Tracking Value In The Workplace

  • Published
  • By SMSgt Elise Phillips, First Sergeant, AF Life Cycle Management Center
Look around at your team and think of one attribute or talent that each person brings to the work center each day. 

A supervisor will be able to create a highly functioning environment when they highlight their teams various strengths and abilities. Should each person’s value be overlooked the team may fail to rise to their highest performance.  Being valuable to a work center can have many meanings to each of us.  For me, I find value in my position as a First Sergeant as I truly love to help people through obstacles, getting to know them, and helping during their worst days.  My sense of value comes from helping others and knowing that I have the ability to influence their personal and professional lives. 

I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on what makes you feel valued as a team member in the work center. Valued characteristics in the work center range from a strong work ethic, a positive attitude, competence, and a team player.  A strong work ethic is derived when someone has the tenacity to complete their duties and to do it to the best of their abilities.  A positive attitude is valued in the work center because the member has the ability to accept constructive feedback, perform their duties with optimism, and spread that perspective to their co-workers.  A competent employee is gold to an organization as they provide continuity and have a plethora of knowledge in their duties.  Lastly, a team player is highly sought after by most organizations as this is a team sport and we cannot do our jobs alone.  Instead, we require a team of diverse backgrounds to come together to identify and embrace each talent that a person brings to the table.  Being valued gives a feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment with one’s performance and work center.  People who feel valued in their work center have correlated feelings of a positive well-being, engaged, satisfied, and motivated. It is important that leaders at all levels focus in on their team’s individual talents to promote the feeling of being valuable.
 
The AFMC Connect article on Valuable provides a goal of building an environment that fosters mutual respect and worth.  Start each meeting this month with participants sharing something they value in another coworker.