Your
attitude toward work could keep you from advancement
supervisors
are in a position of power to make decisions that affect your career. One of
these decisions is whether or not you deserve to be promoted to a higher level
of responsibility. The boss may ask him or her to make a recommendation for a
line employee to supervise a district of their own, or become head of their department.
A boss may ask the supervisor for a suggestion or list of worthy people to
interview.
Promotions are
for people who give the extra amount of work. They consider the company’s needs
almost above their own to the extent possible. A person who shows maturity and
loyalty to the company is always noticed. So is an employee who provides a constant
seamless quality of work.
Here are
some reasons why your expectations of a work promotion are not being achieved.
1. You only do what you are told to do – nothing more, and nothing less. You are giving as
much to the company as you get back. You attitude is, “I do my job everyday. Who
do overtime when the company isn’t paying me for it?”
2. You are a Clock Watcher. You take your breaks on time, your lunch on time, and
you leave the office on time. Even if everyone including you is working on a
special project with a deadline. Even if you see your peers spending a few
minutes talking to the boss. You think it’s a waste of time, and leave. You have
things to do.
3. Your Boss considers you a follower, not a leader. - In fact, you are a leader – of the
water cooler crowd. Not a good place to be for a future supervisor.
4. You haven’t asked for a Promotion – Supervisors are not mind readers. When you are
going through your annual evaluation, have you ever indicated that you would like
to advance in the company? How about when a staff vacancy comes up.
5. You don’t participate in staff meetings – You show up late, if at all. You sit
at the table with nothing to say. You don’t even take notes. Staff meetings are
to inform, correct, and connect. Don’t you have any ideas to contribute? Why stay
silent? Your boss may think it’s because you don’t want or care to participate
or give ideas.
6. You don’t volunteer for any Special Assignments. – Special assignments give you the
opportunity to shine, stretch your knowledge of the company and show your strengths.
You conveniently have something else to do when asked to help.
7. Your web site, Blog, Articles, etc are offensive and immature. – Everything you put on the
internet is public knowledge forever. You trash your company, your work, and
some of your co-workers. Then you wonder why no one wants to go to lunch with you.
Or why your manager doesn’t give you assignments that could showcase your
talents.
8. Poor Credit, Report, Poor Driving Record. – Companies do background checks
before and during your employment. Especially if you are running for a promotion.
The promotion may entail some travel. You may be expected to travel to different
branches of the company. The job comes with a company car, but you aren’t
eligible because of your speeding tickets.
9. Work Quality is So-So. - It’s clear you put your work together as quickly and
haphazardly as you can. There are always typos and grammatical errors in your
work. Worse, you make excuses for why your work is not up to company standards.
10. You consider your Work as a Job, Not a Career. – This attitude permeates and
affects your attitude and work efforts. It means you have no expectations of
staying at the job or profession. It’s just a paycheck to you.
11. You Don’t Dress as if You are Ready to Move up in the
Company. – You wear clothes for yourself, not to represent the company.
12. You Don’t Talk to your Site Manager or Supervisor. – You don’t ask how he or she got
promoted. You don’t talk to them about your own promotion dreams or ask for
tips.
How to Change to Make Yourself Promotion Worthy:
- You have value as an employee. Take a good look at your skills and make an evaluation. List your strengths and showcase them at work. For any weaknesses, take some classes or make a plan to address those skills you know you will need in order to be considered for a promotion.
- Speak up at staff meetings. This is your time to show the company your worth, and that you are interested in seeing the company advance and prosper
- If you want a promotion, you have to stand out from the crowd in a consistently positive way. You can’t hang with the water cooler crowd every day and expect to be considered a leader
- Speak up for yourself. If there is an upper echelon position open in the company, your resume should be the first one submitted
- How do you expect to supervise your team if you are constantly late for work? If you aspire to be a supervisor, you should be the second person at the job next to your supervisor
- Work as if you take pride in what you do. Work as if you enjoy what you are doing
- Get your personal house in order. A supervisor must be a cut above the staff. If suspended due to unpaid tickets, pay them and get your driver’s license back. If possible clear up any legal matters that may be on your criminal record
- If you have a drug, prescription, or alcohol problem, don’t think no one knows about it. If you want to move up in the business world, get some help taking care of your addictions
- A company gives you a job. You have to turn it into the career you want
- Invest in a good dictionary and thesaurus. These are work tools that can help improve your correspondence and reports
- Join trade organizations and sit on a few committees. Join those organizations that your boss patronizes
- Look at how your supervisors dress. Then go shopping and buy similar clothing
- Do your work. Stay off eBay and the adult sites. Stop playing solitaire for hours, and checking your email four times a day. Meet your deadlines
- Don’t put anything on your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or MySpace account that you wouldn’t want your mother or your boss to see. What you post could be a professional career killer
- Work as if every day you are being considered for a potential promotion
Maybe what you really want is the extra money without the responsibility. One thing is clear by the negative behaviors outlined here. The employee has no loyalty to the company. He or she intends to do just enough work to keep the job. If staff layoffs are needed, unless you improve your attitude and work, you could be on that list
