The hat trick to being a great employee

As employees we are always striving to impress our bosses.  We want to show them that we are doing a fantastic job and are ready to take on added responsibilities that will assist us in our career progression.

I have encountered a few people along my journey that believe that reaching and exceeding their financial targets by any means necessary is the be all end all when it comes to determining their value to the organization.   This would include the dreaded “product dumping” and providing our members with a product when that wasn’t a solution to their problem.

I am not one of these people.

While I do believe that reaching our financial goals in extremely important to allow us to do what credit unions do (supporting our communities, and providing economic participation to our members), there are so many other aspects that need to be front and centre when we are striving to be the best employees that we can be.

This year my middle child, Braylen, joined our oldest son Kyan in playing organized minor hockey.  After one early Saturday morning practice while I was untying Braylen’s skate, I was listening to one father ask his son how many goals he had scored.  The little boy, with great excitement, told his father he had potted one that day.  Braylen had also overheard this conversation and enthusiastically told me he had sniped three goals.  My unwittingly reply was that I didn’t care how many goals he had scored.

After coming home to discuss the conversation with my wife, it was obvious that this was not the best way to respond to Braylen.  While I didn’t intend to harm his joy of scoring goals, my wife and I want to make sure that Braylen’s focus isn’t just about scoring goals.  Over the past few games, we had seen Braylen steal the puck from his teammates to scores goals; obviously behaviour that need to be corrected.  As parents we want to make sure Braylen is doing the right things to be successful without sacrificing the success of others.

We came up with three rules that I believe will work not only for a 5 and 7 year old playing Canada’s game, but for any employee working inside a credit union.

Have Fun

I appreciate the fact that we work in an environment that requires the utmost respect of people’s personal finances.  But we can’t work in a world where smiling isn’t encouraged and laughter isn’t contagious.  Have an Ugly Christmas Sweater Day in December.  Dress up as your favorite cartoon character from the 80’s at Halloween.  Go on an ice cream run for the entire branch on a hot summer day.  Get a mascot (our branch did and his name is Blueberry).  You can still help people reach their financial goals and enjoy doing it.  Let the daily feeling of happy carry you throughout your career.

Try Your Best

When I was in high school and college, I was an idiot.  I did just enough to get by with my grades and did not fully apply myself to the best of my abilities.  Dumb.  Dumb.  Dumb.  Shortly after entering the work force, I figured out that the more I chose to be my best, the more it became part of my every day behaviour.  As it became part of my behaviour, it allowed me to obtain the results I was looking for in my career.  Don’t let complacency hold you back from bringing out your full potential.  Choose to try your best at everything you do.

Be a Good Teammate

I’ve blogged about this before, but Kyan is not the most skilled hockey player on the team, but I do believe he is one of the best teammates.  After every, and I mean every, goal that our goalie let in, Kyan would go back and give him a tap on the pads and whisper something to him through his goalie mask.  I had asked Kyan several times what he says, but he refused to tell me.  Finally after the hockey season was over, Kyan revealed his secret.  He tells our tender that “We’ll get it back for you”.

Be a good teammate by celebrating the successes of your co-workers, and lifting them up when they are down.  Be willing to share your knowledge and experiences.  Lend your teammates a hand when they are in need of assistance, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you are in need of the same.

Building these types of behaviours in our normal being will ensure we become the great ones that we can be.