make / model) pump from (named specific supplier) and try to give me (x weeks) delivery.  The intern corresponded with exactly who I asked him to, asked him exactly what I wanted him to ask, and got the answer: delivery would be (x+y) weeks.  Then, he got on the phone and on the email and researched everyone else who could find the exact same pump, explained that "x" was acceptable whereas "x+y" was not, found a suitable alternate supplier, and came back to my office in a couple of days with a bid summary, a draft purchase order, terms and conditions, and asked if there was anything else that I might need to approve in order to obtain the pump I wanted in the time I wanted it.  I signed the paperwork and said "good job", because that was all that was left for me to do.

This "mentorship" stuff is easy!

It's *that* that makes an employee invaluable.

Regards,

SNORGY.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I can tell you what one company did to get rid of a problem employee; they gave her glowing and raving reviews.  Once she started working for us, it was our problem; smart on the subject of sexual discrimination, but didn't know one end of a shift register from the other.

Oddly, we cross paths again, 6 yrs later at another company, but it wasn't my problem any more and it wasn't my department's problem either.

Unrelated, during those 6 yrs at another company, we had another problem child; when she announced her departure, we had a going away party for her, but somehow, we forgot to invite her winky smile

TTFN

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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

IR Stuff,
I believe that method is used in goverment. It is called "kicking a problem upstairs".
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them.  Old professor

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Be invaluable to yourself.  Build and exercise skills that make you valuable to this employer and the next.  Yes, there will be a next.  Be hireable.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Invaluable?  As an employer, any employee who can take over my responsibilities and handle them with the same care and ability that I do... without a desire to do so on a permanent basis... is invaluable.

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Old Blues Lyric;

"One Monkey doan stop no show!"

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Being both an employee and an employer, I see the best and worst of both sides of the fence.  Being invaluable simply means the degree of difficulty in finding an adequate replacement for that employee.  We are all replaceable, some more easily than others.

Personality, skill-set, creativity, ability to empower others, communication skills, ability to identify problems ahead of criticality and solve them, and the list goes on.

Just my 2 cents.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I think there are two different definitions of invaluable going on here.

Some responders are interpreting it as so valuable as to be difficult to place a value on it.

Some are interpreting it as irreplaceable.

Here are some dictionary definitions.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/invaluable

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invaluable

Regards
Pat
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Probably already said but the bottom line is "NOTHING".  Everyone can be replaced and history has well proven that.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

What makes an employee invaluable?  That's a great question.
I believe its the intangibles he / she brings to bear in the job.
We can all hire well-qualified, capable people to retire in place so to speak.  Recognizing candidates or people in your organization who have those qualities is the key.  You can teach most people any given task, you can't teach (on a rare occasion maybe) someone to look beyond the task, reach out to find a solution, engage in the process, or get others engaged, without being told or prompted to do so.  The question you have asked is interesting because it is tough to quantify or describe adequately, but we all recognize individuals like that because they become our go to people.  They're accountable, engaging, and when they speak, as EF Hutton used to say "People Listen."  I'm fortunate because I have several in my group.  I wish I could bottle up their enthusiasm and energy and inject it into a few others.  Hope that helps.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Photographs.

- Steve
 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Too right,Steve.  I've got a little bit of that insurance, myself.  Might be worth a very nice severance package someday!

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Nobody is invaluable.  If you disagree, test that by asking for twice your current salary and see what they say.

Nobody is irreplaceable.  Check the graveyard as bridgebuster so wisely pointed out.

A wise and cynical person once told me that all employees can be neatly fit into a 2x2 matrix:  smart and stupid on one axis, hardworking and lazy on the other.  

Obviously the smart and hard-working ones are the ones you want, as they net you 10x their salary in revenue.  

Smart and lazy is OK too:  they may only generate 3x, but they're still good.  

Stupid and lazy is OK too- they cost you only a little more than a salary.  

But stupid and hardworking- those you've got to find and fire QUICK before they bankrupt you!

