Us meat guys are trained to add value to just about everything we handle at retail. Its apart of our jobs and we always want to do a good job and make lots of money for "the man". Unfortunately there is some thing else we should be adding value to and that is ourselves. If your dream is someday advancing in your career you've got to invest in your self now. Well now how do we do that? Its actually simple, just do what we know best, merchandising. Merchandise yourself. Here are 12 steps (I am sure there's more) you can take right now to begin to add value to your self based on my experiences.
When you enrich yourself, you can feel yourself grow and will feel better about yourself. It contributes to your happiness.
1) Begin to realize that the most perishable item in your store is "your customers" for without them you have no job, no pay. Don't run from the customer, engage them, help them because when you help them you are helping yourself in so many ways. Remember many of them need your help and expertise. When you do this they spread the good word about you. This is the beginning of adding value to yourself. Should you decide to become an entrepreneur the assets that are your talents are transferable. There is no better way to add value to yourself than by becoming "indispensable". The best way to keep your job in today’s economy is to be so valuable to your employers that they simply can’t do without you,”
2) Just don't be satisfied with what you learn from your employer. Keep searching, keep reading, keep reaching for more knowledge about the business your in. A great place to do this is right here with The Meat Cutters Club. Read the meat related headlines so you can converse with people in your company at a higher station in their careers. Communicate with each other on line or off line.Care Immensely about What You Do.
3) Verbal and writing communications need to be honed just like a good knife. Your mind needs to be sharp. I don't care if you are hustling buggies in the parking lot or cutting meat. One way to improve yourself very quickly is to read. It sounds a little silly to some, but reading can drastically improve the way that you think and communicate without you noticing that it’s happening in real-time. It only has to be 15 to 30 minutes a day, but it has to be daily, not just three times a week or whenever you feel like it. When you develop a habit of reading for 30 minutes (minimum) daily, you start to see a difference in the way that you think, in the information that you are able to give to others, and the way that you see the world. Talk about adding value!
4) Too many people don’t understand the basics about the operation of their companies. Lean about other processes in your store. You may think you know things by just looking at it, but really try to find out what it takes to run lets say the produce dept. or the dairy dept. All you have to do is ask a fellow worker and I am sure they love to talk about how hard they have it LOL>. But what you are doing is becoming more rounded in the food store operations. So instead of wandering around the strip mall or sitting on a bench in front of the store.Try spending time learning what makes your store tic. Just remember you are adding value to yourself.
5) Always try to maintain a positive attitude. Be a part of the solutions never a part of the problem. If you want to be valuable to your company, then you need to contribute to its bottom line. In other words, you need to help it make money. Otherwise, it’s not worth it to your company to keep you around. Use your time and resources most effectively so that you connect back to the bottom line. Your adding value to yourself.
6) Often there are no greater timewasters in the workplace than your fellow worker. There are the people who love to gossip and spread rumors. The ones who are constantly trying to catch your mistakes. The store flirt who will only get you in trouble. And the bad news bear who doesn’t want to do anything but bring you down with bad news. Rise above this crap and you will add value to yourself.
7) Don't be afraid to sing your own praises but not to loudly. As a general rule, your work won’t speak for itself. You must speak for yourself. You can really help yourself by making sure that managers and supervisors in your store understand the effort you put into your job and the results you produce. A bit of modest bragging will not only help you come promotion time, but it will also help discredit any back-biters.” “Provide the right amount of information about yourself, but don’t beat your accomplishments to death.
8) When you pitch an idea to management, be prepared to defend your views. Also, be prepared to receive criticism. Management will challenge you simply to test your level of enthusiasm for the idea. Show some passion about it and you may get your idea implemented. Back up your idea by letting management know that you know what your competition is doing or not doing in regards to your idea. This is really an eye-opener to management, Adding value to yourself.
9) I live by this statement and always will. Don't let someone make their problem your problem. I always carried a small notepad and pen on my person a wrote down important issues. When some one comes to you and asks you to confirm something nine out of 10 times that person is trying to cover their own ass. Some people will always tend to spread negative things in the market over positive things. One negative person can destroy motivation in minutes. When he/she is negative you be positive. Your adding value to yourself.
10) Don't ask for more than you deserve by expecting to be highly compensated before you have provided one penny of value to the company. Throughout your career, evaluate what value you bring to your store. “Ask for fair compensation, but don’t price yourself out of the market. Employment is a two-way street, so make sure you are giving something for what you get. Again adding value to your self.
11) Know which rung on the ladder is right for you. Do you want to be responsible for the success or failure of your company? If so, move up the ladder. Do you want to go home at five every day and forget about work until the next morning? Then moving up the ladder isn't for you. Most people want to move up the ladder because that’s what they’ve been told they should do. But the really important thing is that you do your job to the best of your ability and you are happy doing it.
