Ten ways to make your boss love you

Worried about job security? These days, who's not? Andrew Donoghue offers some advice for tight times.

No matter where you happen to be perched on the IT career tree, the branches are probably looking shaky right now. From chief information officers to IT admin staff, the days of taking continued employment for granted are over.

When it comes to job performance, the recession has ratcheted up levels of scrutiny tenfold. That means managers will be measured more closely then before on how their team is performing and will want rid of anyone who reflects badly on them. No matter how good your relationship is with your boss, they are unlikely to put friendship above their own continued existence in the company.

Simply doing your job isn't enough anymore - you have to make sure your boss knows how well you're doing it. Here are some ways to make sure your boss appreciates you - and hopefully to secure your job for a bit longer.

1. Make your boss look good
The secret to winning at chess is to think several moves ahead. The same strategy applies to career progression. Rather than focusing on ways to make themselves look good in front of their immediate boss, smart employees will seek out ways to help their manager look good to the people above them.

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Laef Olson, chief information officer of hosted CRM company RightNow, says: "A former boss of mine once gave me some wise advice. She told me to always make sure that what I was doing was going to make her look good. In return, she promised to always give me the credit for what I accomplished."

As well as making your boss look good, anticipating their needs - basically being proactive - will make their job easier and should improve their appreciation of you.

Barry Hoffman, UK HR director at IT services company Computacenter, says: "Make yourself as indispensible as possible, by discovering what your boss needs before she knows she needs it. Know what drives her decisions, how she is being measured and what will get her praise from above."

2. Do more with less
IT budgets are obviously being squeezed at the moment so demonstrating understanding of the need to maximise resources is key.

Amrit Williams, chief technology officer at IT security specialist BigFix, says: "In terms of IT, upper management care about expenses, assets and labour, particularly during a recession. They need to improve the bottom line and they need to do it this year, not next year. Do more with less will be the motto, improve productivity and operational efficiencies will be the rallying cries."

But doing more with less doesn't only have to apply IT systems; it can also apply to salaries - even yours.

Alan Rommel, managing director at IT recruitment company Parity Resources, says: "Show that you appreciate the market conditions your employer is experiencing and be more open to flexibility in reward.

You could even offer your employer some flexibility in your rates or salary, or suggest a lower day rate with a bonus for completion or loyalty."

3. Be positive, proactive and professional
The ability to spot faults or problems is a valuable skill and can help avoid wasted budgets. But continually pointing out the negative isn't going to win anyone friends especially if the ideas being knocked happen to have been thought up by your boss. The smarter approach is to avoid pointing out holes until you have worked out how to fill them.

Computacenter's Hoffman says: "Avoid highlighting problems until you've first thought about possible solutions. This will give you plenty of opportunity to project a positive image of yourself, which will reflect well on your boss."

4. Talk the talk
Toiling like a martyr for hours even after everyone else has left for the day might feel like surpassing expectations but if your boss isn't there to see it, it could be wasted effort. Knowing how to present yourself and how to communicate to upper management is key when it comes to getting other people to value your contribution.

Torsten Muth, managing director of IT career site Experteer.co.uk, says: "While technical skills are still a must, the most valuable members of staff will learn to apply their communications skills to make sure their efforts are being recognised at all levels within an organizations."

And efforts to communicate effectively shouldn't be limited to the confines of the IT team. Being able to speak the same language as the wider businesses is always a valuable skill for technical staff - especially higher up the IT tree.

Adam Thilthorpe, director for Professionalism in IT at the British Computer Society (BCS), says: "Speak the language of the business so that you are able to effectively communicate the value of what you are doing, but avoid using jargon. Make sure you are seen as involved in activities that lead to revenue generation and understand the principle that, when times are tough for organisations, cash is king."

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