How to get ahead without a promotion

Illustration of a man in a suit with a briefcase using a telescope.

In the past, many of us measured career success by the number of promotions, pay rises and fancy job titles we collect. But as the traditional workplace hierarchy is dismantled, and companies shift to leaner and flatter structures, many workers have started to wonder – where is there for me to go?

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review looked at the question of how employees can grow at work when there are very few rungs to climb on the ladder. They put forward four suggestions for employees: lateral moves within your organisation; reshaping of your current role; expanding your influence; and deepening your skills.

One of the key takeaways from the article – which is well worth a read in its entirety – is the importance of identifying what energises you at work.

While it’s not possible for everyone to do what they love for work – despite the old advice that if you find that you will ‘never work a day in your life' – it is crucial that there are aspects of your job that you find engaging, stimulating and energising. If there aren’t, you’ll burn out very quickly and should click here before that happens so we can help you find something that will inspire you.

These energising aspects can be just about anything – tasks, outcomes, the colleagues or clients you work with or just about anything. What’s important is that it excites you! You might realise that what you really get satisfaction from is organising events at work, or writing the weekly blog posts.

Once you’ve identified what you really enjoy, you can start to build a business case to incorporate more of these kinds of tasks into your day-to-day. But first, ask yourself these questions:

Can I reasonably take on these tasks with my current workload?

Don’t expect to be able to drop some current responsibilities to take on more of your preferred tasks, especially right away. It is more likely that you will need to take these tasks on as an addition to your primary responsibilities and be able to demonstrate that this extra work is not impacting your other work.

Is this task important to the business?

If it’s not, your manager may see this as a distraction from your primary role and be reluctant for you to take it on when there are more important tasks to attend to. You also risk looking like you’re out of step with the business’ priorities.

Is this task already a primary part of someone else’s role?

If the answer is yes, this can go two ways. Hopefully you will have the chance to learn from someone who is experienced and to see exactly how this function is performed within your business. Alternatively, you might be seen to be encroaching on someone else’s responsibility when you have your own work to do.

If you’ve answered all of these and still want to go ahead, here are our tips on approaching your manager and making a case:

Explain that increasing this aspect of your role will improve your engagement

Everyone works harder when they care about what they’re doing. Let them know that, in the absence of direct progression opportunities, you see this as a way to expand your skillset and remain engaged with the company.

Demonstrate that this won’t detract from your current responsibilities

And make sure it doesn’t! It can be easy to get absorbed in tasks you really enjoy, but you need to respect the opportunity you’ve been given by ensuring you don’t fall behind on your other primary responsibilities.

Outline which skills this will help you grow and why they are important

Remember that this is all about finding opportunities for growth and development, so it can be helpful to outline for your employer the areas and skills this additional responsibility will help you in, and the benefits this will have for you as an employee and the business overall.

Want to learn more about career progression? Click here to read our five tips to identify your next career opportunity or check out the Career Centre.

the Michael Page team

Summary

For employees eager to progress their career, but without many direct progression opportunities available, there are ways you can grow without a promotion:

Identify what energises you at work
Brainstorm how you can include more of those tasks in your everyday
Build a business case that shows how it would work with your current responsibilities