https://www.thebalancecareers.com/value-add-in-a-company-1918286
What Does Value-Add Mean?
To use a physical comparison, value-add is the difference between a product’s selling price and the cost of the materials used to produce it. In this example, the value-add is the combination of labor, machine investment, shipping and distribution, marketing, packaging, and more that add value so that a customer will purchase the raw materials that initially were the only product.
Activities and Accomplishments that Add Value
Value-add contributions include measurable roles and activities. These are examples of value-add activities and contributions with ways to carry them out:
Saved Money
Often people only think about making money, but saving money can be just as valuable, if not more so. While salespeople go out and make money, an HR person can add value by reducing turnover, which saves a fortune. An accountant can save money by implementing an internal audit that catches errors before they cause problems.
Awed Customers
Lots of customers are customers of habit, and a competitor can break that habit by offering a sale or a nice perk. Awed customers don’t let competitors in the door (or in the case of retail, don’t go into the doors themselves). This is not just about meeting customer needs, it’s going above and beyond to make sure the customer is satisfied.
Increased Sales
This is the most obvious of the value-added activities. A company needs income to survive and selling something is how that happens. Increasing those sales, whether through a salesperson who is a smooth talker, or an engineer who develops a new product that practically sells itself, brings increased sales to the company and a clear indication of added value.
Reduced the Time or Steps to Complete a Work Process
Have you ever had a job where there was a long, tedious process to produce a monthly report? Everyone hates things like that. What if you could reduce the time needed to get this report done? What if you automated it? Everyone would sing your praises forever.