My name is Julio Martinez, I have been in management for over 20 years and the following are the top 5 reasons why you are not getting promoted.

1) Lack of skill and ability

Although an individual may know how to do their job, they may not have enough experience to make it to the next level, and unfortunately most companies do not have the ability, time, or resources to cross train to get employees to the next level. Therefore, they will go to the outside and bring people in with experience and leaving internal personnel in the same position.

What you can do about your lack of skill and ability:

Continuing education, this does not have to mean go back to school and get a degree, but take classes that will help you advance, leadership classes, business classes, continuous improvement, etc. If your work offers training, request to be a part of it and continue being a contender.

 

2) Inconsistent in performance and attendance

Being dependable in all that an employee does is the key to promotions; too often an employee will have bad habits such as being late or albescent. They will have performance problems and their results in the work they do is inconsistent. When management evaluates an employee for a promotion, they will take dependability as one their top 5 decision drivers to make that decision.

What to do about your performance and attendance:

Do what you say – say what you do! Be on-time, even early to your shift; keep focus on doing a good job and know your scorecard everyday – when you leave work you need to be able to answer: Did I win today, and how do they know it?

 

3) Bad Attitude

No matter how talented a person is or how dependable they are – if their attitude sucks, they won’t get too far. Most of the time individuals with bad attitude only focus on bad things, how they did not get overtime, how the company does not treat them well, how they should get paid more, etc. Management will stay away from promoting these individuals as they will only bring the organization down and will not create good results in the long-term.

What to do about your attitude:

Do not be negative, its ok to state truths, but look for the positive. If you are not getting overtime, be thankful that you are working; if you think the company does not treat you well, speak to your boss about how you feel and give advice on how to make changes in the right direction. If you are not getting enough money, ask what you need to do to earn more money.

 

4) No one knows

Supervisors need to know that you want that promotion. Management will often start to work with individuals who have told them they want to advance in their career. They will give these individuals additional responsibilities and possibly place them in positions or projects that will help them get to that next level.

What you can do about making your promotion known:

Talk to your supervisor or other managers about your desire to grow within the company. Let them know that you are interested in advancing and that you are willing to work hard for it, whatever it takes.

 

5) Not getting along with others

Having good working relationships with everyone will help employees advance; if management notices that you are respected and that people gravitate towards you, they will feel more comfortable placing you in leadership roles.

What you can do about getting along with others:

People don’t get “pulled” up; they will get “pushed” up. What I mean by this is that when management is getting ready to promote from within the company they want to make sure that the individual getting promoted is respected amongst their peers and they will ask employees at times what they think about that individual before they are actually promoted. Keep good working relationship before, during and after your promotion. Also, be respectful and mindful of everyone’s views.

 

All in all

Be mindful of these five reasons, correct or improve upon them, and you will get that promotion with pay raise.

You can always learn something new and improve your skill set. Constancy in both performance and attendance is key. Having a bad attitude will hold you back no matter how good you are at your job. Last but not least, let the right people know you want to move up in the company, because if no body knows, then you most likely will be passed over.

If you found this article helpful, please check out how Training Gems can help you get promoted with our online course and/or one-on-one training program. Also, view some of our Training Gems success stories like Guillermo’s career advancement without even a college degree.