How are things going at work for you?
We spend a large part of our time at work. What and how we do our work is probably the single largest determinant for our standard of living and quality of life. So how are things going for you? Some will say, “About as usual, things are always a little crazy.” Still others will say, “Things are tougher than they used to be, we have fewer people and need to do more work.” Then there are those who say, “The economy has had a significant impact on the business, there have been layoffs and lots of changes, not sure what is going to happen next.” Yet some will say, “I sure could use a pay raise but it doesn’t look like this going to happen soon.”
Unless you are in a unique situation of extremely positive growth (which also brings its own unique challenges to the business and the worker) most people’s work lives range from the typical challenges of keeping your job or keeping the business profitable and in some cases having to exert a concentrated effort just to survive.
How can you make it better for yourself and your employer, how do you create a win-win? Continue reading because that is what this post is all about.
A Company is the Sum of its People
A company is really nothing more than the people that comprise it, from a one person 
plumber business to a 100,000 employee corporate effort. Sure we use technology and machinery to aid us in the achievement of business results and revenue, but take away the people and the business will quickly fail. The contribution of each and every employee has a positive or negative impact on the business, which subsequently has an impact again on the employee – no business, no job…no profit, no promotions or salary increases.
To be comprehensive and correct I also have to include external factors (beyond our control as workers and businesses) that affect the performance of the business. These factors include such things as the economy, competition and the changing needs of the marketplace. When these are not extreme, we as employees react to these factors to correct their impact on the business and bring it back to a sustainable level of performance. Again it is the employees (which is everyone including management) that make this happen.
Wealth and Abundance Rules
If you have followed my logic up to now, you will likely see the reasoning for my next few points. If you don’t right away, that’s ok, but I suggest you think real hard about it because they are fundamental truths that govern the success of the employee and the business.
Three of the Wealth and Abundance rules from my book, The New Era of Financial Success, are:
1. The Power of Doing – The more you do, the more you learn, the more you learn the more you can do.
2. Value Contribution (Business) – A customer over the long-term cannot afford to pay more for the goods and services it receives than the acutal value they create. If a business wants to increase the revenue for its goods and services, it must first increase the value of these for the customer.
3. Value Contribution (Employee) – The same is true for the employee. An employer over the long-term cannot afford to pay an employee more than the value he/she contributes to the business. If you want to increase your pay, you must increase your value.
Yes there are exceptions, as there are to any rules; there always is someone who is grossly underpaid for the value they deliver or some who is grossly overpaid for the value they deliver. But I want to focus this discussion on the other 99% of us who are paid relatively close to what the market value of our services determine we should be paid.
As an employee, the first rule sets the stage for everything which actually helps you to achieve most of the third rule. To keep this posting from becoming to long, I will share the whys and more details on this in a continuation posting. To be Continued…
Don Redinius
