Guest Post- Are You Anonymous at Work

February 24, 2009 · Comments

The following is a guest post from GL Hoffman, who wants to help you in this time of economic uncertainty.

No one wants to be anonymous. We all want recognition and appreciation for who we are, and what we do. Most of the surveys say that recognition is what we most crave from our workplace. And, it is the determining factor to why people stay at their job. How can you make sure you are not anonymous at work, how can you stand out amongst all the others? Here are some ideas for you to try:

1. See work. In most companies, jobs are almost always bigger than the person. You can make your job bigger and better by simply seeing work that needs to be done, and then do it. Most of us work in small companies…there is always work to do. Do not wait around for someone to point out work to you. Get a reputation as someone who can see work, especially un-assigned work. Chances are good that the baby boomers at your workplace are not using Facebook, Twitter or blog. Seek them out and offer to teach them. They won’t ask, but we all know they do need the help.

2. On time. Be on time in everything you do. Complete projects when you say you will. Show up on time in the morning or after lunch. This is a small thing, making this a workplace habit will pay off. There are tools in every email product that allows you to coordinate meeting spots and times, be the one in your office that uses it.

3. Be perfect. Understand that even though no one is perfect, your boss expects perfection. You never know when your poor grammar in an email will negatively affect your career. Learn to be your own worst critic. Always improve. Even though the business community is getting lax with abbreviations and LOL, you should be careful and consider the audience.

4. Can Do. Exhibit a “can do” attitude. Remember that the company can pay a lot of people a lower salary to NOT do your work.

5. Do the job no one else wants. Careers have been made on this reputation alone…do the toughest, the worst, or the jobs that have caused others to fail. Search out the toughest tasks.

6. Be sales minded. Most companies need revenue. What can you do in your job to add sales? Always be looking for ways that you can impact sales in your company.I guarantee you there is no faster way to move ahead in a company that being seen as someone who can meaningfully impact the sales. Chances are, your VP of Sales is behind the curve on social media tools. Show him how he can use them to stay in better contact with his customers and prospects.

7. Customer-focused. How does your job impact the company’s customers? If you don’t know how, find out. Every business needs customers. And every job touches the customer in some manner. Become an expert on how your job positively impacts the customer. Do your customers use Facebook? Is someone monitoring the blogs from competitors. Don’t assume that the ‘higher-ups’ have an in-depth understanding of new tools and media

8. Always improve. Improvements do not have to be gigantic to gain attention. Make sure that this month you are doing a specific task better than you did it last month. Small incremental improvements in your performance get noticed.

9. Don’t whine, gossip or complain. Save whining for after work and only to your partner, spouse and only if you absolutely need to. It is so common for people to get together and complain about work. The more you do, the worse you will do.

10. Become an evangelist. Most businesses have a leader or boss who is really-really-really good at presenting the business in an exciting, positive way. You can also do it, even if only to your co-workers, customers, family, friends. Think of it this way. You meet someone at a family reunion and they ask you what you do. What do you tell them? Does this person leave the conversation understanding more about your job and company? The goal should be to get THEM as excited about what you are doing and your company as what you are. Young people make think this is NOT cool, I understand. But in small companies, especially, your boss knows who are evangelists for the company. With the new, under-used social tools you can make a name for yourself, by becoming the in house evangelist that uses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or even blogs about your business.

G.L. Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur and venture investor/operator/incubator/mentor. Two of his companies have traveled the entire success path from the garage to IPO. He has been featured in Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other local business publications and newspapers. Find out more at Dig Your Job

