Get a promotion at work

So you’ve been working hard to get a promotion at work.

Working evenings and weekends and bringing ideas to the table to solve real business problems. 

You are helping the company streamline archaic processes and implement new ways of working that make your team more effective and efficient.

In the process, you are saving the company money and helping your colleagues to become more effective.

If this is you, you might wonder, how come all the work you are putting in is not resulting in a promotion? 

In this post, we’ll look at five ways to help you get recognition from the key stakeholders and bring you closer to getting a promotion at work.

How To Get A Promotion At Work

Let’s get ready to land that promotion by looking at these five tips.

1. Ask Your Manager For A Promotion

Working hard alone will not secure you a promotion.

Many people deliver the goods day in, and day out and will never be promoted.

It’s largely seen as doing the work that has been assigned, and you will occasionally get recognised for your hard work but nothing else.

Make it clear to your manager that you want a promotion. 

A well-documented portfolio of projects you’ve worked on and the value it has brought to the business will be invaluable.

Be willing to ask for feedback to understand what additional work and value you need to bring to the table in order to be considered for a promotion. 

Ensure there is a timeline associated with it so you have a review in future with your manager.

2. Become A Team Player

Working well with your team and helping them succeed can better your chances of being promoted. 

Being an active team member who supports others and volunteers for more tasks in order to see the team do well is a good trait. 

You build trust within your team. You demonstrate a selfless and genuine desire to see others succeed.

Before you are considered for a promotion, there is a high chance that your superiors will ask for feedback from your colleagues. 

There is no high praise than approval from your peers. This will demonstrate trustworthiness and commitment to the company and is likely to improve your chances.

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3. Emulate Your Superiors

If promotion is on your mind, look around the company and begin to emulate the good qualities you see in senior management. 

How they communicate, lead and carry themselves. 

You want to start to embody these traits in meetings and in your interaction with colleagues.

Be willing to go the extra mile by seeking opportunities to grow in areas you are not as strong in. 

Offer to chair team meetings, take notes and send follow-up communication. 

Do what you see good leaders doing.

If there are weekly team updates your manager puts together to present to senior stakeholders, ask if you can start putting them together. 

This will help you grow and lighten the workload for your manager to focus on other business objectives.

4. Be A Networking Ninja

Let’s be honest; you will not get a promotion if no one in the business knows you, regardless of who you are or what work you do. 

Networking with people within the business will significantly increase your chances of getting a promotion.

Offer to buy a manager coffee in order to discuss work his team is doing, and collaboration can be beneficial for the department. 

Attend Lunch and Learn sessions where people in different departments share what they do in their line of work. 

It’s a great way to learn from others and network with people from outside your team and department. 

Create your own session and share with other stakeholders what your team is doing on a regular basis

Doing this creates more exposure for yourself around the company and increases your chances of landing a promotion. 

Stakeholders will notice you as someone with good initiative and a self-starter. 

You get to improve your communication and leadership skills in the process.

5. Learn New Skills

No company is about to promote anyone with outdated skill sets. 

Demonstrate to your manager, stakeholders and business that you are continuously improving.

Attend seminars, webinars, workshops and training sessions that add value to yourself and the business.

This is a sign that you are committed to bringing new ideas and improvements to the company. 

You are more likely, as a result, to be promoted than someone who is stagnating and not bringing new ideas to the table.

You can check out Skillshare which has an excellent library of content to develop your skills.

Conclusion

Getting a promotion at work means getting a better and more important role, earning a higher salary and gaining a higher sense of accomplishment. 

You have to ask yourself if you have the qualities required.

Look around at those being promoted and embody the skills and traits that are required.

You also have to ask yourself if there is a genuine opportunity for promotion.

You don’t want to go head to head with your manager if a promotion means you might be putting him out of a job.

From experience, it can take much longer to get a promotion with your current company. 

The quickest way would be to move jobs and go for a senior position with more responsibility. 

It offers a fresh start and allows you to grow in ways your current employer might not allow you to.