All kidding aside:  what makes someone an invaluable employee?  It depends totally on the business they're in- and who is employing them.  Many unsuccessful companies have invaluable employees, remember, so what is in the company's actual interest and what the company perceives to be in its interest may be different.  It's also true that some of the skills that make me totally successful in my current employ would make me a complete disaster in other lines of work.  

A good employee can figure out what the business needs and then build those skills, without waiting for their boss to tell them that they're not measuring up.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I think it's been said already.. but the invaluable employee will never get promoted.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

"invaluable employee will never get promoted"

That's perfect, particularly if a promotion makes you a manager instead of an engineer.

TTFN
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Hopefully employees that add a lot of value to the company have the characteristic of "spreading their wealth" to others in the company.  Good and bad behaviors rub off on people, which is Biblical truth.  That is, the sins of the father are visited upon the third and fourth generation.  This repeats itself until someone decides they are sick of family generational problems.  I think this can apply to companies, too.  We've probably all seen it.  The converse of that Biblical point is also true in my mind.

While I think companies should help their employees, I struggle with how much help should be provided.  I think companies are too harsh on some and too lenient on others.  But, if the church weren't falling down on its functions, Christians would be much better in the workplace because their family baggage would be dealt with elsewhere.

There are all kinds of situations in life with creative and innovative solutions, which is the fun part.  :)

Overall, I don't think of any of us are indispensable.  Value is often an intangible measurement, which should be considered with care.

My training to shed union employees was enlightening.  There are several steps that have to be meticulously documented for obvious reasons.  The company's perspective was don't bother because it isn't worth the time and effort because the union will win anyway.

But, I have friends in business who love their employees because they make life and business so much easier.  It seems very personality dependent to me.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I often look around the team I'm in and wonder how we'd cope if a certain piece of our puzzle were to fall out. Makes you think deeply about who does what and who knows what. This is probably only possible in a smallish team of closely interacting people (c. 15 in my case). Fun to think about though.

In another team where I work, no current member was part of it when I joined the department. That team is in at least its second generation, possibly third.

- Steve
 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Quote (ports394):

the invaluable employee will never get promoted.
They will if someone higher than their boss believes they are invaluable... always let your light shine a little higher than just one floor.

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

If you do particularly good work, you can only really be promoted when you train up someone to fill your current role.

Also it takes more than being good at your current roll to be good in the next role. Management has to guess as to how you will handle untested qualities that will be required.

Regards
Pat
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

"you can only really be promoted when you train up someone to fill your current role"

I wish Pat, instead they just dump the new work on you while in practice still expecting you to do whatever you were already doing.

(Of course if I wasn't wasting time on eng-tips maybe I'd have made some progresswinky smile)

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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

There are 5 in my team.  One I would like to let go - but he has 3 kids.  Two are great.  The last one is too new to know just yet - but seems promising.

So I made one mistake in five -- I am not invaluable - I just run the department.

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Off topic so OP feel free to red flag but...

"One I would like to let go - but he has 3 kids"

From a business point of view why is the quantity of his off spring your concern?  Don't get me wrong, I dislike excessively hard nosed business folks as much as the next employee.  However, if they are really so bad you want to get rid of them is them having kids a good enough reason to keep them?  How is their poor performance impacting other employees etc.?

Sorry, just stood out to me for some reason.

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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

That reminds me of a sparky I knew who had 8 kids and seemed to ride out layoffs as if by magic.

In retrospect, what frustrated me about him was not that he did things wrong, but that he chose to do the wrong things.

E.g., to run a DC linear actuator, he chose to design a power supply from scratch, rather than buying one, or just buying a car battery and a float charger.  That last would have been the best option because the actuator required >250 amps to start under load (which it had to do in our application), vs. its nominal current requirement of about 20 amps, which is what our magic power supply was designed for.  The power supply worked great on the test bench.



 

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I'd feel pretty annoyed if I was being laid off and not someone else simply because they had children to feed.  Just sayin'...

Back in my drafting days, the small company I worked for hired a client's son to do drafting for us.  I was Senior Draftsman (for whatever that's worth), but found out they were paying him something like $1.50/hr more.  When questioned about that, the response was "He doesn't want to have a roommate in his apartment, so he needs more money to pay the rent."  No kidding... really?  I don't want to live with roommates, either, but that didn't affect my pay.  I quit several weeks later after having worked for them nearly four years.  Found out sometime later that the kid left them high and dry a few months after I left.