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  • This is a great list of what to do and how to do it. In this economy it would be easy to get down on job possibilities. Smiling and plugging along are great, but smiling about your job to others, that is, to quote Mastercard "priceless"
  • I guess it goes without saying...many of these things require passion. People gravitate toward those who are passionate about what they do, even when it's something they ordinarily would not be interested in. The greek meaning for anonymity is "namelessness"...imho, in the workplace I believe
    Anonymity = Work - Passion.
  • Nice list! I think it's important that people focus on doing a better job at all times, but especially in this economy. One other thing I might add would be to "Always Continue Learning"... expanding one's horizons can help in many ways. Even simple things like reading helpful blog posts (like this one!) everyday help you open your mind to new ways to do a better job. Keep up the great work!
  • BoomerForSure
    Just so you understand.... those baby boomers, about whom you are so condescending, invented the computer world you see today. You might look at the statistics on demographics of who uses social media. I'll just assume this was written by someone with no sense of history. You'll be a little more sensitive in 20 years. Otherwise, nice article. :-)
  • GL Hoffman
    Christopher, Stefan and Mike: Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. This IS the time for all of us to do more, better, with less...and to do whatever we can to encourage those who have been less fortunate in their own jobs.
  • I really enjoy your blog. I only want to comment about your suggestion to hold whining until after work with your partner or spouse. I think this is not a great idea. What it does is pollute the precious home relationship with negativity and means the only things he or she hears are the things you don't like about your co-workers or clients or situation. I think a better idea is to not complain, and find the good in each day and commit to sharing all the good things that happened. I know we need to offload, but Will Bowen, author of "Complaint Free World" is on to something wonderful by suggesting that we all try really hard not to complain. It makes us all healthier (most definitely), happier and the world a nicer place to be. Sounds idealistic, but try it!
  • All of these tips are good ones, but for those of us in middle-to-upper management in a big company, we DON'T want to be noticed. In fact, the more I get noticed, the more work and responsibility they dump on me with no pay raise. It seems that when you move up within a company, the C-levels expect that you are loyal to the point where you will work for free. (ie: you're a ;company man')
    They also use the bad economy as an excuse to squeeze more work from you. You fear a job loss. so you are willing to take more crap. That's what I see.

    AL
  • I think this is a great list, and I think #5 and #9 are most critical in this economic environment. With colleagues being laid off all over the place, a professional needs to be aware that he/she is going to be required to do things that they are either not accustomed to doing/don't really enjoy doing. That doesn't matter. Be thankful you're employed, and like MOST of what you do. Be willing to pick up that slack and go 120% to make sure your company isn't one of the last to recover from this cycle, but the first.
  • Stefanie Hahn
    Wow - this is a great list. So simple, but so true. I am so lucky that I have a job that I love in this current economy. I needed to see this list today - thanks!!!
  • Wonderful reminders for everyone - both the experienced & inexperienced.

    I'd like to add, "Do your time"

    A paramedic I know, lamented that a number of newbies all wanted the prime shifts & positions.

    The corner-office isn't always a guarantee...expect to earn your stripes and prove your worth.

    For #8 - Ensure that you have techniques and tools at hand to manage your emotions so that you can be at your best emotionally, mentally & physically. When one is worn out/down, it becomes more and more difficult "to improve."
  • I think people these days are getting away from being good employees. In our disposable generation, many people treat their jobs as disposable and do not do what they need to to keep it.
  • Erika Owens
    The more you complain about your job (even if you hate it) the worse it is. A negative attitude will only foster a negative environment. It's all about turing lemons into lemonade, there's something to be learned from every situation even if it seems unbearable. Great post!
  • Travis
    Yup, I tried all those for a few years... and all it did was make me more anonymous.

    In fact, I would venture to say that #1 and #5, pursued together, are the biggest offenders. I got a reputation as one of those "what exactly does he do here?" employees specifically because I was taking on so much "extra" stuff that wasn't in my job description.

    If you want a good name among those who know you already, this list is killer. If you want to break out of anonymity, however, perhaps you should focus less on "doing the work everyone hates" and focus more on a few high-profile tasks that are sure to draw attention within the company.
  • Excellent post!
    I love #1 + #10. "There's always work to be done." Find it and do it without being asked.
    "make them as excited about your business as you are". Spreading your passion to others is the best way to be great at your job, make more sales and gain more customers.

    And keep your boss happy he hired you.
  • Adam
    As a loyal reader of GL's blog WWDD, it's great to see his advise resonate with a lot of people over here on this blog. If you like this list go get his book at www.digyourjob.com. It's worth every penny.

