Avoid Becoming Essential

I was at a holiday party the other evening when a woman I knew began complaining about her job. She had worked in the same company for years and had developed a very specific set of skills that were unique to her role. She had consistently received very strong performance reviews and garnered much praise from her boss, who would openly tell others that she was indispensable. But over time, she had become frustrated that the better she performed at her job, the less likely it seemed that she could get promoted out of it.

It is a cruel irony of the working world, but sometimes, becoming essential in your job can get you essentially stuck! The more your tie your value to your specific job, the less upward value you have to your company. The more you tie your value to your potential--and not just your ability to complete current tasks--the more valuable you become. Think about fast-track employees. In most companies, these fast trackers literally bounce through a series of jobs as they get "rounded out."

Sometimes it is all too easy to cling to the praise of others who feel the job could simply not get done without you. Unfortunately, your superiors will often use this same excuse when passing you over for a promotion or reassignment. Success requires delegating and developing others as much as it does doing things yourself.

Think for a moment about the critical tasks in your current role that you are known to do exceptionally well. Do you have a plan to develop this competency in others?

If you don't give them up, your boss may not be able to move you up.

Comments

[WIpatriot]

Sometimes you become the essential employee when the people you work with can't find their way out of a paper bag. What do you do, get stupid overnight?

[Cathexis]

A very fine and dangerous line to walk.

From my experience, what you say is true ... in some cases.

But depending on the office politics (nepotism, who is sleeping with who, etc.) and what additional skills you may be perceived to have (in addition to these formerly essential skills), you may accomplish nothing more than training your replacement.

During a downsizing, managers look at salaries as well as skills/performance. The flip side of the "Being a Good Performer" coin is that ones' salary may be higher than their peers, especially if you have been in the role longer.

Relatively high salary for the position ... promotions that are awarded by factors other than merit ... cheaper person trained for formerly essential duties ...

That's also a good way to be at the top of the list during the next wave of downsizing.

Seriously ... don't kid yourself. Costs are still what drives management decisions. Good quality often "costs too much."

[Newfycrat]

My first restaurant management job was under a GM who thought his first role was to train everyone to be GM. Smart guy. All corporate memos were open to the entire management crew. When he left on vacation, anyone could take his place. People under him got moved up in the company, taking over other stores. He became valuable not only from those above him but those working for him. There was a lot of loyalty. Then he left and a person who came from the outside took over. He thought a GM had to have secrets and control. He kept information on a need to know basis. He had high turnover and could never leave because he was the only person who could do his job. The restaurant sales also dropped to totally unacceptable levels. By trying to be indispensable, he eventually caused that restaurant to go under, and his job with it.