There always one person in your office that gets the work done without much praise. And your unsung heroes are more valuable than you’d think…
A new study has put a value on the work done by our offices’ unsung heroes.
Trainline for Business has revealed that these people – who are often in charge of business travel, fixing printers and managing the conference call system – are worth a massive £525 million annually to SMEs.
But how do you spot these money-making heroes if they often go unsung?
Look for people who…
Get things done
The true office heroes are the one doing the tasks that make your office run without a hitch. They might not be bringing in the big contracts or working on the most expensive projects, but without them these deals would not be done in such an easy manner.
Their work could range from making sure visitors to the office are comfortable and impressed, to getting all the paperwork done so contracts flow easily.
With the heroes often coming to the rescue of their colleagues, the research revealed that on average they complete 16 key tasks per day and spend over 3 hours and 35 minutes per week assisting their co-workers.
Know how everything works
Want to know how to log your work on the new software system? Fiddling with the printer trying to get it to work? Don’t know how to claim VAT back on an office expense? Your office’s unsung hero does.
In fact, they probably have a good working knowledge of most of the daily processes in the office from the mundane to the hugely important. If the company adopts new software, they’ll be there on the first day figuring out how it works and how to get the best from it.
Are mentioned a lot in conversations
While their work might not gain awards or be mentioned in end of year reports, you can bet their name is familiar among colleagues.
In fact, their name is probably the most mentioned in the office. But if you asked who was the most valuable staff member, they might not make the top 10. This is because people rely on them for all sorts of tasks and information, yet don’t realise how important this role is.
Are missed when they’re away
The big test of whether someone is a true office unsung hero comes when the person goes away. While the office might struggle by for a day or two, if they’ve gone for a longer holiday things will soon start to pile up.
Actually, forget that. Because the true unsung hero will probably have briefed everyone in on what needs doing and set up systems so that things run smoothly. That’s the true sign of an unsung hero.
Why not tell us in our comments section who your unsung hero is?