Except in times of need, such as time off for sickness/death in the family, your personal life and details should have zero effect on how you are treated at work, including pay.

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I had an appraisal (review) a few years ago after a really bad year in my life. The boss asked: "So has all that domestic shit healed up?" Which is pretty much how home life affects work in most jobs.

It's not a holiday camp, or a family picnic.

- Steve
 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

You guys/gals are right.  I do need to get rid of him and as a matter of fact spoke to HR yesterday about the best way of going about that.

But I am human - and love kids .... in the right sort of way!!!  

Got 4 g-kids that are the love of my life!!  Daughter - not so much.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Wow guys, you've just sent a family into turmoil over a discussion on Eng Tips based on hearsay, which the person can not defend them selves to the people on this thread who condemned them.  Mike The Engineer, please reconsider your actions.  It has seems that your have been persuaded by total strangers on such a delicate matter.  

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"  

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

No - I take from these forums like I take all advice - some good - some not so good.  It is always my call - but I ALWAYS use input from many resources before making a decision.

This has been in the works for over two years.  I have had two people who kind of intimated that he drove them crazy and they had to move on - either internally or externally.

Once I get a few other things straightened out - he's gone.

It just has taken me that long to get "others" trained and licensed!!

I LOVE my daughter - she is just a dark haired "blond" if you get my drift!!!  "An air head"

PLEASE slta and Cassiopeia and any other women on this forum - nothing against women!!! I promise.  Her husband is probably worse!!  Actually, he is!!!

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

TBC, last I checked, Mike was the one making the decision, not us.

If I had the power to force people to make those kind of decisions over the net, I would have been rich long ago.

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Yes, I agree. But you'll never know what you commented may have made some kind of persuasive impact to the poster.  I was just asking MTE to reconsider, because the fall out is a family with kids without hopefully one less income that can make a world of a difference.  But, I am sure MTE did his due diligence to make the right decision for the company.  This is probably why I can not be a manager to make tough decisions like this.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"  

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Thanks to all for any input!!

That's why I love this forum -- there are always two sides to every story and usually three sides - with the truth somewhere in the middle.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

my point was.. when you're yold that you're too good at what you do now, to be promoted into another position, etc...because then who will do you work?  and if they hire someone new to do your work and you train them... theyll probably be cheaper and just get you fired.

It's business.  There's an intangible side of making a business efficient by keeping employees happy... and there's also the money side.  Dollars are really easy to count.

MTC.  Good luck with your decision.   

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Invaluable usually means undervalued and under paid.
And yes, being too good makes you a good prospect for being kept in the same job for as long as possible.

On the other hand, the over-riding HR guiding principle is that no one is indispensable.
Anyone who appears to be invaluable will tend to be regarded as a bit of a risk.

 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

invaluable is a code word for arrogant sob who is a know  it all.  I guess that was a double negative for invaluable.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I don't know about that Controlsdude.  Every company seems to have that one person that seems to be the axle on which the company turns, whether it is in the office or the shop, and I have yet to see one of them anything but humble.  They often don't realize that THEY are the invaluable one, they just assimilate the role by default because once everyone else begins to get a clue about their range of abilities and their (usually) highly responsible nature, they just become the go-to guy or girl.

The arrogant and egotistical people I've encountered in all of the places that I've worked could usually be replaced by a steaming pile of cow dung and the company would be no worse for it.  Unfortunately, they are usually the ones who stick around just long enough to frustrate the invaluable guy/girl to the point of quitting, and then go their merry way after smartly upsetting the works.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

There is no upside to being an arrogant SOB, no matter how brilliant.

Brilliance = talent (it's a gift); Helpful = attitude (takes effort)

With sports, as with any team in anything, effort beats talent most of the time.  Just look at how the Bruins disposed of the Canucks in last year's Stanley Cup, for example.  The same is true in the workplace.

