SWE Coffee Club Goes Virtual: Adding Value at The Workplace

Do you have a hard time showing your worth in the workplace?

Many professional women struggle to ask for a salary increase or other investments in their career growth in the workplace. In this Coffee Club, we will exchange experiences on how we can rise professionally and talk about the work effort and results instead of talking only about tasks performed when we describe our role in the company. We will also share how women are presenting their value currently and gaining recognition. It’s easy to get restricted by the set job descriptions given in an interview and forget the potential of going outside the job description, adding more value to a role.

This new normal of work culture has made many women find motivation from various sources like peers and development courses, which increased their confidence and made them feel like valuable contributors.

What we should do to change our habits to come out of the shell that restricts us from exploring; so that we “women” expect the fair salary review for our equal work.

There are Four ways employees can add value every day:

• Know your organization;
• Know your strengths;
• Take the initiative;
• Focus on the bottom line

Adding value to your company & contributing to your team, it’s imperative these days. If you are presented with a Job description, that seems like a responsibility lists or tasks, remember that those are there to achieve specific outcomes that relate to the return on investment (ROI) for your employer.

There is an excellent article by Milind Kher on how do we add value to the workplace, which is our primary aim. At the same time, it is also essential to add value through relationships, which are both professional as well as interpersonal relationships.

We will discuss the following questions:

• Recognition vs. effort: what to do when it is not possible to see a return on work?
• Do you think Women underestimate their performance and hesitate to ask for a raise?
• Is it essential to understand our added value within the company? How can this help us in a promotion?
• Are performance metrics in the workplace important? If your environment lacks metrics, SMART goals, how can we do it?

What is GROW MODEL, and how can it help?

How can we position ourselves in the workplace?

Bonus learning :

YouTube – 7 leadership hurdles women face in the workforce

All Engineers, EITs, P.Geo’s, professionals in engineering-related fields (yes, that includes you technicians, software folks, GIS gurus, etc!) and new grads are welcome. We welcome people of all genders and supporters of women in engineering fields. Bring your friends and make new ones!

This is a virtual event hosted on Zoom. A link and instructions on how to join will be sent to the email address you use to register.

Save the date for our future coffee club discussions!

• October 31st
• November 28th
• January 30th
• February 27th
• March 27th
• April 24th
• May 29th