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#CareerAdvice : #JobPromotion – What No One has Told you About How to Land a #Promotion …Landing a Promotion Involves a Lot More than Just Being a Great Employee. Often, it Involves a Lot of Preparation in Addition to Doing your Job Well.

Employee turnover is expensive for companies. In fact, turnover costs businesses more than the average promotion. According to research, replacing an employee who quits costs, on average, 21% of their annual pay.

Furthermore, Glassdoor research has shown that staying in a particular role for too long makes it more likely that employees will leave their company. With these points in mind and against the backdrop of a job-seeker-first job market, it may be the perfect time to ask for a promotion.

Thinking about the next step in your career path can seem easy: Put a plan together, talk to your boss, and voilà, you’ve got a promotion. But unfortunately, the game isn’t played that way. There are a few unspoken rules of promotions.

Bookmark this page and read carefully. Here are the keys to landing a promotion that very few people will tell you about.

RULE 1: YOU MUST BUILD A CASE

Before speaking to your boss about all the reasons you think you deserve a raise or promotion, have a solid answer to each of these questions:

  1. What have you done to add value beyond your job description? Can you find a way to quantify these achievements? We all get paid to do our jobs well, so simply performing and completing your tasks is not grounds for promotion.
  2. How does promoting you help the organization? Will promoting you create a headcount reduction, or increase efficiencies on your team?
  3. What exactly are you asking for? Go in with a firm case for what you want, and don’t expect your supervisor to make the ask for you. Take the time to research your realistic value in the job market though sites like Glassdoor.

RULE 2: YOUR PERSONAL BRAND MATTERS

Today, it’s not only important to be good at what you do, but also to become visible to the right people in the right way. That doesn’t mean sucking up to your boss, though. The key is to position yourself as an expert so that you’re looped into all the important events and activities in your organization, and your opinion is sought after by the top people in your company. It’s about being relevant, creating value for your company, and proactively communicating to others in your organization.

Connect with the business leaders in your organization who are relevant to your field of interest and can help you grow professionally. For example, if you want to become a marketing thought leader, you need to reach out to the VP of marketing or the CMO. It won’t be productive if you network with the CTO or IT head of your company instead.

Ask them if you can get 15-30 minutes on their calendar to meet them and learn more about their work. In these meetings, briefly talk about your background, achievements, and ambitions. Also, offer to help them with any of their projects.

 

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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RULE 3: KNOW YOUR WORTH

Before entering any talks regarding a promotion, you need to know your worth. Understanding your value to your company, and on the open job market, gives you the negotiating power you need to get a promotion.

Knowing your worth gives you leverage in promotion discussions because you’ll be able to display your objective value. An easy way to do this is by using Glassdoor’s Know Your Worth tool, which will show you your true market value, how it compares to other workers in the same field, current market salary, and other open jobs with current salary data.

Before going into any conversation for a promotion, come prepared with

  • Your real worth on the open market
  • A list of your current tasks and responsibilities
  • Data demonstrating the value you bring to the company

RULE 4: LOOK FOR THE SIGNS

Having a professional role that both engages and challenges you is a cornerstone of job fit. Savvy managers are aware of this, and make team members’ professional development a priority.

One major sign that the boss is considering you for promotion is they will assign you a stretch assignment. It’s a nod that management recognizes your diligence, skill, and talent and has confidence in your ability to take it to the next level. Mikaela Kiner, founder and CEO with uniquelyHR, explains, “A stretch assignment might be deliberately created to advance talented employees, or it may be the result of organizational growth, an unexpected vacancy, or a new product or initiative.”

Whatever prompted you to earn the nod, you’ll recognize a stretch assignment because it seems a bit lofty. Kiner further explains: “The assignment should help you do one or more of the following: Build new skills, increase your visibility, try out a new discipline or geography, or gain an experience like managing people that you haven’t had before.” While this may seem a bit intimidating, Kiner assures: “Leadership will only ask you to take on a stretch assignment if they believe that you can do the work and that it will develop your skills.”

RULE 5: DON’T ASSUME YOUR HARD WORK IS BEING NOTICED

If you want more attention for your work and a promotion, you’re going to have to speak up. Assuming that the boss is taking copious notes about your work, progress, and projects is naive. If you do, you will consistently do excellent, promotion-worthy work that you never quite step up to take credit for, and have great ideas that you don’t reveal during meetings (anyone else sit quietly through brainstorming sessions only to email the team lead 10 new ideas once the meeting ends?).

If you want to speak up and get credit for your ideas in person but you know you’re an introvert, give yourself some backup. Attend meetings with thorough notes on what you want to share and refer to those notes as you speak. It can even help to preface your contribution with a phrase that explains that you’re not thinking on your feet such as, “I was thinking about this over the weekend, and I had an idea that we could . . . ” or, “Susana said something interesting last week that got me thinking about . . . ” These phrases take the pressure off the moment and give some weight to what you have to say.

RULE 6: THINK COMPANY FIRST, INDIVIDUAL SECOND

To get the lowdown on promotions at your company without inadvertently suggesting to your employer that you’re not satisfied with your current situation, try to frame everything from the perspective of how you can best serve the company.

