If they are, read on. If they aren’t yet, definitely read on…
To be considered for a promotion, you need to get yourself noticed. To get yourself noticed, you need to make yourself visible. Make sure your organization’s leaders can see that your hat is in the ring.
Imagine a world where promotions are given purely on merit and the best person for the job always wins. Unfortunately it’s a mythical utopia at most companies, and women are typically on the losing side.
Despite working hard for career progression and achieving or exceeding the desired results for their organisations, many women are still not selected for promotion – particularly when it comes to leadership positions.
Why Women?
In general, the higher up an organisation’s hierarchy you go, the fewer female leaders you’ll find. The reasons are varied. Some are obvious and others are so entrenched in cultural bias that we don’t even realise that they exist.
What we know is that women have to work smarter to climb the career ladder without taking on extra work or working longer hours. With minor shifts in how you approach work and colleagues, you could elevate your profile and lay the groundwork for a future promotion.
In short, be visible and start promoting yourself as early as you can.
For many women, self-promotion feels uncomfortable. Females have been culturally conditioned for hundreds of years to be gentle, passive and caring. Girls are often labelled as ‘bossy’ if they are assertive whereas for boys, assertiveness is praised as a desirable leadership trait.
Get Noticed
Being visible is crucial for influencing your future career opportunities. Here are some suggestions for how you can obtain and maintain visibility at work…
- Find your people.Identify male and female colleagues who compliment your work ethos, and will support and speak up for you when the time is right.
- Seek a mentor to be your advocate and give you the direction and knowledge to help you progress your career.
- Speak up in meetings.If you have something worthwhile to contribute, put it out there.
- Put your hand up for projects that will give you exposure and allow you to be seen by more people of influenceso that your competencies are better acknowledged.
- Review your bio on the companyMake sure it is up to date and contains all of your key achievements.
- Be more social. If you are unable to participate in out of hours socialising, talk to HR about setting up lunchtime social opportunities and personally invite key leaders and organisational influencers to support them.
Make Yourself Heard
The saying “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” also applies within the workplace. If your line manager hasn’t asked you directly, they may not even be aware of your aspirations. Make sure they are informed of your ambition and ask them for guidance.
If your line manager is aware but unable (or unwilling) to help, then seek out opportunities to get in front of senior managers. Examples include company meetings, social events or even a chance encounter in the staff kitchen. If the opportunity arises for you to talk to management then don’t shy away.
You don’t have to go straight in with your promotion pitch, just have a conversation and start building a relationship. Get on the radar. Put yourself in front of the people who have the power to promote you. Make your voice heard.
Quite often, the game of career progression is one of marginal gains.
The EQUAL-SALARY certification is a process that allows companies to verify and communicate that they pay their female and male employees equally for the same job or for a job of the same value.
It’s a chance for organisations to put their values into action. To prove their commitment to equal pay for all.
If you want to get EQUAL-SALARY certified, join the cause, become an ambassador or would just like to learn more, please get in touch.
