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3. Build yourself a track record. Make sure management are aware that you are delivering on your objectives, and that your achievements are visible (but avoid being big headed or boastful). Ensure you are delivering on the objectives which have been set for you. If you are in an environment where roles require technical skills or specific know-how, make sure you're seen as an expert in a particular area – this would stand you in good stead. Prepare well for performance appraisals; you want the best reviews possible.
4. Try to be an agent of change. A significant percentage of promotions are awarded to people who have recently been involved in projects which drive change. These might include those associated with new marketing initiatives, sales breakthroughs, quality programmes, product inventions, cost cutting schemes and technical innovations.
5. Make sure you continually network and stay close to decision makers – this is really important. People are often promoted who have worked closely with their boss or with their boss and his or her boss. If you want to progress you simply must network, get yourself noticed and build relationships.
If you don’t want to limit yourself to prospects within your own area, build a relationship with your boss’s boss. This could be the springboard to his or her sponsorship for your promotion into another business area. You should network, attend activities where important people are taking part, look to take on new responsibilities and projects, get involved in task forces and do your best to get noticed.
Your presence alone isn't enough; people need to see what you are tangibly contributing. And this applies to HR as well as your boss and boss’s boss. People in HR often act as talent scouts across an organisation, and are used as sounding boards before critical staffing decisions are made.
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