You can't rely on tasks and activities to score a raise or impress prospective employers. Plus, it's hard to quantify your value or calculate the financial impact of your individual efforts because you probably work in a team or don’t have access to department budgets or revenue data. Instead of spending hours deciphering financial statements or laboring over spreadsheets, here are some easy ways to calculate and communicate the financial effect of your work.
- Seek context and understanding. You must understand how your work fits into the big picture to estimate and communicate your value. For example, are your reports improving the turn on receivables or helping the sales team reactivate lost customers? Meet periodically with department managers and stakeholders to find out how technology affects their performance and if they’re meeting their goals. Even if you can’t correlate a business unit’s specific outcomes to your performance, provide an estimate and take partial credit for the results.
- Quantify the impact of projects. Did your software upgrade save time, create more efficient processes, or reduce headcount? We know technology eventually lowers human-capital costs, so quantify your impact by correlating each project to a reduction in full-time equivalents or processing time. Keep a log so that when you’re ready to compile your resume or ask for a raise you have the data right at your fingertips.
- Follow the money. IT has been charged with creating revenue, but growth is not only derived from sales. Has technology improved customer retention or satisfaction or helped R&D track and speed the development of new products? Follow the technology trail to the ultimate customer to describe your impact on revenue. If you can't break down the numbers, cite the company’s overall revenue gains or quote industry averages to quantify the results of your efforts.
