Career advice abounds on what to do to get a promotion. For many American workers, especially given the difficulty of the current labor market, staying in their current organisation and moving up the ladder is an appealing prospect.
It’s true that you’re more likely to get a bigger pay bump if you move to a new company. Salary increases for employees who switch jobs can be around 20 percent more than their old salary. If you have particularly sought-after skills, you could expect a bump of 20-30 percent, though figures vary widely.
By contrast, an internal promotion may net you about 10 percent more money. It’s not as much; but you won’t have to move companies, or get used to a whole new culture and way of working, all of which can mean looking internally first is a highly appealing prospect.
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This year, U.S. employers expect to promote approximately 10 percent of their workforce according to a Mercer survey of over 800 employers. If you want one of those to be you, what should you be doing?
Promotion strategies
Experts will tell you to “grow your personal brand”, for example. In practice, this often involves giving your LinkedIn profile a zhuzh, posting your workplace wins and thoughts, or getting some new personal headshots.
You may also be advised to showcase your unique value within your team or organization. If the management track is what appeals, then you should aim to demonstrate strategic leadership by taking initiative on important projects, or by increasing cross-functional collaboration, for example.
Learning and development is another important facet of moving on up. By developing specialized skills or a niche expertise aligned with emerging business opportunities such as AI, you mark yourself out.
Not only are you showing you’re keen to learn, but you demonstrate that you actively want to contribute to your company’s future success. That’ll look and sound good to those in decision-making roles.
When it comes to networking, seeking out and cultivating influential relationships with senior leaders and key stakeholders is often advised.
However, facetime with leadership may not be possible in practice, especially if you work in a company that is very large, or one with a particularly hierarchical structure.
Instead, think about how you can boost your visibility. Meetings are one way to start. If you’re a firm camera off person, turn it on.
A Korn Ferry survey found that respondents felt a lack of camera usage has an impact on careers, with 76 percent saying they believe those who leave cameras off are looked upon negatively. Another 60 percent say choosing not to be on camera during meetings is a “career minimizing move.”
Letting your line manager know about your ambitions is also crucial. Make sure you communicate clearly about your career goals and progress. Saying it isn’t enough: you should match that by delivering high performance and measurable results.
Those are some of the things you can put in place to help boost your career and chances of advancement. But what shouldn’t you be doing?
What not to do when you want a promotion
According to Jason Morris, a business expert at Profit Engine, a heads-down work culture should be avoided.
“High performers often unknowingly adopt behaviours that keep them invisible to decision-makers,” he says.
“They focus solely on task completion while missing the strategic elements that drive promotions.”
If you’re sitting around waiting to be recognised, and wondering why other, less capable colleagues are getting ahead, this could be the reason.
And it happens all the time. “I see this constantly in business environments,” Morris says.
“People believe that if they just work harder, produce better results, and stay focused on their tasks, recognition will naturally follow. But leadership operates differently. They promote based on what they can see, measure, and predict about your future potential.”
If you are adopting a heads-down approach, there are several career-limiting behaviors to watch out for.
Consistently declining meeting invitations to focus on “real work”, avoiding cross-departmental collaboration, rarely speaking up in team discussions, and completing projects without communicating the strategic thinking behind them can all be red flags.
The good news is that this isn’t an insurmountable problem. By communicating strategic ideas and successes, becoming more visible and building out your workplace relationships, you can set yourself on a path to a promotion.
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