Does your employer value networking?

Posted by Justin Goldsborough | 2 comments

This is one of those “no duh” posts. If you’re a blogger, you know what I mean. It’s a post where my first reaction is not to write it, because it seems so intuitive. But then again, those posts usually lead to the best conversations.  I’ve heard that from multiple bloggers. So, here we go.

You can tell a lot about your employer by whether or not they value networking. And when I say “a lot,” I basically mean if it’s a place you can build a career or if you need to start looking for a new place to build a career.

Networking is one of those intangibles that it’s hard to put a number value on. But the value of networking is really pretty obvious when you think about it. So obvious, in fact, that it amazes me there are still so many people out there who don’t see it.

People are the lifeblood of your business. Whether they are people with whom you work or people who are purchasing the product or service you provide. People make your business run. And people work with other people who they like, know and trust. People also refer those people. They advocate for those people. They share ideas with those people. They help those people.

I could tell you stories about client leads that have been sent my way through networking. Stories about jobs I got through networking (my current one at FH). Stories about recommendations I’ve gotten from my network that I use for clients. Stories about being inspired at networking events. But I won’t.

Instead, I’ll leave you with this piece of advice. If you’re company doesn’t value networking because they…

- Think you should be spending that time on “real work”

- Don’t want to pay for it

- Are worried about sharing “company secrets”

- Haven’t seen the potential benefits for themselves

…then I’d urge you to start looking for  new company. Because if you don’t think an organization’s POV on networking says everything you need to know about its culture, then I’d like to sell you some magic seeds to plant one of those ticket oaks from the StubHub commercial.