When you are ready for that Promotion

Have you ever felt in your career that it’s the right time for a promotion but the promotion doesn’t seem to come even though you have given your employer your all?

When we join an organization, we make projections in as far as career advancement is concerned. One of the reasons why people leave organizations is lack of career growth opportunities. You stay in a company for years doing the same thing until you can literally do your job with your eyes closed. It’s boring and too monotonous.

One of the things people have failed to realize is that there are times your employer has noticed the potential in you, but is waiting for you to see it too. There are other times also when the employee needs to push the employer, just a little bit, towards the right direction. I live by the mantra, ‘if the mountain cannot come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain!’

Some Supervisors may not recommend you for a promotion, even though they know you deserve it, simply because they have gotten so used to you doing all the donkey work while they sit back and play Candy Crush, so much so that they can no longer imagine their lives without you. Worse still, we accept you remain there year after year because we want to please them. You see, if your job doesn’t challenge you anymore, it’s time to pack up.

As an employee, know that it’s not a criminal offence to ask for a promotion from your employer when you feel it’s that time. Write a proper formal letter outlining why you think you are fit for that higher position, justify it with your previous achievements and conclude with what you believe you will do if given the opportunity. Hand it over and make follow ups.

Do not ask your boss for a promotion when you are in the bar drinking alcohol. Also note that there are certain instances where the company is genuinely not in a position to afford your promotion, exercise patience, until you can’t. Most importantly, always remember that if you buy your promotion or bribe your way to the top, the thud with which you will crush back down is still warming up for you.

So don’t just sit there and wait for others to notice how good you are in your job or wish you could get promoted, push for it, keep improving yourself.