If you keep getting overlooked for promotion at work, it can be very demoralizing. You may have been looking at the people who have gained promotion and wondered why it wasn't you. The first thing to understand is that your lack of promotion is unlikely to be due to anything personal. It is more likely that you haven't made yourself a candidate for promotion. If you want to get on at work, you must get noticed. And, of course, you must get seen for the right reasons. Here are ten tips that will help you get a promotion at work.
1. Be Positive
Having a positive attitude at work will go a long way towards getting you a promotion. Be positive about your work and be positive about your co-workers and the business you work for. Be the person who motivates the team and gets things done, not the person who is always complaining.
2. Make the Boss's Life Easier
Everyone wants to get promoted, and that includes your boss. If you do an excellent job for your boss, it will reflect well on them. The more you can do to make your boss's life more comfortable, the more time your boss will have to work on their next promotion. Often, you won't get a promotion until someone higher up the ladder moves on. So, if you can help your supervisor get a promotion, when they move up, they may recommend you for promotion too.
3. Take Pride in Your Work
In any role, if you take pride in your work, you will get noticed. Simple things like how you present your work say a lot about your attitude to your job. So, format written work to make it look professional. Even taking a minute to bind a report in a nice binder will make a difference. It's the little extra touches that will show that you have put some real effort into your work.
4. Don't Be a Clock-watcher
Everyone needs a healthy work-life balance. Everyone has commitments outside of work. Even so, working only for your standard hours every day does not make a perfect impression. In any job, there will be times when you will need to work an extra half-hour to finish a task. So, when you can, stay on at work a little longer and get the job finished. You shouldn't ever have to work through the night. But packing up and going home when others are still working never looks good.
5. Be Proactive with Your Ideas
Don't assume that there is only one way to complete a task at work. If you can see a better or more efficient way to complete a task, talk to your boss about it. If you can achieve a task in half the time it used to take, then you will have time to take on more responsibilities. And, the more valuable you are to the business, the more likely it will be that you will get a promotion.
6. Save or Make Money for the Business
The bottom line is that businesses exist to make money. So, if you can make a business more profitable, you will get rewarded too. Even if your role is not revenue-earning, you can still make a difference. If you can find ways to save the business money, that will improve profitability as well. Showing that you care about the success of the business you work for will demonstrate your commitment.
7. Avoid Gossip and In-fighting
Gossiping and petty office disputes damages morale and reduces productivity. So, rise above gossip and petty office politics. Managers should be people who are impartial and fair. Impartiality and fairness are not qualities that are often found in a person who spreads office gossip. So, show that you are management material. Steer clear of getting involved in gossip and in-fighting.
8. Help Your Co-workers Be Their Best
Another way to show that you are management material is to help your co-workers. So, if you have completed all your tasks for the day, offer to help a fellow team member. Managers manage teams, so being a good team player is an outstanding quality to have. Don't step on your co-workers to get a promotion; help your colleagues climb the ladder with you.
9. Go the Extra Mile
Always look for ways that you can add value to the work that you do. Always do more than your boss expects you to do. To get considered for promotion, you will need to do more than the bare minimum. To get a promotion, you will need to excel. If you are preparing some figures, add some graphs to make the data easier to interpret. If you have a target to close five sales a day, aim to close seven. To get a promotion, you must get noticed. The best way to get seen is to overdeliver.
10. Tell Your Boss You Want a Promotion
Don't be afraid to let your boss know that you are ambitious. Ambition is a quality that businesses value. If you know that there is a vacancy that you could fill, ask your boss to consider you for that role. You mustn't be too pushy about getting a promotion. But, if you don't ask, you may not get it.
If you want to get a promotion, you must show your boss that you have the qualities to take on a more senior role. Those qualities include commitment and being a good team player. If you can excel at your job and show that you are capable of more, you will improve your chances of getting a promotion.
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