Enter Keyword(s): Help (i.e. job title, company name, etc.) : Enter a City:   Select a State:  – All United States –  Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Select a Category:  – All Job Categories –  Accounting Admin & Clerical Automotive Banking Biotech Broadcast - Journalism Business Development Construction Consultant Customer Service Design Distribution - Shipping Education Engineering Entry Level - New Grad Executive Facilities Finance General Business General Labor Government Grocery Healthcare Hotel - Hospitality Human Resources Information Technology Installation - Maint - Repair Insurance Inventory Legal Legal Admin Management Manufacturing Marketing Nurse Other Pharmaceutical Professional Services Purchasing - Procurement QA - Quality Control Research Restaurant - Food Service Retail Sales Science Skilled Labor - Trades Strategy - Planning Supply Chain Telecommunications Training Transportation Warehouse

We can't promote you. You're too valuable.
After six years as her company's top salesperson, a software sales account manager was disappointed when a younger peer was promoted and became her manager. The newcomer had been with the company six months and had never met his sales quota, but he was popular with the young staff on the team. The sales account manager suspected the executive team did not promote her because they could not afford to lose her significant contribution to the company's revenue. Meanwhile, a person who performed poorly moved up the ladder because his superiors could visualize him as a leader.

You can be passed over for promotion if you are seen as irreplaceable. A director of IT asked her boss for a promotion, a raise and more challenging work. The boss agreed that she was capable, but he thought it would be too hard to find someone to replace her. The promotion was given to a male colleague who had less experience, but who competed aggressively for the promotion.

Position yourself on the radar for promotion.
What are the factors that can help you attract more responsibility, and not more hard slog?

In 1987, Jomills Henry Braddock II and James M. McPartland published a report on minorities, equal employment opportunities and institutional barriers. Their paper provides valuable insight into how you can position yourself for career advancement that is still relevant today.

Braddock and McPartland wrote that the three types of information considered to be most important by decision makers when identifying candidates for promotion are:
- Performance ratings.
- Internal recommendation.
- Production or sales record.

When deciding who to promote, decision makers look at your workplace results, work output and sales and production records. They also look at qualitative information such as your performance evaluations. But the significant difference can come from subjective information such as word-of-mouth recommendations from other leaders and stakeholders.

Credentials give way to visibility.
A great pedigree and hard work may get you recognized initially, but it won't guarantee advancement.

Early in your career, you will be evaluated largely on credentials. Decision makers will look at factors such as your education or successful performance in your current job. As you move up through the organization, decision makers overlook results and credentials in favor of more subtle interpersonal signals such as trust and working with people they are familiar with. To be considered for promotion, you need to be visible. Show your superiors that you are on their team and that they can count on you.

Hard work alone will not get you on the slate for promotion. In fact, if you are burying yourself under an immense workload, you may be neglecting to transmit those other vital signals.

Action you can take NOW!
In their 1999 paper "Women and the Leadership Paradigm; Bridging the Gender Gap," Roslin Growe and Paula Montgomery emphasize the fact that work performance makes up only part of the recipe for promotion. Four techniques that you need to be aware of are:

- Be able.
- Be seen as able.
- Know what you want.
- Help others to help you.

To get promoted, show that you understand what your job entails, and be dedicated to those tasks. Visibly display the competencies that you know will be valued and rewarded. Set career goals, then plan and strategize how you will get there. Let them know you are ready, and expect to move up the ladder. Use mentoring and networking to engage others who can help you.

Hard work alone will not get you promoted. Good work plus visibility will.