Many employees want to progress their career at work. A lot of people leave their current employer for greener pasture in search for more kwacha and greater challenges.
Little do they know that they can actually gain both of these in their current employment. Today, we will look at the three simple techniques which you can employ to fast track your promotion and trigger pay rise in your current employment.
The fundamental ingredient for a fast-tracked career path is dedication to developing your skills and professional experience. Employees who continuously develop their skills and build a body of knowledge have a leading edge against those who wait for opportunities to come up before they can update their CVs.
Make hay while the sun is still shinning. Look at the job one or two levels above you. Review and list down the key competences required for a person to perform at that level and identify the gaps that you need to close by developing new skills.
The second major element required to fast-track your career is delivery. Focusing on action is key to success at work. Deliver on every promise. The main point to capture here is to make realistic promises so that your delivery can exceed expectations. Remember that satisfaction is directly proportional to delivery minus expectation. Therefore, to optimise satisfaction of those you serve, you must maximise delivery while minimising expectation. This does not mean that you should promise very low standards of performance but that your promises should be realisable and practical.
Make sure that you always complete your actions before the deadlines you commit. Ensure that the quality of your delivery is outstanding. Pay attention to detail. But here is another catch here.
Some people pay so much attention to detail that they miss the deadline. In most cases, you are better off to do an 89 percent job on time than a 98 percent job delivered after deadline.
Deadline is as important, if not more important, than the quality and quantity of the content you deliver.
The third and last technique that is important in driving one’s career is networking. There are a lot of people who have the skills to do the job and they deliver. But few have good people skills and the networks that matter in life.
Everywhere in the world and in all industries, people skills and networking are key to a successful career. Make sure that you know as many people as possible inside and outside your team, section, division, department and company.
More importantly, make sure as many people know you inside and outside your zone. Of course, you want to be known for the good things—as a dependable pair of hands, as one who delivers what they promise, as one who lives well with people and communicates well and as one who is a good team player and one who has good judgement.
Pay particular attention to those who are in the team that makes decisions that can affect you directly. You should never upset them and make sure that you impress them, although without overdoing it or at the expense of your boss or colleagues. Be fair to everyone and be gentle.
Life is challenging. But for those who have the necessary techniques, career progression can be easy. Remember to develop today the skills you will need tomorrow. Deliver what you promise all the time by exceeding the expectations of those you deal with.
Be nice to all the people and get to know and to be known by as many people as possible. Know and be nice to people before you need them. If you can balance these three elements, you will quickly rise and shine! Good luck! n
