You have a competitive advantage over your peer when you are able to provide the kind of value that they cannot. In professional terms then, a competitive advantage helps you differentiate yourself from your peers when you or your efforts are able to obtain a greater profit margin for your company in sales either directly or indirectly. However, profit-making is not the only measure of competitive advantage. You’d be surprised, but even your personality and behavioral traits could favor you in company’s management eye over another employee when it comes to company hiring and firing tendencies. The economy has taken a hit, of late, and in such circumstances fashioning a competitive advantage for yourself at work could be the difference between keeping or losing your job.
Ways in Which Competitive Advantage Can Be Created at Work
Below we enlist a handful of methods by which you are more likely to be able to create a competitive advantage for yourself in your job –
By Providing Exceptional Customer Service
You must have come across the oft-used word – “customer experience”? Yes, companies are truly focusing on their customers a 100% now and finding ways to gain their satisfaction. Afterall, if customers are satisfied, they can be expected to be loyal. You will want to provide your company’s clients with a seamless and valuable customer experience. So much so that, the next time they are required to interact with your company, they specifically request for you. When your managers and company seniors take note of this, they might not want to let go of you as easily, even in times of economic distress.
By Expressing a Spirit of Innovation
Indeed, if you can continue to innovate and provide your company executives and leaders with creative and problem-solving product and service ideas utilizing the newest technology, your competitors at work will fail to steal a march over you. It helps to be a multi-tasker. You might not even be required to ideate for product/service development as part of your job role, but pitching in with innovative ideas that could benefit your company’s growth and development, from time to time, could help get you recognized for your efforts. Company management will duly note your dedication towards the company and most likely reward you in the future.
By Constantly Upskilling
You might have started out with a stellar skill-set which helped you beat another prospective employee to gain the job you’re currently working at. However, you can be sure that there are tons of other job-searchers eyeing your job, with better skills and know-how today. The only way to retain your competitive advantage at work is to keep upskilling yourself. “Constant learning” is another catchword doing the rounds of the corporate sector. Companies now want to invest in employees who are willing to keep learning and acquiring new skills as they continue work for them. If you can evidence your commitment to keep upskilling yourself to your employers, you will have created a competitive advantage at work that most others would find difficult to contest.
Conclusion
It isn’t difficult to develop or maintain a competitive advantage for yourself professionally. All you will have to do is focus on the customer experience you provide on behalf of your company, and the employer experience you extend to the company who has entrusted you with your job.