How to Get a Promotion at Work (Season 2)

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Dr Humphrey Mutiti

…Making Your Life Count with Dr Humphrey Mutiti

WHILE promotion comes with many privileges, some employees have gone an extra mile to get it by trading themselves (having sex with an employer or supervisor), or paying money for it in other ways.

Others have crossed oceans to go see witchdoctors (sangomas) seeking promotions. Only God knows to what lengths some of us have gone to seek promotions.

Promotion fosters one to assume a more vital position in his company, amass a bigger salary and attain a heightened sense of accomplishment. Thus, to effectively accelerate your career within your company, you will need to have exceptional work performance and capture your supervisors’ attention.

While performance, experience and skills are traditional requirements for promotion in various workplaces, you can take additional measures to become a chief candidate for your desired position. In this article, I suggest the following tips you may engage to position yourself for a promotion.

6. Don’t use office time to read a newspaper or be on social media

You have been employed to work for the company (government); thus, do not spend time on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, reading the newspaper or on any other social media during your working hours.

You can discipline yourself to either do all these things in your spare time, during your coffee time, lunchtime, or even after work when you are at home.

7. Don’t steal from your workplace

Yes, you heard me right. Things like plain papers, calculators, printers, laptops, pens, using the office car and fuel, etc. must never grow legs because of you. Stealing and lying are next-door neighbours. Do not assume your employer is so stupid that he does not know how long these things last in their office. Remember, before they employed you, they used to buy all these things for their office, hence, they know how long they last. In this case, ask your employer if you would want to use the official car and fuel for personal matters.

You ought to ask if you can take some plain papers, books, laptop, etc. to your home for your family to use them. Do not be a thief. A Yoruba proverb says, “Every day is for the thief, one day is for the owner of the house.”

8. Don’t lie to your employer

Do not lie about bereavements in your family just because you want a salary advance. If you want a loan at work, go to your employer and tell them the truth. Do not lie that there is a family bereavement and that you are the only one who can sponsor it, and thereafter, you ask for some days off. Patel Anurag once said, “A lie has no legs.” A lie always has a way of coming back to the sender and when it does, it carries with it disgrace and destroys your reputation.

9. Be reliable

Your employer must be able to count on you. Be committed and dependable. Do not be like a bimetallic strip that is on and off. Do not be like some people who when paid their salaries, evaporate to go and condense somewhere. They only realise they have a job to keep when money vanishes. Cultivate dependability and you will always be trusted and promoted. Dependability is the quality that leads your employer to believe in you.

10. Demonstrate your leadership skills

Once you are in an elevated position, you will need to continually improve your leadership aptitudes. Become a role model for your co-workers and earn their respect through your performance. Do not boss your co-workers and do not be a thorn in their flesh.

Whenever an opportunity emerges, demonstrate to your supervisor that you can lead and inspire your team members. Perform exceedingly well in every project, which will make you indispensable to the company and a prime candidate for promotion. You do not become indispensable by going to bed with your supervisor or employer. Tomorrow there may be another person that you who can easily take your position. You cannot also bank on your looks because they fade with age.

Build on certain qualities that improve your cogency as a leader. Go for further studies and refresher courses. Improve yourself. Do not wait for your office to send you for further studies. Instead, send yourself because this is your life and you must invest in yourself.

Dr Mutiti is a pastor, author, conference speaker, instructor, and lecturer at Great Commission Theological Institute. He holds doctorates in Theology and Ministry, and is a student in the school of law.

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