What do I mean by this — a braai stand on a hot sunny day by the beach for vegetarians might mean nothing; however, the same for meat eaters might just be everything they dreamed of when picturing the perfect day.
In a nutshell, it's important to not only find the right thing to do but the right people and the right place to do it, or you will never understand its true value.
In industry, various services and products are greatly appreciated but undervalued and, in some instances, aren't even of value to the supposed customer.
Here is another analogy: South African petrol attendants provide services over and above their requirements, which the customers highly appreciate. They:
- clean windows
- check mirrors, and
- even help empty trash from cars.
All these efforts are greatly appreciated by consumers, but a very small portion of them value them.
According to a poll conducted by BusinessTech in 2021, 31% of South African motorists don't tip their service station attendants at all while 30% give between R5 and 19% give about R10.
In summary, what this means is that there is an existing market for the service, but it is not a service customers value, so they see no justification in paying for it.
Companies go through the same challenge because going over and above is part and parcel of any job, and many employees happily take on more than is required. This has become a social and corporate norm; however, there needs to always be a fair balance, as this can slowly fester into not only a daily expectation but in the long-term result in blind promotions.
Because taking on additional work or employees growing in their capabilities and picking up responsibilities assigned to roles above their current one is seen as a positive sign of growth and a corporate norm, it becomes a challenge for businesses to put a financial value on it; yet the business greatly appreciates and at times even depends on the consistent delivery of the skill.
This makes it easier for individuals to look for a job at a higher level elsewhere that comes with a salary increase rather than go through the promotion cycle, which is influenced by many factors outside of objective performance management metrics.
This takes us to the importance of truly understanding the difference between being appreciated and valued; this applies to:
- people
- products, and
- general service providers.
Your value as an employee can be tied directly to how your contribution impacts the company's goals, financial and otherwise. The upside of this is that with adequate access to information and business understanding you can be equipped to understand your value.
The downside is that functionality and efficacy only go so far, and there are softer skills at play. People's preferences can never be overlooked when thoroughly interrogating value versus appreciation.
Serial entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant says that "who you do business with, is just as important as what you choose to do". If this is something you underplay, you might find yourself with the right product or service at the wrong place getting applauded instead of getting paid.