12) If you go through your workdays just trying not to get fired, then you are probably headed for trouble. “Instead, push those negative thoughts out of your mind. Focus on the work you do and how you add value to your company. In return you will be adding value to yourself which will lead you to bigger and better things.
Hi
You are so right but people become to comfortable and you need a little luck. Two responses:
My grandfather (rest in peace) is my idol. He came over from Poland, learned English, worked hard and owned the largest kosher butcher store in New York City. When he passed away so many butchers (he trained them and they were union butchers) went to his funeral they had to closed their stores out of respect and they did not have butchers to work!!!
I learned many lessons from him. The first is that you need to worry about things you can control. The first is that you control what you learn how you treat other people and never stop learning (I am working on my doctorate in education). This is so true.
Your reputation is do important.
I always ask what would pop do in this situation.
I think that the supermarket have just done a terrible job in training and taken advantage of our occupation. However it's up to us to add value to ourselves. Look at me, I work 150 days a year and make double of what I made in the backroom. Yes I miss the cold
And physical action. But I love the travel and meeting new challenges.
Keep cutting
Alan lazar
Great points. I can see why you have been so successful. Let me just add that no matter how good a cutter you are, no matter how good a meat manager you are, if your store as a whole, or your company as a whole is not profiting, your job is at risk. You may not be able to have much effect on the whole company but if every employee sees the big picture and acts accordingly you can make an incremental difference. This could be something like retrieving a head of lettuce or quart of milk that an inconsiderate customer dropped in the freezer case, or reporting suspicious behavior to security, even though "it's not my job".
Also it's just a fact in any industry that the best way to get the biggest pay increase is to change companies. Union environments aside where wages are locked in by contract, most companies have a set maximum limit for annual pay increases, say, 5% for the very best employees. So you are basically at the mercy of whatever deal you struck when you joined your company. However if you are good a what you do, confident, and good at selling yourself it's very possible to get a 10-12% increase by jumping to another company. Just don't lie about what you currently earn as they might very well check. I know one guy who made a very bad deal when I hired him and he was very good. Unfortunately I was limited in what I could do for him. I was willing to pay him $40k to start but he asked for $30k. He did a great job for a few years and then left for another company at a 20% increase. Two years later he came back and we gave him a 20% increase to come back!
Coalcracker wrote:
Us meat guys are trained to add value to just about everything we handle at retail. Its apart of our jobs and we always want to do a good job and make lots of money for "the man". Unfortunately there is some thing else we should be adding value to and that is ourselves. If your dream is someday advancing in your career you've got to invest in your self now. Well now how do we do that? Its actually simple, just do what we know best, merchandising. Merchandise yourself. Here are 12 steps (I am sure there's more) you can take right now to begin to add value to your self based on my experiences.
When you enrich yourself, you can feel yourself grow and will feel better about yourself. It contributes to your happiness.
1) Begin to realize that the most perishable item in your store is "your customers" for without them you have no job, no pay. Don't run from the customer, engage them, help them because when you help them you are helping yourself in so many ways. Remember many of them need your help and expertise. When you do this they spread the good word about you. This is the beginning of adding value to yourself. Should you decide to become an entrepreneur the assets that are your talents are transferable. There is no better way to add value to yourself than by becoming "indispensable". The best way to keep your job in today’s economy is to be so valuable to your employers that they simply can’t do without you,”
2) Just don't be satisfied with what you learn from your employer. Keep searching, keep reading, keep reaching for more knowledge about the business your in. A great place to do this is right here with The Meat Cutters Club. Read the meat related headlines so you can converse with people in your company at a higher station in their careers. Communicate with each other on line or off line.Care Immensely about What You Do.
3) Verbal and writing communications need to be honed just like a good knife. Your mind needs to be sharp. I don't care if you are hustling buggies in the parking lot or cutting meat. One way to improve yourself very quickly is to read. It sounds a little silly to some, but reading can drastically improve the way that you think and communicate without you noticing that it’s happening in real-time. It only has to be 15 to 30 minutes a day, but it has to be daily, not just three times a week or whenever you feel like it. When you develop a habit of reading for 30 minutes (minimum) daily, you start to see a difference in the way that you think, in the information that you are able to give to others, and the way that you see the world. Talk about adding value!
4) Too many people don’t understand the basics about the operation of their companies. Lean about other processes in your store. You may think you know things by just looking at it, but really try to find out what it takes to run lets say the produce dept. or the dairy dept. All you have to do is ask a fellow worker and I am sure they love to talk about how hard they have it LOL>. But what you are doing is becoming more rounded in the food store operations. So instead of wandering around the strip mall or sitting on a bench in front of the store.Try spending time learning what makes your store tic. Just remember you are adding value to yourself.