“With HR or your boss, frame this in a way that highlights your desire to excel and benefit the organization: ‘I feel I could do more here and would like to know how best to pursue a strong career path . . . Could really use your help to navigate the best way to get there,’” suggests Laura MacLeod, creator of From The Inside Out Project®. “Also, [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][it’s] important to stress your desire to stay with the organization long-term.”

Try not to ask any questions or make any comments that come across as crass or self-serving.

“Keep questions factual: seniority, experience and educational needs, responsibilities of the job. Don’t ask about pay or specific conditions [like] late hours or days off. This looks like you’re seeing if it fits into your plan, not the needs of the company,” MacLeod says. “Always focus on your desires and plans being aligned with company progress–this makes you a strong team player.”

 

FastCompany.com | October 11, 2018 | BY GLASSDOOR TEAM 6 MINUTE READ

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#Leadership : #EmployeeRetention – Plan your New Hire’s Next Job from the Moment they Start… Here’s how Here are Three Ways to Start Preparing your #TeamMembers for New and Different Roles Inside the Company (before they find other opportunities outside it).

Remember when staying in a job for less than a few years was considered a stain on your resume? That’s no longer the case. By one recent estimate, the average length of time people now spend in a given role is just a little over two years among workers ages 25–39. And who can blame them?

Baseless millennial stereotypes notwithstanding, it’s people earlier in their careers who tend to fill lower-level positions, which typically involve at least a few unexciting tasks. I’ve noticed entry-level employees at my own company getting anxious to take the next step in their careers even sooner than they’d used to. Many of our sales reps now start eyeing their next internal moves after just six to eight months.

So lately I’ve had to think creatively about ways to keep new hires engaged while extending their professional lives inside the company. Here are a few methods we’ve come up with.

BREAK ROLES INTO TIERS

The most employee movement we see here at Vidyard is in our sales department. As with a lot of front-line jobs, it’s hard to keep this area dynamic because sales isn’t necessarily a role where you can rotate people through varied projects, like we do with our developers. So instead we’ve introduced tiers to certain sales positions, transparent step-ups that come with added responsibilities and pay. Importantly, these aren’t promotions out of a role that somebody has only started to master. Rather, we’re building discrete new functions into that role.

A higher-level tier might include new responsibilities like mentoring newer hires, taking on bigger accounts, or shadowing more senior team members. Yet each new level comes with commensurate pay increases to reflect the advancement.

Having clear tiers for sales jobs lets our new hires see from the outset that they’re never “stuck” in an entry-level role, and it shows them exactly what they need to do to make it to the next level. They get the support and encouragement to add to their skill sets while also getting better at selling–the critical function they were hired for. For now, we’ve limited this “slice-and-dice” approach to sales, where there are clear, repeatable duties. But it’s not hard to see how it could be useful elsewhere.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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ASK AMBITIOUS EMPLOYEES TO SELF-ASSESS

As any manager knows, dealing with an employee who’s pushing for a promotion before they’re ready can be a tricky (and common) situation. The challenge is to be realistic without dismissing their desire to advance. Simply telling someone they’ll have to stay put will only breed resentment and accelerate a move–likely outside your company.

So we’ve tried to develop what I think of as a readiness pulse-check. Flip the tables and give eager team members a chance to assess their own readiness for a promotion (or lack thereof). A little while ago, one new hire joined Vidyard as a “concierge,” helping direct customer inquiries to the right place, but his heart was set on getting into sales. When he pleaded with me after just a couple months to make the move, I assigned him some homework: I asked him to spend some time with other leaders in the company to learn exactly what his dream job entailed.

He soon realized he still had some work to do, but he now knew exactly which skills and qualifications he’d need to move forward. Within little more than a year, he successfully made the switch and has continued to move up the ranks. In fact, using this same approach, he went on to segue into a product manager role, where he’s in charge of bringing our tools from ideation to market.

Putting the onus on your ambitious employees to figure out whether they’re truly ready for the next step is a great way to give them some control over their career paths. Some may resent the perceived roadblock. But those that rise to the occasion will be doubly dedicated to their jobs, and double their value to you by learning more about how the company works.

EXPERIMENT WITH SWAPS AND LOANS

Indeed, sometimes the best ways to keep team members happy is to encourage internal mobility across functional areas. Jumping to a new role or department can revitalize enthusiasm and preserve institutional know-how while also busting up silos.

We recently began experimenting with a loaner program to let employees cross departmental lines in their work, something that other tech companies have been doing for years. Right now, our initiative is admittedly small and operating on a four-month trial, but I’m excited to see where it leads in the future. Other times a change of scenery is all it takes to renew someone’s enthusiasm for their job. We have a satellite office in another city on the West Coast, and we’ve had a few team members request to make the move. While this doesn’t always entail a change in job description, the shift in setting is often a welcome change, with the added benefit of strengthening our company culture through cross-pollination between offices.

In my opinion, keeping a good employee for many years is important; it’s the goal of every great leader I know. The key is to creating a climate where people hungry to amass new skills can genuinely see a path forward. In the end, a stifled, inflexible workplace only leads to the exodus of your best and brightest. The earlier you start thinking about where your newest hires might be headed, the sooner you’ll start seeing them maximize their potential and make your organization stronger–no matter how long they’re there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Litt is cofounder and CEO of the video marketing platform Vidyard. Follow him on Twitter at @michaellitt.

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FastCompany.com | July 20, 2018