Most people embrace the idea of becoming a better employee, if only for pure career advancement reasons. If you think a bit more globally, be aware that becoming a more valuable employee helps your employer—which also enhances your career opportunities.

The “Secret” Tips

The following tips may not really be “secret,” but they are a bit different than the typical suggestions given on this subject.

• Focus on creativity.Employees who display creativity are perceived as more valuable contributors. Top employers, like Google (which tells its employees to spend 20 percent of their time in creative thinking), realize that creativity can generate new ideas and solve long-standing problems. Be aware that there are still many employers more focused on employees performing their day-to-day duties than creativity. However, if you can successfully multi-task, your rewards, psychological, monetarily and career wise, will be many.
• Adopt a “make believe” attitude.Charging forward with a “let’s pretend” mentality may appear to be frivolous. However, it is not. Brainstorming, by pretending you’re a senior executive or the CEO of your employer, often generates effective ideas that can change outmoded or procedures that simply don’t work. If you’re a workforce veteran, you already know that management doesn’t always have the solutions to problem procedures. Pretending that you’re the one responsible for the company can trigger exciting new solutions to problems and innovative ideas to improve operations.
• Strive for win-win results.Going the extra mile for your employer can initiate innovative responses to problematic issues facing your company. The results of your focus typically result in win-win situations. Your employer overcomes potentially dangerous challenges and you become a more well respected and valuable team member.
• Try to imagine something that’s really new.While creativity may involve novel uses for older ideas that will work in contemporary situations, imagining a totally new, innovative approach to company challenges can elevate you to “superstar employee” status. If you approach this tip with a singularly personal focus, your only goal to be recognized for your “genius,” you may or may not succeed. However, like the previous tip, striving for ideas that help your employer, will elevate your status, too.
• Eliminate whining and complaining from your workplace persona.Peer pressure, particularly if it involves whining, gossip and/or vocal complaints, can hinder your creativity, workplace status with management, and diminish your perceived value—if you join in the vocal dissatisfaction. Avoid participating at all costs. There is nothing to be gained and much to be lost by becoming a whining and complaining participant. Pump up your self-respect and, thereby, your value as an employee by refraining from this damaging, totally unproductive practice. You needn’t become a spokesperson for management. Just stand above the petty whining that often infects the workplace.

These tips can prove to be an enormous help in becoming a better, more valuable employee. Along with more classic suggestions, which are also helpful, these few simple tips might lift you over the top.

Understand that, depending on your day-to-day workplace demands, you may need to go the extra mile when you’re at home, desperately hoping for some peaceful downtime. However, the potential rewards are huge. If you achieve some of the rewards these tips can produce, you’ll enjoy a more interesting and satisfying life, a very happy bank account and a career jump to the fast track. Once you commit to becoming a better employee, fasten your seatbelt for an accelerating ride on the career fast track.