What I Learned in 2011: Do What Your Job Needs, Not Just What You Are Asked

Another thing I learned in 2011 is to do what your job needs, not just what you are asked.

This experience happened last spring when I realized I needed to learn Spanish for my job at United Way of Stanislaus County. Because I work with a local agricultural cannery every spring I knew it would be beneficial to speak and understand Spanish. In past years I had coworkers who would go out with me and help with the cannery, but because of limited staff I realized that I needed to learn to speak Spanish. Thus, I embarked on my journey of learning Spanish. Everyday I studied vocabulary words, I talked with coworkers in Spanish, and I listened to Spanish radio stations while driving.

After months of studying, much help from my workers, and lots of courage I began giving presentations in Spanish for work. It was tough to do, but it needed to be done as part of my job. No one asked me to study Spanish or told me that I needed to learn it, I simply realized that speaking Spanish is what I needed to be able to do for my job, and I took initiative towards making that happen.

The response from my supervisor and my coworkers was very encouraging because they saw that I had taken initiative do something that was needed for my job without having to be told. Everyone knows that it is very difficult to learn a language so when I took the steps to make that happen I believe it showed others I work with that we (as employees) have a responsibility to do what needs to be done for our job, not just what we are asked to do.

From a supervisor perspective, this is something that they love. They love it when they have employees and members of their team who do things without being asked. In fact, bosses hate it when they have to ask their employees multiple times for the same information or to complete a task. Leaders are doers and they want to move forward so they appreciate it when a follower (such as myself) takes the initiative to do something that helps the organization keep moving forward.

Question: What is an example from your work where you did what your job needed, not just what you were asked?

Comments

[Taunia]

Our company went live on a new program for order processing, invoicing, manufacturing, etc. this past week. I work for a company that manufactures cans for the cannery you work for. :) My primary job function is Inside Sales and I took on a superuser role for the new program. I learned not only the part of the program that I use, but also learned the plant functions. By doing so, I am able to help our overloaded IT department by assisting users with troubleshooting. This is helping IT to focus on issues that are system related, which is what we need them to do most.

This is a great point to make and I hope people take this to heart. It does not hurt to go above and beyond without being required to do so. I need to read your posts more often!

[Christopher Scott]

Taunia,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Yes, as you say, it does not hurt to go above and beyond what you are asked to do. Supervisors appreciate that effort and they (should) reward it.

Thanks for commenting and thanks for stopping by.