3 Little Genius Ways to Upgrade Your Value as an HR Professional…

3 Little Genius Ways to Upgrade Your Value as an #HR Professional…

There are certain times in your life when it pays to upgrade.

The same is true of your Personnel brand.  There comes a time when you should upgrade it.

To that end, here are three quick ideas for upgrading your brand in HR and making yourself more valuable…

Idea #1:  Help those in your network land better gigs.

If an important friend or colleague is on the job hunt, work your network for them.

Connect them with people.
Pass along job leads.
Share their job searches with others.

All this upgrades your importance and value to them.

And it’s a great excuse to reach out to former contacts and put you at the top of their mind—while helping a colleague. You’re also reminding people what you are up to.

Being willing to extend yourself in this way positions you as that “go-to person” whenever there’s an opportunity. And you’ll find that others will be thrilled to return the favor.

Idea #2:  Help headhunters find great talent.

This is closely related to idea #1.

If you get a call from a search firm for the scoop on someone you’ve worked with in the past, be helpful. Return that call immediately and supply the information requested.  Since headhunters are accustomed to not get their calls returned, you’ll immediately be appreciated and remembered.

But take it a step further.

Use this as an opportunity to position yourself to that recruiter (and others) as a prime source of referrals.  By putting forward potential candidates for a open positions demonstrates your own expansive network, your willingness to help them do their job and will upgrade your value in their eyes.

However to make this happen, don’t just give this lip service. It requires that you treat any cold call you get from a headhunter as if you’ve just been hit with a lawsuit.  That means responding to it that same day.  If you’re buried with the priorities of the day, it’s easy to blow off their call.   Don’t.   Call back as soon as you can.

And sooner or later, the tables will turn.  When this happens, they’ll likely start considering you for an opportunities because your name is always the first one that springs to mind.

Why? All because you return phone calls.

All this requires is positioning you as the person “who makes referrals and helps out recruiters in their search for great talent.”

Idea #3:  Pick an influential leader or client you respect and volunteer to run a project for them.

The influential senior leaders that you know are always up to something cool and always have too much to do.

And whether they tell you not, many would welcome help.

If they need someone to handle a project or two of theirs, step up and volunteer to take something off their plate.

If you’re not sure what they need help with, ask.

The payoff?

You get to circulate in their network and elevate your profile and visibility in their world.

It’s one of the best and easiest ways to upgrade your value in their eyes as someone who “volunteers and goes beyond expectations and the call of duty.”

You may start off hanging on to this leader’s coattails, but soon you’ll have your own wardrobe if you play this right.

Thus upgrading your value as an HR professional in the eyes of others is an important part of managing your career.  So, it’s crucial that you regularly seek out opportunities to make this happen.