I wish, I had seniors who said me about growth and promotions when I began my software testing career. Could be my seniors did not know how important it is to share this with juniors who have started their career.
Nevertheless, I want to share it here. So that, it can be the words of awareness.
These words of awareness related to promotions and growth is not limited to below sharing. It is more and beyond.
The below are quick reminders to myself. It can serve you as well.
- The good work delivered does not mean good money and benefits.
- The promotion and growth is not all about the good work done and delivered.
- It is about my identity, professional identity, visibility, communication, persuasion, influencing, the kind of problems I'm solving, the value and money I bring to the business.
- Me skilled in the tech stacks and capable to build, test and deliver is not the only priority factors for the growth, promotion and benefits, each time.
- The 1:1's and meeting with stakeholders should have a goal and way to evaluate the same periodically and consistently.
- It should be quantifiable and visible in the business.
- A manager's job is not to worry about my growth and promotions.
- A manager's job is to ensure the delivery is going good and meeting the business goals.
- A manager's job is to solve and enable the business on priority, most of the times.
- A manager can be of help in my growth and promotion to a certain role maybe until the senior engineer role.
- Beyond that, it is me and how I'm seen by my peers for what I'm and what I do.
- A manager is not responsible for my learning and upskilling.
- It is my responsibility and accountability.
- The manager might forget me after a release.
- She or he will remember me
- When I'm needed in the meeting.
- When a data is needed from me.
- When someone else need data of me.
- It is me who has to keep the manager engaged with my value and impacts delivered.
- The data has to be presented.
- The data should be quantifiable.
- The one whose work bring money to business and the one who sits in the role for making decisions that brings money to business, get identified and promoted usually.
- In other way, how close is my work to bring the money and impact to business and its growth?
- This is a preliminary equation which one has to have and solve before going to ask promotion, growth and benefits in a business place.
- How to keep myself here while I deliver an excellent work and value to the business?
- If you see, in a way this is politics.
- The office politics is not bad! Everything runs on politics.
- It is the people and management dynamics, and that is how a system functions inherently. This is my observation and interpretation.
- One should be able to play her or his role in the office politics.
- If ignored or keeping oneself away from the office politics, it projects one as muted with a label tagged -- he or she can be updated later and the job will get done and no need to be here.
- One's office politics is her or his identity, visibility, positioning and influencing
The manager is in the organization not to promote her or his team members.
- But, to ensure the business goals are being met.
- Taking care of her or his team members in a defined scope is one of the responsibilities for a manager; it is not the only responsibility and not the number one priority responsibility.
Business goals do not have my promotions and growth as their priority goals. It should be my goals.
Yet, the managers go and fight in a closed room for her or his team members growth, hike and promotion until a role. You see, not all get promoted in a cycle. That challenging is the advocacy in that closed room, tables and meetings for the managers. Give the quantified data to your manager.
Underestimating self and letting that to be used by others in the floor can be lethal to the growth.
To end here, my growth, hike, promotion and the benefits I need to get is my advocacy and visibility for first. The manager and peers can be a catalyst here.