The only time it doesn't work that way is when the people with the most talent also put in the most effort.  That's when they become invaluable.

Regards,

SNORGY.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I have to give you a star for this Snorgy

I've seen too many talented people not putting the effort because they never had to to get ahead or just to be on par with those with work hard! That's a shame to waste all that potential.

Patrick

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Quote:

Brilliance = talent (it's a gift); Helpful = attitude (takes effort)
I'd suggest:
Pseudo Brilliance = effort and involvement - by comparison with many, not hard to achieve the illusion of brilliance if you have some smarts (in the kingdom of the blind....)
Helpful = attitude. Not easy to fake. Some people are naturally inclined to be helpful.
Well, they are that way inclined even if what they have to offer isn't worth the effort in the end. Think of all those people only too pleased to give directions when they clearly have no idea where they are or where you want to be. (My wife has a gift of selecting these people to ask for directions. They always want to help and will waste hours with their useless directions.)

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Quote:


 
controlsdude

invaluable is a code word for arrogant sob who is a know  it all.  I guess that was a double negative for invaluable.


Maybe so if they make that attribution to themselves, however if others make it, how does that make the recipient of the praise arrogant or snobbish.  

Regards
Pat
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Well, we snobs are clever that way; we maneuver others into heaping such praise as that onto ourselves.  It's a delicate operation.

TTFN
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

What makes an employee invaluable?
The absence of brown-nosers, the valuable employee's natural predator.

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Sleep with the boss.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Not too practical for most of us.

- Steve
 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Not all bosses are men

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Sleep with the boss?  Why, so the company can get me coming and going?


(sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to spell the word the way I wanted to... this isn't the Pub winky smile)

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Not all employees are hetro! haha

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Lisa, how can you suggest that?
Sleep with the pointy headed one?

gorgeous (we definitely need some Dilbert smileys)    

 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

All jokes aside, there was a case in my town, Wollongong 2500 Australia where a female town planner was accused of corruption because she was approving inappropriate developments if the developers slept with her.

Regards
Pat
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Can I just clarify that what I said was a joke!

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

lisa247 I know you were just joking and I think most if not all of us realize that.  But you definitely made a lot of us take notice!

A long time ago I worked for a female boss, and she was both highly competent and invariably professional.  But if she had offered I confess I would have been sorely tempted.  But not for the purpose of moving up in the organization...she was simply stunningly lovely.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

"Its just that sort of joke that sets women back 50 years...."

Yeah Ok, I'm just joking too and I did know you were joking Lisa247.
wink

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I thought you were serious.  But then again, I have no sense of humour.  Had me going for a minute.

Thank goodness you were only fooling around.   

Regards,

SNORGY.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Give your boss or seniors answers ahead of their questions.

Give them answers a day before the question are asked

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

If a question is answered before it is asked then how do you know there was really going to be a question? ;)

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

You set them up.
Managing managers is not that difficult for some.

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I have to agree with many here; invaluable employees are usually marked (by HR or whomever) as a risk.  To become indespensible can not be allowed, understandably.
The most secure "invaluable" employee that I can think of would be an in-law of some sort to top management.

Technically, the glass is always  full.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I'm still scratching my head about answers that roll invaluable and indispensable into one thing. My understanding of the two words has two distinctly different meanings.

Regards
Pat
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

EWH
As an employer I used to think " That guy is great, but what am I going to do if he quits?".
   It has happened, my top guy got a better offer from a competitor that I was unwilling to match.

  So then I am more careful in how I train people, because if I show them too much they will leave.

 You can see how self defeating this is, you end up with a bunch of guys/gals you have to nursemaid who do not expand and grow.
 At which time they are all dispensible.
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them.  Old professor

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

Well, if it were my company, I wouldn't want to have to rely on just one or two key people to keep the business successful... many employees may suffer the unintended consequencies should those key people meet misfortune.

Technically, the glass is always  full.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

I believe the answer is not to limit training, that means you never have those skills available even if they don't leave.

I think the answer is to have depth in the organisation by having everyone trained up for their next potential advancement and to have several skilled in each task essential for the companies ongoing viability.

