Getting back that lost promotion

HAS ALMOST everyone in office been given a promotion except you? Do you find yourself waiting in the wings for an opportunity? Do you feel that in spite of your best efforts, there seems to be no progress in your career? Wait, do not be disappointed, take heart in the fact that successful people create their own way towards growth and progress, they use self- promotion to succeed in life.

Anyone who has experienced such a situation will know that one cannot wait for others to give us opportunities to grow. Others might be unaware of your contribution to the organisation and this might even deprive you of future promotion opportunities. So the first step in self-promotion should be to make others aware of your efforts towards the growth of the business. The most important people to whom this should be communicated would be your immediate boss and the HR department as well. But remember to validate your claims with actions.

The starting point can be to make the company's goals part of your goals as well. Your work should be aimed at helping the company achieve overall business goals, this can translate into daily action plans that work within the larger framework of the company's plans for growth.

You can create a career opportunity for yourself by identifying any unresolved problems and challenges in your company which you can solve using your skills and expertise. But remember any discovery you make and the proposition to solve the problem should be backed by solid data. The next step would be to make a memo of the problem or need you have found out and also your suggestions on how it can be solved and how the outcome will benefit the organisation. Your report can be addressed to the person who will benefit the most from your proposition. But remember your suggestions should support the growth of business.

By adopting such a proactive approach you can be one step ahead before somebody else discovers the problem. Your proactive attitude can pave the way for a promotion. It could even mean a challenging, new opportunity. Even if you do not get a promotion immediately, the next time they are due, your name would surely be on top of the list.

Another way for self-promotion could be volunteering. You can volunteer to take up jobs that will help you learn more and widen your horizons without affecting your present job-role. Volunteering can expand your areas of experience and also give you an opportunity to display your abilities and the value of your expertise to your supervisors. On the flip side it can make you more knowledgeable about your organisation as a whole. Volunteering can promote your image as a dependable, professional, cooperative and skilled employee worthy of promotion.

Volunteering can also bring to the fore those skills and abilities which were dormant earlier and could not be used. It can also help you develop new friends and contacts who might even have a say in your promotion. It can also result in an increased self-awareness.

With your better knowledge about the skill sets you possess, you will be able to communicate better and promote your value to those people and that too at the right time to pave the way for your promotion. To do this you will have to keep a record of everything you do and that too out of your own initiative. Even if your actions have been part of the job you are expected to do, it is important to record the positive impact of your work on the company's bottom line.

Keeping a record will help you during performance review meetings where you can display your achievements to those who will determine your career growth. Your proactive approach and the ability to create opportunities and make the best of them will put you in a win-win situation during the next round of promotions.

HEMA GOPALAKRISHNAN

Courtesy : The Hindu Opportunities