    Nice work GL!
  • I'd add another – get projects done on time. There's a very simple way to do this. If you're handed a project you're sure you can get done in three days, give them a completion date five days from now. If something comes up and it takes you four days, you've still exceeded expectations. If you can get it done in three you'll be a superhero.
  • Great post! So much wasted energy in whining and complain. As they say, either put up or shut up.
  • This is a great list if you don't work for the government. I have always worked for smaller companies until my last job which was for county government. It seems that doing the opposite of everything on this list was how to get along there. Obviously, I no longer work for the government. Back to working in the real world and it the real world really makes a lot more sense to me.
  • I think there are some very useful ideas there and in todays economic situation I we should definitely try and make the most of the jobs we have.
  • @Stefan

    Definitely with you on the passion. Passion & hunger give you the fuel to do the things that GL Hoffman lists as essentials.
  • Very nice post. A simple list - even though we know this is what needs to be done we often tend to miss it completely. As one who is trying very hard to make use of social media in promoting business and engaging communities, I find that I am on the right track attempting whatever I am doing.
  • Not everyone wants to "be seen" at work. Some people prefer anonymity. What I think is important is that when you do a good job, make sure the key decision makers (preferably one above your direct boss) know about it. So, like Travis said, angle for high profile projects, Beware though, if they go belly up, you will be as much in the spotlight (for the wrong reasons) as you would be if they go very well.

    I'd go further with #6 and say try to be in a profit centre (bring in sales and revenue) and not a cost centre (anything that costs the company money is the first to get cut).
    As we Brits would say... "Show willing." Always be prepared to chip in and lend a hand and be a team player.May I add...
    #11 Bear in mind you can do ALL these things on the list and still get let go/downsized/rightsized, blindsided ;) So have a plan B... perhaps work on turning that hobby into a side business eves and weekends, build your network, attend networking events, find out needs, write a report. Maybe even contract back to your employer.

    @Allyn... don't they own you at the C-level ;))
  • Great advice, G.L. In addition to all the wonderful positive points you've added, I'd add that #9, gossiping, is far more destructive than most people think. I can't tell you how many women I've coached who think, "but I only talk because I genuinely care about other people." Even if your intentions are pure (and let's be honest--they're usually not 100% pure), gossiping about others is the lowest form of communication and destroys your trust and credibility in the workplace faster than anything else.

    If you do steps 1-8 and 10 but ignore #9, you'll still find yourself being stymied at work.
  • That is why I love start-ups, everyone is already striving for or doing each of your list items.
    #5 Hit home for me. I once asked Charlie Polachi a Founder of a top tier search firm, "why would you take that CEO search, that company is having problems and not a good sell?" His reply was "you make your reputation doing the hard searches". That always stuck with me.
  • Hi, G.L.
    Thank you for sharing what works to help others succeed. Bloggs & helpful tips like yours keep me in the right direction. Im newer to networking but realised, if you watch, listen & be your self, you'll do all right. When there's passion, someones going to benefit. I worked with elderly people for 13 years and that takes a lot of patience to build trust & loyalty and keep it. I see no difference in networking or a new working environment. When we first started out, I wanted to learn to network and my co workers "old school" said thats a waste of time and money. They dont think that way anymore.
  • Robin Mahadeva
    Great reminders, especially in these uncertain times. I'm a big believer in creating the work you love in the role you're in. Adopting this mentality and speaking about my work with passion has opened many opportunities for me. Thanks for the post.
  • Very good post Chris, as usual. What I noticed about the employees of my company, is that I love people who take initiatives and bring to my table new ideas, especially those focused on customer satisfaction / more business for my company. What I don't like? People who do strictly what they have to, no initiative, no new ideas, no space for imagination. The best ideas for new services to get new customers? From a core-technology engineer ;-)
  • Thanks Chris and GL for the timely post. I agree with all of the points - of course, come have more impact than others. #6, #7 are often overlooked in the search for visibility in the workplace. Being responsible, even indirectly, for a sale can be a huge boost to your career. #7 needs no explanation. A word of praise from the company's customers cannot be ignored.

    Another point that really matters is taking ownership of work. If you are working on something that needs you to interface with many other people, it is your responsibility to see it happens, even if you have to go to your department head. With ownership comes passion and commitment. I have never seen someone promoted above the first level management without these 3 attributes (in decent, mature companies).

    BTW, should the title be "How can social media help you make visible"?

    Thanks and Regards
    Sridhar
  • Toy
  • In a highly competitive job market, there are still a lot of career opportunities but employees must focus on career development and take ongoing effective steps to stand out in the organization.
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