What are some key traits you have seen for people who get promoted?
In my 13-year banking career, I was never once promoted. I had to move around to different banks for a higher position or for more money. I couldn’t quite figure out the reason why I was never considered for a promotion.
Are there certain traits that can ensure you get promoted?
On the flip side, what can you be doing that is keeping you from being promoted?
Answers ( 2 )
In my experience the culture around promotions varies tremendously between industries, and even within companies in the same industry. I've never worked in banking, so keep that in mind for what I'm about to suggest.
Promotions are rarely "purely" merit-based. That is to say, rarely are the skills and abilities of potential candidates weighed and the individual with the best qualifications is offered the promotion. Instead, promotions tend to go to the people who:
- Demonstrate leadership potential by taking charge of projects and objectives within their current role
- Are actively engaged with leadership in charting a career path that includes promotions
- Have positive relationships with senior leadership
- Look like the other leaders in the organization*
That last one is unpleasant but very real, many studies have shown that people tend to hire/promote people who look like themselves. Current trends towards increasing diversity and including minorities in managerial / C-suite searches are actively attempting to mitigate this.
Consider the promotion from the hiring manager's point of view. Beyond the simple need to have someone in the role who can do the job, they want someone who will be successful, quickly, and reflect well on their decision. Hiring managers are classically risk-averse - between two candidates of equal skill and ability, many will hire the one who looks more like the current leaders, on the theory that this hire is "less risky." The thinking being that other candidates with similar cultural/geographic backgrounds have done well as managers, so this one is likely to as well, so why take a chance on someone else?
Another way to look at this is as an "old-boy's network," where people who have their degree from a particular university, or were in a particular fraternity/sorority, or whose relatives are members at a particular club are given priority over others who are less skilled. Again, it isn't nice, or fair, but in many industries this is how hiring/promotions are handled.
The traits that can ensure you get promoted are all too often linked to the nepotism/favoritism above; that said, the best way to mitigate that when you aren't so lucky is to work on the three other areas - seek out opportunities to lead, make sure your leadership understands that you are looking for and expecting promotion, with specific milestones and time-based criteria for passing them, and developing positive social relations with the decision makers and their peers.
Probably the most common behavior that prevents people from being promoted is being very good at your job and not letting anyone know you expect anything else. Managers love excellent workers who don't agitate for more, in terms of roles/responsibilities/wages, because those people are much more valuable than their pay grade suggests. They know how to get things done and do so at a fraction of what they would be paid, if only they were willing to engage with leadership regarding promotion - AND they were willing to do what you've done, move to a different company!
Unfortunately, in many industries you need to move sideways to move up - that is, you have to go to work for a competitor, and make a condition of your new job be a higher title with more responsibilities and pay. But again, in order to secure that job in a new company, you have to have demonstrated that you are likely to succeed in the role, or have such good relationships with the hiring people that they decide to take a chance on you.
Some of the key traits that I have personally looked for when promoting teams members are the following:
-Performance
-On going track record
-Being able to make mistakes and recover
-Mentoring (sharing information, to not only make yourself better but also your team members)
-Team player
-Self Starter (seeing gaps and attempt to resolve)
-Track Record
-Attitude