When you are looking for promotion at work, or when you are thinking about getting a job in a different organisation, winning your promotion requires more than just skills and experience. Employers want to employ people who can do the job they need filling, but they want more. This post covers one issue that, one way or another, matters a lot at work.
Is This A Good Worker?
This person works hard. He or she never takes time off. He or she takes work home and comes back to work the next day having completed the tasks. This person often works a seven-day week and never takes the full holiday allowance linked to the job. This person often arrives at work at about 7 am and stays until 10 or 11 pm.
This person believes he or she is valued and believes also that this type of behaviour is the best way to prepare for promotion.
Often this just is not true.
Senior staff note that this person often makes mistakes especially when working late. Of course, he or she stays at work to put things right, thus lengthening the time spent at work even more. Yet, the mistake is remembered.
Colleagues find this person boring. They say:
“He never talks about anything but work. He has no other interests.”
“She never takes time off and comes to the social events we have.”
“He never has coffee with us. I’ve never seen him in the canteen. He eats his lunch at his desk and keeps working from the moment he arrives to when he leaves.”
“She never hears any office gossip so she never knows who is leaving or whose birthday is coming up. Some people think this is very rude.”
The result is that this workaholic never knows when a post is becoming vacant. This workaholic does not know his or her colleagues well enough to talk about the future or about hopes and aspirations. This person works hard but is often unnoticed. Working hard all the time can mean no one notices you or your work.
Good Work-Life Balance And Promotion
It is always important to do your job well. That means using your skills to achieve your objectives, learning new skills as needed and fulfilling the demands of your job.
As well as that you need to be a good member of the team of which you are part and show an interest in other people. Helping people when you can is always a good idea. Make a point of knowing people’s strengths and weaknesses, so that you know who needs support. Then give it.
Of course, from time to time, it is important to work late to meet an important deadline. Yet, if your only way of working is to put in twelve hour days, you will have very little left in reserve for an unusually demanding aspect of your job, or for your friends, or for your loved ones.
If you do a good job AND take the holidays you are entitled to, that makes a better impression than working long, long hours and not taking leave due to you. If you do a good job AND get on well with your colleagues, people will learn about you and your ambitions, too.
Who knows? They might even help you when the time comes to think about moving on.
Win Your Promotion
Allow time for oiling the wheels. Ask the experts in your organisation what a particular role entails and learn a lot incidentally. You can have good work-life balance and advance your career. Win your promotion by taking a common sense approach to your work and always remember there is more to life than work.