Everyone wants to progress in their careers. But it’s one thing to be a valuable employee; it’s quite another to be indispensable to your managers, coworkers, and overall brand. Invaluable and indispensable employees are difficult to replace, which results in career stability and massive promotional potential in your future.

Make your career

It’s easier said than done to make yourself indispensable in your career, of course. But with the below 10 tips, you’ll be well on your way to showing your superiors that you’re the best choice for an upcoming promotion or pay raise.

Always Maintain High Standards

First and foremost, you should always maintain high standards in your work performance and client efforts. “Say that you are a salesperson – in this case, you need to be the best salesperson possible by consistently bringing in high numbers, making your leads satisfied, and showing your superiors that you will do whatever it takes to ensure your brand’s dominance in its niche,” says Melanie Bedwell, E-commerce Manager of OLIPOP. 

Maintaining high standards is a point of personal pride for many. But it’s also an important tool if you want to make yourself indispensable in your career no matter where you work.

Over time, you’ll gain a reputation as a rockstar employee in your area of expertise, whether that’s customer service, business management, sales, manufacturing, product development, or something else entirely. Lionel Mora, CEO of Neoplants says, “That reputation will follow you everywhere, so even if you work at a new company in the future, you’ll be much more indispensable right off the bat than otherwise.”

High standards will also help you pursue further benefits like:

  • Increased responsibilities, like management positions
  • Higher pay
  • Better benefits
  • And more

Pursue More Responsibilities

Speaking of more responsibilities, adding to your work duties is one of the best ways to make yourself indispensable. After all, if you're the only one who can lead a team or solve a problem, your company can't very well fire you even if they are facing severe budget cuts!

Pursuing more responsibilities is also advantageous if you want to grow your career. “Simply put, the most indispensable employees are those who do a lot of important tasks for their companies,” says Mary Kay Bitton, Head of Product Innovation at Flo Vitamins. As your responsibilities grow, managers will look upon you more favorably, and they'll start to ask themselves whether you're management material.

Adding responsibilities to your plate gives you the chance to show that you are, indeed, ready for an executive chair or management duties. “When companies face budget cuts and have to let workers go, the first ones might be employees who have easily replaceable skills,” says Ryan Delk, CEO of Primer.

The more responsibilities you have, the less replaceable your skills are – and the more valuable you are to the company, as well. So you’ll be worth more money at the same time!

Create New Value and Processes

If possible, you should try to create new value and processes for your organization during your tenure there. New value and processes can include:

  • New ways of doing things, like new sales workflows or pitches to leads
  • New technologies, like unique software programs or methodologies
  • New methods for acquiring leads
  • And so on

Brandon Adcock, Co-Founder and CEO of Nugenix says, “Say that you work at a software development company. In order to make yourself indispensable, you create a widget that makes using the company’s various systems and applications much easier and more convenient.

“Since you created the widget, no one knows how it works just as well as you do. In this way, you are now practically as well as personally irreplaceable. If your company needs to fire somebody because of budget cuts, they can’t fire you – otherwise, they’ll be forced to learn how your software works from scratch or abandon using the tool entirely.”

Creating new value and processes is a great way to showcase your worth to executives and maximize your promotion opportunities as well. Take the above example but translate it for your industry or niche. No matter where you work or what your skill set is, odds are you can create new value at your company with the right imagination and mindset.

Develop Exclusive Skills

By the same token, you should develop exclusive skills so you’re even more valuable to your employer. Exclusive skills can include:

  • New programming languages or new certifications to use special technologies
  • New methods of acquiring leads or potential sales
  • New communication skills or sales techniques
  • And more

The more you expand your skill set, the more valuable you’ll become to your company over time, and the more invaluable you’ll be when the time comes to cut subpar employees. “Developing exclusive skills serve you well even if you do get the boot for one reason or another,” says Dr. Minhas, Founder and CEO of GerdLi.

You can put all of those skills on your resume, making you a more attractive hire for competing organizations. Therefore, even if you do face unemployment for a brief period, you will find it easier to get a new job afterward.

Build a Good Reputation with Clients/Customers/Coworkers

A sterling reputation goes a long way when maximizing your career and achieving indispensability. As you work with clients, customers, and coworkers, your reputation will follow you around.

If your clients or leads love working with you, or if they will only accept sales pitches from you, your company will see you as truly indispensable. The same is true if your coworkers like working with you much more than other employees or department managers. A good reputation makes you just as indispensable as a specific skill or a unique software program that only you know how to operate.

Collaborate with Team Leads

Collaborate frequently with team leads to spread your reputation around and to build friendships. “In many cases, the people who rise highest in organizations aren't those with the best on paper skills; they're the ones who have wide social nets that prevent them from falling too far,” says Susan K. Shaffer, President of Pneuma Nitric Oxide.

If you’re friends with team leads and they love working with you, you’ll be indispensable since you’ll be the social or leadership glue that holds big projects together and that ensures a large company continues running smoothly. 

Focus on Making Your Superior’s Job Easier

Every business owner or executive loves employees who make their own jobs easier. If you can take the stress off of your direct boss or manager's plate, they'll be much more likely to look upon you fondly and view you as indispensable, even if they have to fire several employees for one reason or another.

For example, you can tackle jobs that you know your boss doesn’t like, anticipate their needs, and do a great job with your assigned duties. If you run into a problem, handle it promptly before it reaches their desk.

Volunteer for Projects

Volunteering for projects regularly shows a lot about your initiative and desire to succeed: both important elements when making yourself indispensable in your career. Furthermore, volunteering shows that you are a team player, which is an important skill set that far too few professionals cultivate these days.

“Volunteering for projects gives you the opportunity to broaden your social network and learn new skills, as well,” says CHRIS COOTE, CEO of California Honey Vapes.

Act as a Mentor

If you already have some skills or some tenure at an organization, try acting as a mentor to new employees. This adds more responsibilities to your plate, which makes you more indispensable to your employer. But it also means you have a direct impact on how the future crop of talent develops at your organization, which showcases your management skills more than perhaps anything else.

Lyudmyla Dobrynina, Head of Marketing North America at Optimeal says, “Plus, acting as a mentor will give you valuable leadership experience, which will be important if you become a boss or executive in the future.”

Bring New Employees to the Company

Lastly, you can try to bring new employees to the company through outreach programs or through networking with your personal connections. “Say that you know a college buddy who is looking for a job,” says Sasha Ramani, Associate Director of Corporate Strategy at MPOWER Financing. “If you can bring them to your company, you'll become even more indispensable than you were before since you directly resulted in the acquisition of valuable labor for that organization.”

The more you can do this, the better. Companies are always looking for top talent, and if you can provide it from your personal connections or from your college-day peers, you’ll give your employer something that’s not easily replaceable.

Conclusion

Making yourself indispensable in your career is the best way to guarantee job stability for your future. Indispensable employees are the last to be cut when the economy is bad, plus are the first to be considered when there’s a promotion on the line. Follow the above 10 strategies, and you’ll show your superiors that you are just as important to the future of the company’s success as they are. Good luck!

Author's Bio: 

A Passionate Blogger and Content Creator.