Sweep the Floor!

By Ken Matesz

“Be  so good they can’t ignore you.”                     Steve Martin

Anybody else here remember the 1980s version of “Karate Kid?” Maybe you remember, “Wax on, wax off,” or “paint the fence,” and “paint the house.” And, of course, there was, “Sand the floor!”

I’m not teaching karate. I’m teaching some life skills.

If you work at a job – especially if you work at an hourly job – you can benefit from my training:

Sweep the floor!!

A lot of people whine and carry on about not earning more money. They wonder why they don’t get a raise more often. They wonder why they earn so little but seem to work so hard. They wonder why it is so hard to work your way up the ladder. My answer?

Sweep the floor!!

When you work for someone else, (and, yes, this applies to many office workers too), there is one and only one way you stand a chance of being the next one to get a raise.

What is it?

Your employer has to be able to see that you add more value to his business than everyone else.

Adding more value means being more valuable. That means your employer needs to see VISUALLY that you do what no one else does. In other words, …..

You need to stand out from the crowd.

So, how do you do that? Well, I already said it. You stand out by sweeping the floor!

Now, sweeping the floor is a metaphor for most workers, but it could be literal for some. What am I really saying?

 There is NOTHING that pleases an employer more than a stand-out employee.

A stand-out employee makes the employer look good.
A stand-out employee is always productive.
A stand-out employee works fast.
A stand-out employee works efficiently.
A stand-out employee makes the company more valuable.
A stand-out employee makes the employer richer.

A stand-out employee is sweeping the floor while all the other employees stand around the coffee machine and complain about how little they earn.

When I talk about sweeping the floor, I’m talking about doing something – and it can be almost anything – that makes your employer happy. It could be. . .

cleaning up a mess in the lunch room;
refilling the copy machine with paper or ink as soon as you notice it’s low;
taking on surplus work from another worker;
cutting your lunch break by 5 minutes so you are always the first back to work;
or, maybe even actually sweeping the floor.

The point is, if you truly want to earn more money at your current job, you need to be seen as being more valuable. The boss needs to be able to see you doing what he didn’t expect.

Any bunch of disgruntled workers can stand around the drinking fountain complaining about the boss, the wages, not enough vacation, too much stress, and on and on.

But it takes a stand-out employee to pick up a broom and make the workplace better while everyone else is being unproductive.

If you want to be remembered, if you want to be appreciated, if you want to be noticed, if you want to get a good reference for your next job, and if you want to earn more money as an employee, then you need to clam up and pick up the broom.

It’s not difficult to understand. Valuable employees get treated like they are valuable – because they are.

So be the valuable, stand-out employee. Do more than you’re expected to do, and make sure the boss sees it. If you really want to earn more, then do more.

Be the one who. . .

sweeps the floor!