Your organization has hired you for the results you can achieve with your talents and abilities. The organization believes that by using those talents and abilities, you will “add value.” You solve problems, you help the organization meet the needs of its clients, you contribute ideas that are valuable, etc. Those types of things add value.
In order for the organization to give you value—your salary and your position—it needs you to add value. It’s that simple.
How can I add value to my organization today?
The value you create is what you are paid for. The more value you create that is recognized by the company, the more you can earn in salary and position.
The key thing to remember is your compensation is a portion of the value that you create. You should aim to add ten times as much value as the compensation that you desire to be paid.
Do something that other people don’t know how to do.
Value is created out of scarcity. Gold is precious because it is relatively scarce. Iron costs less because it is more plentiful. Value derives from scarcity!
This principle of scarcity applies in the workplace as well. When you can do things that other people cannot do, what you can do has great value! Your skill is scarce! This creates a wonderful opportunity for you.
You get paid more for doing things other people can’t do!
Constantly learn new skills. Never stagnate Read books, attend courses, and build your skills. Look for the “missing skills” in your company. Look for skills and knowledge that are relatively scarce in your society. What is missing? What can you learn to fill the gap?
If everybody is studying French and German, you can study Chinese or Japanese. When I left college and joined a major electronics manufacturer, I was paid twice as much as other college graduates because I could speak Japanese and English and understood the basics of computers.
If you are a welder, you might notice that very few welders are qualified to work with copper or to weld exceptionally thick pipes. I once new a welder who owned two Rolls Royce’s because he had learned to weld materials that very few welders could handle. He could name his price, and he did.
By the way, don’t expect this to be easy. If it were easy, probably someone else would already be doing it!
Mark Victor Hansen, best known as the co-creator of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ empire (which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling non-fiction book series ever), Mark is a walking success magnet! Between his books and speeches, Mark has helped countless millions of people become their very best. Visit Mark’s 101 E-Book Library at www.IdeasThatCanChangeYourLife.com.