04.08.15 The 11th Key for Adding Value as an Employee

11. Build a Professional ‘Personal Brand’

A personal brand refers to the opinion that people have about your abilities, skills, qualifications and talents. The brand defines who you are and what you aspire to achieve in your career and industry, your values, work ethic and the unique reputation that you have cultivated in your workplace or professional landscape.

My achievements in the airline industry built my personal brand as a professional commercial manager; thence providing an effective launch pad for our private consultancy firm. In fact, we started as Aviation Excellence, rebranding to Corporate Excellence years later, and finally to Service Excellence. Our very first business opportunity came from executives who knew my performance whist working at the airline. We started off with a three-days Customer Care Course for Airlines, Tour Operators and Travel Agents held at Hotel Novotel Arusha Mount Meru.

Naaman’s slave girl must have had a good reputation otherwise her advice for the commander to travel to Israel would have been taken with a grain of salt. One can say that she built her personal brand in her own way.

A value-adding employee intentionally builds her professional brand in a domain that carries significant impact in her field. Daniel is a good example of how that can happen, as reported in Daniel 6:3 which reads (KJV): ³Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

Therefore, work towards generating a track record of adding value to specific activities within the value chain, as that will send a message that you are a valuable asset to employers. Ensure that you are known to be trustworthy, competent, and easy to work with. Make sure that your networking activities depict professionalism and seriousness. Remember that your personal brand becomes that of your employer out there.

Mind your e-trail, which simply refers to your actions on the internet. These can be traced should someone wish to; and can dent your personal brand if you browse content that conflicts with the image that you aspire to create and maintain. Therefore, be cautious about your postings on social media.

Last but not least, build ‘social proof’; which refers to evidence from individuals that have experienced your product or service. Not only does social proof build trust in your brand and that of your employer, but it also portrays value while generating or improving demand for your services and the products or services of the entity that you work for. Therefore, aspire to solicit social proof from work colleagues and other stakeholders that you interact with, or those that use your product or service whose value you have been seen to improve or enhance. Their feedback could be through testimonials and referrals; word of mouth, number of shares and subscribers on social media; case studies such as newspapers or television programs or even industry certifications.