The Four 'Musts' To Bring To Your Job

Firstly I'd like to say that I am a huge proponent of entrepreneurship, and my view is that this is something that desperately needs to be promoted. However, not everyone can become an entrepreneur overnight, sometimes we have to stay at our current job(or find a new one) while working on starting your own business in an (initially)part-time manner.

When starting a new job, it's important to leave a good impression with your employer. Even if you both know that you won't be staying at the position for the long-term, it's still important to show your value so that you can make a connection or at least have a good reference. I'm not taking about going above and beyond here, I'm just going to list a few basics of what I think every employee should do.

-Show up every day that you are scheduled to work.

This one is a no brainer, but yet there are still plenty of times when an employee pulls the infamous "no call, no show." If you have a legitimate medical emergency for not working, being up front and telling your boss ASAP is the right thing to do. It won't take long for an employee to be let go for simply not showing up on the days they are supposed to.

-Show up on time every day.

This is another common sense statement, yet how often have you or a fellow coworker shown up late? No one can expect perfect punctuality from employees during their entire working lives, but simply showing up on time every day shows your employer that possess a certain level of maturity. Things always happen of course, and sometimes it just can't be avoided, but again, you should always call your supervisor the minute that you think you will be late. Don't wait until you are already late to let them know. If you are schedule to start in 10 minutes, yet you know for a fact that you won't arrive for 20 minutes, make a quick call and let the boss know the situation and that you are doing your best to make it quickly.

-Do the minimum tasks that your boss asks you to do:

The first two points could easily be included in this, but i want to expound on this more. Anyone who's ever been a boss can tell you how frustrating it is to ask someone to do something, only to find out later that it hasn't been done yet. As an employee you signed a contract, and when something is asked of you and you fail to do it, you are essentially breaking your promise. Now there are of course times when we slip up, make a minor error or something. It happens. If a restaurant manager tells his cooks that they need to clean the kitchen down at the end of the shift, then they need to do exactly that. It doesn't matter if the food tasted great, and the customers were happy about their food and their experience. If the cooks say they will clean, then they need to do what they have agreed to do.

It is also possible that an employee literally can't perform the required tasks in the manner that the employer expects. If you are starting out on a production line, you can do what is asked of you, but if you can't keep up the pace after many repeated tries then the job might not work out. This is ok though, because you made the attempt and you didn't disregard what the boss asked you to do. Even if this happens, you can still wind up with a good reference if you follow all of these points I'm mentioning.

-Don't complain!

This one is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but it is valid nonetheless. I remember a situation where a former manager told me a story about an employee who quit, and later asked for a reference. This employee showed up on time every day, did what he was asked, and did a decent job for the most part. The manager refused to give a reference though, and his reason for this was that the employee complained constantly. No one enjoys being around a complainer, except other complainers. Not only is complaining not productive, it is a perfect example of being counterproductive. Constantly complaining about your job over and over will reinforce an attitude of not caring about the job. This will cause your performance to continually drop and losing the job is the next step. Boy will you have a lot to complain about when that happens! Save your complaining for your spouse, or your pet, or the wall. Better yet, try focusing on the healthiest of all human emotions, gratitude. Have gratitude for all of the good things in your life, and think about how many other people have it worse than you. Keep it all in perspective and keep

Conclusion-
If you follow these four musts at your job, you will win friends and influence people at work, and this will make your work life much more enjoyable and possibly more financially rewarding as well.