How to get a promotion at work?

You are promoted! Isn’t that the best news  you would want to hear from your manager?  
I bet everyone who has a little bit of ambition  is dreaming of getting promoted and to be paid higher, right? Today I’m gonna share a few tips  on how to speed up your promotion and how to get an approval on it.

How to be noticed at work?

Well, here you  would want to look at the situation from the business perspective. Imagine you are a CEO of  the company, so who would you want to pay more?

Usually this is applicable to the high profile  specialists who are unique in their field. Meaning that if there is some specific live event, or you probably earned more years of experience in the company all this may not be enough.

What you really want  to look at is your value that you’re bringing  
to the team, the value that you’re bringing to the  projects you are working on, and not less important the value you are bringing to the company in  general.

Bring Value

What is more, bringing the value in your current role and bringing the outstanding value is  not the same, okay? Basically, if you are aiming  
to get promoted you need to already perform and  show up at the desirable level.

For example, if  you are now a developer and you are aiming to get  promoted to the team lead or technical lead on the project you need not only to be highly skilled  technically and to have a sufficient background,
but also you need to be soft-skilled and  demonstrate the leadership qualities so that everybody can see that you are already a great  fit for this position.

Seek for Support

What else can you do to get promoted? First, be transparent about your intention.  Should you already have this ambition when you are being hired, or if this ambition woke up later on,  it is a good move to discuss this opportunity  with your manager.

First – be transparent and  communicate your intention to get promoted  
and outline the desirable role you are willing to  get.

Second – highlight your desire to work hard and  smart and to grow professionally in order to level  up and to meet the expectations for taking over a new role. Both by the way will add points to  your profile.

Build a Plan

Promotion should not be opportunistic. It  should be built into your professional growth plan.  Thus, what you would want to do is to find out what  is needed in order to be promoted and find out the realistic timeline for implementing  these changes into your professional growth plan.  

Another step would be to share your plan with your  manager who supports you. That would be actually a great opportunity to discuss your plan with a  manager and to show up as a professional who perceives the professional growth as a strategic  activity. Basically, we all want to promote people who are taking action and getting things done.

Create the Achievements Diary

Next tip is my favorite one – be sure to keep the  track of your achievements. This is the best thing that you can do for yourself. Therefore, make it a habit to maintain the achievements diary. This is something you  would want to record on a regular basis and constantly update.

This diary is for yourself,  for your resume, for your self-recognition. Secondly, you would want to do this because  when the time comes and you would need to recall everything what you have done for the  company, all the value that you have brought that could be really challenging to sit and to  try to remember everything and a single attempt.  

Moreover, people tend to remember negative things  and negative experience, but when they’re doing something great or remarkable sometimes  we really do not remember this even for ourselves. The best thing you can do is to  maintain the achievements diary and believe me  
that gonna be extremely helpful.

invest in yourself

Is it a Right Moment to Ask for a Promotion?

Make a Research

The very first thing you would want to do is to  make a research. What you are looking for is the requirements for the role and the salaries  for the position you’re willing to take.

The next step in your research would be to find out what  is the overall situation in the company and if they are currently looking for a professional.  What is more, what you would want to know if your skills and experience correspond with  their expectations for this role. Frankly  
speaking in the majority of the companies people  prefer to promote internal resources rather than taking a fresh meat from the market. This is  cheaper and easier for everyone. You already know the structure, you already know the colleagues, and  you already know the values, as well as the company best practices and company policies. This will facilitate the  
collaboration and a lot of other things.

Next, what is the current  company financial situation? If there are issues with funds, chances are that the request  to increase your salary could be rejected. 

What is Your Background?

Other two things to consider when you’re thinking  about whether this is a right moment to ask for  a promotion are: your fails and wins behind  within this current company.

As for the fails, be honest with yourself. No one is  perfect and no one wants to have perfect people around them. Thus, if there were failed projects or  failed tasks, or if there was a negative feedback just acknowledge this. If you are able to  acknowledge your mistakes, if you are able to learn the lessons, and if you are able to take  over the accountability this is a great moment to highlight your skills and capabilities.

On the  other hand, if we’re talking about wins review your recent experience within the company. Have  you just completed a high profile project? Or maybe you have just got certified or earned a new  credential? Or potentially you have on-boarded a very prospective client? If so, that is a great starting  point to move forward.

By the way, guys let me know in comments what do you think is  the perfect moment to ask for a promotion? 

Action Plan for a Promotion at Work

So, you have applied a significant effort in order  to be noticed at work; you have discussed and you have been transparent with your manager in  your intention to get promoted and now you have his or her support; what is more, you have made a research and found out this is the perfect  
moment to initiate the promotion… What’s gonna  be your action plan?

Chat with HR

The first thing in your list is to talk with your HR manager in order to find  out whether there is any specific process you need to follow within the company?

Potentially there is a specific period when it is acceptable to talk  
about the promotion within your organization.  Be sure to find out what is the right moment. 

Not less important is during your chat  with HR you would need to find out if there is anything specific you need to get prepared  for in order to initiate this promotion process.

As I have mentioned there could be some  specific processes, or even could be some specific dates, and not only this, there could be some  specific requirements for people who would want to get promoted.

Get Prepared

Obviously, the next step  in your list would be to get prepared. You
would want to study and learn both short and long-term company goals, okay?

Everyone wants to have people who want to grow  professionally. However, if your professional goals are not aligned with the company goals  this doesn’t bring much value to them, right? That is why it would be good to align your professional  goals with the company business goals, and highlight how actually you are going to bring  value to the company.

Another thing to consider is to get back to your achievements diary. And this is not only about the achievements that you have defined personally. It would also be good to ask for the reviews and references from your colleagues, from your team and from your manager. It is always nice to have evidence not only from yourself but from the people who are  working with you.

BTW, you will continue working with them and it is  good to find out if you are creating a good professional atmosphere around you.

Sell Yourself

Step number  three in your action plan would be to present  
yourself. If you remember, initially we have been talking  about the approach that you would want to choose when you were thinking about an opportunity to  get promoted.

Basically, you would want to look at the situation from the business perspective. The  business needs to understand you’re going to be a valuable investment if they decide to raise  your salary. Thus, this is the step when you are going to sell yourself to the business to be hired to a new role with a higher salary.  

Before you have initiated this promotion  process you have made the research, right? You have found out what is the market situation in  terms of the roles requirements and salaries, so be realistic in your expectations. And not only this, while presenting yourself what you would want  
to show is the value that you have already brought  to the company and the value that you are going to bring.

Along with that be sure to highlight your  professional goals. Meaning, this career level up is not going  to be your final destination. You’re still planning to develop yourself professionally further within  the company and your professional development is aligned with the company goals. Remember,  promotion is not a one-day decision or one-day activity. You need to plan and work towards this. Try to be as much strategic as possible.  
Let me know in comments your results!