Our Guide to Achieving a

Promotion in 2021

Career progression is a goal for most people in their jobs, but the truth is, not everybody deserves a promotion. They need to be earnt, and in doing so, you assume a more important role within the business and a higher salary. The basis of any good candidate is experience, performance, and skills. That being said, there are some things that you can do to ensure that you are being noticed for all the right reasons and thus increase your chance of receiving a promotion. Read on for our guide to achieving a promotion in 2021. Demonstrate Your Value If you want to earn your promotion, you first need to think about what your company wants and expects from you. Employers are always looking for an employee who adds value to their business. Be indispensable. Make a conscious effort; your efforts will be noticed. You can make yourself a more valuable member of the team by consistently delivering results and improving your skills. For example, you could learn more about the business and about operating a business. Gaining a qualification in business studies can set you apart. You will need to find a business studies tutor, which you can find online at sites like Tutor House. They have a range of tutors at different levels, depending on your ultimate goal. Who Else Has Been Promoted? By looking at others who have been awarded promotions within your business, you can better understand how you can emulate their behaviour and efforts. Look for commonalities in personality, habits, and achievements. They can give you an insight into what the management team is looking for. For example, some employees tend to reward employees who network and attend all of the company parties and events because they see it as commitment and dedication. Whereas other employees seek to promote team players, which would mean you need to show a willingness to collaborate and work with others. Ask for Feedback Asking for performance reviews shows your managers that you are willing to put in the work to improve. You can also ask your managers what they are looking for in terms of a solid promotion candidate. If you think you are ready for a promotion, you can also compile the information to present your case. Start by listing your responsibilities, achievements, experience, and skills. You can also add some specific examples of how your work has benefitted the company. Once you have done this, you can present your case to your supervisor or manager as professionally as possible. If they turn you down, then ask for any suggestions they have to increase your chances. Build Interpersonal Relationships Obviously, working hard is important but, sometimes your efforts may go unnoticed if you aren’t also making yourself visible to management. You need to make yourself more noticeable. Look for some opportunities where you can demonstrate your knowledge or your skills. Participate in company-wide events and use that as a chance to network. Present yourself in a professional manner with the way you dress and look. If you develop a relationship with your colleagues and your managers, they are much more likely to think of you favourably. Show them that you are a people person. Cultivate Your Leadership Skills For the most part, a promotion will mean you are being put in a leadership position. You need to begin to improve your leadership skills before the promotion; it can help to make you stand out as well as making the transition smoother. Gain the respect of your colleagues and try to be a role model for them. If or when the opportunity arises, volunteer to lead the team to demonstrate to your supervisor that you can.  And again, as mentioned above, become indispensable. You should also try to avoid office politics and gossip. As a leader, you should not get involved, and in doing so, it can hurt your chances of a promotion. You can still build interpersonal relationships without bashing your other colleagues or management. Focus on Solutions Almost every business will have areas of inefficiency or problems. You can set yourself apart from your colleagues and show the management that you are an excellent employee by using your initiative to solve them. Try to find the things that are impeding productivity, causing health and safety issues, generating unnecessary costs, or simply preventing the business from reaching its goals. Once you have looked around and identified these problems around the office, you can come up with a plan to solve them. Managers love a self-starter; if you can identify these problems and present solutions for them, then you will gain an edge over your competitors. That being said, you should talk to your managers before you implement these solutions. Otherwise, you risk stepping on toes and coming across as arrogant.  Maintain a Positive Mental Attitude No manager in their right mind would promote someone with a bad attitude. By staying calm and positive under pressure is an essential leadership quality. By maintaining a positive attitude, you are better able to deliver consistent results by keeping the rest of your team positive. Making mistakes is to be expected; it is how you deal with them which is the most telling. Everyone has off days but try to avoid complaining or being lazy and instead maintain your positive attitude often; in doing so, you will find that your bad mood naturally dissipates.  Develop a Solid Work Ethic In the end, the deciding factor that managers use to differentiate between candidates up for a promotion is performance. You need to develop and showcase your work ethic to your managers; you should always strive to be the hardest working person in any given situation. This then shows that you are willing to do put the work in to make sure that you are ready for and excel in your new role. Meet your deadlines and be punctual and demonstrate your competency in your current job role. Motivate Yourself It can take a while to secure a promotion, so it is important that you find ways to maintain your motivation to keep you working toward your goal. Motivation is crucial to ensure that you can continue to make the effort necessary to achieve a promotion. If you find yourself in doubt or slipping, take it back to the beginning by asking yourself why you wanted to be promoted in the first place. Then, you can think about all of the efforts that you have made to deserve this promotion. Remembering why you wanted the promotion can give you a push and make you work harder to achieve your goals. When you remember why you wanted the promotion in the first place, it is then much easier to continue to work towards it. So, keep yourself motivated to avoid taking a detour from your plan. In Conclusion If you truly deserve the promotion, then you should get it, but there is no harm in taking some extra steps to ensure that your bosses know that you deserve it too. By following the tips listed above, you are putting yourself in the best possible position. Securing a promotion is not as difficult as many make it out to be. You just have to put in the work and play your cards right.