Did
you know studies show that 60 percent of workers identified as high
performing employees plan to leave their organizations within the
next year?
I
suspect many are frustrated by the lack of promotions and career opportunities
due to downsizing, restructuring and budget cutbacks.
If
you're one of these high-fliers - and even if you're not - I encourage
you to read the article below.
While
it's always wise to keep an eye out for greener pastures, you may
find even more "green" by sticking with your current company
and using these proven techniques to improve your chances at a promotion.
On
the other hand, if you're dealing with a major life crisis - such
as a job loss, foreclosure, you've been dumped or lost a loved one
- please check out this article that appeared in a recent issue of
Men's
Health Magazine.
Several
experts and I offer advice on how best to cope with these difficult
situations.
A client of mine has been with his company for ten
years. He works hard and gets his work done. Management knows he is
consistent, reliable, loyal and won't leave. They're happy with the
status quo. Unfortunately, my client is not.
He is ready to make the change. He's tired of being
taken for granted.. He wants to get paid appropriately and get promoted.
So he must overcome his current perception as a "reliable workhorse."
If you're like my client, you can't just hope that you'll get the
reward down the road for all your hard work. Instead, you must take
control of your career and stop hiding out.
Here are some tips to get you started:
Make a list
of all the things you accomplished in the last year.
For each accomplishment, try to assign a dollar amount on how it
benefited the company. That way you'll be able to prove your worth
during your next performance evaluation or salary review.
Proclaim
your achieved results.
If you get good results and your clients like your work, it's important
to spend time proclaiming the achieved results. Even if it takes
longer to document the results so the key people in management see
what it took to get the results (effort, steps, process, details,
etc.), they will appreciate who you are and what you have accomplished.
The key is to not wish for more recognition, but to start being
an incredible advocate for yourself.
Make your
results more perceivable.
Your results will become evident when they are communicated in an
easily understood way. The more the break down the result into its
many parts, the perceived value will be seen as higher.
Know how
you are being perceived.
Every time you communicate, think about how are you will be perceived
- in meetings I attend, emails I create, conference calls, interact
with client or upper management.
Be seen
as a valuable resource and get others to appreciate what you do.
Your company needs to know all the things you do and how each
accomplishment provides something that benefits the company. If
they don't see the value in what you are doing when you communicate
it, it isn't relevant. The more they know, the more they appreciate
the work you do.
Stop perpetuating
the perception management has of you.
Make a list of how you are currently being perceived by top management
and your peers. For each negative perception, write down how you
would like to be viewed. Then, carefully monitor your behavior at
work to make sure you are reinforcing the positive traits, while
deemphasizing the negative ones.
Educate
your management about what you do and what your position is in the
company. Often management just sees your position as a commodity that
is replaceable. They take what you do for granted. Educate management
about how valuable your position is and all the things you do in
making your job work as well as it does. As you educate them, they
will begin to alter how they view the entire position (e.g. marketing,
sales, programmer, and project manager) of what you do.
Act as a
communication expert on yourself.
This is something that has to be learned and developed.
Constantly
think about how management will value what you just did. How will management value this? How will management hear this
so they will recognize it contributes to the bottom line?
Stretch
yourself to be different so you stand out.
Management is used to you being who you are. Stretch yourself in
ways that can impact perception. If you are used to being quiet
at meetings, speak up. If you speak up at meetings, hold back and
only speak when you have something really important to say.
Get clients
to share how great you are.
When you do something positive for a client, ask them to speak up
on your behalf by writing what they appreciate and then sharing
this with your management. You can explain how management isn't
fully aware of the work you are doing so it would be good for them
to know what you did. If you can do this 4-6 times a year, it will
start to influence how management views you.
"If
you want to get across an idea, wrap it up in a person."
~Ralph Bunche
"Every revolutionary
idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up
by the phrases: (1) It's completely impossible. (2) It's possible,
but it's not worth doing. (3) I said it was a good idea all along."
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EMPLOYEE OUTPLACEMENT PROGRAM:This
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