Embracing Change: Develop A Personal Value Proposition,
by: Trudy Bourgeois
All of us at some point in our professional careers will be faced with change. Change is and will continue to happen at a rapid pace! Just think for a second how much things have changed in the last ten years. It's mind-blowing. You can order just about anything you want without ever leaving your house! What's next? You guess it, more change!
Your continued success is directly linked to how you manage change. The spectrum of change is vast. You may be lucky enough to only endure a new manager change but a majority of people will experience a complete company change as a result of acquisition, merger or new employment.
There is a way to successfully manage professional change regardless of the intensity: Anchor yourself in a strong personal value proposition. A value proposition is what you bring to the party. It's what separates you from everyone else. A value proposition is not your job. It's not what job you might want. It's your skills wrapped into a position, which adds significant value to the achievement of the company's goals. It's your contribution to the execution of the strategy.
Most of us don't think in terms of selling ourselves internally once we've got the job but that's exactly what we all must do in order to achieve our professional goals. So what do you need to do in order to develop your value proposition?
Five Ways to Build Your Personal Value Proposition
1. Engage in a meaningful skills assessment (Seek assistance from the human resources department, or surf the web. There are plenty of free assessment exercises that will get you started.)
2. Ask three or four people (that you know will give it to straight about your reputation in the company): What are you known for?
3. Root your value proposition in the business! Tie it to the customer, to a business improvement, by employee development, in technology, and/or best practices. There are examples of areas that of strategic value to any organization!
4. Develop a personal commercial. This should be a statement or two that succinctly describes your value.
5. Engage in continuous learning to add new skills to your inventory chest. As you
6. "grow professionally" evolve your value proposition to fit your new skill package.