5) Always try to maintain a positive attitude. Be a part of the solutions never a part of the problem. If you want to be valuable to your company, then you need to contribute to its bottom line. In other words, you need to help it make money. Otherwise, it’s not worth it to your company to keep you around. Use your time and resources most effectively so that you connect back to the bottom line. Your adding value to yourself.
6) Often there are no greater timewasters in the workplace than your fellow worker. There are the people who love to gossip and spread rumors. The ones who are constantly trying to catch your mistakes. The store flirt who will only get you in trouble. And the bad news bear who doesn’t want to do anything but bring you down with bad news. Rise above this crap and you will add value to yourself.
7) Don't be afraid to sing your own praises but not to loudly. As a general rule, your work won’t speak for itself. You must speak for yourself. You can really help yourself by making sure that managers and supervisors in your store understand the effort you put into your job and the results you produce. A bit of modest bragging will not only help you come promotion time, but it will also help discredit any back-biters.” “Provide the right amount of information about yourself, but don’t beat your accomplishments to death.
8) When you pitch an idea to management, be prepared to defend your views. Also, be prepared to receive criticism. Management will challenge you simply to test your level of enthusiasm for the idea. Show some passion about it and you may get your idea implemented. Back up your idea by letting management know that you know what your competition is doing or not doing in regards to your idea. This is really an eye-opener to management, Adding value to yourself.
9) I live by this statement and always will. Don't let someone make their problem your problem. I always carried a small notepad and pen on my person a wrote down important issues. When some one comes to you and asks you to confirm something nine out of 10 times that person is trying to cover their own ass. Some people will always tend to spread negative things in the market over positive things. One negative person can destroy motivation in minutes. When he/she is negative you be positive. Your adding value to yourself.
10) Don't ask for more than you deserve by expecting to be highly compensated before you have provided one penny of value to the company. Throughout your career, evaluate what value you bring to your store. “Ask for fair compensation, but don’t price yourself out of the market. Employment is a two-way street, so make sure you are giving something for what you get. Again adding value to your self.
11) Know which rung on the ladder is right for you. Do you want to be responsible for the success or failure of your company? If so, move up the ladder. Do you want to go home at five every day and forget about work until the next morning? Then moving up the ladder isn't for you. Most people want to move up the ladder because that’s what they’ve been told they should do. But the really important thing is that you do your job to the best of your ability and you are happy doing it.
12) If you go through your workdays just trying not to get fired, then you are probably headed for trouble. “Instead, push those negative thoughts out of your mind. Focus on the work you do and how you add value to your company. In return you will be adding value to yourself which will lead you to bigger and better things.
You are right on target about people becoming too comfortable! But along with that often those same folks are afraid of taking a risk. After several years of working for an independent chain as a meat manager I grew dissatisfied. Wage increases were not even keeping up with inflation. I was not alone in my dissatisfaction but I was the one who made the jump to another chain. While both companies were in the same union I got a 50 cent/hr. increase going from a manager at the independent chain to just a cutter at the new one. After I was there 6 months to a year and my world didn't end, 5 or 6 other guys followed me, but I had more seniority than them and got more over-time and Sunday work! Decades later I did the same, for the same reasons but this time I changed careers. Now I make 4 times what I did in the trade and don't work weeknds or holidays. I took a risk, but I prepared for it and it paid off. Since them I have mentored of few of my brethren from the meat trade to help them do the same, but they just aren't willing to take the risk so they remain where they are.
ChefLazar5 wrote:
Hi You are so right but people become to comfortable and you need a little luck. Two responses: My grandfather (rest in peace) is my idol. He came over from Poland, learned English, worked hard and owned the largest kosher butcher store in New York City. When he passed away so many butchers (he trained them and they were union butchers) went to his funeral they had to closed their stores out of respect and they did not have butchers to work!!! I learned many lessons from him. The first is that you need to worry about things you can control. The first is that you control what you learn how you treat other people and never stop learning (I am working on my doctorate in education). This is so true. Your reputation is do important. I always ask what would pop do in this situation. I think that the supermarket have just done a terrible job in training and taken advantage of our occupation. However it's up to us to add value to ourselves. Look at me, I work 150 days a year and make double of what I made in the backroom. Yes I miss the cold And physical action. But I love the travel and meeting new challenges. Keep cutting Alan lazar
Wow, this is great advice. It is sad the quickest way up the ladder is jumping ship to ship. I always lied about my salary and requested no phone calls to the present employer as they will fire me for interviewing with you, the enemy. Remember, when you have a decent job, you have leverage. I doubt anyone would bother or be able to check your salary, but you have to make it believable, just in case. Not saying it was right, figured as bad as we were treated back in the day (no unions, nothing but yourself ), the more money the less pain, and a quick reprieve from backstabbers by leaving, until you meet the new ones, they are all around. Above all, do put pride in your work and help your customers.
