As an employee, my strategy was to be redundant at my work position. That sounds shocking, right? Up till today, my entourage still wonder why that was my focus. Maybe you are having the same interrogation… It is my honor to provide you with the answer…
Who on earth focuses on being redundant?
Yeah, what normally constituted person focuses on making themselves redundant at work? Especially in an era such as this?! With a recession, wars roaring into western countries, the financial crises, the coming economic crises, etc.
Quick answer is… someone who feels stuck at their work position. Someone who feels like they have reached a glass ceiling. Somebody who doesn’t like their job. Someone in love with any kind of decent freedom.
So many reasons can possibly make a person to focus on being redundant at their workplace. In my case, the answer came from my work environment. Let me give set the stage for you to understand the very first work environment that made me apply that strategy.
My work environment
I have grown up in an environment where unemployment rate was relatively high. In such context, recently graduated youngsters where the ones suffering the most. Indeed, once one had graduated, finding a job in the area of expertise wasn’t exactly a walk in a park.
It was like spending time in the wilderness. Some would end up taking jobs that had nothing to do with their studies field. There was a risk of not liking the job. Although, to be fair, there would also be a risk of actually liking the job.
Others would risk waiting for a job that would match their field of studies. Waiting leads to being exposed to losing their skills for lack of practice. It also stirs up competition and more stress when an opening for such job would occur.
In any case, once one would find a job, it would become the standard to work really hard in order to keep it. When one lives in an environment where the job market is clearly in favor of employers, few employees would risk losing it.
What was my experience in such environment?
You probably guessed right. Prior to graduating as an Engineer, no company would hire. For several reason. The reasons in questions were funny, to say the least. Potential employers to whom I sent applications gave me reasons like:
You never had a work experience. Yeah! We all gotta start off somewhere, right?!
You are overqualified. Well, having a high school diploma is way too much as qualification to wait tables for summer
You are too young. Thank you sir, I really do appreciate the compliment!
I could go on an on. But being on the receiving end of such reasons could be very frustrating. And I had not started my school of engineering yet. I assumed my lack of ‘higher education’ was the cause of all of that. Until I met a graduated engineer who’d faced the same nonsense, as an engineer!
Eventually…
Eventually I found a job, as a studying engineer. It was a definite contract of 36 months. It was amazing to me. But at the back of my mind, I was worrying I’d have to start all over again, and go through the same experience. Once again.
That was until a colleague made me see things from a different angle. She resented her job. But couldn’t afford to lose it. She envied me for having to cope only for 36 months. And she made that very clear to me.
I was worrying about month 37. But she envied my position. It reminded me not to worry about the morrows, as they would be taken care of. My worries were the dream paradise for a colleague! It was unbelievable.
I decided to work hard. In hope of being retained. My dream was to turn my definite contract into an indefinite one. So I became creative. Making things easier for my future in the company. Creating and recording processes and procedures for the growth of the company.
And it worked… to a certain extend. My contract was prolonged for months. Before long, I realized I had created semi-automated process. All that was needed was to read the manual for instructions. I had made sure anyone could do my work.
It is only when I applied for new jobs that I realized the power of the semi-automated processes I had implemented. The first job I applied to hired me within a week because of my ability to semi-automate. Lots of companies were interested in that.
Being redundant: what lessons?
The focus on being redundant has taught me valuable lessons:
Innovating: according to the company’s needs, there is always rooms for innovation. Make sure the innovations offered are an appropriate response to a need.
Training / handing over: what would happen if you were absent tomorrow? Will the company continue to operate if you were on vacation leave? I for one do not like working when on vacation. So I’d make sure the company can cope without me when I am away.
Automate: automating your work is your opportunity to gain more time on your work. And therefore gives you the ability to focus on some other important work. Automation eliminates double handling, and lowers the risk of a nonconformity.
Learning: making myself redundant has given me plenty opportunities to learn. The learning consisted on focusing on where the company could improve its processes through my work. The end game was always to over deliver, and make customers happier and happier.
Savings for the employer: what employer doesn’t value an employee who enables financial savings for them?! I dare you: find one. If you manage to, I’d like to have a chat with them. Otherwise, the employee would have the utmost respect of the employer. And they will be more keen on promoting you.
Empowerment of colleagues: making yourself redundant is also beneficial for your your colleagues, as they will be gaining more skills and knowledge. The more skills and knowledge, the better for the job market.
Application on business
Needless to say that such skills were a cornerstone on my business. Making myself redundant on certain processes has enabled me to automate such processes. And therefore focus on the critical and the value-adding ones.
It prevents me from making unnecessary errors, and therefore limits the risk of having any customer claim.
What about you? Do you have any more tips and benefits on being redundant? Did you have the opportunity of applying these tips for your business or even for your life? If yes, I’d love to read your thoughts and the results you achieved in the comment section.
This post aimed to provide you with reasons why one might want to be redundant in their activity. Feel free to comment and share.