I had a conversation with a staff member just recently where I assured her that little things get noticed.
When she starts early, when she asks for something in a certain way, when she does good work, when her attention to detail is lacking.
It all gets noticed.
Whether your manager wants to admit it or not, it all not only gets noticed, but it all goes onto a virtual scorecard.
The tally on that scorecard then gets called into play the next time you ask for something that pushes the boundaries of usual flexibility. If you’ve accumulated enough good work karma, the answer will likely be yes. If you’re low on good work karma points, you may struggle.
Just today, before leaving the office for two days in our satellite office, Catherine made sure she went around and emptied all the office bins, she did a great handover interview with me and she thanked me for the opportunity to go and work in the other office! Karma points high.
Little things, all noticed.
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I Can do it Anyone Can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started her first business at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Now Kirsty does lots of fun things which you can read about here. Her favourite current projects are Elephant Property, a boutique property management agency, Baby Teresa, a baby clothing line that donates an outfit to a baby in need for each one they sell and ReallySold, which helps real estate agents stop writing boring, uninteresting ads.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
