How do you go from being a useful employee to being indispensable? Somebody who does a good job for a company is valued. They are part of the bricks and mortar of a company. But are they indispensable? The reason for the existence of most companies is to produce the maximum possible profit for their shareholders. At its most basic level, profit is, of course, revenue minus expense. Hence, the only ways to increase profit is to generate more revenue, or reduce expenses; either or both of which will improve profits.
If you are not in the revenue generating side of the business organization, then you necessarily are a part of the organization that impact the expense line – either because you incur it, or you can contribute to its reduction.
Since the economic downturn began, companies have been pressed to an extreme level to maximize efficiency as a simple matter of survival. And as a result, this has necessarily impacted employment levels. The problem for workers in this macro environment is that companies are scrutinizing their contributions much more closely, whether they work on the revenue side or the expense side of the profit equation.
Thus it becomes abundantly clear – employees who make the biggest, most visible contributions to the profitability of their companies tend to be retained, and even promoted and rewarded.
If you can be the person in the organization that delivers a big, memorable savings; a savings that directly contributes to, or even multiplies company profits; if you can then year after year continue to increase that savings, you can produce a fundamental change in your career. You can morph from being a useful part of the bricks and mortar of the company to being an indispensable asset.
For those on the expense side, that’s an excellent way to make a meaningful career improvement. The quickest way to m ake that improvement is by becoming a visible thought-leader, and by relentlessly pursuing every possible material improvement to your company’s costs. As part of that effort, it is necessary to demonstrate with clear metrics that a profound shift in corporate success was created—in whole or in part—by you. Over time, a record of constant innovation and courageous leadership will become a part of your resume and reputation.
As a component of building their careers, we find that some of our professional procurement clients often seek additional credentials like an MBA or procurement-specific credentials such as the CPM or APP designations. While these can be valuable, it is also important to demonstrate your achievements, which for procurement professionals usually means finding ways to reduce costs while meeting the organization’s needs for capacity and quality.
Many of our clients highlight enormous successes that resulted from their work-place collaboration with AIQ on their resumes – both the paper kind they pass around, as well as their LinkedIn personal page. They list among their accomplishments multi-million dollar savings outcomes. This transforms their resume page or work history from one of “works with vendors to develop strong relationships” to also include “reduced company cost and increased profit by $10MM.” This type of change demonstrates the professional maturing of the individual contributor, as they come to understand that big wins are like big headlines. They get them noticed, and as a consequence, they earn career advancement as one of the select few that multiplies revenue for the companies fortunate enough to employ them.
AIQ’s key client contributors are able to apply their academic and theoretical knowledge in the real world stages of discovery, application and implementation processes that are integral parts of AIQ’s client sponsored projects.
Working with AIQ consultants, you will be exposed to new thinking as well as new and historical practices that AIQ has developed and proven in the market. Through your support and participation, the outcome for your company will be improved, and you will be recognized as being part of something revolutionary within your company. As one AIQ client often stated, “After working as part of the team, I never again looked at telecom procurement in the same way.”
As a result of your involvement in the project, you will be able to lay claim as a key member of a team that delivered a giant real world win for your company. During the project, AIQ will help train your organization and your company in the use of its unique methodologies while delivering monumental quantified savings and improvements to your company’s bottom line.
Many of our long-standing clients have made dramatic shifts in their roles from team leads and managers to VP’s and “C” level executive team members. These individuals engaged in bold action and demonstrated an essential attribute: a passion for profit.