It’s a question commonly asked in interviews: ‘how can you add value to our company?’ The sensible answer in an interview situation is to refer to your skills and abilities, backing this up with examples from your previous employment.
Once you’re employed, adding value is an ongoing process, and a key part of the job. This can be achieved in many ways. Good timekeeping and presentation will impress, so it’s important not to let these slide at any point. Simple hard work will also get you noticed, and meeting deadlines on time is of course vital. Technical skills should be kept up to date, and communication skills made as good as they can be. It may sound corny, but something as simple as having a positive attitude and a friendly disposition will make life a lot easier, for you and for others. Nobody likes a grouch.
Beyond that, going the extra mile will always make you stand out. Using your initiative, and looking for ways to improve productivity will make you a positive asset to the company.
The Benefits of Benefits
For a company to improve its own value, it needs to maintain and improve its assets – and that of course includes its employees. In short, it needs to attract – and then retain – the best candidates available from the marketplace. Obviously, a competitive salary is a large part of what a company has to offer, but a comprehensive benefits package is also a key factor when seeking new employment.
Medical and dental plans are naturally top of the list for most people, but there are many other important factors as well.
Workers will of course expect to have paid vacation time, but additional time off is also something they’ll be looking for. Those contemplating parenthood will want maternity leave (and many employers are now also offering paternity leave to new fathers). Family medical leave is also popular, giving employees time to care for sick offspring or relatives.
Legal Protection
Legal services plans are a comparatively new part of the benefits landscape, but one attracting a lot of attention from employers and employees alike. In the same way that healthcare benefits packages provide their participants with access to medicine or dentistry, legal benefits plans – also known as legal insurance – provide the services of a local attorney, and from start to finish all legal fees incurred are covered by the plan.
Discount legal services plans offered by firms like US Legal Services provide cover for a wide range of problems, including making a will, getting a divorce, identity theft, real estate transactions, personal injury claims, immigration issues, landlord-tenant problems, traffic violations, civil actions, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, adoptions, preparing legal documents and all aspects of family law.
This area affects even the most law-abiding of citizens. From an employer’s point of view, an employee with legal problems who can’t afford to solve them can be a drain on resources: their job performance suffers, their productivity is poor, and absenteeism is high. A legal service plan seems a much better alternative.
