Mechanisms that actually get you promoted

“Franziska, I’m doing the most, but I never get promoted!”

I hear that often. Good work doesn’t always equal acknowledgement or more responsibility. So what does?

First off, let’s make that clear — just doing good work does not merit a promotion. It means doing the job you were hired for. However:

If you are going out of your comfort zone, taking up leadership, driving and steering outside of your current job remit you should think about doing three more things.

Visibility

If you do all of that, progress, develop, and noone ever sees it or perceives it you will not have a chance of promotion. Some things that help to increase your visibility:

• an artifact list (great for promotion packages!): if it’s not documented, has it actually been done?
• presentations in front of decision-makers, high-seniority stakeholders
• social media activities that are noted by high-level stakeholders

Network & Influence

This one is an old classic. Network within the company creates opportunities or makes them visible/accessible to you.

Prioritize networking, like going to the virtual call, meetup or talking to that high-level…