Mark Hamilton is a branch manager for Motion Industries and has been with the company for 25 years. He is a 31-year industry veteran with a bachelor of science degree in engineering technology. Visit
MotionIndustries.com or
MotionInstituteOnline.com for on-site and online training courses, from industrial maintenance to safety to stress management.
Regardless of the economic climate, all employees must show value and worth. You can show greater value to your company by taking initiative, asking for more assignments, and helping a fellow employee. In fact, one of the best ways to help your company is to ask questions. If you see a problem that could be resolved or that needs resolving, inquire about the issue and propose a possible solution to the problem. Never should an employee just walk by an issue and assume that somebody else will handle it. If a problem is identified, then it should be addressed immediately rather than being allowed to fester and possibly grow.
Everyone in the company should be willing to go above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis. I have learned as a manager that this mindset should never change. If we stop uttering “that’s not my job,” overall satisfaction in the company will improve. Furthermore, avoiding that detrimental phrase could possibly lead to benefits for the whole business. Not only could job satisfaction be improved, but also jobs could be saved simply through volunteering to go above and beyond.