Communicating Your Value
The Economics of Personal Worth
My mentor reminds me often that my job is to create value for my organization and the people around me. The value I choose to create will vary across responsibilities and situations, but ultimately, my job is to improve the world. The same is true for you.
The challenge many professionals face isn't just creating value—it's ensuring that value is recognized and properly compensated. This brings us to an important economic concept that can help frame how you think about your value and contributions to your organization.
The Economics Behind Your Compensation
In neoclassical economic theory, the marginal product of labor (MPL) refers to the additional output produced by employing one more unit of labor while holding all other inputs constant. The theory states that workers are paid wages equal to their marginal productivity in competitive markets.
This framework has several important implications:
Wage determination: This theory suggests that workers' wages are determined by their productivity rather than by social factors or employer power. This is a strong assumption, but let’s maintain it for our discussion today.
Income distribution implications: It implies that income distribution in society largely reflects differences in productivity among workers. Also, a strong assumption, but let’s maintain it for our discussion today.
While this framework makes many assumptions about our markets, evaluating your compensation is a helpful starting point. If you're feeling frustrated because your salary doesn't reflect the actual value you bring to your organization (and we’ve certainly all felt this way at times), here are some possible explanations:
Why Your Value Might Not Be Reflected in Your Compensation
Reality check: This isn't easy to hear, but you might be overestimating your value! We all have blind spots in self-assessment.
Misaligned priorities: What you think is valuable may not actually be valued by the organization. You should adjust where you spend your time and energy.
Visibility problem: You might bring substantial value to the organization, but that value isn't clearly visible to decision-makers. This means you'll need to be better at explaining your contributions.
Practical Strategies for Communicating Your Value
If you've determined that the third explanation is most applicable to your situation, here's how to address it:
Strategic reflection: You cannot articulate your contribution without first identifying everything you're doing. Set aside time weekly to document your accomplishments, challenges overcome, and value created.
Develop your marketing strategy: It is a false assumption that the world will naturally recognize what you do and why it matters. Communicate your wins regularly, connect your work to organizational priorities, and quantify your impact whenever possible.
Ensure strategic alignment: No matter how impressive your work is, if it doesn't fit the organization's goals, it may be viewed as wasted effort. If your work consistently goes unvalued despite your best communication efforts, it might be time to find an organization whose objectives better align with your strengths.
The Takeaway
Your professional value exists in two dimensions: the actual value you create and the perceived value recognized by your organization. While economic theory suggests your compensation should reflect your productivity, the real world is more complex. The gap between actual and perceived value is where strategic self-advocacy becomes essential.
The most successful professionals understand that creating value is only half the equation—the other half is ensuring that value is visible, understood, and aligned with organizational priorities. They don't just do great work; they make sure the right people know about it, understand its significance, and can connect it directly to the organization's success.
As you develop your career, remember that communicating your value isn't about self-promotion—it's about helping your organization recognize where and how you're contributing to its success. This clarity benefits everyone: you receive appropriate recognition and compensation, and your organization can better leverage your strengths.
You can see how I communicate my value on LinkedIn and Instagram. Both platforms are equally important, but they reach different audiences. Learning how to communicate value to different stakeholders will improve your overall perceived value.
Start sharing your story!
Good luck,
Dr. A and Future Dr. A
Share the Knowledge: If you found this guidance valuable, please forward it to colleagues who might be struggling to have their contributions recognized. A fresh perspective on communicating value can sometimes transform someone's career trajectory.
"Economics with Dr. A" is a newsletter that brings economic and professional insights to young professionals and students. Subscribe to our mailing list for in-depth analysis, historical context, and practical guidance for navigating our complex professional landscape.
is a professor of economics at Northern Kentucky University. His research examines the role of economics and personal finance literacy in improving economic outcomes. teaches entrepreneurship at Miami University. Her research examines workforce competency and the role of entrepreneurship education in improving workforce readiness. Follow her on LinkedIn and Instagram to see how she shares her story.
Im loving these collaborations! Very sound advice and it is important to communicate your value. Especially since productivity comes in many forms.
First of all: CONGRATULATIONS on "future Dr. A"!
Second: This is a post to students -- I very much recognize the value of addressing the needs and concerns of your intended audience, and it would be possibly hard for them to deal with the implications of market power as currently manifested in the USA (to say nothing of office politics) -- not everyone can be an employee who earns GREATER THAN their actual market worth, like "stars" -- executives, sports and film stars, etc -- but I do hope you explain in your courses the forces that create this reality -- as well as the concurrent point that other workers receive LESS than their actual market worth. I have experienced both in my time.
Third: I am intrigued by your reference to a "mentor" -- is this a formal aspect of management at your educational establishment or a personal relationship? Something we are considering developing at Houston Community College is a way of enabling peer-to-peer talks (and possibly even classroom visits!) that can help instructors improve their pedagogy without damaging their often fragile egos or involving the dreaded Administration -- if you have any pointers I am all eyes and ears!