All of us have a desire for that one promotion or be appreciated and applauded for our work. We all desire to grow, prosper, and lead everywhere we go. However, acting on the desire to perform better or getting that promotion may not be very easy. Here are a few tips on how to be more effective at your workplace and helping you land that job promotion.
Higher pay as well as recognition and acknowledgment by the co-workers
Prestige and tangible proof of your professional accomplishment
Reflects your work ethic, commitment, and leadership skills.
A sense of security and general satisfaction from the job for your input
Promoting an employee will increase their ambition, performance, and commitment towards the work.
The employee will be more motivated and loyal to the company.
Develops competitive spirit in the workplace leading to higher performance in the employees.
Makes the employee happier and more satisfied with the company.
Helps the company groom leaders for the future.
A way of increasing productivity and efficiency is to use the 80/20 rule. This rule suggests that 80% of the results will come from 20% of your effort. Therefore, to maximize efficiency, focus and prioritize the most important work and include it in the 20% where you will apply your maximum effort. Then look at what to cut down the 80% of the work which may not be as important.
Peter Drucker once said, “there is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” Spending your time on things that matter the least adding a little to none value to your goals and priorities compromises your productivity and efficiency. Therefore, create a list of your long term as well as short term goals, identify your priorities, and act in a way that aligns to you meeting them.
If you break down your tasks into a single next step, it may help you with procrastination. If you have a to-do list of items that are large in scope you might feel lost and unable to act on it. You also lose motivation with the pressure of the bulk tasks that seem too far fetched. Hence, breaking down your tasks into a single doable step will help you take the step and be closer to your end goal.
Being overworked or stressed out hugely compromises productivity and effectiveness. Ideally, you can take a short break every 55 minutes. No one, highly effective or not simply is unable to focus and work for eight hours straight. We feel exhausted, distracted, tired, and drained when working non stop. Therefore give yourself a break, feel refreshed, and then come back to complete your tasks.
Responding to that one email that does not require a reply right away, or a small gossip while working, or even simply scrolling through your feed or replying to a text that can wait serves as a distraction and can disturb and hinder your focus and productivity. You can do all those actions later after you complete your daily goals.
If you find yourself having to do the same small tasks repeatedly, find shortcuts to minimize your time so that you won't have to do it every time from scratch. You can use keyboard shortcuts, assign simple tasks to interns and junior employees accordingly. Using checklists and storing documents for future references can help too.
Building interpersonal relationships in workplace
Interpersonal relationships are defined as social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Here are a few tips on how you can build better interpersonal relationships with your co-workers in a professional setting. This will help you to be well-liked and have people on your side while trying to get that promotion.
Acknowledge and celebrate your co-worker’s expertise
Practice empathy and kindness, at the same time, do not let yourself be treated like a pushover.
Have control over your emotions and avoid gossip or bad-mouthing your co-workers.
Be an active listener.
Be genuinely interested in your co-workers and find good traits in each of them.
Be assertive and confident, don't be afraid to express your opinions, and maintain your relationships.
Helping your boss with various minor projects and making their work easier by letting them focus on important tasks will help you win them over. Helping your boss without making them feel threatened will establish trust and make you seem more reliable in his/her eyes.
Completing all. your given tasks on time and owning a project from start to finish shows your work ethic, hard work, and dedication towards your job. Thus, you might be a top pick for that promotion.
Helping your team members or even other coworkers while maintaining healthy boundaries gives the impression of being a good leader, a team player, and someone capable of supervising and leading a team. You will also have the support and undying loyalty of the member around you which makes you more likely to get a promotion.
Understand the morals and values of the company and find ways to help the company profit while keeping that in mind. Bringing in more clients, building long term relationships with the clients, and helping the company grow its customers will automatically make you the star of the company. The company will make sure that you get a promotion and are satisfied so that they don't lose a great worker like yourself.
Make yourself noticed and stand out from everyone else through your commitment, work ethic, efficiency, productivity, and communication skills. This will help your boss keep you in mind while deciding on a candidate for that job promotion.
Sometimes, your boss may be unaware of your desire to get promoted or might think you don't need or want one. Therefore, if you truly want one and think you deserve it, don't hesitate to ask for one. You need to be confident and outspoken about your needs and desires regarding things that you deserve.
If you have completed a project by giving it your best with proper research and maximum effort, own it, and show pride in your work. Confidence, effort, intelligence, and work ethic all make you a charming candidate. Confidence without being arrogant is the key!
If you can build a team with talented and exceptional team members and can manage and lead it flawlessly, it demonstrates your ability to help the company grow with quality manpower. This, you are more likely to get promoted with the hopes of providing the company with more effective results and a quality team.
Having a person by your side who can provide you info on post openings and all the information regarding potential candidates can be truly helpful. It will allow you to know about your competitors and you can thus try and increase your performance in order to out do them and get that job promotion.
Cozy up and learn about the other employees that have gotten a promotion. How do they perform at work? What are their social skills? Who are the people they hang out with professionally? And what is their general outlook and mindset at work? This will help you learn from them and get you a promotion as well when you adopt some of the good qualities.
You will need to enhance and explore your leadership skills even further
Expectations and work pressure increase
You will be expected to adapt to the new role and act accordingly
More work pressure meaning less time for non work-related activities
Are you ready to commit to the new role?
Do you enjoy and like your job enough?
Does the promotion come with a raise?
Will the new work schedule fit in with your lifestyle?
Are you confident that you can meet the expectations of the new role?
Is the role worth the money?
Will your boss provide you with a coach or a trainer?
While there are numerous benefits of getting promoted, it is better to consider the cons and know what you might be getting yourself into.
If you cannot handle stress and bullshit from other people, getting promoted might not be the best thing for you. When you get promoted, you have to handle a frustrating amount of work pressure as well as people.
Aiming to get a promotion while refusing to play politics ever might also create a problem. People are competitive and sometimes the situation turns out to be a step over someone or get stepped on. In cases like this, you need to protect and fight for yourself and play politics as well.
If you are unable to make tough decisions, getting promoted might not be a good idea. When you are in a position to lead, you need to be able to make tough decisions while keeping your emotions aside and prioritize the company and it's growth above all.
If you cannot give as much time or have poor time management skills, getting a promotion might not be a good idea as it comes with an increased amount of time-consuming responsibility and commitment.
Getting a promotion is a huge responsibility and asking for one can be tough as well. As long as you are confident that you can comply with the expectations and deserve the role, go for it!