What’s your relevance score?

 

Relevance is a notch above just having skills and competencies. It’s combining them with the right attitude, mindset and application in a way that brings value to the role or organisation, So how relevant are you? Try this quick relevance audit.

What do you have that others care about? You must be clear what you offer but it’s more important to know what others think you bring. Sometimes the two may not the same and that’s ok as long as both are positive. Listen out for both formal and informal feedback from colleagues and others in order to know what they value in you.

How nimble are you with your professional assets? Most people have more skills than these use on their regular job. Relevance requires that you hone even the skills you don’t apply daily so that you are able to deploy them when needed. What assets have you put on the backburner? Keep it on low heat but be ready to turn up the heat when necessary.  

Can you engage intelligently in more than one area? Nowadays, organizations have to be agile and can’t afford employees who pigeonhole themselves. Of course you can’t be a ‘Jack of all trades’ and neither should you be a ‘one lane operator’. What else can you offer besides what your job description demands? Have a forte but choose to be diverse in what you can be counted on to do.

Are you aware of what matters most in  your environment? Sometimes people insist on applying only what they know and can do and hope that it’ll enough. Very often it’s not so make it a point to keep abreast of how agendas are shifting in order to align accordingly and tune into making top priorities happen. 

Do you understand the significance of your role? This calls for appreciating the purpose of your role beyond the activities you do daily. For example if you are a customer service person, being pleasant is part of your job, but the wider purpose is to act to give customers a good experience of your organization so that they do more business with you.

Are you ensuring your capacity to deliver? How do you demonstrate that you are capable and dependable?  End any obsession with doing only what is convenient. If things move very fast in your workplace, chances are you can’t do only what’s convenient for you. It does not mean you take on more than you can handle. It means you learn to quickly drill down to the important. 

How much give and take do you practice? Work isn’t a one way street. It’s a team game. Give and take always yield quicker progress and fosters exchange of ideas enriching the end product. Remember your job isn’t just about getting tasks done, it’s also about drawing on all the positive contributions you can enlist to get the best result.

Now take action: On a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest, what did you score?