How To Be The Best Investment Your Company Ever Took A Risk On

When I first entered the wonderful, adulting working world, I consistently heard people refer to new hires as investments. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really understand what they were saying until about a year ago.

Webster’s defines the word investment as “the outlay of money usually for income or profit” so bear with me while I explain my confusion on why new hires are considered investments.

First of all, this was my first job out of college, I didn’t get the working world. I did not realize that when a company decides to hire you, they are not only paying you and choosing you over hundreds of other candidates; they are putting faith in your work ethic that you diligently convinced them of during the grueling interview process.

On top of all of that, they are paying for your training, your supervisor has to take the time out of their jam packed schedule to train you for as long as that process takes, they aren’t getting paid extra for this. They end up working additional hours to compensate for the time they’ve taken out of a typical work day to train you.

That’s not even scratching the surface of it. So yeah, to say you’re an investment is an understatement.

So if a company is willing to invest their time, money, resources and staff in you- isn’t it only right to invest right back in them? No, I’m not talking about monetary investment. I’m talking about the investment of your work ethic, your efforts and your time. Making sure everything is done with efficiency and extreme attention to detail is one of the best ways you can make sure you’re putting an investment back in.

I am not going to pretend as if I am this perfect employee who does not have “off” days, come on, we all do.

As much as a company invests and values you as an employee, you should do the same. I am not saying make work your life, there needs to be a healthy divide.

However, there are small things you can do to make sure that you are giving back to the company that could have easily chosen a different candidate.

It is not always the big things that will show commitment, the small things can too. It is that extra couple of hours you stay late working to make sure projects are completed, it is the follow up email about a forgotten project, it is creating organizational systems and numerous checklists to make sure that your projects are completed in a timely fashion. It’s asking a team member how you can assist them when you know they are swamped, it’s engaging with your co-workers and always offering a hand when you can.

I, luckily, have been fortunate to work for a company that truly does value each employee – as an investment and on a personal level. If a company is willing to put their investment in you… do the little, behind the scenes things and the big things to show how much you appreciate their investment.

Show up, do your work and then some. BE the investment that they took a risk on. BE the employee that attempts to make an impact in the workplace. Don’t be complacent in your job, look for ways to better the company that has put so much time and effort into you.