By Virginia Auciello

In today's employee market, it's tough to hire and retain the best employees. From the employee point of view, it's time to check options. Can I make more money, increase my job satisfaction, reduce hours worked? Because job vacancies often exceed availability of people ready to fill the employer's needs, both employer and employee risk being lulled into lowering performance expectations.

Employers risk accepting lower performance standards when they are "thrilled" to have people come on board to fill openings. Some managers become afraid to give important corrective feedback for fear employees will leave. If companies find themselves in a position where they start thinking that someone is better than no one, they are in trouble. What are we working for? When performance standards are diluted or become inconsistent, great risks follow. Quality declines. Customers become dissatisfied. Morale declines. Compromised standards will effect profitability.

As an individual in an employees' market, you have enormous opportunity. Because employers are "thrilled" you came on board, why not thrill them more? Figure out what are the most challenging and demanding problems faced by your employer. What can you do to assist? If there aren't enough people to answer the phones in customer service, you could figure out how to satisfy customers and shorten talk time. Could you come in fifteen minutes earlier or leave fifteen minuets later? Could you offer to process paperwork during down time?

Are there opportunities to become a foreman, supervisor or manger? Demonstrate leadership skills, volunteer to take on extra responsibility. Learn something you need to know to qualify you for the next step. Offer solutions to problems. Take advantage of the employee market. Provide opportunities for your promotion while solving company problems.

We all work for a company, and we also work for ourselves. Whether inside a company or running your own business, successful people show similar traits. They know the goals and objectives of the company and they have goals and objectives for themselves. They have checkpoints when they measure how they are doing so they make adjustments focused on success.

They figure out what they do well and accelerate their success by working within their skill set, making those skills stronger every day. They make assessments about what changes would cause them to be more successful and have a plan to implement those changes. They take courses, join Toastmasters, get involved in professional organizations, read and network. They are working for themselves! And employers are "thrilled" to have them for all the right reasons.

In an employees' market, it is easy to "just do the job." It's easy for employers to lower performance expectations. From either perspective, employee or employer, ask who and what am I working for?