With the world economy coming out of the shadow of recession, companies have started hiring again, besides giving usual increments and promotions to their existing staff. If moving up the corporate ladder is on your mind, this may be the right time to pitch for that. But apart from your honesty towards work, peers and organization, what can you do to ensure that you’re on the short list of candidates for a promotion?
There are, in fact, intelligent theories on the different behaviors people exhibit in their career and how one should manage one’s supervisors and subordinates. A senior HR manager with an MNC recently mentioned that there are enough people who are always confused on how can they grow and get promotions.
Here are ten sure ways to get due recognition as well as promotions in your organisation.
1) Align with the organisational goals
It is a reality that gradually HR managers are aligning the KRA’s of individuals more objectively. One of the most common reasons for failure to get a promotion is the gap in the understanding of one’s role in the organizational setup.
"Most often employees think about achieving sales numbers and bagging new clients, but they miss out on the bigger picture about their role in providing a direction to the team or the organization. If you really want a promotion, then do not only look at smaller goals. A clear understanding of your organisation’s objectives is a sure way of getting a promotion," says Alok Bansal, CEO, Alethia Education Services
2) Maintain momentum
Exceptional performers or people on the fast track in any organisational setup are a difficult set to handle and mentor. Success almost always becomes a habit and performers at times align themselves to believe that they shall continue to move up the ladder.
This breeds a sense of laxity and harms the competitiveness of an individual. It is seen that even habitual performers fail to upgrade their skill sets or fail to look at the way things are to be executed, often missing out on the changing paradigms of the market.
"People who lose steam over a period of time are the ones who ensure that they kill and miss out on promotions. Every new appraisal cycle demands fresh look at the performance and the past performance can only have little influence. So always be on the guard, maintain the momentum and sure look at a promotional avenue," says Mr Bansal.
3) Don't be content with present job
There are many people around who are too happy with their present job or surroundings and are hesitant to look at other assignments, locations or companies.
Well, it is a perspective people continue to live with as well and hence manage to live a ‘stable’ career. But such people, when they refuse a department change or a locational change, are clearly ensuring that they continue with the present state and can hardly hope to get a promotion.
Therefore, if you want to get promoted, look at challenges within the present set-up, grow with more responsibilities and seek change.
4) Respect your peers & subordinates
Any organisation looks at leadership attributes in an individual. In white collar jobs one always aims at finding the one who could take up some other’s job and grow. It is believed in quite a few organizations that if you groom your subordinates to take up your job, you will grow and also get promoted to handle bigger assignments.
Here one attribute which will differentiate between performers and leaders would be a feeling of respect or acceptability in your group. Relationship issues are a reality in organizational set-ups. So people who are liked by a major logical/decision-making group, are the ones who get promoted. Thus, if you really feel that you can grow only by exceptional performance, think again!
5) Have positive attitude
In an organisational setup, there are people who are called cynics, innovators and developers. In any such set-up, such personality traits are easier to identify. There would be some people who would always be anti-establishment, anti-world, and critical of every change. Also called as wearing red hats these are the ones who manage to survive in the organization, but hardly get a promotion because they cannot bring a fresh perspective or manage a well-groomed team.
“A positive encouraging and open attitude helps one get acceptance in an organization and is also a way to ensure that you get your promotion,” says Mr Bansal.
6) Be in the good books of your boss
You might be a good worker and a constant performer. But if your boss does not like your face for some reasons, the chances of getting a good raise or getting a promotion are very less.
Therefore, always try to be in the good books of your boss. This doesn’t mean that you need to become a sycophant for getting promoted. But making a good rapport with your boss always helps
7) Know what your boss wants
Keep getting the feedback from your boss as well as other colleagues regarding your performance and the way you handle a job. For instance, if your boss is not happy with a job executed by you, ask him/her how you could have done better on that assignment.
This will help increase your boss’ confidence in you and you will be able to know what your boss expects from you. You will also be able to identify both your week and strong points, and then work out your strategies according
8) Upgrade your skills
If things are not going the way you want, you should first go for self appraisal. Are you able to execute your work well? Does your employer values your work but does not let it get reflected in your pay hike or promotion?
Or are there some areas where you need improvement? There’s a good chance that you might be lacking some of the necessary skills or qualifications for a higher-level role.
If this is the case, then first work on your shortcomings, upgrade your skills and then seek results.
9) Go for self-promotion
You might be working hard and even harder than most of your co-workers. But are your seniors — especially your boss — also aware of your performance and all that you’ve been doing in connection with your job?
"You might hate to brag, but the boss should know what you have been doing day in and day out. After all, in today’s world and in many organisations, self-promotion seems to work more than the actual performance,” says Ashish Kesharwani, chief learning officer, UEI Global.
10) Talk to your boss
You might be very much keen on playing a larger role in your organisation and getting promoted, but does your boss think you worthy of that? Is your boss also aware of your plans and that you are willing to advance in your career?
It is better, therefore, to talk to your boss about your long-term goals and plans, as well as your desire to grow your career as your promotion depends to a large extent upon his willingness to give you additional job responsibilities or not.