You are reading the FRACAT Blog Archive (also known as "FRACAT 1.0") for all posts prior to October 29th, 2007.
What Is Your Job, Really?
The other day, my kids were doing their chores, as usual. When I looked up, one of my daughters was cleaning off the dining room table. Sort of.
What she was really doing was wiping a sponge across the table while singing to herself and looking at the ceiling.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Cleaning off the table!” she responded, as though I had just received a crushing head injury and wasn’t able to process the obvious.
“How do you know when the table is clean?”, I asked.
At which point, she stared at me like I had grown another head.
At that moment, it became clear to me that she didn’t know what her job really was. And, because I’m odd this way, it also became clear to me that many employees don’t really know what their job is, either.
Let me explain…
KNOWING WHAT THE JOB IS
My daughter has an odd mind. I’m pretty sure it’s genetic. In any case, she had interpreted “clean the table” into “wipe table with sponge”.
Another daughter had translated “clean the floor” into “run vacuum over floor”.
Are you catching on to what their problem is yet?
You see, they were focused on the mechanics, not the actual job.
“Clean the Table,” as I explained to my daughter, “means to get all of the crumbs and dirt and anything-that-isn’t-the-table off of the table. I frankly don’t care if you use a sponge, chopsticks, or your stuffed rabbit to do it. The job is to get everything off of the table.”
I think they’re on track now….
WHAT IS YOUR JOB, REALLY?
So, what is your job?
Mine, as a recruiter, really isn’t talking to as many people as possible, doing lots of interviews, posting job descriptions, and presenting tons of candidates to my clients.
No, my job is to find the one exact right future employee of my client’s company who can do the job (usually being proved by having done it or something very similar for the last several years), fits into their culture well, will work for the money, and is likely to make a much larger contribution to the company than s/he costs them.
That’s it. One person. That’s my job.
For you, it might be to create profitable software or manage a team so that they’re earning the company a multiple of what the team costs, or even making sure that everyone that walks in the front door feels welcome and informed.
Sometimes, it’s hard to tell.
THE UNMASKING OF YOUR JOB
Most companies assume that you won’t figure out everything associated with your real job, so they produce a long list of “responsibilities” that includes things like “attend weekly meeting” and “complete WENIS report”.
These are certainly things that you have to do, but it’s not your real job. They are individual items that point to your real job, but mask it at the same time.
Employees get so caught up in the little tasks that they don’t see the bigger picture. That’s also when you start hearing things like, “That’s not my job!”
But if you want to get ahead, you need to know what your real job is.
Take some time to think about what your company wants from you while keeping the following in mind:
- Your Company Is There To Make Money - Therefor, your position is intended to facilitate the company making money in some way. Figure out what that way is.
- You Will Never Be Paid More Than Your Contribution Is Worth - In fact, for the company to make money, you will be paid only a portion of what your contribution is worth. Want to make more money? Figure out how to make a bigger contribution to profit.
- The Further You Are From The Money, The Less Vital You Are - Many people can’t figure out how they add to the company’s profit. This should be a red flag. It means that you are so far from where the money is made, you are one of the most expendable employees.
- The Closer You Are To The Money, The More Visible You Are - This can be good and bad. Have you noticed how well the star salespeople are treated? That’s because the company can very easily see the contribution they make to profitability. Equally easy to see is the salesperson who is always below quota. They are also one of the most expendable employees.
Now, keeping all that in mind, figure out what it is that you really do, how it adds to the company profit, and what else you could be doing that would make you more valuable.
This is the way to get ahead.
Enjoy the Search!
Dan
—–
Daniel R. Sweet
Chief Cook-And-Bottle-Washer / Sr. Recruiter
FRACAT.com - Free Resume and Career Toolbox
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrsweet
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Photo by: jakeliefer
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