Regards
Pat
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

With today's lean methods, I would say that every employee is invaluable, especially when that person knows the job well and has been trained for it by the company.
I agree fully with Pat. If you do not invest in your employees the whole organisation can become stale. This in return can be used to motivate employees to stay there. Employees are an asset as much as machinery and other physical assets.

Joe Borg
 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

2
Who needs to work at a place where they won't train you because they don't want you to become good enough to be able to leave?

Entrapment by the insistence on performance mediocrity.

That is a completely mind-staggering perversion.

Regards,

SNORGY.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

In the modern world people are far more adept at job hopping.
To expect people to remain in one place for long is unrealistic.
However, if you don't offer incentives to stay for longer you lose useful people quicker than you can train them and get left with the no-hopers.
Training adds value.
It does make people more employable by others.
But it also acts as an incentive to encourage people to stay longer where they can add value to themselves quicker.
The issue then is for the employer to try and come out ahead on the cost benefit side of the game.
Employees with ambitions are often better employees. Not always, but often.
Good employers will recognise that they can attract the best employees if they help those employees meet their own goals which may well be to move on to better jobs.
HR's function is succession planning.
People can do funny things like leave to work for some one else or get run over by buses.
Funnily enough the one area that seems to defeat HR succession planning is retirement. They know that if so and so doesn't get the sack or hand in his notice or get hit by a bus, come his 65th birthday he is out of the door.
Usually HR catch on to this about one or two days before he actually retires.
Plus it seems that the more valuable the employee the closer to retirement before they realise the problem.
Go figure.

It makes you wonder bout working your notice period too.
I can't say I have ever had a constructive well thought out plan put to me for my notice period.
In some companies, if they think you are going to a competitor, they will let you go immediately. I have never understood why because if your leaving is a surprise to them, it isn't to you and if you were going to do anything tricky, you'd have done it already.
The first job I left they decided to keep me as long as possible to spite the competitor I was going to but took me off normal duties and gave me a special project which I did to the best of my ability, even though I was the last one to arrive at the pub for my own leaving party.

I have never been asked to help transfer anything to a successor.
The most I have been asked to do is make sure everything on my laptop was organised onto the company mainframe for future reference but I have never seen any sign that anyone ever used it.

But who ever said management or HR were smart?

 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

If you plan to prevent staff turnover, you are doomed to be caught with your pants down sooner or later. You must plan for contingency in the event of staff turnover. Change is the only constant.

I work for a company that does an excellent job of staff retention. They offer great benefits, tons of training opportunities, flexible work hours and competitive pay and the result is that most people stay for their entire career.

However, I think this may be the company's biggest issue because you have a person that has worked there for 35 years, and nowhere else, teaching someone that will work there for 35 years, and nowhere else. You begin to develop an inbreeding of knowledge and it becomes incredible difficult to change the way of thinking. It is a great company that has a lot of very experienced people, but sometimes it suffers from a lack of fresh ideas and perspectives.

Best bet is to treat your employees well; they will reciprocate. All the while, plan for, and appreciate the benefits of, change.

RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

2
If you are a small business and you have a very valuable employee, help to train them to even more value and retain them by offering some shares.

If you do not train, you never get competent people even short term. If you do train and they leave, at least you had competent people for some time. If you do train and manage to retain them, you have won twice.

If you are holding them back, try to place them with a customer or prospect. That way you get a loyal friend at the customers.

Regards
Pat
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RE: What makes an employee invaluable?

One reason the best applicants were attracted to Schlumberger was that good employees were taken up to their limits... if found.
They fast tracked good candidates into good positions. Not brown nosers, good candidates.... (this is the company where I once had a good manager who was fast tracked out of there).
If they went on to better things in Schlum or with other companies it was all the same.
I also worked at companies where they not only had a problem keeping employees they had a problem finding good candidates to begin with because it was recognised that no one good ever came from that company.

So if you do take new employees in one year and turn them out several years later as above average, you should find good applicants come your way and you get a better return on your investment than if you have to invest the same or more effort on poor employees you then can't get rid of.  

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

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