You’ve been in the same company for a long time. You have seen people come and go. You’ve stayed. Unfortunately, you’ve stayed exactly where you were the first time you joined the organisation. You haven’t made any progress career-wise. So, what could you be doing wrong?
When you sign up for a job, ideally, you look into your prospects. You’re not just there to collect checks every pay date. You’re there because you know your employment offers the possibility of a rewarding career. Otherwise, you might as well look elsewhere.
But before you look elsewhere, it’s also worth considering that perhaps you’re not moving up the corporate ladder because of your own missteps. You might be doing the following deal-breakers.
You neglect your resume
Just because you’re already comfortable with your job does not mean you should forget about how your resume looks. Remember that HR managers will refer to your resume once it’s time to pick candidates for a promotion. That might not be the same resume you submitted when you applied for the job. Consider this more of a metaphorical resume.
Ideally, it has a long list of training and seminars attended, RPL qualifications, and lots of nice words from your immediate superiors and colleagues. These are things you invest in via hard work.
You’re chronically tardy
This is perhaps the most basic expectation from employees. You need to come to work on time. You also need to submit your deliverables within the deadline. Failure to do both says you’re incapable of managing your time well. That means you’re not ready for bigger responsibilities.
If you’re eyeing a promotion, be strict with time management. Remember that tardiness equates to disrespect.
You’re conflict-prone
If you always find yourself in the middle of a workplace conflict, you’re building a bad reputation. Your colleagues will peg you as that person who’s always a player in some drama. Your superiors will label you as that employee who’s perpetually hounded by petty squabbles. You’re a big contributor to toxic workplace culture.
That does not look good on you. Your superiors won’t take a chance on you come promotion time, knowing you tend to get messy. Messiness distracts from the work that needs to be done.
You easily get overwhelmed with work
Are you always on the verge of burnout? Does this happen even if you’re receiving the same amount of tasks as colleagues you share the same rank with? Chances are, you’re falling short when it comes to task management. There are task management tools at your disposal. Think of software like Trello or Slack.
Improve how you deal with challenges. Do not show your superiors that you can’t handle the pressure. That’s a surefire way for you to get denied a promotion.
You’re not a team player
You’re part of an organisation. You’re a member of a small team that’s under a bigger team and so on. You can never take away collaboration from the equation. No matter how introverted you are, once you step into the office, you need to be ready to be part of a team.
Your superiors won’t promote you if they see you favour working solo. They’ll choose someone who can lead a team. Or at the very least, someone who has no qualms about sharing tasks and accountability with other members of the organisation.
You lack accountability
Speaking of accountability, you need to learn how to own up to your mistakes or shortcomings. If you’re that employee who always has a rebuttal ready for workplace misfires and never admits fault regardless of the situation, you’re in trouble.
Keep in mind that a promotion assigns you a bigger responsibility. If you show signs of aversion toward the word accountability, your superiors will find it hard to trust you. And the operative word here is trust.
If you wish to get promoted, you must put your best foot forward. You cannot just rely on seniority. No matter how long you’ve stayed in your current company, if you never step up your game, you’re bound to get ignored during rounds of promotions. Someone who’s joined the company later than you has a better chance of getting promoted if they actively and consistently prove their worth.
Do not be disheartened, though. You can always turn this boat around. You can steer it in the right direction. No, you’re not exactly in a sinking ship. That is if you make a conscious effort to stop doing any or all of the deal-breakers mentioned above.
