How To Be The Favorite Employee

The Favorite Employee

Who’s The Favorite Employee where you work?  You know who we’re talking about.  You’ve seen how he or she seems to get the breaks.  The Favorite Employee doesn’t get fussed at the way you do, gets time off when you don’t, and gets left in charge when the boss is away.  Yep, The Favorite Employee has it pretty good.  Wish you were The Favorite Employee?  In this article, I’ll tell you the four things you can do to be The Boss’s Favorite Employee, and it’s not rocket science.

In order to understand how to be The Favorite Employee, you have to understand a basic principle of human relationships.  Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have anything you want, as long as you willing to help others get what they want.”  In other words, The Favorite Employee understands something you don’t.  “It’s Not About You.”  

What I mean is, The Favorite Employee comes to work to help the boss get what he or she wants.  Selfless service to the company is what makes a team member invaluable.  It’s what fuels the four things I’m about to share with you and sets The Favorite Employee apart from you and everyone else.  (Incidentally, it’s also the key to any healthy relationship)

1. Show Up

I told you these weren’t rocket science.  Seriously, the very first thing you can do to become The Favorite Employee is to Show Up.  Think about it.  Why were you hired in the first place?  Because the boss needed help.  He or she can’t do all the work, so you become necessary.  If you’re not there, you can’t help.  If you can’t help, you’re not necessary.

I’m willing to bet that, if you compare your attendance record to The Favorite Employee’s attendance record, you’ll see that he or she very rarely (if ever) misses work.  I was raised by people like this.  My mother managed a school kitchen for thirty years and, when she retired, she got paid for more than a year’s worth of unused sick days.

That means that she took care of herself, because she knew that she was needed at work and didn’t want to miss.  It also means that when she had days where she didn’t feel well or just didn’t feel like going in, she toughed it out and showed up anyway.  She did that, because she prioritized her coworkers, bosses, and the children she served above herself.  Mom knew that it wasn’t about her.

2. Be On Time

The second thing you can do to become The Favorite Employee is to Be On Time.  Punctuality may not be something you practice in your personal life, but it better be a part of your professional life.  The people you work with and work for, depend on you arriving when you’re supposed to.  it’s part of helping them get what they want and being generally selfless.

Just like comparing your attendance, you can compare your punctuality with The Favorite Employee and you’ll find that he or she always clocks in on time.  This is because of another fundamental truth.  No, not Time Is Money, although that certainly applies.  This truth is that Time Is Relentless.  In other words, when it’s gone, it’s gone.  Time is the only resource that we cannot get back.  That makes it the most valuable resource in the world, and wasting it shows that you don’t get it.  

When you regularly saunter in ten or fifteen minutes late to work, you ‘re communicating something to your teammates.  You’re saying, “I don’t really care about the work, the company, or you.”  You’re basically saying, “I only care about me.”  That will never make you The Favorite Employee.

3. Work Hard

The third thing you can do to become The Favorite Employee is to Work Hard.  Giving an honest day’s work for a fair wage is the backbone of an employment relationship.  Remember why you were hired and what makes you necessary.  If your boss has to spend precious, irreplaceable time correcting your mistakes and making up for your lack of effort, you become not only unnecessary, but also a burden.

Compare yourself to The Favorite Employee again.  My guess is that he or she not only clocks out after you do, but also makes fewer mistakes than you do and gives a better effort than you do.  Most importantly, The Favorite Employee allows the boss to do boss things without worrying about whether employee things get done and done correctly.  In this way, The Favorite Employee helps the boss get what he or she wants, which is to be The Favorite Employee to his or her boss.

Working Hard doesn’t mean that The Favorite Employee is perfect and never makes mistakes.  However, it does mean that those mistakes are easier to forgive, because they are few and far between.  It’s also easier to grant grace to someone who always puts forth a champion effort, because you know that grace won’t go unappreciated.  In other words, the boss doesn’t have to worry about The Favorite Employee taking advantage of his or her kindness, so he or she is more likely to offer it.

4. Don’t Complain

Finally, the fourth thing you can do to become The Favorite Employee is Don’t Complain.  This is probably seems like it’s not a big deal, but it is actually the BIGGEST deal when it comes to managing employees.  Nothing aggravates a boss like having to stop and deal with employees who complain.  It wastes time and drags down the whole team.  It’s kind of the ultimate indicator of a self-centered employee.

This doesn’t mean that there won’t be problems in your workplace or that you should endure poor treatment.  But when those situations arise, go directly to someone with authority to address the issue and respectfully make your concerns known.  Don’t poison the environment around you by whining about things you’re not willing to sincerely try to fix.

Here’s a good rule of thumb.  If you’re sharing a concern with someone who can’t solve the problem, you’re complaining.  The truth is that complaining is often what people do when they A) Don’t want to talk with the boss, B) Don’t want to solve the problem, or C) Don’t want to get back to work.  If you have a habit of complaining, ask yourself whether these are the reasons why.  If you don’t like the boss or the work you’re doing, get a different job.  Don’t be a complainer.

The Favorite Employee doesn’t complain.  If you want to be him or her, have the guts to talk things over with your boss, solve the problem, and get back to work.  That’s giving the boss what he or she wants.

Well, there you go.  I’ve laid it out a plainly as I know how.  Now, go to work and become The Favorite Employee you always knew you could be.