Promotion 101: How to move up the ladder

KARACHI: First quarter of 2012 is over and the appraisal period is just around the corner in most organisations. The same cycle is about to repeat itself with most employees being unhappy with their line managers who have not done justice to their performance. They fell they were underrated, deserve a better increment in the salary and are not going to be given what they were expecting or what they were committed.

On the other hand, managers opine that organisations are going through the worst economic crunch and the employers cannot accommodate their employees anymore. But reality is that a few employees get elevated to the next level, making the situation even worse. Favoritism is the most common allegation managers are facing today.

The job of a manager is not the easiest in today world. They are right in most of occasions but the feedback channel with their sub-ordinates is what they lack. This exercise hurts the overall productivity of the organisation.

“Employee motivation is directly proportional to the reward they get at the end of the year,” they say. It is somehow true. And keeping the motivation level of an employee high is the biggest challenge of today’s manager. 2011 could not bring any good news for the employees of the corporate sector.

Managers should guide employees about the goals and objectives of the department, especially their role in achieving these goals. They should not only talk about the areas of improvement but guide their employees as to how they can improve.

Meanwhile, employees should keep a record of their achievements and overall performance so that details could be presented during appraisal. They must give away with the favoritism or conspiracy theories. They should focus on their own performance which can earn them better position as actions speak louder than words.

Employees must learn the art of advertising themselves and highlighting their achievements. Appraisal is all about meeting and exceeding organisation’s expectations. Three quarters of the year are still to come. Year 2012 can be planned more effectively by keeping organisations objectives in mind. Achieving the organisation’s targets will benefit employees, only if they perform exceptionally well and successfully negotiate.

The writer is a training specialist at Mobilink Pakistan

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2012.