Getting Promoted at the HR Water Cooler

Climbing through the HR news for the week ending May 26th, 2013:

Becoming aware of growth opportunities

In order to advance their career, employees need first to determine where they want to be in the future. It's easy to claim dissatisfaction in a current role, but to make the shift towards advancement you need a “promotion focus” says Heidi Grant Halvorson for an article in the Harvard Business Review. The mindset that goes along with having a this focus lends itself to recognizing innovative opportunities for advancement. Help employees to recognize the opportunities that are available to them at your company, and develop plans to help them move forward into those roles.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

It's just as important to find out whether an opportunity within the same company is the right path or whether moving on to a new workplace might be better. To determine which is right can be as simple as defining what it is you like to do, and if seeing if you have the opportunity to do so in your current environment. Forbes outlines a few cases in which employees made the choice to move on in their article about “calling it quits.” Switching companies can have benefits beyond a simple salary bump, but there are also plenty of good reasons to stay in a familiar atmosphere and take on new challenges there.

Tooting your own horn to get ahead

When competing for promotions in large organizations, soft skills can help you get the job, according to The Wall Street Journal. Building strong relationships with your boss and peers may not necessarily improve performance, but it can definitely help your brand. When decisions are made on who deserves to be promoted, be aware of the tendency to select employees who have kept their managers aware of their hard work, and compare those people to employees who may have accomplished more but whose managers haven’t recognized it.

Recognize your strengths

It can be easier said than done for many when it comes to talking about themselves in the work environment, but it's important to “discover your superpower,” according to Forbes. Everyone has different strengths, so acknowledge and recognize generously—you never know whose confidence and career it might help.

Work Hard

Knowing that you're skilled in certain areas and being able to communicate that to others is important, but if you really want a promotion you need to show it in your results. In an article about success by Inc. Steve Tobak talks about guidelines to “making it big.” It's easy to talk about the future, but you also need to commit to making those changes and show your follow-through.

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