Employee

Contributions
Dr. Hj. Agustina Hanafi, MBA
Introduction

One of the benefits that employees have over other types of

workers, such as contractors and self-employed workers, is
the chance to earn employee benefits. Each employer is free
to choose which employee benefits to offer. Benefits depend
on employers to act as sponsors, but they may rely on
monetary contributions from employees, employers or both.
Definition of Employee Contributions

• General Meaning
In general terms, employee contributions are any form of contribution that
employees make to their own benefits programs. They may not come with
matching contributions from employers. In most cases, employee
contributions come out of workers' paychecks before taxes, allowing them to
reduce tax liability in the short term and invest in a benefit that will pay out in
the long run. Employee contributions are voluntary but necessary if employees
wish to participate in employer-sponsored benefits programs.
Employees Contributions

Bottom line
Productivity Positivity Reliability Creativity Diplomacy Marketability
impact

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Employees Contributions

• Bottom line impact

Bottom line impact is one contribution indispensable employees make. Do you know
your bottom line impact? Following Expert Market’s approach, divide your employer’s
revenues by total staff – this is your average contribution. Now look at your activities
to generate this revenue figure – are you directly involved in selling? Are you
supporting sales via marketing, operations or administrative support? Do you keep
costs in line and therefore contribute more directly to profitability? Here are six other
contributions you can focus on to make yourself indispensable to your employer:

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Employees Contributions

• Productivity

Indispensable employees are efficient and effective at their jobs. Efficient

employees are quick to completion and not wasteful of resources, including
management time. Effective employees do their jobs at high quality. Are you
both efficient and effective in your role? Do you need to focus on building
better systems and habits to deliver more efficiently? Or do you need to
upgrade your skills and expertise to perform more effectively?

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Employees Contributions

• Positivity

Indispensable employees are enjoyable to work with. We all know of a colleague

people dread collaborating with. We also all know colleagues that people love to work
with. You look forward to seeing them. After interacting with them, you’re more
energized. You don’t have to be friends with everyone in your company but you want
to be that colleague with the positive energy. Are you easy and enjoyable to work
with? Do you need to build in more breaks, cut down on the caffeine or adopt some
other healthy habit to improve your positivity?

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Employees Contributions

• Reliability

Indispensable employees deliver what they promise and on time. Can people
count on you? What is still on your To Do list that others are waiting for?

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Employees Contributions

• Creativity

Indispensable employees come up with ideas or ask thoughtful questions to

encourage ideas. At the next meeting, aim to add at least one helpful comment or
make one supportive remark to someone else’s comment. Focus on solutions to
problems that are raised. In your day-to-day role, think about how you might
approach one of your responsibilities differently. This may lead to an increase in
productivity or in your perceived positivity. How can you be more creative in your
current role?

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Employees Contributions

• Diplomacy

Indispensable employees know how to navigate office relationships. Dictionary.com

defines diplomacy in part as “the skill in handling people so that there is little or no ill
will”. As with positivity, you don’t have to be friends with everyone, but indispensable
employees figure out how to get things done – collect valuable information, enroll
colleagues into helping them even when there is no official reporting relationship. Are
you able to handle your colleagues in a way that generates little or no ill will? Do you
need to listen more, communicate more clearly, or be more engaging?

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Employees Contributions

• Marketability

Indispensable employees are valuable to their company externally, not just internally. Whether
it’s having a client-facing role, such as sales or customer service, or it’s being a brand
ambassador for your company in recruiting, industry conferences or other professional events,
indispensable employees contribute to a halo effect for their employers. Wow, that employee is
impressive, therefore that company is impressive. Are you a brand ambassador to your
employer? Are you knowledgeable about your company overall? Can you compelling and
informatively explain to people why they should work at your employer or do business with
your employer?

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