How to get promoted

Very often people used to ask me as their HR Manager "I'm doing all that I am supposed to be doing. Why don't I get promoted"

Well, dear reader, here is the secret:

What organizations say they expect from employees is very different from what they expect from 'promotable' employees !

Here is my step by step process to getting promoted.

Today we start with Step 1 of How to get Promoted

1. Be a star where you are

To be considered for promotion, you have to be excellent in your current role.

There is no getting away from that fact. One needs to work hard, know what one’s critical goals are and then plan and achieve those goals.

How does one go about it? Here’s what I would suggest someone who’s working for the first time :

Spend some time with your Manager and understand what is expected out of you and how will you be evaluated.

One employee who I knew always used to nag (in a positive way, of course!) his manager if he was unclear of any aspect of the job. He was also proactive in figuring out who could answer his questions if his boss was busy. Over time since he knew so much about the job that he became the default expert in his area and new employees would invariably be sent to him by his boss to be mentored.

If your organization does not have a clear goal setting process or an ineffective evaluation process, then the tendency would be for subjectivity to rule. Get out of that place, unless you can play the office politics game better than others. In the long run it will damage your career and not add any useful skills to you.